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Not a long range shooter. Never shot at an animal over 325 yards. Got a Dall sheep hunt in 2021. Want to be prepared if necessary. What is the best budget dial scope that is worth having? If it's 1000.00 model so be it. A cheapie that's crap is no bargain. Tell me my options straight up and I'll have to decide if it's worth it.Thanks.
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SS 3x9 HD or a NF SHV 3-10. Pretty darned good bargains well under a 1000 bucks.
Semper Fi
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If you go the NF SHV route, I suggest you call Doug at Cameraland (sponsor on this forum) and see if he still has this model on sale. I think he had them for $675 or $699...best price I have seen on that scope anywhere since they were introduced.
I am test driving the SWFA SS 3-9x42HD now and am enjoying it. If you go this path, I recommend you wait on their next sale which is tax day if I remember correctly. Not as good as Black Friday (~$460 IIRC), but still better than paying the full $700 retail.
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IMHO - if I could afford a guided dall sheep hunt, I could find a way to afford a 2.5-10x42 NF NXS scope to put on my rifle and not have any fears of it failing me...
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SS 3x9 HD or a NF SHV 3-10. Pretty darned good bargains well under a 1000 bucks. Good advice here. I use the ss 3x9. Very re!iable.
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Well. there ya go.....I just googled Nightforce and that link showed up first.....
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I have had great service from Eurooptic.
Eat Fish, Wear Grundens, Drink Alaskan.
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Hard to beat a SWFA 3-9, especially for the money
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Hard to beat a SWFA 3-9, especially for the money Just got an email that my (back)order is now on the way, gonna get here Friday.
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I'm not a sheep hunter, but I know and have known plenty of them since I came to Alaska in 1965. Most of the guides I knew are in the happy hunting grounds now. Several of them and their clients did lots of sheep hunting and never touched a dial. I know long shots happen and I think you are wise to prepare for your sheep hunt. By that I mean I would do lots of shooting out to 600 yards, so the 500 yard shot would be easy under "perfect conditions".
A couple of my buddies sheep hunt every year and do pretty good. One of them uses a .270 Win. and 130 grain Barnes TSX and an older Leupold 4.5-14x40 with the B&C reticle. He swears by it and I doubt he will ever change. The other uses a .270 WSM and I forget what Leupold he has on it. Neither one dial, but they kill sheep. Many in the old days used a fixed 4 power and 3-9 scopes. I only know one guy that dials and he does lots of long range shooting when not hunting.
Almost everyone tries to go in as light as they can on a sheep hunt and they try to carry light rifles with light scopes. If you can afford it I think a NXS 2-10 or a 3-10 SHV would work for dialing and you can tape your loads info to your stock for a quick reference. I have the SHV version with a Force Plex reticle, as it was lots cheaper then the NXS version. I ordered some ballistic tape from Kenton Industries with the numbers from the load I sent in now taped on the elevation turret so all I do is range it and turn the elevation dial to that range on the SHV and press the trigger.
If some one is tough enough to pack it up a mountain I am sure the NXS 3-15 Mil Mil scope has every thing a guy could want.
I also have SWFA 3-9x42 that is a dialer with a good reputation. If I was sheep hunting with it I would leave it on 6 power unless I had a rest and time to zoom to 9 power. I also would not feel under scoped with it. I think a good riflemen with that scope can make shots way past 500 yards. At least they do on You Tube.
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Any real preference between the SWFA 3x9x42 or the Night force SHV 3x10?
Last edited by scottf270; 01/15/20.
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Any real preference between the SWFA 3x9x42 or the Night force SHV 3x10? I have had a couple SHV 3-10's and a bunch more 3x9 SS HD's. Personally, I prefer the 3x9 SS. The reticle is very useful for holding wind, elevation, and optically the scope is pretty darned good as well. I also prefer mils, no huge reason other than I am used to it. It doesn't hurt the 3X9 can be had for a few hundred less than the NF.
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I'm a sheep hunter with 4 rams to my credit. Planning a hunt to complete my slam with a desert. I've been using a Zeiss V4 4-16 with a twister turret. Little heavy but it's well built and tracks accuratety.
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Hard to beat a SWFA 3-9, especially for the money Just got an email that my (back)order is now on the way, gonna get here Friday. DANG! Was that a Black Friday order? I literally just talked with them yesterday (spoke with Michael) and he told me they were looking at 90 days!
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Any real preference between the SWFA 3x9x42 or the Night force SHV 3x10? I had an SS 3-9, then sold it to get an SHV 3-10 (MOAR non-illuminated). I shot the SHV for a while, sold it, and bought another SS 3-9. I prefer the Milquad reticle, glass is just as good to my eyes (maybe better), and it’s a couple hundred cheaper.
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Not a long range shooter. Never shot at an animal over 325 yards. Got a Dall sheep hunt in 2021. Want to be prepared if necessary. What is the best budget dial scope that is worth having? If it's 1000.00 model so be it. A cheapie that's crap is no bargain. Tell me my options straight up and I'll have to decide if it's worth it.Thanks. zeiss v4 is worth a look, the sample of one I have tracked dead on, I will continue shooting it long term, when it gets warm I want to do a video connecting on some shots way out there. another choice that I think is excellent as a HUNTING scope. is huskemaw. if you can find a deal on one. I really like my 3-12, again its tracked true in a static fixture and I have 2 seasons under my belt with it. the SWFA 3-9 tracked true as well for me. no zero stop and non capped turrets. FFP reticle, if you like that. if you are wanting to save money maybe its an option. I would go with the first 2 though if I am worried about a big hunt. nightforce, well you can't go wrong there!! The gold standard of tracking and dialing.
Last edited by cumminscowboy; 01/15/20.
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