So I am in the market for a scope for a Savage Model 110 7mm Rem Mag. I have been looking at the Vortex scopes, I have seen more positive than negative reviews, but what I haven't seen are any reviews about them on magnum caliber rifles. I bought the rifle at a pawn shop for cheap, it came with a tasco 3-9 x 50, I am not sure if that scope is going to hold up on a 7 pound magnum rifle. I have my eye on a crossfire 2 in 3-9 x 50, however as I said, I haven't seen any reviews about these scopes on a 7mm Mag or larger magnum calibers.


Thoughts?

A 7 Mag doesn't real world kick anymore than an 06...

That Tasco would hold up just fine...

if you don't think so, then go with the Crossfire...

Vortex backs it up.. I've used their customer service and thought it was excellent...

I recently (couple months ago) bought a Crossfire II 4x12x40AO from Cameraland. Is mounted on a 7x57 shooting 150gr bullets @ 2800fps. This probably has a milder recoil signature than '06 & 7mag. To date ~40 rounds fired w/ the Crossfire on the rifle.

So far so good. Holds zero shot to shot. I haven't twisted the turrets much, but the adjustments I've made, say dialing 2 moa gave me 2 moa. Adjusting parallax for 100 & 200 yards was good too.

Being an under $200 scope I don't expect the guts to be very rubust, last a lifetime. Never know, they might.

I like having parallax adjustment on a scope. If a shooter pays attention to align your eyeball with the scope axis you probably don't need the para adjustment.

Thanks guys, I went to the range the other day and could not get the thing to zero very well at 100 yards. I was thinking the same thing today, while I was out, that the tasco should not have a problem. A few days ago, I took the stock off the gun and found that the front swivel was touching the bottom of the barrel, and today, I took the scope off, to find that the dovetails in the weaver bases have been ground out so that they would be wider. The rings that are on the Tasco scope do not need the dovetails to be that wide. This leads me to believe that the scope had been moving forward and backward during initial range time. The standard dovetail should have worked fine. I have removed the front sling swivel for the time being, and now will change out the bases and put the Tasco back on and see how it fares.

By dovetails I am assuming that you are referring to the cross-slots in the Weaver bases, it really should not make any difference that they are wider. Recoil will try to move the scope and rings forward - not backwards. Just slide the rings as far forward as possible in the cross-slots and tighten the mounting screws.

drover

Yes, I did mean the cross slots. I will put them back on and give it another whirl sometime this week hopefully. They have been ground out quite a bit.

Thanks.

I need to amend my previous post here regarding the Vortex Crossfire II. After posting I went to 100 yard line at LGC. Right target is 139gr Hornady IL w/imr4350. Had 4 rounds to try with 47gr of the 4350, bullet seated to Hornady 3.00" oal.

Left target is with some old Super-X 175 gr factory ammo I wanted to use up, had 7 rounds.

It's clear to see the zero shift that happened with both targets. The right target had random zero shift where fire shot, next shot lower, next shot higher, next shot lower. The left target displayed the same shot high/low shifting.

I'm going to call Vortex tomorrow to see what they say about this. I'll send them an email with photos to help explain the zero shift I see.

The other photo is of the scope mounting. Leopold LRW steel rings, steel bases. Locktite on screws, loctite under bases as a bedding agent.

Uh oh, that is not good.

Called Vortex today. Sent them an email too with the photos above. Vortex suggested I applied farmer torque to the ring caps because I used Loctite which lubes the threads which lowers prevailing torque and screws produce higher clamp load (to a degree this is true, can result in an additional in-lb or so at the 15 in-lb target torque). I work testing bolted joints, clamp load, and high science stuff like that. Anyhow, Andy @ Vortex sent a RA form, so back it goes.

In the meantime, I bought a Burris FFII 4.5-14x42 AO, Paid full price, $299. Burris scopes I've had in past were decent for the money, never had zero shift, even with farmer torque.

Ruger, you might be on a budget like I am (I'm cheap too which has cost me yet again by hoping the Crossfire would be ok), but spend as much as you can to by a durable scope for your rifle in this thread. There's a reason the guys on this board that do spend a fair amount of money on good optics. They're all richer than I am too, lol.

Thoughts buy a Leupold

I am learning that. I am just cheap, and cannot bring myself to pay top dollar for top optics usually, but I am going to suck it up and stop the cheap scope charades. I have sucked it up on some of my other rifles and bought Leupolds and Nikons, this 7 mag is a project gun, it was bought to be a doner rifle, however it initially showed promise shooting nice tight 3 shot groups, made adjustment let it cool, center a tight 3 shot group on the target, let the rifle cool down again, then it started slinging them all over the paper, and was chasing zero. 4" left dead center, then 2 right, and 3 inches down, then 6" high and 4 " right. Let it cool, and started again, and it was all over the place again. Same factory ammo. Took it home, cleaned it, found the sling swivel problem, and then started thinking that the Tasco was having problems.

