Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope recommendations for Sako 22LR

I'm looking to scope my new to me Sako M78 heavy barrel in 22lr.
I was going to scope it with a 3-9 or 4-12 Schmidt Bender, Swarovski, Zeiss or something similar.

BUT.....
While doing research I saw a few recommendations for SWFA 2.5-10x32 SS Ultralight Rimfire
Tract 22 FIRE 4-12x40 Rimfire.

Can you tell me how these would compare to the SB, Swarovski, and Zeiss.

Any help would be great.

Open to any suggestions. Scope needs to be 1 inch and no larger than 42mm.

Everything cited is Dog Schit. Hint.

Pass the 6x MQ,40+ Mil’s on the erector,unerring tracking/repeats and 20yd parallax. Hint.

Assuming you are actually going to fhuqking shoot. Hint………….,

What are you planning on using it for and in what conditions? Your eyes and shooting conditions may vary so you should pick something that fits where and what you shoot and I think you really have to look through them yourself to determine this.

For instance, lots and lots of people highly recommend the SWFA scopes, like Stick.

So I bought 4 of them along with a 3-15.

I tried the 6XMQ late spring early summer in West Tennessee (lots of leaves on the trees). The glass coatings didn't let enough light through it for me to see the reticle when the lighting wasn't ideal. I could sit on my patio under a willow oak and look at a fox squirrel approximately 40 yards away in a hickory tree and all I could see was the squirrel and the very heavy bars of the MQ. No way to make an ethical shot. Same thing as the lighting faded in more open areas. The reticle completely disappeared to my eyes. Looking out into a well-lit target out in the sun, it was fine. If I was anywhere the light around me was reduced vs the light of the target, it was fine (like in the house with the lights off looking out my back door). Equal lighting or a situation where there was more light around me and less on the target the reticle completely disappeared. This is precisely what I see when squirrel hunting so it wasn't a scope that would work for me. Target shooting it would be fine, but not hunting where I would be in varied lighting conditions at different times of the year.

If I cupped my hands around the occular lens housing so that the only light coming to my eye came through the scope, I could see the reticle fine. This is what led me to the glass coatings not letting enough light through the scope for my eyes.

Other scopes with higher better coatings (Trijicon, Sightron, Leupold) did not have this problem for my eyes.

I tried it with 4 different 6X MQ and a 3-15MQ, so it wasn't just that one scope.

I recommend buying something from a company that is good for returns so you can try out what works for your usage and eyesight.

Sun shades work wonders. I’ve nearly 100 of ‘em and upon World Class Rimfires expressly. Hint…………..

I would be hunting squirrels and shooting targets at 100 to 150 yards max.

That won't begin to even scratch the surface,on the inherent abilities of a 6x MQ. Once you taste a scope that tracks,repeats and hold zero...150yds isn't even first fhuqking gear. Hint.



Just sayin'................

I didn't think to try that.

So a sunshade on the objective would mimic the effect of my hand/toilet paper roll on the occular?

I thought sunshades were mostly to reduce glare/flare but I am certainly open to more information. Can you expand on this?

I liked the scope, it wasn't too heavy and I liked the reticle, I just couldn't see it.

I was hoping that whatever they have new coming down the pipe was going to have some improved glass on the 6X. Like the HD on the 10X and the 3-9.

The 6X MQ offers (2+) Mil's of elevation,for every ounce of weight and is without equal. Hint.

I've got 3-9's,but don't much care for them. Hint.



I prefer fixed,to the 3-15's(I've multiple versions). Hint.



As HD's go,the 5-20x is sensational. Hint.



Glass largely doesn't make a fhuqk,but guts and parallax do. Hint.

Just sayin'..................

Lol. Wrong end. Sunshade on the objective won't do squat for that issue. They make a flexible rubber shade for the ocular (generic fit), but they look like garbage.

Best bet is find a scope that works best for you. Sometimes hype is just that, hype.

CLUELESS Crying Kchunts,crack me the fhuqk up! Hint.












