Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope for Savage Smokeless 50 cal

Needin a scope for my smokeless savage ,, what's the skinny on the Nikon Omega BDC?
Thanks

I would look at Vortex.

Don't know about the Nikon Omega BDC or the Vortex, but I've used a Monarch 4x40 and a Conquest 4x32 on mine. I've loved them both. I think you can still find the Conquest (tt Doug http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/zeiss.pl?page=521405 ), but they discontinued the Monarch.

JCM

I have a 3-9 Mueller on mine. It's OK, and has shed monsoon waters so it seems pretty reliable. I haven't been disappointed in the clarity for the ranges the gun shoots. But it's a red-dot scope that takes a battery, and the battery compartment is above the ocular lens. It gets a little under my skin because it's always bumping the brim of my hat when I raise it to my eye.

The Savage 10ML is accurate and reaches out very well for a muzzleloader. I would think you'll find lots of 3-9 scopes that you'll like on it, from the middle shelf on up.

I'll be watching this thread in case I decide to make a change.

Steve

A friend of mine has a Nikon Omega on his TC. While it seems work well for him, I find the reticle a bit cluttered for my taste.
I put a older straight 3x Leupold with the post & duplex on my Savage.

Most any quality scope will work well on the Savage. If you are going to burn smokeless powder, you won't be concerned about the caustic effects of blackpowder or some of the substitutes. I put a Swarovski PH 1.5x6x42 on mine and consider it a perfect fit. That may seem a little overkill on a ML but since we can't hunt bucks with highpower rifles here so my Savage is my main deer gun when in the home state.

If I wanted a less costly quality scope, I'd look at Leupold VXII's, Nikon Monarchs, or similar.

My Savage wears a Bushnell Elite 4200 in 3-9x40 that has worked out just perfectly for me.

I use Leupolds on my two Savages, one wears a 3.5-10x and the other a 2.5-8x. Both have the standard duplex reticles which I would recommend. I just bought a Nikon Slug Hunter scope with the BDC reticle and found it basically useless. The supposed zero ranges for the various circles weren't anywhere close to being correct.

I use the Leupold 6x42 with the LR reticle on my Savage 10ML II with thumbhole stock.

The fixed power Leupold is "tank tough" and allows plenty of magnification for the ranges that the smokeless Savage loads will be utilized.

In addition, the LR reticle allows a distinct reference point for holding dead on out to 300 yards with proper loads.

I've had a few different scopes mounted on mine....Mueller 2-7x32, Elite 3200 3-9x40, Leupold FXIII 6x42, and probably a few others. The best advise I can give you would be to get a variable that goes down to 1.5 or 2x.

The reason I say this is that most deer are shot well within 100 yards - especially here in states where deer hunting with a centerfire rifle isn't permitted. Even 3x magnification can be a real hassle when one surprises you at 10-25 yards.

It really boils down to how/where you hunt. If you hunt primarily from a stand in the woods or stalking/driving, a low power scope will serve you better. Conversely, if you mainly hunt from a stand overlooking a field, something with 7-10x magnification on the high end would probably serve you better.

Something like the Bushnell Elite 6500 1.5-8x32 or Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42 would be ideal as a dual-role scope as they offer the low magnification for close-in shots while retaining the higher magnification for longer shots. Only problem is that they're a little pricey (especially the Swaro at $1800!).

I run a Leupold vari-xII 2x7 on my 10ML II and it works fine for me!!!

from what i understand about the BDC reticle, they are "set" for using a 250g bullet and 150g of pellets.

so in other words, unless you shoot that exact load, the drop reticles will be useless.

which, makes it a useless scope.

The Omega is a good scope.

I put a cheap Simmons Aetec on my Savage about 6 years ago for load work. It worked quite well, so I left it on and after 6 years of torture its never lost zero.

I hate cheap scopes, but I must have gotten lucky on the Aetec.

The Omega has pretty good glass and good eye relief. Not a bad option. May want to check out Natchez or ebay, usually some good deals on those scopes.

Good Luck

loder

Not useless, you just have to find what ranges the reticles are set for just like any other trajectory compensating reticle with various loads in rifles.

loder