Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics New long-range scope for .22 LR ?

Recently saw some ad for a scope designed for use with .22LR having easy adjustments for longer ranges. It might have been a Nikon, but have not seen it again in any ads. Has anyone used such a scope, and how good is it? Can you point me to a good one? Thanks for any info.

I had a Pride-Fowler scope once that has a reticle with hash marks setup for the .22LR out to 200yds. It worked pretty well but the optics were poor quality.

Terry

You probably saw the new Nikon ProStaff Rimfire 3-9x 40mm. It's got a Nikon BDC built around .22lr drops at 50,75,100,125 and 150yds. I think the top of the heavy post is the 200yd line,but might be wrong on that.
Rimfire Central has had some detailed reviews on it.
I've handled several new Prostaffs, but not the rimfire model.
The new prostaff optics are much nicer than the old prostaff, and the new resettable turrets are almost as good as the current Buckmaster turrets for spinning purposes. It does have some oddities though: 1/2 MOA adjustments and it's missing an AO, which I think is preferable for a .22 scope that might be used anywhere from 15yds-200yds.

Clearidge Optics makes a 3x9-32 that has low adjustable turrets. I use mine on a 22 Hornet, but it is designed for rimfires and low recoil, varmint calibers. I use mine regularly when shooting sage rats and it always returns to zero. A very good scope for what it was designed for. The quality is there. Google Clearidge OPtics and you will be taken to their website. I have two of their scopes and could not be more satisfied.

I'm with Poodleshooter on the scope.

As an aside, Cabela's was closing out the last of the 4x Prostaff rimfire scopes and I got one for $70...I'm guessing they are making way for the new Prostaff line. I've had it out twice now and have been very impressed with it...great rimfire scope.

Thanks Poodleshooter, FredWillis and JCMCUBIC for the info and insights you have provided. This is exactly what I needed.

Good show.

I have 5 PFI (www.rapidreticle.com) scopes and love 'em all. 1 is set up on a custom Ruger Charger that i use to shoot out to 250-300 yds. Check out my youtubes on the system out to 235 yds. on a coke can-- youtube.com then search long range ruger charger.

It is hands-down the best long range 22 LR optic made...IMO for hunting and LR plinking purposes.

Thanks sscoyote. Went to the web site and these look very good in terms of the rapid reticle aspect. Earlier, TC1 had comments about poor optics in the PF scopes. Any observations on that aspect?
Thanks again.

I was out about a month or so ago shooting prairie dogs with the optic and had a 7:00 wind that was giving me about 15 mph or so while gusting. I was prone behind this rig, and a PD stood up at 180 yds. I shot him at the high point of the wind by using the 10 mph windage line (the end of it) and he went down on top of his mound--of course being a 22 it didn't kill him instantly, so i shot 2 more times in succession and hit him both times while watching the mirage. I couldn't believe it. I could clearly see what it was doing which gave me a good indicator of downrange conditions.

I have had no problems with glass issues at all with any of these optics. I think they're made in Japan which is supposed to put out good glass.

I love the system because it's so fast to apply it in a PD town or ground squirrels where shots normally need to be taken at LR quickly. As long as the loads fit the subtension parameters of the reticle it works very well.

A buddy of mine was out shooting at the range with me a couple days ago using this rig and u wouldn't believe how close he was coming to little 2" shale rocks at 235 yds. on 1st shots--he actually hit the 1st one we shot at by adjusting 6 MOA up(using the low profile target turret) from the 200-yd. mark (21 MOA) using the calcs from a ballistics program--it was so rewarding (there was no wind at that time).

The 1 thing i'm not crazy about is that the reticle is in the 1st focal plane which means it gets smaller as magnification is decreased--so in very low light at low power it might not be the best.

I'll ditto this, as I also have a Clearidge RM. In my opinion, it's the ultimate .22lr scope short of the Weaver V16, if you want to spin turrets rather than using a ballistic reticle as the Prostaff has. The glass is awesome (I can see .22 holes at 100yds on 9x), and it's the only parallax adjustable scope that I own for which the indicated dial range actually matches the true parallax free range. It uses the "semi-target" turrets formerly found on the higher power Bushnell 4200s, coupled with the body and glass from the Weaver RV9, but possibly with better coatings.

CC, Poodleshooter is correct, for some reason I think I've said that about his replies before! Nikon's New 2011 ProStaff Rimfire 3-9 BDC 150 or 4X Rimfire Scope is made for Rimfire shooters. Parallax down to 50 yards, .25 inch click at 50 yards. This scope has been very well reviewed in magazines and different forums. I finally received one to test out last month and it was a pleasure. Nikon's new ProStaff design looked and worked great for me. While I was only able to shoot out to 100 yards the BDC 150 reticle functioned well. I also utilized Nikon's Spot On Ballistic Program for added accuracy. All in all I see why this scope is flying off of retailers shelves. It is a lot of scope for a fair price.
Here's a pic of my scope mounted on a 10/22.
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd363/bman940/ProStaffRimfire.jpg

Really "unbiased" report there, Mr. Nikon Pro Staffer..

The Nikon 3-9 Rimfire BDC 150 fills a niche. Like other Nikons the optics are very good. IMHO however, Nikon missed the mark slightly with this scope - it's heavy and bulky compared to others.

I have the 4-16 Monarch X on my custom 10/22. I love the mildots for steel plate shoots. The scope is overkill but the glass is awesome. Looks bad ass too. Soon its going on my Nesika Model J in 260. Need to get back on the F Class range.

I decided to give the Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44mm a whirl. Going to put it on my daughters .17HMR