Rimfire Scopes recommendations

[schreyer]

Hi guys, thanks for looking for starters!

I just bought my stepsons their first rimfire rifles! Ever since I introduced them to my Grandfathers Cooey model 600 they've been hooked (ages 13 and 11). Teaching them firearm discipline and how to conduct themselves. So after a while I decided they're ready for their own.

The first is a Ruger Precision Rimfire in 22 LR.

The second rifle is a Tikka T1X in 17 HMR.

I'm looking for recommendations for a scope for each of these rifles. I'm not too familiar with scopes for rimfire. All of my shooting is for centerfire rifles.

Our shooting will be going after gophers. Popcans at set distances to 50 yards and eventually up to 100.

Thanks for looking!

[roper1]

Looking forward to this one, I'm planning a custom rimfire in the future...

[catnthehat]

I have always used a scope that I would use for centerfire rifles on my rimfires. In your case a 3-9x would be fine I would think.
Cat

[spoiledsaskhunter]

why not a leupold rimfire scope in 3X9? the parallax is set for a rimfire cartridge so you don't have to worry about that...................of course with the 17 you really can use it a riffle scope on that.

[renegadeg2]

If you want to save a few bucks, Cabelas Covenant series is a great scope for rimfires. High magnification and FFP makes shooting tiny targets soo much more fun... and without breaking the bank. I previously had a 4-16 on a 22LR, and a 6-24 on a 17hmr. A bit much... but lots of fun. With the 17hmr... i could hit egg size targets at 200m - compensating or wind. These kids will enjoy it. Plus they come in huge discounts every now and then ($300 or so)




-Reza

[catnthehat]

why not a leupold rimfire scope in 3X9? the parallax is set for a rimfire cartridge so you don't have to worry about that...................of course with the 17 you really can use it a riffle scope on that.
I change scopes on a regular basis and one that is on a .22 one day may end up on a .222 or bigger rifle the next
Only my M8 Leupolds do not have adjustable parallax adjustments , but those don't get put on my .22's
Cat

[ol whitey]

Athlon 3x9x40 neos bdc 22 rimfire, put one on a 10/22 ruger, nothing fancy but neither is the gun. Nice little scope, good price, good warranty, really like the reticle.

[Dean2]

You have bought two higher end rifles so I presume you want the scopes to be in the same class. I agree with Cat, all my rimfire scopes are fully capable of being used on a center fire, all have either adjustable objectives or a parallax turret on them. Bushnell makes a very good scope that would work well on the rimfire, nice and clear, lifetime warranty. Other choice that is often over looked is the Redfield line owned by Leupold. If you have the Shekels, a Leupold VX3i HD are always a great choice.

I like magnification, three of my rimfires have Zeiss Z4 5x20 with tactical turrets, some of the others have 6x24 Bushnell 4200s. A couple of others have Bushnell 6500s in 5x30 on them. I figure you can always crank them down but for shooting gophers at longer distances and target work the higher magnification is handy. All have mil-Dot reticles

[32-40win]

Not sure you can get much of anything labelled Redfield or Weaver anymore, Leupold seems to have phased out most of the Redfield stuff.
3-9 or a 2.5-10 is adequate, unless you maybe think they'll get into 22 elr type stuff. I had a 2.5-10x50 Leupold on my Valmet, good for 200yds on gophers, just a single dot reticle with a target style elevation knob, still use it on the 218Bee. Browning T bolt has a 2.5-10x 40 Weaver. There are cheaper scopes out there now with some Christmas tree reticles, Riton, Athlon, Primary Arms, Delta, Hawke, always Bushnell and Burris as well, some have parallax down to 10 yds. Think the one I have on my STG is a Leaper's 4-12, with 36 colours on the reticle, heavy though, near 2 lbs, it was cheap and looks right on it, works OK.

[waldedw]

Unless you are going to get into the long range rimfire shooting stick with a low power variable on both, you will find that you rarely crank a scope up past about 7 power so a 3 x 9 is good option.

