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I_AM_LEGEND
01-31-08, 23:11
So I just got a new rifle for my birthday, the Remington 710 in 7 mm mag with a Bushnell Sharpshooter 3x9-40 scope...

http://www.snipercountrypx.com/c-1345-model-710.aspx

Now here's the funny story.. I saw this gun a week ago at Wal-Mart marked down from $325 to $250. Everywhere online I looked it was going for $340 and up so I knew it was a good deal and it was there last one left so I was afraid they'd sell it before I got the money to buy it. Well my Dad bought a Mossberg 7mm mag and he was wanting to get me a rifle as well for deer hunting in PA with his friends each year. Well I was hoping to get it with my tax returns but talked to my Mom about getting it for me on my birthday in 2 weeks. Well today I call to see if Wal-Mart still had it since it was their last one and the guy I talked to tells me he just sold it, so I was a lil pissed. I get home and tell my Dad that they sold the rifle and we missed a great deal. He says don't worry, they'll get more in, so I told him the guy said they weren't going to restock that model. Well he can tell I'm a lil upset that we didn't get it so after dinner he tells me to hold onto this and hands me a receipt from Wal-Mart for $266 dollars. I look at him and he says that he was buying it when I called in and the guy said to him, "You're lucky, some guy just called wanting to buy this gun.." Turns out I was the guy on the phone!!! LOL, we laughed pretty hard about that... hopefully when it warms up a bit I can get a range report on it but I do plan on doing some coyote hunting with it at my uncle's farm very soon. Yes I know it's ugly and I've read all the bad reviews but I've also read the good reviews from people that own one and plan on using it maybe once a year and for target shooting. I suppose it does what its meant for.

Don't have my camera with me but I'll try to get some photos of it posted in a couple days.

as for the the scope, it's a Bushnell cheapo so I'd like to upgrade to some type of Mil-Dot but don't know where to start as far as what power scope...

any suggestions in the price range of $200 or lessand what power should I be looking for?? I'd like to have a range of 800 yards and in, not that I'll be hunting at that distance or anything but I think it would be fun for target shooting..

Jim Colborn
02-01-08, 07:22
IAL-

I have learned over the years that the scope, base and rings are just as important, or maybe more important, than rifle.

Save up and buy quality. My opinion is to go with a Leupold scope, Badger base and rings.

Good luck.

Jim

HolyRoller
02-01-08, 15:59
For under or about $200, you can score a Bushnell Elite 3200 fixed 10x scope. Many people are very happy with them, including moi. Badger or Seekins rings and bases are wonderful, but will cost more than this scope! I got the regular Weaver bases and rings, but unfortunately the receiver of my Rem 700 LTR sets the front base low enough that I only have enough elevation to get to 600. This is luck of the draw, so always get a 22MOA canted base that will give your scope all the elevation it needs. Check www.snipercentral.com for a canted Picatinny base for $95. Weaver rings will fit this, and when you're ready to go to a Picatinny ring set, you're ready.

Wait, I just remembered you already have a scope on there! So if the rings are 1", you can spend only $200 on the Bushnell and get going.

Tucker
02-10-08, 12:00
I don't have a suggestion for a decent scope under $200 because I've not seen one.

People sometimes use 'hunting' as an excuse to buy lousy equipment. I guess it depends on how you do it, but for a good many types of hunting there is a lot of crossover with the needs of a tactical precision rifle shooter.

If all you do is cross a cornfield and climb up into a tree stand to wait for a deer to walk by you might be able to hunt the rest of your life with a blister pack Bushnell and be happy. I know plenty of people who do. And if it breaks the worst thing that can happen is you gut shoot some deer and it runs off and you never find it and have to go out again the next day.

I do that kind of hunting sometimes. But I also hike after caribou and elk and I've found that the blister pack Bushnell can't handle that any better than it could a sniper course. It can't handle being banged into things, its adjustments aren't repeatable enough to be relied upon, and POI changes right along with magnification. Like a tactical shooter I need to be confident that after slinging my rifle across my back and dragging it along the landscape I can take up a shooting position and crank up 30 clicks of elevation and hit an elk in the chest with a cold bore shot, in the wind, at 10F, when it is snowing. I didn't hike all this way to miss because I bought my scope at Wal Mart.

Anyway, since you want to do some long range shooting along with whatever hunting you'll do I'd recommend you avoid cheap scopes. And, until you move up considerably in price range, avoid variable scopes. Zooming only adds more parts and complexity, more stuff to skimp on at the low end. You'd be much better off scraping together another $100 for your scope fund. There are probably other brands out these that will work, but at $300 an SWFA Super Sniper would be my pick, and what I'd consider the lowest priced acceptable hunting scope there is.

If you absolutely must have zoom I have read many good things about the Falcon line, from people who know better, and they are reported to be solid and reliable. No personal experience with them though.