AR XTC/Match Irons

[adv_rider]

For those who scope - which reticle type is preferred for target work? Thanks!

 

[VA_XTC_Shooter]

its a personal preference. Generally, you have a dot or crosshair are the common options for service rifle. Then the size of the dot varies too.

Sightron 1-4.5 - 1/2 moa dot
WOA 1-4.5 - 0.75 moa dot
March 1-4.5 1/2 moa dot
Nightforce 1-4.5 - cross hair

I think I remembered those correctly.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Dot or crosshair. Most scopes have way too much garbage. Just focus on the middle and ignore the rest.

 

[adv_rider]

its a personal preference. Generally, you have a dot or crosshair are the common options for service rifle. Then the size of the dot varies too.

Sightron 1-4.5 - 1/2 moa dot
WOA 1-4.5 - 0.75 moa dot
March 1-4.5 1/2 moa dot
Nightforce 1-4.5 - cross hair

I think I remembered those correctly.

Thank you for the info - but will probably only go for match over service rifle for now.

For match shooting with the moa hashmarks useful, or does it just get confusing to the eye?

I could see the hash matks being helpful for wind offsets, but with enough practice it might not be needed.

 

[Jeff Porter]

I prefer a small target dot reticle but others have trouble losing them in the black of the target. I have used larger dots, thin crosshairs, open gap in crosshairs, and dots in circle with crosshairs and my brain and eyes can use any of them without too much trouble. Like Walt says, a lot of the tactical scopes have too busy a reticle and are not needed or desirable for XTC. BUT… when focused on the center feature of the reticle I do not see the other stuff.

 

[mgdietrich]

I have one scope with hashmarks, I never use them for target work. Just look at the middle- whether duplex, dot or whatever reticle.

I prefer dots for simplicity, but simple duplex or crosshairs work well too

 

[VA_XTC_Shooter]

Thank you for the info - but will probably only go for match over service rifle for now.

For match shooting with the moa hashmarks useful, or does it just get confusing to the eye?

I could see the hash matks being helpful for wind offsets, but with enough practice it might not be needed.

in that case, I have been very happy with the MOA-2 reticle in my sightron scopes for match rifle.

Best of both worlds, a dot with cross hairs for reference. The hashes I don't use or notice.

 

[adv_rider]

Thank you all for sharing your first hand experience- very helpful!

 

[adv_rider]

Quick update - I have decided to try something new and will take mgdietrich up on his STAC 3.

While I don't think a scope is going to do anything magic, everybody that gets one seems to enjoy it. That says a lot.

I still have lots of opportunities to use irons, so switching things up on occasion will be a nice break.

I may start a new thread in time asking about mounts. This thread offered a few good starting points, but I need to think what distances I will primarily be at for my 223 upper and 22lr trainer.

Thank you all for your help and practical advice!

 

[Jeff Porter]

I have my two Stac in one piece QD mounts. One from Midwest Industries and the other from Burris with the Signature inserts. I shoot in matches where one of the strings is irons so I am pulling them on and off a lot and both of these hold zero real well. Stac parallax focuses down well so the .22 even indoors is do-able.

 

[karrarararararar]

You'll like the S-Tac. If you really feel the itch to hold off for wind, the target rings are know dimensions so you can use those.

 

[adv_rider]

Quick update - the stac I picked up from mgdietrich arrived and looks great. The stac makes my only other scope (old weaver k4 on a swiss k11) look almost like a toy...

I was also able to pick up an open box freedom reaper mount and wheeler scope mounting combo kit for quite a steep discount, so after some time with the lapping bar I will be g2g.

This will be going on a nice match upper from 10at6.

 

[adv_rider]

After I get some time with the new scope I will likely shell out for a woa adjustable buttstock. It looks very nice, but damn pricey.

magpul prs gen3 might be an option, but since this would be a buy once cry once affair the woa is probably the ticket.

I'll face that bridge in a few months...

 

[Rtheurer]

Stick with the WOA Rear buttstock Assy. its the best one on the market for our sport hands down.

 

[adv_rider]

Stick with the WOA Rear buttstock Assy. its the best one on the market for our sport hands down.

I finally joined up on usarifleteams last weekend and found a cpl of threads on the subject saying just that. Need a few months to save some gun beans though!

 

[Rtheurer]

Personally I think you will have fun with an iron sight gun. However, Maybe start with the S TAC and as time goes by you can add in the iron sight part.

 

[adv_rider]

Personally I think you will have fun with an iron sight gun. However, Maybe start with the S TAC and as time goes by you can add in the iron sight part.

While I have shot match irons A LOT (20 years of off and on precision air, precision smallbore) i haven't done it at any appreciable distance. Dealing with wind and offsets with match irons I imagine is a while different ballgame.

As my crummy eyes get older and based on the recommendations in the thread, seemed like a good opportunity to try the scope route.

Will actually still shoot the most by volume w irons - just on my anschutz air rifle.

In time i very well may get a set of match irons for my 22lr upper. Showing up to a local precision 22lr match w/ a spacegun setup and 22lr upper in match config may blow someone's tits off.

 

[jelenko]

local precision 22lr match w/ a spacegun setup and 22lr upper in match config

A couple guys from PA and NJ did exactly that 7-10 years ago. One of them won the match.
They used a 22 upper from Keystone Accuracy. IMO, Keystone makes the very best dedicated 22 upper for the AR platform.

 

[adv_rider]

I went with CLE. If I were doing it again I would have gone with Keystone. It is very accurate, but the mag/insert setup requires a lot of tuning. Never got a response for mag or ammo recommendations. It was a lot of coin to spend on something that wouldn't run without a lot of fiddling. Only training I did the first 1k rounds were how to clear jams.

 

[adv_rider]

Quick update - got the stac from mgdietrich mounted on my cle 22 service rifle training upper and headed out to the local rimfire range. Figured I'd start with the 22lr upper to get used to the new setup.

In prone I was getting 10 shot .75 inch groups at 50 yards and 2 inch 10 shot groups at 100 yards w light wind. So, right off the bat I am doing a little better than my best w/ A2 irons. I think with some adjustments and practice there are some easy gains to be had.

It is very helpful for training to be able to see the impact location in real time with the scope. Might not like that for competition (have a tendency to get too much into my head), but great for position work.

I think I will need to play around with mounting distance so I get the proper eye relief in offhand/sitting (I am using a fixed butt stock for the near future). However a very favorable start!