Hi all,
Several times on this forum the Tikka T3X has been called the "Glock 19 of practical bolt action rifles", which seems to be very true. Following that same line of thought, what would you suggest is the "Glock 19 of practical bolt action rifle scopes"? I suspect this would be a more difficult question to answer, since scopes are much more personal and tailored to more specific needs. I'm planning to purchase my first bolt action rifle: a Tikka T3X Lite (or CTR) in 6.5 Creedmoor or .308. That was the easy button choice. The hard choice is deciding which scope. There are so many good choices today, and I've considered several. My specific criteria are pretty simple: build my practical rifle marksmanship and manipulation skills, and quickly and reliably hit 2 MOA targets from 0 yards to 500 yards (max distance to which I have access at my range). Budget is $1000 or less.
What is the current state of rifle scopes that meet this criteria and what do you look for in a scope that could be called the Glock 19 of scopes? Perhaps a 2-10x? Maybe 3-15x is more the norm now? FFP or SFP options? Basic reticle or Christmas tree? I'm thinking MRAD is the way to go (for me). It sounds like dialing for elevation and holding for wind is the most common practice these days in the precision rifle world, but not sure about a more practical rifle. I'd say I still plan to zero the rifle at 100 yards and use holdover or dial for longer distance shots. My range typically has the shooter in bright sunlight yet the targets are location in shadowed, tree-filled areas. So handling various light conditions will be important.
I apologize if this is a bit rambling as I'm very new to bolt action rifles, but I wish to learn. I'm done analyzing and just want a solid choice to go out and shoot. That's where the real learning happens. Thanks for any experience-based knowledge you can share.
Chris