Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Rimfire/Varmint/Big Game Scope help

Hi guys. A member on another forum pointed me in the direction of this forum as being somewhere there were a lot of experienced hunters. So this is my first post.

I am in the process of setting up 3 hunting rifles to, hopefully, cover my needs. A Tikka T1x in .22 LR, a Tikka T3x in .223 and a Tikka T3x in .308. I will be using them for informal target shooting with friends and varmint control/hunting. Primary usage will be in rolling West TN hardwood forests with some open field use. I have a 400 yard range and access to longer ranges but wouldn't feel comfortable taking game at even 400 yards. Eventually I do plan on an elk hunt "out West" and maybe going and shooting prairie dogs at some point.

Historically I have always used Leupold scopes and I currently have a couple of Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 scopes and a couple of Leupold Freedom 3-9X33 EFR scopes that were removed off of my previous hunting rifles. Unfortunately, Leupold doesn't make a rimfire scope and big game scope that have identical reticles/powers/adjustments. The closest is the 2-7x33 Freedom Rimfire but it has a different reticle that my VX-2. While that isn't a major problem, I really want something that is identical if at all possible. I am not a big fan of the Freedom 3-9x33 EFR due to the eye relief and the tighter/smaller eyebox than the 2-7X33 VX-2. I had two of them on a pair of Browning T-bolts for several years (.22 an .22 Mag) before I swapped them off.

I am not opposed to paying more for improved capabilities, but I don't want to spend so much on the optic that I am constantly babying it and not using it.

My purpose in getting rid of my previous hunting rifles and getting the Tikkas were to have as close as possible operation between all of the rifles and I would like to set them up with either identical scopes or as close as identical as possible. What do you guys recommend?

I'd give Doug at cameraland a call he had Burris E1 4.5-14 plex for about 150 each. Doesn't weigh to much has life time warranty. Or he may have something else.

Burris 3- 9 with the ballistic plex for both

Pretty sure you’re not the first to try setting up such an arsenal. You’ll end up with an understudy for your understudy. Not a bad idea at all, but I suspect your resolve will wander a bit in time.

I'll go along with the Burris 3-9 as a solid basic choice, though if you can find them, the E1 with the same old style ballistic plex is preferred for its eyepiece that doesn’t rotate when you zoom. With more money to spend, I’d pick the Trijicon Accupoint 3-9 with green dot. If you want more power for varmints or targets, the Fullfield II 4.5-14 is also available with the standard ballistic plex.

Well... I wish I did something similar when I first started out!
The money I could have saved!!


Why not just get three Leupold 6x42, have one sent in to change parallax on the 22lr if its a problem..

SWFA SS 6x, 10x, 3-9x.

I have a similar setup as you. My rimfire is an Anschutz 1416 w/sporter bbl. Sweet rifle. I use a 4-12 vx-2 with AO and duplex. I havent noticed any eyebox problems. It is not a large scope and fits the rifle nicely. But they arent cheap being in the $450 range used mint.

I have a similar set up with an SWFA 6x, SWFA 10x and and Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 2-12. Works pretty well for me.

I couldnt put a chinese scope on a fine .22! Actually I wouldn't put put a chinese anything on any of my firearms.

Best value in the process range.

More info.

I have limited opportunities to shoot right now so when I do get some trigger time, I would like it to be improving skills. I got to this point after having several embarrassing mishaps several years ago. I used to have a pretty wide assortment of brands/types/actions. It had been a while since I had used my old Marlin 39a and I grabbed it when someone asked me to get rid of a rabbit problem they had. I had him in my sights and I slowing squeezed the trigger and *click*, I figured it was just a bad round so I cycled the lever and *click* again. That is when I stopped and stared for a couple of seconds as it finally dawned on me that I had left the safety on. I had put it on and forgotten to take it off. That rabbit lived another day. I started making sure that I used it often so I wouldn't have that problem and then a while later there as a muskrat in the lake behind the house. This time I was using a Marlin 25N in .22Mag. Again, *click*, because it had been a while since I had used that rifle, I didn't think to take that safety off. At that time I had A bolts in .30-06 and .223 and a couple of Marlin bolt actions in .22 LR and .22 Mag and a Marlin 30-30 and 39a. I could always remember the safety on the A-bolts, since it was right in front of my face, but would sometimes miss on the Marlins.

I don't have that problem with AR style rifles (probably since they all work the same). So I decided to get rid of everything that wasn't an AR. So I did. Not long after, I figured out why bolt action rifles still exist when the AR is so adaptable. They are heavier and bulky in the wrong places compared to a nice svelte bolt action. Especially the .308 versions. So, I gave up on that and sold off most of my AR rifles as well. Then I decided I wanted to keep the tang safety so I went with a Browning AB3 in .243 (Because I had issues with Duratouch on two different Browning guns and X-bolts were all Duratouch at the time) and a T-bolt in 22LR and 22 Mag and found out that while the T-bolt is quite accurate, I didn't like switching between straightpull and turn bolt action. Also, the.22 Mag is definitely better at killing critters than the .22, but it isn't as useful as far away as a .223.

I got my hands on a Tikka and I was immediately in love. So now, I have just a single action type and a single safety location and I want to carry this forward onto the optics as well. I don't want to have one scope with a duplex and one with holdovers and one with adjustable parallax. While I know I could adapt, and I guess I will if I have to, I would LOVE to have just a single scope that I could just stick on all 3 rifles.

I would like to have something that has good eye relief (3.5 in and up) and an eyebox that isn't extremely tight. I open to either FFP or SFP but I am really only planning on shooting at 200yds or less on game locally. However, I have not ever hunted "Out West" so I don't know if I should go with something that would allow me to dial or hold over for that type of hunting.

I have heard from other sources that there are lots of guys here with a lot of experience hunting in lots of places so I thought I would ask here. The other forums I am on are all self defense oriented with limited hunting inputs.

I appreciate ya'lls time and thanks to those that have responded already.

For the conditions you cite, you could do well with the SWFA SS 6x on all three of them.

John

If the OP wants a single scope model for all three rifles, then this would be a good one.

The 6x SWFA is also a good choice!!

Get a set of Sportsmatch rings.
T084 for T3x
T035C for T1x
Lowest 30mm scope rings for the Tikka .. and probably strongest.


Photo from Castle_Rock member here

Thanks for that picture. It is good to see one mounted. It does show me that the elevation turret is not as high as I had feared but it is higher than I would like. Definitely not off the list though. I like the simplicity of it.

rimfire


varmint


big game

I like your style H22. Hard to go wrong with the LRHS/LRTS.

Hard to wrong with the SWFA, either, but the Bushies do offer some nice features over similar sized SWFA's.

Why not get a Leupold VX III 4.5-14x40mm A.O. for each one.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's a 10x in the picture, not a 6x. Are they both the same dimensions?
Welcome to the Campfire CrowHunterTN.

Yes.