36x for praire dogs?

[TroyMN]

My gun has turned into mostly a target shooting rifle. Would a high-quality fixed scope be better than trying to find a medium quality one with all the bells and whistles. $300-650 price range
So a fixed power I see advantages to it, for a once a year praire dogs trip would it work for that also?

 

[Tim Singleton]

hands down Weaver T-36 for the money cant be beat

 

[5spd]

Mirage is going to be horrendous w/a 36x scope as soon as it warms up.
I run 6-18x & 6-24 scopes on p-dogs to 800 yards & mostly they stay at 12x if that.
If I had to have a fixed scope it would be no more than 14x for p-dogs.

 

[Greyfox]

It's hard to get one rifle to do everything you want. Scopes are much the same. As you've been told, a 36X Weaver is hard to beat for the price. But you don't want to use one in a dog town. A fixed 36x will drive you nuts trying to find and focus on a dog. My personal favorites for pds is a 6x24 B&L or Bushnell, but that leaves you a little short fr punching paper.

Rick

 

[people]

When it gets hot even 10x can be too much.

 

[LCazador]

On a hot humid day in PD town, you'll be lucky to able to turn the power up past 14 power. I have a couple of switch barrel rifles and both have Nightforce 8X32 scopes. One of these scopes doubles as my scope on my " 30BR for score rifle" and the other doubles on my 600 yard bench gun. Weight limitations can be a factor so keep that in mind. Both of my Nightforce scope get turned down to 16 power after 10AM. I'm shooting at 500yds. plus in the afternoon, and after 10AM even with these fine scopes the images get washed out. Stay with Weaver or Leupold if you can't afford Nightforce, IMHO. BTW , I do take my 6PPC, (switch barrel, do not use my comp barrel) with 36X Leup to the dog towns, usually lasts about hour until the image washes out at about 300 yards. All of my bench guns are switch barrels. I rarely use a competition barrel in the field.

 

[Witchhunter]

Up here I cannot use a 36x for Pdogs in the heat, too much mirage. I like my Leupold 6.5-20's the bestest!

 

[Tim Singleton]

My gun has turned into mostly a target shooting rifle. Would a high-quality fixed scope be better than trying to find a medium quality one with all the bells and whistles. $300-650 price range
So a fixed power I see advantages to it, for a once a year praire dogs trip would it work for that also?

Once a year prairie dog hunt. The rest of the time bench shooting
T-36

 

[TroyMN]

[/s]Once a year prairie dog hunt. The rest of the time bench shooting
T-36
[/quote]

I was kinda leaning toward this, but it is good to know that I will be disappointed with the PD hunting. I would be removing my SIII 8-32 to put on a tactical 700. That leaves my more expensive switchbarrel 700 without out a "high quality to me" scope. That gun has a .308 for FTR, a 6.5 WSM I hope to shoot out to 1000-1700 yards some day, and a 6mm Rem AI that came with the action, trigger and stock. I thought that I could run some hot loads and watch the PD's fly, and watch the barrel throat go poof also :.
I heard you need want multiple guns for a PD hunt. So I my 22-250 is a Leupold 6.5-20, a .223 with cheap 8-32, .308 with SIII 8-32 LRMOA, another mid price point FFP tactical 6-25 on something.

 

[bglenn]

A 36 power scope will drive you crazy. I bought a used rifle with a 36 on it and took it on a prairie dog shoot.
It about ran me crazy, I spent so much time trying to get one in the scope that they would go in the hole before
I shot. If you are going to be shooting at 600 to 1000 yd. it might work. Other wise "good luck".

 

[AckleymanII]

I tried the 36,24,20, and 12 fixed.

Everyone wants and wishes are different, but for me, I like the 8-32's and the 6x24's...you can do it all with these variable powers.

Keep in mind that you need to see your bullet impact, not dust fly'en to adjust for range and wind.

Good luck

 

[Bindi2]

All the guys i know that had high fixed power scopes shooting TR,FC etc got beaten by the mirage and went variable. All my range rifles and hunting rifles run variables because of the mirage.

