Scope recommendation for F Class beginners

[boltman13]

Trying to care for and feed 2 F-Class rifles will not be inexpensive no mater how you go. Try to have both rifles set up for either F-Open or F-TR not one of each and you will save some. F-TR may be less expensive to start, but it ain't cheep. Hopefully you can share bipods, mats and spotting scopes by being on different relays. While scope tracking is important you must have a scope that does not shift point of impact from shot to shot. Once you are fairly centered up you can compensate for condition changes by holding off. Better scopes will give a sharper image at higher magnification, especially with lots of mirage. As you perfect your reloading and wind reading skills there will come a time when better equipment will be necessary to continue to improve. How soon that happens is very variable. My blueprinted Remington actions with Sightron gIII 10X50 scopes are still not holding me back and probably never will. Best of luck, and be sure to have fun.

 

[Jennb]

I recommend all new potential shooters go to a match with eyes and ears open before purchasing anything. After you shoot the first match its too late! The addiction has begun and its not a cheap one.

I started with a rifle that was used and it shot very well. I spent good money for excellent optics. If you can't see you it you can't hit it. Resale on great optics is always an option but cheap ones you cant give away. No matter what kind of shooting you do great optics always have a use!

It is true what they say, buy once cry once. That is until you build a second rifle and buy for it also!!

 

[Bob L.]

...and be sure to have fun.

All too often, we forget this.

 

[Medic505]

have fun

Whatever you choose to buy be sure and do this.

I have a very early sightron III that had an inside the tube anodizing flake problem. Their customer service greatly exceeded my expectations. Very good company to deal with. I see many F-Classers shooting SIII's and do well with them.

 

[bored184]

Thank you for all the input so far. I just got my father a Sightron SIII from this forum so he is now set. He recently picked up a Remington 40X repeater in 308 locally and I have a good feeling that the scope will make an excellent addition to that rifle. I have not decided yet on my scope, when I purchase one it will either go on my Savage 12 in 308 or my Remington 700 VLS in 243. I am kind of leaning toward the 243 but I will gladly take opinions on that as well.

A scope for me:
I would love to get a Sightron but my budget is a little tighter but if I can get a number of things sold I can probably swing a Sightron. Out of curiosity how the the Vortex Vipers LR scopes compare? I have heard the price to performance ratio is pretty good.

A little bit about me:
Sometimes I think a little background info on someone is good when making recommendations. I am 33 years and have been doing some type of shooting sports pretty much since I was old enough to walk. Most recently I've done handgun metallic silhouette and smallbore prone. Sometime in the next few months I plan on having a load of dirt delivered to the farm so I can finish my 300 yard range.

 

[mikeeg02]

I started back into benchrest shooting with a savage model 12, f class in a 6br. Dominated the local 200-500 ground hog matches in factory class. I only ever lost one match with it in factory class, and that was partially my fault. Though the other shooter did very well. Out of the box they are ~1,250 and dont really need anything to be competitive. I was always on the heels of the people shooting full blown customs. I did a few things to help it be a little more consistent, but it shot very well. Great starter gun IMO.

 

[chromatica]

I decided on a Vortex Viper for my first scope. It generous with eye relief which makes it comfortable to look through. If you don't require an illuminated reticle, you can meet your budget with a Vortex Viper.

 

[Delfuego]

Thank you for all the input so far. I just got my father a Sightron SIII from this forum so he is now set.

Do I get a spiff for the sale?

I think you should wait a little and save up a little extra money for a good scope. Scopes are not where you want to save money. Good luck and tell us how it goes!

 

[bored184]

Do I get a spiff for the sale?

I think you should wait a little and save up a little extra money for a good scope. Scopes are not where you want to save money. Good luck and tell us how it goes!

Giving credit where credit is due, a big shout out to Delfuego for helping me locate a Sightron scope for my father. haha


All of this brings up another question. What height of rings should I be looking at with a 50mm objective scope?

 

[Highpower-FClass]

Thank you for all the input so far. I just got my father a Sightron SIII from this forum so he is now set. He recently picked up a
A scope for me:
I would love to get a Sightron but my budget is a little tighter but if I can get a number of things sold I can probably swing a Sightron. Out of curiosity how the the Vortex Vipers LR scopes compare? I have heard the price to performance ratio is pretty good.

