Recommendations for rifle glass?

[PawPaw]

For what you want, I think any on your list should do fine. It boils down, at this point, to personal preference.

For a variable, I normally leave it on the lowest setting. I tend to favor 2x7 or 3x9 and start out with the setting as low as possible. If I decide I want to take a closer look at something, I can turn it up, but often I simply shoot with the scope on the low setting. This, you understand is for furry targets. For shooting at paper I might crank it up to see bullet holes.

[Denis]

Weet, I'd got to http://www.cameralandny.com/

Go look around the website, sign up for the free Vortex draw, and look at the Minox, Meopta and Vortex scope offerings under the Sports Optics menu, and especially under the "Demo" boxes list. Then get out your phone and call Doug or Neil at Cameraland. Tell them Denis from The Gun Counter Forum sent you, and ask what they can do for you within your budget.

Unless you want to do varminting from a rest or high-power target stuff, magnification over 9x is just wasted. At 10x, the magnification lets you see your own wobble to the point that it's distracting. I shoot game with a Minox ZA 3-9 x 40mm 1-inch scope, with a duplex reticle (heavy and light crosshairs) and am very happy with it. I also have a Vortex 2-7 scope, which I find is excellent. For hunting, I frequently set the scope at 5x and forget about it, if I have a decent open field of fire.

Mounts / rings. IIRC, you went for a Savage rifle. Check first with them - the receiver is probably factory drilled and tapped for mounts, so you just need to know which ones will fit the hole spacing. They might even sell you some with the rifle. You need 1" rings for a 1" scope tube, or 30mm rings for a 30mm scope tube, so buy the rings after you decide which size scope you're getting.

Get the lowest combination of mount and ring which will allow you to mount the scope without the objective bell hitting the barrel. "Medium" rings are usually about right for 40mm-objective scopes.

Go to MidwayUSA, and look at the selection of scope mounts (and matching rings) to fit your Savage Model 16:

http://www.midwayusa.com/find?sortby=1& ... ionid=9002

The main choices to make are (a) one-piece or two piece mounts and (b) Weaver/Picatinny-style or turn-in style. Personally, I have two-piece Weaver-type mounts, and am very happy with them. I like the quality of scope rings from Burris, Warne and Millett brands, although I have genuine Weaver rings on my Minox scope. Those are inexpensive, and a bit fiddly to tighten down right, but they work fine once properly torqued and loctited in place.

Lapping the scope rings to get proper contact to the scope tube is desirable. Midway sells a lapping kit, but if you're doing only the one rifle, you could probably just pay a gunsmith to do all the mounting for the price of the lapping gear...

[Weetabix]

I went to a gun shop at lunch and fingerprinted a Vortex Crossfire and a Diamondback. I liked the Diamondback better. The search continues...

Denis, Cameralandny has an open box Diamondback HD 3-12 x 43 for a bit of a discount. It's about $60 more than the 3-9 x 40 non-HD. I think I'll call them tomorrow.

[Darrell]

Look through a lot of scopes, then go with the one that made you feel the best. You'll know it when you look through it.

You might check out the Redfields while you're at it, they make decent scopes for the money.

[Netpackrat]

I have one of the Loopy Redfields on my Saiga .308 and I have no complaints about it.

[PawPaw]

I forgot to mention the Redfields, and the other guys are right. We've got a couple of new Redfields in the family battery and those that use them seem very happy with them.

[Denis]

Sounds like you're making progress, Weet.

Whatever scope you get, I really recommend getting yourself a neoprene scope cover for it. Look on ebay - they go for less than USD10, and keep the scope clean, dry and give some protection from knocks and bumps. My Minox scope came with a nice neoprene cover, and I was very annoyed with myself when I lost it in the field (it probably fell out of a car unnoticed in the dark). Fortunately, ebay has plenty on offer.

Personally, I don't like the flip-up scope covers, by Butler Creek and others - they are usually of flimsy construction and make noise. The neoprene ones are my choice over those. If you must have a "snap-off" cover, look at the rubber "bikini" type, or just cut a length of truck inner tube to fit your scope, and attach it to the centre of the scope tube with cable ties.

[evan price]

Even cheap scopes these days are better than our father's glass.
I picked up a 6-24x44 TruGlow on eBay new in box for really cheap, made in China but lifetime warranty and well built. The clarity was better than the Bushnells and Nikons I already have and a lot better than the Redfield I had borrowed.
I've got Leupold on my Super Redhawk and it's nice but not magical.
The Swarovsky on my buddies' 7mm-08 is really nice.

[First Shirt]

With the exception of the Burris 2.75 EER scope on my Savage scout, just about everything we shoot is wearing a Leupold scope, with the vast majority being M8 fixed 4X. The major selling points are: Smaller, lighter, and much less complex. Oh, and a good bit cheaper than even a mediocre variable.

Oh, and +1 to what Denis said about scope covers. I'm pretty sure that The Minions could tear up a hammer, but their scopes are, thus far, ding-free (he said, knocking vigorously on the desk). And I've bought spares, just in case one gets "misplaced." (Covers, not Minions!)

[Denis]

... I've bought spares, just in case one gets "misplaced." (Covers, not Minions!)

Ah curses, sounds like the Minions have been counted... Hi, Minions!

My replacement scope covers say "Redfield" in big red lettering. I suspect someone in China is selling their production overruns... The neoprene is not quite as thick as that of the old Minox one either, but they'll do - for USD8 delivered around the world, I'm certainly not complaining.

Even cheap scopes these days are better than our father's glass.

I tend to agree. I saw several Taiwanese and Chinese scope manufacturers' wares at the IWA last year; their stuff is truly not awful, and some of it is even rather good. They're the ones who manufacture the budget and mid-priced "branded" scopes these days, so their production has to be good enough to attract the brandowners without fear of QC trouble and harm to their own reputations. It's all to the good, since competition at the lower end of the market keeps everyone honest in the middle and upper segments, and it keeps pushing quality improvements along too.

Where the top-end scopes still hold their own is on the quality of the glass - if you need super resolution for tiny targets, or super light transmission for hunting the hour before dawn or the hour after dusk, it's still not really possible to beat the Zeiss, Swarowski and Schott glass. The top-end scope makers do rub it in on the price premium for good glass and their names, however...