 

[TroyMN]

I want to go PD hunting and try to increase my long range hits. Years ago it was short 200-300. The last two years I have more mid range shooting and I feel more confident about 500 or 600 yards easy.
Now I will be going for 400,500,600,700,800. Hypothetically if I get my heavy gun with the 6.5 WSM working I would be tring 900,1000 + would a fine crosshairs be the reticle needed for the longer goals?

 

[pacificman]

I want to go PD hunting and try to increase my long range hits. Years ago it was short 200-300. The last two years I have more mid range shooting and I feel more confident about 500 or 600 yards easy.
Now I will be going for 400,500,600,700,800. Hypothetically if I get my heavy gun with the 6.5 WSM working I would be tring 900,1000 + would a fine crosshairs be the reticle needed for the longer goals?

Nothing wrong with high magnification except as the other guys have said there will be mirage to deal with. Also you will need a spotter as there will be just enough recoil at the longer ranges for you not to see your hits with the higher magnification. I'm sure you already knew this but thought I'd throw it in there. Yes a fine cross hair is needed for long range on small targets as the thicker reticles cover up your target. Don't kill em all...save a few for us...LOL ;D

 

[LarryDScott]

Dont go PD hunting w/a fixed 36 power scope,
unless its on a rifle for 500yds and longer.
Shooting at short ranges, it wil make for a lot
of work to get on your target.
I made that mistake the first 2 trips I made,
and mine were only fixed 20&25 power Lymans.
If you have a pivot rest or pivot bench you can get
by, but they are less than ideal for finding closer shots
from a fixed rest.
I guess I shot in some unique areas, I was only
trouble w/mirage once, for a short period in
many trips. I like big numbers, but I want to be
able to turn it down for scanning. LDS

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Sound advice from Larry. In just over 45 years of pursuing my passion of shooting ground squirrels and PD's, I can say with some degree of authority that a 36X scope in the rat patch will be a waste of time, ammunition, and will breed maximum frustration. I've seen it on more than one occasion.

Virtually all my rat rifles wear Leupold 6.5-20X's of varying vintage, and as I spend in excess of 45 days a year in the field at my bench shooting grass rats, my scopes usually don't get cranked much above 18X, and that's only in the mornings before the mirage becomes a factor. Most of the time the power ring is set on 12X-14X if that tells you anything.

You'll be much happier and shoot more rodents with a variable with a top end power not above 25X that lets you adjust magnification to the conditions and range. JME

 

[CatShooter]

For my first trip to Canota Basin, I took rifles with mostly high mag scopes, and one with a 10x.

Once the sun was up, I could only shoot the 10x scope... the mirage was Godawful.

For my second trip, all the rifles had 6.5x20 scopes.

 

[lrgoodger]

These guys are right on. I've done that and know the 36X will drive you nuts.

This 1296 yard shot was made with a 12.5 - 50X Schmidt & Bender PMII. I was up early to beat the mirage and the dogs were crystal clear (but small) at 24X, which is where it was set. That was more so I could see my own hits than anything else. Zoomed any closer, recoil prevents that.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3797545.msg36129233#msg36129233

I'm working on the 1 mile shot now with my .284 Shehane. Last year's trip was a bust due to weather, but I did find out that the NF 15 - 55 competition scope does not have enough elevation at that range even with the 20 MOA base, so I wound up putting the S&B back on.

 

[RJinTexas]

Shooting a fixed power scope will cause you eye strain, after 3 days of scanning with your optic turned up or with a high power fixed will really wear ya down.
I found the Sightron SIII 8-32x56 to be great scope in the dog towns. Even though I seldom dialed them above 14x unless I was shooting in excess of 400 yds.

RJ

 

[A_Gamehog]

Most of the time my Variables are 10-16X on my .223 and .204's if you are placing a fixed 36X on a 22-250 you will miss the "show" by that I mean the recoil will move your body ever so slightly to miss the hit thru your scope. Half of the fun is seeing the hits thru the scope. ;D