The first scope I used in competition was a Vortex Viper 6.5-20X, I still have it. It worked great at 300 yards, pretty well at 600 yards and servicable at 1000. My second scope for competition was a 6-24X Vortex Viper PST. It is also a good scope but in hindsight a better route would have been to get a Sightron SIII. Being able to go to 40X+ magnification makes a big difference at 600 and 1000 yards in terms of being able to see the scoring rings for holding off. Another difference is the adjustments for the Vortex Vipers is 1/4 MOA per click while the Sightron SIII is 1/8 MOA.

In short, if budgetary constraints do not allow for a Sightron, a Vortex Viper is not a bad choice. If you can swing a Sightron SIII 10-50X, it is a better choice and it will have better legs. If you end up liking F-Class (you will ) and end up staying with it you will almost certainly want to upgrade from the Vortex after a while. Like others have mentioned, if you can manage a Nightforce BR42 that would also be an excellent choice. The 'buy once, cry once' saying holds doubly true for scopes.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I have just started in the F-Class game. My scope for now is a Vortex Viper HST 4.5-24x50. It is a solid scope, with great optics and holds zero well. At 500 yards, I have clear vision of the X. Eventually, I plan to upgrade to the Vortex Golden Eagle, which is 15-60x52. Many of the guys at have shoot with at the matches have switched over from the Nightforce to the Vortex. You can get the Viper HST for around $621 better on sale and the Golden Eagle new for $1499 or as low as $1000 used. Vortex has the best warranty in the business and it travels with the scope owner to owner.

 

[boltman13]

bored184, to answer your question, I have needed Hi rings on a 20 MOA rail for long range. You may also need an adjustable comb or a higher than normal one as well. The Vortex Viper mentioned above is a solid choice too if money allows.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Bored184, I'm going to gently disagree with Fredrik and Jennifer and probably some others here. This business of buy once, cry once is for children. Right now, you have a rifle and it appears you would like to go play in F-Class right away. My suggestion to you is to get a Weaver T24, or more probably a T-36 with a fine crosshair/target dot, slap it on your rifle with a 20MOA base and you're good to go to 1000 yards. I used the T-36 for several years early in my F-class "career," and it worked quite well. Yes, it's dark in the early morning and at my age that was sometimes difficult (late 50s at that time.) But the T-36 is unbelievable tracking and a nice adjustable objective. And it's around $400.

Right now, riflescope technology is in a state of flux with the arrival of ED glass in these scopes along with other features. The ED glass is coming to the sub-kilobuck scopes and that's something you will want in your "buy once, cry once scope." Nikon (the inventor of ED glass) has the Monarch 5 series with ED glass at around $700 for the 25X range, higher in the 30X range. Others will follow suit or are already scrambling for it.

This is why I suggest you get a solid inexpensive scope and go play right away. It will not hold you back. Learn the game, see what people use, decide what is important for you and then you can figure out what you want for your next scope. It is more important that you go out right now, have fun and learn the game than waiting to get the BOCO scope that will be supplanted 6 months later.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I forgot to mention that I am now installing my old T-36 on a 22LR to go play rimfire benchrest at a club near me.

 

[ShootDots]

Bored184, I'm going to gently disagree with Fredrik and Jennifer and probably some others here. This business of buy once, cry once is for children. Right now, you have a rifle and it appears you would like to go play in F-Class right away. My suggestion to you is to get a Weaver T24, or more probably a T-36 with a fine crosshair/target dot, slap it on your rifle with a 20MOA base and you're good to go to 1000 yards. I used the T-36 for several years early in my F-class "career," and it worked quite well. Yes, it's dark in the early morning and at my age that was sometimes difficult (late 50s at that time.) But the T-36 is unbelievable tracking and a nice adjustable objective. And it's around $400.

Right now, riflescope technology is in a state of flux with the arrival of ED glass in these scopes along with other features. The ED glass is coming to the sub-kilobuck scopes and that's something you will want in your "buy once, cry once scope." Nikon (the inventor of ED glass) has the Monarch 5 series with ED glass at around $700 for the 25X range, higher in the 30X range. Others will follow suit or are already scrambling for it.