The problem with higher magnification units like 6 x 18 is that at 6 power your field of view is small and it makes it hard to acquire the target for new shooters, I have a 6 x 18 on my 17 HMR it works but I wish I had gone with something that was lower on the bottom end, it's to much and I don't think that I have every shot it over 10x, my 22's wear a leupold 3 x 9 x 33mm and a Vortex 2 x 7 x 35mm both of which are great.

The choices are endless in the $250 - $350 range so put on a good scope, avoid the cheap $89 deals as most of them are crappy quality.

[KegRiver]

When I bought my Anschutz .22 I bought a Bushnell big rifle scope to go on it.

The scope failed on it's second outing, cross hairs came loose, so I took it back. Put the replacement on and it too failed, just after the warranty ended.
Darn thing cost me half the price of the rifle too.

I had an old Weaver .22 scope lying around so I put that on and it's still working fine, forty years later.

I wouldn't buy one of the new Weavers, they are junk, but the old Weavers were as good as they made back then.

If I ever buy another new scope it will be Leupold, all the other brands I've bought were junk. But until recently finding a Leupold in the stores around here was tough at best.

I don't want a big scope on my rim fire rifles. I want something compact, and I don't switch scopes. I don't want to have to sight them in every time I switch.

Just my preference. Not a recommendation.

[elkhunter11]

All of my rimfire rifles have scopes that I could also use on a centerfire, and all have adjustable parallax.

[stob]

I have always used a scope that I would use for centerfire rifles on my rimfires. In your case a 3-9x would be fine I would think.
Cat

x3 ... I know a guy who uses a 5 x 25 50mm or 56mm High End Leupy on his 22 and swear by it ... I am tempted, but idk ... i did play with a 40x target scope on a 22 one time and that was a chuckle 2 closer range

[Redneck 7]

I just bought a Bergera B14 22 trainer barrelled action, I kept my true tracking Leupold vx3i LRP 8.5-25x50 for it. Works great, I also plan on using it for PRS etc.

I personally never buy rimfire scopes. I always buy centerfire scopes for my .22’s and then I never worry about them losing zero or failing. I’d look at 4-12x40 vx freedoms from Leupold.

[Pathfinder76]

For a 22 that hunts a full sized scope ruins the look and balance of a nice rifle IMO. Leupolds rimfire scopes look and act the part well.

[huntingfamily]

I was looking at this one or the 2-7x for a new cz 22 wmr

https://www.leupold.com/vx-freedom-3-9x40-rimfire-moa-riflescope

[Big Sky]

For what you're going to do you don't need a lot of magnification.

2-7 or 3-9 for a 22 rifle is plenty. I run a 3-9x 32 Weaver RV9 (Sadly discontinued). For shooting gophers I turn the magnification down as it helps with target acquisition.

On my 17hmr I use a 4-12x Bushnell 3500. IMO 12x or 14x is plenty for a 17hmr.

Leupold freedoms would be nice if you don't mind spending the money.
Bushnell and Burris make scopes that would work nicely for less money.

I see that you purchased a Ruger Precision Rimfire. IMO a compact scope might not complement the look, but some might disagree.

[Savage Bacon]

Savage Mark II Leupold VX Freedom 3-9X40

Savage BMag Bushnell Prime 4-12x40

CZ452 Nikon P-Rimfire 2-7X32

CZ455 Scout Leupold VX Freedom 3-9X40

Ruger 10/22 Takedown Nikon P-Rimfire 2-7X32

Cooey 64B Tasco 4X

When I get a chance I will be getting the parallax on the two Leupolds adjusted down a bit. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211228/aef9c7623c7e2ff5968ee4ec56a37475.jpg

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[schreyer]

Hey guys. Thanks to everyone that put into this thread. I have something in mind and I’ll be doing some homework in the meantime!

[6.5 shooter]

I have always used a scope that I would use for centerfire rifles on my rimfires. In your case a 3-9x would be fine I would think.
Cat

I agree with Cat. I would go with a small 4x or 6x as another option. Cheap, easy to use and light weight. I do have on my (2) personal 10/22's a Leupold 1.5x6 and a Bushnell 1x5 both scopes were on a couple big bore rifles which I sold, so I just moved the scopes to the 22's. The are light, fast to acquire targets and more than enough power for the accuracy potential of a 10/22. Or any other .22 for that matter.

