Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles scoping my first AR

I have an upper coming in on 4/29 (Friday) from PSA.
It is an stainless 18 inch 223 wylde.
My son and I bought parts an assembled the lower today.
I really think I'm going to like this.
I know little about AR's, especially optics.

My son uses a 3 power dot scope that I can shoot well enough,but eyes don't do so well at 300. I still hit steel, but chalk it to luck since I have to find the target and aim where I saw it instead of where I see it. lol. Eyes are not what they used to be. I have no business using open sights because of near vision being awful.

Anyway, what I'm wanting is a target rifle. Not competitive, just fun. And occasional pig hunting here in Mississippi and the occasional coyote out west.

Optics for distance shooting. 300 yds, 400 tops.
Yet I still want comfort in close shooting.

Last Thanksgiving I picked up some Leupold VX-3's 3.5-10x40 with CDS really cheap. I still have one in the closet. Makes sense to use it since I have no rifle waiting to put it on.

my questions:
1. Is this overkill for an AR scope?
2. Anyone with experience using CDS on 223/5.56?
3. I like the idea of the scopes with the ballistic reticle built in to it, but have no experience with them.

That's the exact scope I have on one of mine now though I have not played with the CDS dials.

I did have a VX6 1-6 CDS on this same gun and had a custom dial for it, 3-400 yards was easy.

I use LaRue mounts and highly recommend a 1 piece AR specific mount of some kind, there are many options.

what yardage did you use for zero with the CDS?

200

Sounds like a perfect scope for an AR

That's a perfect scope for that gun.

I would zero it in at 100 yards and have Leupold make you a dial for the bullet you are using than all you would have to do is just turn the dial to range and be dead on. That's how I do all my Leupold CDS dials and works great.

thanks for the input guys.

Nothing wrong with that scope at all. I hunt Mississippi as well and use similar Leupold models as a general rule.

If you want a ballistic reticle in a very similar scope, look at Leupold's Mark AR and VX-R Patrol scopes; they are essentially the hunting scopes with ballistic reticles and turrets added. You can get them with illuminated dots too that work very well. I like the Mark AR series.

I also like the Mark AR line.

SWFA 1-4 is a great optic!