This is why I suggest you get a solid inexpensive scope and go play right away. It will not hold you back. Learn the game, see what people use, decide what is important for you and then you can figure out what you want for your next scope. It is more important that you go out right now, have fun and learn the game than waiting to get the BOCO scope that will be supplanted 6 months later.

I am in "Semi-Agreement" with Denys on this one. I say "Semi-Agreement" because his postulation is correct, however, his choice of equipment is not. The Weaver T-36 is a "relatively" decent scope. However, the lenses leave a lot to be desired and they are prone to breakage. For almost exactly the same price you can get a Sightron 36X that has infinitely better lenses and I have never seen nor heard of one breaking. Now having said that, ALL scopes will eventually break>>>how soon is what I am concerned with.. But as Denys stated, you can get into F-Class immediately on a "Beer Budget" and do very well. This will buy you some time to save some $$$s and talk to people and find out exactly what you WILL eventually want, thereby going from beer to Crown Royal!

 

[good2go4it]

I say run!!! don't walk away from this... If you do go... If you do shoot...If you get hooked (which you will) then that budget you have will go out the window and you will go into debt up to your ears and it still will not be enough...Your family will not like you at all..And here is the most important thing no matter how much you spend you local f-class group will with out a doubt have at least 5 shooters that seldom drop 2 points for the entire day and you will spend yet even more money you don't have to try to beat at least one of them...My 2 cents on the subject, BTW I will be shooting at the next match closest to my house.........

 

[Medic505]

T-36 with a fine crosshair/target dot, slap it on your rifle with a 20MOA base and you're good to go to 1000 yards.

Great advice. My T-36 has been on several rifles. It currently resides on a Anschultz MPR that I use for F-Class practice. Great scope.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

I am in "Semi-Agreement" with Denys on this one. I say "Semi-Agreement" because his postulation is correct, however, his choice of equipment is not. The Weaver T-36 is a "relatively" decent scope. However, the lenses leave a lot to be desired and they are prone to breakage. For almost exactly the same price you can get a Sightron 36X that has infinitely better lenses and I have never seen nor heard of one breaking. Now having said that, ALL scopes will eventually break>>>how soon is what I am concerned with.. But as Denys stated, you can get into F-Class immediately on a "Beer Budget" and do very well. This will buy you some time to save some $$$s and talk to people and find out exactly what you WILL eventually want, thereby going from beer to Crown Royal!

Let me explain where Ben is wrong.

Actually, for the most part he is not. The only thing he did with which I find fault is to use a superlative in comparing optics; "infinitely better?" Really? You said "infinitely?"

The bottom line is that it's not important to get the very best (at that moment in time because everything keeps changing,) riflescope to go to a competition. Get something that fits your budget and that will also fit the task and go do it. I have a couple of T-36s and never had a problem with them. Yes, the glass is definitely not the best there is for older eyes, but using that scope allowed me to reach High Master at mid-range, with a .223 no less and Sharpshooter at long range. By that time, I had things figured out for me, and I moved on to better equipment.

I keep reading here and other forums (fora?) about people hesitating to even go to their first match because they haven't got the bestest scope or the bestest rifle or the most bestest load and they are afraid of losing or coming in dead last and that would crush, well, something. Give yourselves a break (not a brake) and just go out and learn, have fun and be safe. Everybody started at some point. I can regale you with stories about my experiences when I started in Fullbore, IPSC, Service Rifle and the most hilarious ones in F-Class.

What I find the most rewarding however, is to consider how far I have progressed over the years. But the most satisfying is to see how many others I infected with a passion for competition. So, to the OP. Don't wait forever, get an inexpensive decent scope, T-36 or Sightron and start your journey right away. How can you get somewhere if you don't start?

 

[Immike]

I shot a 3x9 at my first bench match just to go and start while I waited for Bruno's to get more br NF DD in stock. I still have it and that's what you get with Scopes- is something that lasts longer than other investments in shooting competition. It's still worth most of the money and doesn't ask for more!

The victory is all about the battle, don't be afraid of the struggle to get there.

 

[Loggins J]

Try swfa they sell used scopes most are demo,s