I have a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x SFP mounted on my 16" rifle. I wanted to try something different so last year I began shooting paper plates with a 2-3" bullseye at 200 yards and had to dial the scope in because it wasn’t accurate enough without doing so. My two main issues with the scope are my dot (point of aim) is the same size or bigger than the bullseye and my targets hang in a shaded area which is a little dim looking through the scope. My first thought was to purchase a Primary Arms PLX 1-8x FFP scope hoping the chevron would be more precise and the better quality glass would brighten the target, but the more I research the more confused I get. Now I’m thinking of getting a scope around 3-18x. I am looking at the Vortex Viper PST gen II EBR-7C MRAD, Primary Arms GLX (Athena BPR MIL reticle), and Burris XTR II SCR MIL reticle. I narrowed my choices down to these scopes mainly because they seem to be popular choices in an affordable price range. I don’t have any experience with scopes other than the Strike Eagle so I don’t really know what I want or need. I’m thinking of just getting the cheapest one (Primary Arms GLX) and getting some range time behind it to determine what I like and don’t like so I have a better idea of what I need for future scope purchases. Any opinions?
What is the intended use of the rifle? Varminting, running & gunning, light precision work?
Just precision target shooting out to 200 yards which is the max distance at my range.
I’ve got a few of the PST 3-15s in both SFP and FFP, and they’re solid optics. The glass is pretty nice, but not great. It’s a much more appropriate option for precision shooting than a Primary Arms 1-8 with a chevron reticle. It used to be pretty easy to find them for reasonable prices, and around $600 lightly used, but those days might be over. Euro Optic has them for $999 now, and I definitely wouldn’t buy one at anywhere near that price.
I’ve also read lots of positive comments on the Burris XTR optics, but don’t have any first hand experience with them.
The Trijicon Credo HX 2.5-15, at $900, is worth some consideration.
When using a weapon with optics under conditions such as you describe, zero it with the very edge of the dot, chevron, etc so that there is no masking regarding the PoA. Just remember to be consistent with it. For example, if you use the 12 o’ clock psn on the dot, make sure that’s where you always line up your shot. Of course there are readily available reticles that don’t have that issue but if you wish to go with another which can mess with your PoA, that’s a good work around.
Strike eagle reticle has 1moa dot, so it should be smaller than the bullseye if you crank the magnification to 8x.
It is a LPVO, a combat optics if you will. It may not be the best for shooting tiny groups.
-TL
In my opinion, you’ll do better shooting groups with something that has parallax than something that doesn’t. I like LPVOs for running & gunning, but for load development, shooting groups, or other general precision work, it helps to have that parallax adjustment. Especially if you ever get a chance to shoot past 200.
There’s a used PST Gen 2 3-15 SFP model with a pretty good reticle for sale right now on this forum for an extremely good price.