Bless your Lying Crying heart.

Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!........................

You don’t need anything more than a 1.5-6x scope. I like German optics. YMMV.

If you’re talking serious target shooting, that’s a whole other topic.

What you need to worry most about in a scope for squirrel hunting and shooting targets with a rimfire to 150 yds is an erector with extreme range and the ability to track repeatedly.

I cant tell you how many times I was frustrated with my scopes not tracking while hunting bushytails. I am sure I am not alone here, right?

Good glass & the ability safely acquire target (and beyond) in varying light and multiple angles is tertiary to the ability to hold zero when dialing from 20 yards to 70 yards and then back to 40 yards.

Dontcha know.

Hint.

....,

(what he ^ said)

I've been shooting 100 - 150 squirrels a year for almost 50 years. My main squirrel rifles wear 2-7x and 4x scopes. No dialing, no AO, most shots between 10 and 50 yards. No need for anything more. My rifles will shoot dime size 5 shot groups at 50 yards with these scopes. I rarely miss. If I'm wanting to shoot anything bigger than squirrels or cottontails or anything past 75 yards, I'll take one of my .22 magnums. Beyond that, my .223, .22-250 or .243 come out to play.

Just got back from the range where I was dinking a 6” plate at 200 with my 10/22 CSC, equipped with a SWFA 6X, the MOA version, which was what was in stock when the sale was on. Once I figured out the drop, I alternated between dialing it and holding it, back and forth. Worked like a champ. Had to walk the windage back and forth.

I kind of like the MOA for this as it has a very small floating center dot and numbers on the lower wire. Hate me if you must…….

Pretty dang good scope for $209

I see squirrels way out there often while deer hunting, but such shots don’t fit within my sporting notions when actually hunting them. Getting close, 50 or under, is part of the game rules for me. They’re rats, but I want them DRT, not flopping around. Any rifle and scope that groups under 3/4” should be able to hit within 3/8” of one’s hold and do just fine. Lots seem to prefer target ammo for head shots, but HPs provide a little cushion if the shot’s off a touch. I do like the soft report of SS ammo.

What the Hell do you do with 150 squirrels? That’s a lot of biscuits and gravy!

We like squirrel gravy and biscuits and I love to hunt squirrels. Takes 4 squirrels for a good, meaty batch and we like to eat it kinda regular year round. I only hunt squirrels Sept. 1 - mid October so leaf cover is thick and long shots rare. After that it's on to bigger and better things, turkey, archery deer, gun deer, muzzleloader deer, cottontails and predators. I don't give a rip about a soft report and most often use HVHP's. I've killed a limit of 6 squirrels while sitting in the same spot in under an hour many times and set a new personal record of 6 in 30 minutes flat on opening day last season shooting HV ammo. The next day I killed another limit in an hour and 10 minutes and another limit in an hour and 15 the day after that. I don't think SS or match ammo would have made a bit of difference.

Yeah, but what's a guy like you really know about squirrel hunting? I bet you dont even put colored electrical tape on your squirrel guns. You probably dont even have any photos of 4 guns laying in a creek.

... hint...... ,

I’m more worried about disturbing the deer in the area than the squirrels. While Xbow hunting, I often hear squirrel hunters taking their pokes, and the reports from both types are pretty distinctive, even at considerable distances. Might be over-thinking that. At any rate, both types of HPs are real killers.

Decades ago my brother shot a big fox squirrel, the first either of us had seen, through the lungs with his new Kimber 82 loaded with Eley Tenex, IIRC. Had to rinse and repeat that a couple of times because there was no expansion. Maybe the new flatnose stuff would be better.

You and those squirrel hunters being in the woods moving about leaving scent alarms the deer more than the gunfire. I've had deer right in front of me while centerfire rifle fire rang out all around, some of it no doubt not more than a couple hundred yards away and seen them pay little attention to it. I have used the flat nosed CCI SGB's and was not as impressed by it's terminal effects as some seem to be.