[brewster29]

Here's a switch: I am running a Leupold VX Freedom rim fire 2-7 X 32 on my Marlin 30-30...the reticle is perfect in that the hash marks are exactly 1"@100 on 7 power. 50 yard parallax adjustment is also good thing on a shorter range rifle. Nice clear, bright, compact scope.

[ganderblaster]

This one should be a cheap decent option.
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/144809/bushnell-legend-3-9x40-illuminated-riflescope-kit

[bat119]

Finding one these days would be difficult and I don't know why they stopped making the the baby Redfield 4X 3/4" tube. I one mounted on a Anschutz 22 mag. compact, crystal clear with fine crosshairs it was the perfect rimfire scope.

One of those I should have kept, they command top dollar if you can find one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334180371875?hash=item4dceb3cda3:g:mscAAOSwUU1hZwR g

[antmai]

Yes, they are ‘tactical’ and are full sized optics but i do not have a single complaint with diamondback tac and btr gen2.
I personally would never consider an optic without side parallax anymore for rimfires. I also prefer ffp, but that is only a preference thing.

[Groundhogger]

I probably have less gopher experience than the people responding here, but I've been out there a few times on gopher-shooting trips...and this coming spring I hope to do it again!

My 22 wears a Sightron S1 4-12 AO HHR.

My 17HMR wears a vintage Bushnell Banner 6-18X AO

I shoot more rimfire than anything else (AB or ON) and almost never use "rimfire" scopes. Don't like a fixed 50-60 yard parallax, prefer AO or SF. @18X, you want your gophers out past 100 yards but I think the answer really lies in how far you plan to shoot gophers, how many times you're getting in/out of the vehicle, shooting off a bipod or improvised rest, etc.

I say that because a 6-18X on a heavy barreled 17HMR being shot prone isn't "too much scope". On a standard-weight barreled gun shooting prone or off a fence post, 6-18X might feel like "too much scope". Both of my "gopher guns" are heavy barrels, both wear bipods 100% of the time...so often the more scope/the better. If all of my gophers were under 100 yards, I wouldn't feel much need to go over about 9X.

A scope I searched for/picked-up/haven't mounted-Nikon Prostaff Target EFR 3-9AO. I'm working on a 22 bolt action right now and will be trying this scope on it. I think it would be a great gopher scope for a 22.

Most recent scope purchase was a Burris FF 4.5-14 E1 reticle, side focus. Put that on my Tikka T1x, really nice scope and I think it would be great for gophers.

[wallz]

I've used the sightron Stac, 4-20 and right now have a VX freedom 4-12 on one. Have also used a Primary arms GLX series 4-16x50.

In the process of building two more right now and one will get a swamp fox 1-10, and haven't decided on the other.

In the process of also building a 22 bolt rifle, and that one will get the eotech 5-25x50 when done.

Really depends on your preference, but I like higher magnification, and enjoy shooting out to 300yrds with mine.

[270person]

I do a lot of gopher shooting with my 12 rimfires. .22LR 17hmr and .22wmr. All active pieces are CZ or Brno. Anything that showed the Ruger name on it was either sold off or shredded and used for firestarter. Junk! Tried a Browning T-Bolt in 17hmr but accuracy and trigger are not there like the Czech models.

I have rimfire parallax scopes on all but one. Leupold VX-2, 3-9×33 EFR, Freedom rimfire 2-7× and 3-9x primarily but also one Sightron rimfire and a couple of Nikon 3-9× and 4-12x. All perform very well. The VX-2 efr is the best rimfire scope period imo and other than being a little "busy" the Freedoms are good as well. VX-2's are pricey if you can find them but worth the $$.

