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My lovely wife bought me an AR for Christmas. It has a 16" barrel and I plan to use it to ring steel and hunt coyotes and ground squirrels. Realistically probably a 300 yard rifle for me. (I have much better bolt rifle options including a fast twist 22 creed under construction for really LR stuff)

Ill be the first to Admit - I am not an AR guy, this is the first one I have ever owned. Honestly don't even know how this rifle will shoot and won't be reloading for it, but figure I can find a good 50-55 grain factory load for its purpose. But now I have to scope it and have been racking my brain and the forums for the last month...At this point my options appear to be:

SWFA 6X or 10x (Demo)
Burris RT6 1-6X (Demo)
Nikon Mtac 3-12x42 (I have this scope on a .22)

I'm trying to stay budget as this is no more than a $500 rifle - probably $250 max. Any suggestions??? The thought of a Vortex or Leupold makes me throw up in my mouth a bit)

I just bought a Leupold VX Freedom 3-9X with the "tri moa" reticle for mine. I think I paid $250. It is putting pairs of shots a half inch apart at 100 yards .. Nosler 60 grain ballistic tip factory ammo. The MOA-ish hash marks on the vertical 'hair will be better than guessing drop and on the horizontal better than guessing .. or at least helping me consistently / repeatably guess .. drift that far. Good enough for its intended purpose.

Tom

Of your picks in the OP above I would go with the Nikon.
The closeout deals on Nikon scopes right now provide some really good discounts.

Scope it however you like, opinions will vary from user to user.

I have used the 6x and 10x super chickens and find no fault except for the size and weight. They are good scopes and work well beyond 300 yards, I do have a 3-9 super chicken on one AR now simply because I have it available. But I have a couple of 1-4 Trijicon Accupower's on other guns that I normally shoot 55 grain bullets out of, the BDC matches perfectly with my ammo. It's out of your price range but is a very nice scope for what I do with it.

Another option is to get some irons for it and learn the rifle, see what you can do with it and if you want to spend money on it or not. Then there's red dots...

For called coyotes it would be hard to beat a 1-4, 1-6, 1.5-4, 1.5-6 or 2-7 all will get you to 300 yards on coyotes. Called coyotes I find FOV trumps X's every tine. Trying to get a bead on a hard charger in the brush or sage gets harder as the X's go up, for me the bottom limit is a scope with at least 40" of FOV on the bottom end. Second is the reticle, I like them bold for called coyotes, #4 with an illuminated dot is great, heavy duplex works well and my new favorite is a #1.

If your not calling coyotes but shooting targets of opportunity, I'd look at one of the 2.5-10x40 or 50mm and a ballistic plex reticle for long range, in the excitement of the hunt it is real easy to forget to turn everything back to zero and raising you hand to adjust turrets is just more movement to give yourself away.

My little 16" AR .223 wore a Burris 4X 1.5-6x40 but wouldn't fit in my scabbard so got changed out to a Leupold Freedom 1.5-4x20mm with the pig plex, it works well.

My 6x45mm bolt action wears the Burris 4x now

I have a Meopta 1.5-6x40 #1 on my bolt 20 Practical

Sightron II 1.6-6x40 duplex on my bolt 22-204

Leupold Compact duplex on my 222 Rem bolt actions

Leupold VX-II, VX-2, VX-1 and Varix-II 1-4x20's on my combos and drilling for coyotes. in the thick stuff.

My open country 22-250 wears a 2.5-10x40mm Buschnel Elite.

If I want to play games with my rifles I have a few 6.5x20's, one in an AR mount and others in QD rings to swap in when the target get small at longer ranges.

I carry a finish hammer for putting trim on, and a big a-- framing hammer for that kind of work.

Doug at Cameraland has Burris FourX 1.5-6x42 illum #4 reticle reticles on sale for $260 with a free $50 gift card

I put the RT-6 Burris on my 16” coyote AR. MY first Burris and was very pleased with the quality, glass, and reticle.

I just mounted a SWFA ultra light with the 223 BDC on one of my ARs. Only been to the 100 yard range a few times, but really liking this scope. The small size makes it about perfect balance wise. I had a 2-7 Diamondback and that worked fine and the BDC markings were dead on at 200 and 300 yards. I have a SWFA 6x mounted on another AR, but it just seems big for the AR platform.

Of those, RT6. I have a MTAC 1-4x on my general purpose AR. It works well for all that stuff. Two more X wouldn't hurt.

Other of those would be the SWFA 6x. I'd have to have a reflex on a 45 degree to go with, though. Short range speed blasting with ARs is fun.

Out of those options, the Burris would definitely be my pick.....

You definitely married a keeper!

Is the IR on this scope daylight bright?

It can be. There are 10 settings, from visible in bright sunlight, down to perfect in pitch black. I think the reticle, both the basic design and the illumination, is very well executed.

FC

I have an RT-6 in a QR mount on one of my ARs. Very versatile and great for 0-300 yards. I recommend it.

If you will only be shooting out to 300 yards consider a Meopta Optika6 1-6x24. It is an excellent option that won't disappoint you. Pick up the phone and call a dealer and you can probably save a few $ too. Congrats for having such a thoughtful wife, now go have some fun and let her shoot it too.

Appreciate the responses...I settled on a SS 6X....