I am just going to bite the bullet and buy a quality optic, so there is no question about the optics.

I do not own a Crossfire but I'm just wondering if you ever shot that rifle and produced better groups? Either with handloads or factory loads. Two different rounds isn't a big test group. As you said, you already found issues with the swivel and bases.

I have a rifle and with one load it shot 3" groups at 100 yards. then tried a different load combo and it went down to 0.75". I didn't blame the scope. Just this year, my cousin went to sight his rifle in before season, couldn't hit the 4'x5' plywood we have as a target stand. Previous year he was fine and shot great with same setup. Turns out.... the tip of his bore got wet and had just a slight bit of rust on it. Smith cut the barrel down and recrowned it and now shoots wonderfully.

Anyway, just wondering if you have had success in a shooting a tight group with the rifle. And if you have, try the same load and make an informed decision.

I was in the same boat, but said screw it. Mounted a Crossfire 2 on my 12ga. slug awith Leupold rings. I've thrown about 80 rounds and haven't had any issues.

I disagree with the recoil from a 7RM not exceeding a typical 30-06... and not that a 30-06 is nothing, either.

IME the 7RM tends to be a sharper and more unpleasant obvious felt recoil.

I have not had the opportunity to see if I can get it to shoot better groups, other things have come up and taken priority at the time. I am on still on the fence about the scope. I have a Leupold Rifleman 3-9 x 50 I bought as a back up scope on sale over the Black Friday sales, however on the long action savage it does fit, I need either an extension ring or I need to change out to a different base. I just have not looked for the right base yet or found the extension rings I need. Hopefully after the holidays I can get back out to the range to see what happens.

Maybe unpleasant is a bit much? I do believe it is a touch of a wilder experience!

I do not have to claim any particular prowess or testosterone generation over recoil. I do not like it much. I have a few very, very light rifles in ordinary chamberings that will get your attention. An ordinary 30-06 of 7 pounds is plenty for me. I will know when it fires!

And yes, I find a 30-06 unpleasant. It does not stop me from shooting even bigger stuff, but joy does not abound.

I had a Tikka T3 338 WinMag. ~7.5# gun. Did not like that recoil much. Limbsaver pad (Sorbothane) helped a bunch. Had a Burris on that one. Probably woulda blowed up a Crossfire II lol.

06 never seemed to bother me, nor the 7 Mag...

or my 300 Mag for that matter...

on the flip side, I hunt usually with a 7 x 57 on down...

If your rings/bases have been bubbaed up, just go buy some new ones. That is the cheapest way to eliminate a big source of variation. They might be all (or much) of the problem.

Back edges, front edges, both?

I have a number of Weaver bases that have the cross slots ground out, I even have some with alternate cross slots filed into them. There are a few sets of rings out there that screw/bolt that locks the rings to the bases is to large to fit the existing slot. Some times I have to move the slot to a different position to mount a scope, instead of going through the expense of an extension ring I just file a new slot. On a recent Howa Mini the Weaver cross slot(Rem 700 rear base) was out over the ejection port in front of the mounting screws , I loped off the offending part and cut a new slot between the mounting screws.

Both, it almost doubled the size, of the original slot. They are not really square either. The screws on the set of rings that is on it, does not need the slots to be that wide. I have a new set of bases coming, and a set of extension rings coming , so that I can mount the Leupold on it.

Too dogs I am not sure you can say for certain (based on the limited info we’ve read here) that your issue is the scope. Also can’t say it isn’t. However what I am seeing in your photos is an example I have witnessed before in rifles that had issues with bedding or barrel channel contact or even both. I would put a scope with known dependability on it and shoot it again to verify before wasting any more time. Again this advice is based on the limited info we have on our end. Good luck and please keep us posted with the results.

Jim,
I had a 2-7x32 Nikon on this rifle prior to the Crossfire II. It's not the gun.

I bought the crossfire because I wanted increased magnification, and AO. Price was right 'cause I'm forever cheap (and that bit me in the butt yet again).

The crossfire is on its way back to Vortex. The rifle now wears a Burris FFII 4.5-14 w/AO. I will be shooting the rifle this weekend with the same load shown in the right photo shown above (four shot group).

Thank you for the suggestion Jim,

Pat