Krispy 1 Posted May 18, 2015 Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 I would appreciate some help with choosing a scope please. I've had my .22 rifle for ... 30 years or more. Its still got the original scope on it - a 6 x 32 Nikko Sterling with a 1" barrel. I expect it was all I could afford back then ... looks like I could pick up something equivalent for 20-quid now ... I've been meaning to get a better scope for years, just never got around to it before now. I shoot no more than 50 - 100 rounds a year out of 1st floor window at bunnies in the garden. They range from 50-100 yards, perhaps 150 yards at the most - but I'm not sure I could hit a barn door at that range! I try to offset my aim to compensate for range, but my strike rate is not very good. There is plenty of cover for the bunnies in the garden, so when they get into the garden my opportunities for seeing them are limited and thus I'd really really like to improve my strike rate before they destroy the plants!. Shooting opportunities are more frequently at dawn / dusk, although rarely in very poor light - but some improved light gathering would no doubt help. My eyes are not getting any younger ... So what I am after is a device that improves my kill rate to close to 100% please. I have the 1st floor window ledge to steady my shot, there are only two windows I shoot out of, so I can pace out the garden and be sure of the distance if that helps, but a device that allowed me to adjust the sight for the distance might help me? "Aiming off a bit" doesn't seem to have stood me in very good stead in the past ... although poor parallax of my existing scope might be as much of a culprit? I don't want to spend a fortune, but I don't have a particular budget in mind. Happy to consider red-dot or something else if that is more likely to improve my success. Happy with something second-hand of eBay if that increases my buying -power (not sure to what extent I should be worried about matching my-eye to the brand of scope - compared to getting some decent kit at an affordable price that improved my hit rate.) Perhaps a better choice of ammunition would also help? I tend to use sub-sonic in the belief that it is more accurate (is that true?) but I do have super-sonic in case something larger wanders into the garden and would look & taste better in my freezer! The local gun shop tends not to have much choice, but I could go shopping further afield if you think it would make a big enough difference. My firearms certificate does allow for a silencer, but I've never got around to having that work done. Maybe getting off several rounds, before the bunnies scraper, would improve things? I don't know whether sound moderation means that they won't move at all? or whether they are going to run away after a couple of shots anyway? I'm almost guaranteed to see 2 or 3 bunnies at a time, so bagging all of them in one sitting would cheer me up a lot Thanks for your help. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cedric 132 Posted May 18, 2015 Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 Lots of scopes out there for under £100 that would fit the bill. A must is a mildot reticule. Work out the distances and use the coresponding mildot to aim. Magnification up to x10 should suffice unless your eyes are getting bad. I have a Hawke 3-10 x 50 on my rimfire with adjustable paralax, it works fine out to 100 yards, cost me £130. Subsonic rounds are the way to go, supersonic tend not to be as accurate. A moderator will improve your shooting experience greatly, hardly any noise and disturbance. The sound of a bullet hitting a rabbits body is louder than the report. Lay out targets at set distances and work out which dot to use then make a chart. Pop a sandbag or something on the window sill, stops the rifle skidding about. Holding over rarely works well, a .22 sub will drop over 8 " between 50 and 100 yards. My groups drifted high and left as I had some 'crossover' on the scope, I've fixed that now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Krispy 1 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Thanks, that's very helpful. Spent ages on the Hawke website, decided what I thought I wanted and then tried to find a stockist ... all stockists listing different models. Eventually found a review/article saying that Hawke have changed their range; pity their website doesn't offer any information on the old range (that I could find) which would have enabled me to make a buying choice, so I wasted an hour scratching my head. There is an Email When Available link, which I've clicked on the model I think I want (VANTAGE 3-9×50 AO MIL DOT - £70 rrp) but I have no idea when that might become available. Only model I could find for sale was "Hawke Vantage 4-12x50 AO Mil Dot illuminated" - more money (£120) for the IR, but perhaps it would come in handy at times? Other than that much more cost effective than I had expected, and having done some reading around it seems ideally suited, thanks. Just need to decide if I should buy an old-model (if so which ...) or sit and wait for the new model to become available Once all that is sorted I'll take a photo from the window and mark up some measured distances on it, which I can use as a reference, and set up some cardboard box targets at various distances, hopefully I won't need the barn doors!, and figure out the Mil-Dot offsets for key landmarks down the garden. I reckon that is going to suit me just-right ... I'll report back when I've had a go. If anyone has other recommendations for scopes I'm happy to check them out too. Hopefully won't take as long as the Hawke ones have done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JBWALES 5 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 I have an old school Bushnell Trophy 3x9x40 mildot on my CZ, zeroed at 56 yards with SK magazine it is exactly 2 mildots for 100 yards. Much better optically than most Hawke offerings, and can be picked up quite cheaply if you keep your eye out on the forums. John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cedric 132 Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 You might care to have a look on Facebook under The Scope Shack group. Lots of good used scopes on there plus plenty of advice. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toxo 160 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 A bit late but another consideration is the angle. Make sure you use the distance from the back door rather than the distance from the window which will be longer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bully78 8 Posted March 2, 2016 Report Share Posted March 2, 2016 Think about using a NV kit as you'll get longer to pick your shots Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ian28 2 Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 i have just ordered a hawke sport hd sr for my .22 rimfire, as anyone had one of these? and what you think to them? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
toxo 160 Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Think about using a NV kit as you'll get longer to pick your shots If you might use an add-on IR night vision you'll want a side focus scope rather than AO although if you only shoot at a fixed distance this won't matter so much. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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