Scope Recommendations
- Thread starter Mark M.
- Start date
Though I don't own an Athalon, those who do seem to like them. Here's one that might be just what you're looking for. JFWIW.
It really depends on what type of coyote hunting your doing and what you mean by targets.
For called coyotes my guns wear
1. 1-4x20's(drillings and combo gun) great for close in shotgun work and with a decent set of sticks easily useful out to 300 yards or so with the rifle barrels.
2. 1.5-6x4 on my bolt actions/AR as most of the shots are well under 200 yards some the yards are single digits. Yet again I can stretch them out to 300.
3. 2-12x42 on a heavy barreled BA in 20 Practical for open country, same for another BA in 22-250.
I like large FOV's on my scope for fast target acquisition, it is amazing how you can have a stand where you can see for miles and have a coyote appear at 10yards, my scopes always stay on the lowest power as there is usually more than enough time to turn them up when they are a long way off plus trying to turn them down when they are close is just that much more movement to spook them.
I don't try to make a hunting rifle do formal target shooting, it requires a target rifle.. My target rifles wear 6.5-20's or 8-32', the only hunting they'd see is colony varmints.
For called coyotes my guns wear
1. 1-4x20's(drillings and combo gun) great for close in shotgun work and with a decent set of sticks easily useful out to 300 yards or so with the rifle barrels.
2. 1.5-6x4 on my bolt actions/AR as most of the shots are well under 200 yards some the yards are single digits. Yet again I can stretch them out to 300.
3. 2-12x42 on a heavy barreled BA in 20 Practical for open country, same for another BA in 22-250.
I like large FOV's on my scope for fast target acquisition, it is amazing how you can have a stand where you can see for miles and have a coyote appear at 10yards, my scopes always stay on the lowest power as there is usually more than enough time to turn them up when they are a long way off plus trying to turn them down when they are close is just that much more movement to spook them.
I don't try to make a hunting rifle do formal target shooting, it requires a target rifle.. My target rifles wear 6.5-20's or 8-32', the only hunting they'd see is colony varmints.
My favorite is Nightforce. I'm using a NF SHV 5-20 on my two specialty pistols, 20 Vartarg & 223. Years ago I was shooting RF benchrest and started with a T36 by Weaver. A short time later I used another shooters rifle that had a NF and I was hooked. I've been using NF ever since.
I have very clear glass for a reasonable price. There are higher price scopes that some feel are better than NF but I use the money I saved to use for other components I need.
I have very clear glass for a reasonable price. There are higher price scopes that some feel are better than NF but I use the money I saved to use for other components I need.
Don't often hear Nightforce & resonable price in the same sentence... 
Again, depends on several different factors.
Distance.
Type of target your wanting to shoot, and at what distance.
Budget.
But from the budget you've alloted, and FFP, ilum. Then, yeah, i'd be seriously looking at Nightforce too.
Again, depends on several different factors.
Distance.
Type of target your wanting to shoot, and at what distance.
Budget.
But from the budget you've alloted, and FFP, ilum. Then, yeah, i'd be seriously looking at Nightforce too.
As I wrote, I don't have an Athlon but users seem to think highly of them. I do have 3 Nightforce NXS scopes and one SHV 5-20x 56 SFP. The SHV is a great scope and I highly recommend it.
But mine is SFP and lacks an illuminated reticle and I paid right at $1K for it. If you want FFP and the illuminated reticle, it'll likely be a few hundred more. Midway has them in 4-14x 56mm for $1290.
IMO, Nightforce is worth the price.
But mine is SFP and lacks an illuminated reticle and I paid right at $1K for it. If you want FFP and the illuminated reticle, it'll likely be a few hundred more. Midway has them in 4-14x 56mm for $1290.
IMO, Nightforce is worth the price.
If its for hunting personally I'd go with sfp. If you have a close shot you will want scope on low magnification. With a ffp scope on low power it will shrink your retical. Might be hart to see a small retical quickly if needed especially if got a hard charging coyote coming in. Just my opinion and what i found works better for me.
I like my Vortex Viper PST Gen II in 3-15 x 44 and they can be had under $1K illuminated and of course comes with Vortex's bullet proof warranty.
You can google other sources for this scope, but here is an example of a retailer with various reticles and pricing
Vortex Viper Pst Gen Ii 3 15 | B&H Photo Video
Shop B&H's in stock, large inventory for fast shipping, great service and everyday low prices on Vortex Viper Pst Gen Ii 3 15. For more info, please call 800-947-4415
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
3.5x10 Leupold
2-8 Leupold
3-12 burris Signature-Battle tank tough!
4-14 leupold
Mark, don't over complicate things. If your hand/eye coordination is not that good, go with a 1.5-6 leupold for tight cover or use a shotgun with full choke for #4 buckshot.
2-8 Leupold
3-12 burris Signature-Battle tank tough!
4-14 leupold
Mark, don't over complicate things. If your hand/eye coordination is not that good, go with a 1.5-6 leupold for tight cover or use a shotgun with full choke for #4 buckshot.
I have a Viper PST Gen 1 in 6-24X50 on my .308 and it's a solid scope, I believe the Gen IIs are even better. I also just bought a Sig Sauer BDX combo with a rangefinder and 4.5-14X44 scope which link together with your smartphone app and it's a pretty cool system. Enter your ballistics ahead of time (it will store multiple loads) and once linked, you Range your target and the Scope gives you a lighted holdover point, or you can leave it with a Ballistic set of dots which are set to your load. Wind speed can also be entered to give you a windage holdover dot on the horizontal. I've only dabbled with it, but seems solid and Sig Optics has impressed me so far. I LOVE my Sig Binos. Might also be worth looking at the Nikon Black series...I forget...FX1000 maybe? I know it got great reviews and they are on closeout now since Nikon decided to get out of the game. I don't remember if they had the lighted reticle though.
This is true but all you need to see is the center of the crosshairs for that kind of shot. As long as your lowest magnification is around 4X or more it’s fine. I have FFP scopes with gridded reticles with the lowest powers being 2.5, 4, 5, and 7, and the 2.5 is the only one where the reticle is a little hard to see quickly on low power.
My objection to FFP is not the low end, it is the high end -- I want a very fine reticle even at max power, not a broad band blocking my view. I run several NF's and all are the super-fine MOAR-T. For those rare days when the light is bad I pop on the illumination. I have zero use for FFP.
Sig Whiskey5 or Tango6. The quality of the glass is as good as it gets.
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