Need magnification on my 6920. Primary use is prairie dogs, coyote and if I draw an antelope tag this year, might use it to drop one. I’ve looked at the vortex strike eagle, pst 2 1-6, nightforce she 2-10 and considered a primary arms 1-8.
Price is a factor, but I can save the cash. I don’t really want to go past 350yds and try to kill anything with it. The goat I’ll keep inside 200. Have a lot of time behind precision rifles with a pst 6-24 out to 800 on a remmy 5r. I know I want a good optic, but I don’t want overkill either. This rifle stays in the company pickup (I work on a big ranch). What would you guys recommend I go with?
Eta, I currently have an aimpoint pro on there and with my astigmatism and the 2moa dot, it’s just not precise enough for me.
I just mounted a Burris XTR II 2-10. I loved it. I used it for some urban work out to 750 yards doing different shooting positions . I paid about 700 for it.
IMO anything over 4-6X is a waste of scope on a 6920. It isn’t exactly a long range precision rifle. The ACOG would be a perfect fit for your intended use.
I can tell by the answers that a lot of guys have never shot at prairie dogs. For PD I would limit the 6920 to a walking around gun. I hope you have something else because you would be much better off with a bolt gun or 20-24 inch barrel AR. I have used a 4X scope on an AR and it worked ok under 200 yards for prairie dogs. Made hits on dogs out to 800 with a B&L 5x15 atop a Savage 12FV .223but I wouldn’t go any lower than a 6x18, 24X would be even better, if I was to do it again. It’s just too hard to see bullet impacts and 3 inch wide brown targets on a dirt mound.
I’ve shot plenty of prairie dogs. In the tens of thousands. Many of which with a 4.5-14x. Optical optical more important than magnification. Once the barrel heats, there is plenty of mirage and you’ve got to turn down those high-magnification scopes anyway. My Bender 5-25s spend most of their day around 12x.
The 6920 is a stupid prairie dog gun no matter what glass you put on it.
The 6920 will kill everything you mention, but I sure as hell wouldn’t grab it to drop a pronghorn. It would be very low on my list for prairie dogs with a 1-6 scope, but would work fine for coyotes. I can’t see a case where you need 1x for either of the three animals you mention. Are you clearing houses or hunting?
Go with the Strike Eagle - 1X8 power should do want you want within reason. For prairie dogs you need both magnification and thin crosshairs in a scope. Unless you’re suppressed you won’t get many shots under 300 yards, as half will go down in their mounds after the 1st shot and by the time you fire 3 or 4 shots they are all down under 200 yards and most will stay down until you move, so most prairie doggers use a 22-250, 243 etc, so they can scare hell out of a few at 350 to 600 yards before moving around the dog town - most don’t get many kills pass 350 yards unless the dog gives them a couple sighters, as wind will be a big hindrance to most. My scope is a Leupold 24X boosted to 32X with benchrest crosshairs - I can either see my misses kicking dirt or the dog’s reaction to the bullet ground strike with that power, so my next miss will be a little closer on target.
The 223 will easily kill antelope and I would recommend the Nosler 64 grain bonded bullet for the job.
