FT Scope For 30 Cal Cricket – The Search Begins
While my 30 cal Cricket is being constructed I decided to start shopping for scopes. I have arbitrarily set the budget at $1k but ok if it goes over a little but I know this is low for the better scopes. The requirement is 32x minimum on the max mag. I am pretty picky on reticles and prefer glass etched. All good suggestions appreciated with specific models and links. It seems a lot of higher end scopes can double as an FT scope. I have been reading about FT and the value of FT scopes – at least enough to be dangerous. I see Optisan is getting into the FT arena and I found out I can order specific MTCs through SWFA who carries just the Mamba in stock or from papertargets.com in Wisconsin.
Thanks in advance….
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I have 8,8-25×42 and still shooting on 10x magnification 😉 There is no neccesary more because filed of view is narrow and also higher magn. – more shaking…
50 or 60x if a bit clearer would be nice albeit a little more expensive in SR Pro. I don’t understand these folks that say 12 or 16x is enough on airguns. They don’t sparrow hunt at 100 yards or dragon flies at 86 yards.
I know that you wish to have a 80x SRPRO.
I just received my third 8-32×56 SR Pro after exhaustive research for the 30 cal. I also picked up a night vision scope.
I am a little bit addicted to the SRPRO reticles now, and it works very well for the distance 50-150Y@32X and money, see the clip I got today
Same as my medium priced Leupold V-IIIs and around the same price range. Good enough. 🙂
How do you feel about them Nikon Monarch´s ??
I had the opportunity today to go to a large camera shop in my area. The weekend salesman turned out to be the scope “guy” and has worked there for 20 years. They carry Bushnell, Zeiss, Hawke, Nikon, Leupold, Vortex, and a few others. The have optical equipment to be able to test clarity and brightness. I told him what I was looking for and why and he immediately said the Hawke had the best designed reticle for the price of what they carried for what I wanted. The interesting comment was that he says the very latest Hawke Sidewinders 6-24 and the Nikon Monarch 3 6-24×50 test out nearly identically across the board (These are made in the Philippines and run about $700). I own two different Nikon Monarch scopes but never thought to try to compare them.
He said the Bushnell 4200 optically beats the Hawke and Nikon by a smidgeon at high magnification but not by brightness and the Zeiss Conquest beats them all by a small margin but not as much as one might think. He mentioned some of the other factors to consider (and there are a bunch) but I felt pretty good leaving there with my under $500 scopes. I won’t mention some of the scopes they said tested poorly but there are a few expensive ones that don’t do to well yet are very popular because of the name. I guess the point is one pays a considerable additional expense for only a marginal utility gain on these high-end scopes. 😯
I have a lot of great scopes with poopy reticles on my PBs. Most are duplex or multiplex. A few target dot. Some with real fine lines and most are Leupold’s.
That said it doesn´t hurt to able to clearly see the target…
Oh, so true. That depends though – a guy who´s solely shooting BR doesn´t need a special reticle. A plain German 4 will do. Those (most of us) who do all kinds of shooting at quickly variable ranges and especially with weapons with that curvy trajectory can´t have enough clear aiming points in a reticle.
That said it doesn´t hurt to able to clearly see the target…
Hopefully, we see some Delta’s here soon. I bet they are expensive here though. IMO the reticle is almost as important as the best clarity at the highest magnification is to me. I will trade a hint of clarity at max magnification for the right reticle any day.
That said i just ordered a Delta Optical 4.5-30 with MCZ2 reticle. Clearer optics than a Bushnell Tac at the same mag – even clearer otics than the Tac 6-24x set at the max magnification. You can´t even compare a Sidewinder and the Delta. Also more distinct turrets,sturdier feel and the fact it´s calibrated in meters/millimeters instead than those stone-aged Imperial inches & yards is a selling point for me. The fact it´s 25% cheaper doesn´t exactly make matters worse either.
Of course the scope is made in Japan by Light Optical Works – the same company that makes most of the better brand optics.
I could have bought a slightly used but in like-new condition Leo Comp 35x but then again it has the target reticle and it´s only usefull for that purpose. I may need to go to crow,badger or fox hunt without having to change / check zero between scopes and the MCZ2 reticle is great for that – so a Delta it is!
I also like lots of magnification. Maybe it´s my deteorating eye sight but i really like to be able to see what i aim at. Many guys here like to shoot BR at 50m with 16x but i can´t do that. At that range the minimum for me is 20-24x. The more the better i say!
That said i just ordered a Delta Optical 4.5-30 with MCZ2 reticle. Clearer optics than a Bushnell Tac at the same mag – even clearer otics than the Tac 6-24x set at the max magnification. You can´t even compare a Sidewinder and the Delta. Also more distinct turrets,sturdier feel and the fact it´s calibrated in meters/millimeters instead than those stone-aged Imperial inches & yards is a selling point for me. The fact it´s 25% cheaper doesn´t exactly make matters worse either.
Of course the scope is made in Japan by Light Optical Works – the same company that makes most of the better brand optics.
I could have bought a slightly used but in like-new condition Leo Comp 35x but then again it has the target reticle and it´s only usefull for that purpose. I may need to go to crow,badger or fox hunt without having to change / check zero between scopes and the MCZ2 reticle is great for that – so a Delta it is!
That same 32x NF cost $3000 here and as you said it’s not clear and I didn’t like the reticle it had. I have seen that video of the March 80x but I’m not sure how clear it is in reality especially at 80x, many people don’t care much about high mag scopes but I just love them and too used to it.
I’m also considering FFP scopes and there is only one model selling here but again with low magnification.
IMO all NF scopes (i´ve had the honour to check) are overrated. Let me refrase – highly overrated. The March will,most likely , blow it out of the water. Don´t know about the Sightron but if Coda says it´s good then that´s good enough for me. 3000$ should buy you a “decent” scope anyhow – like my Hawke Varmint. You can have it at special price 2950$! Hell – i throw in free postage to sweeten the deal. 
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I’m with Coda on this one and for this one time only. I don’t much hunt though but at 50m benchrest i need at least 20x mag to see exactly where to place the reticle.
More range = even more mag.
One needs to learn to use high mag so you won’t concentrate on the shaking part and you learn how to let go between heartbeats – like a real sniper 😉
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