Imo there is very little point in putting a full size cf designed 100yd parallax adjusted scope on a rimfire rifle. For 1 they are bigger and heavier and the whole point behind rimfire varmint shooting is keeping things light, and for 2, who wants to be dicking around with parallax correction dials on rifles designed to shoot primarily to a max of 100/150 popping small varmints.

I have zero problems shooting to 150 with any of these scopes on a .22 or 250+ with a 17hmr. The folks looking through 25x scopes on a rimfire just make me chuckle. If it makes you feel good whacking paper and steel at the range with your $2500.00 Anschutz then fire away but I really don't see a point. Gophers sure don't seem to notice a difference. I'm 5 inside a dime at 50yds all day with all of my 20" .22's. Slightly tighter with the 24" Lux barrels, and tighter again with 17hmr. I also regularly pop gophs at between 200-300 with my 17hmr's and rimfire parallax scopes.

No need to overthink things. Buy decent quality ammunition too. Probably a lot more important in a rimfire than the scope its wearing.

[buckman]

Leupold,cant beat the warranty along with quality.

[spurly]

I do a lot of gopher shooting with my 12 rimfires. .22LR 17hmr and .22wmr. All active pieces are CZ or Brno. Anything that showed the Ruger name on it was either sold off or shredded and used for firestarter. Junk! Tried a Browning T-Bolt in 17hmr but accuracy and trigger are not there like the Czech models.

I have rimfire parallax scopes on all but one. Leupold VX-2, 3-9×33 EFR, Freedom rimfire 2-7× and 3-9x primarily but also one Sightron rimfire and a couple of Nikon 3-9× and 4-12x. All perform very well. The VX-2 efr is the best rimfire scope period imo and other than being a little "busy" the Freedoms are good as well. VX-2's are pricey if you can find them but worth the $$.

Imo there is very little point in putting a full size cf designed 100yd parallax adjusted scope on a rimfire rifle. For 1 they are bigger and heavier and the whole point behind rimfire varmint shooting is keeping things light, and for 2, who wants to be dicking around with parallax correction dials on rifles designed to shoot primarily to a max of 100/150 popping small varmints.

I have zero problems shooting to 150 with any of these scopes on a .22 or 250+ with a 17hmr. The folks looking through 25x scopes on a rimfire just make me chuckle. If it makes you feel good whacking paper and steel at the range with your $2500.00 Anschutz then fire away but I really don't see a point. Gophers sure don't seem to notice a difference. I'm 5 inside a dime at 50yds all day with all of my 20" .22's. Slightly tighter with the 24" Lux barrels, and tighter again with 17hmr. I also regularly pop gophs at between 200-300 with my 17hmr's and rimfire parallax scopes.

No need to overthink things. Buy decent quality ammunition too. Probably a lot more important in a rimfire than the scope its wearing.

The 3-9x33 EFR is on my wish list, but very hard to find now.

[270person]

The 3-9x33 EFR is on my wish list, but very hard to find now.


Real tough and rimfire scopes seem to be worth gold these days. Not many manufacturers making anymore. Even the Freedom Rimfire could be had in the $225 to $299 range for the longest time. Now they're closer to 4 I believe.

[spurly]

Real tough and rimfire scopes seem to be worth gold these days. Not many manufacturers making anymore. Even the Freedom Rimfire could be had in the $225 to $299 range for the longest time. Now they're closer to 4 I believe.

Spot on. Been looking for a while

[270person]

Spot on. Been looking for a while


I could sell you a 3-9× efr....for $2000.00? :)

Kidding of course but they have to be running in the 5 area now I bet.

[spurly]

I could sell you a 3-9× efr....for $2000.00? :)

Kidding of course but they have to be running in the 5 area now I bet.

Might have to consider the freedom models.

[Battle Rat]

I put a 4x12 leupold on a 22 one time because that was all that not is use in the gun cabinet.
It turned out to be a preferred set up for it and other future 22lrs.
Nothing wrong with using a rifle scope on a 22 as long as it has an adjustable objective.
A typical deer hunting rifle scope with a non-ajustable parallax set 150 yards is a definite handicap on a 22.
I find that a gophers head on 12x is not "too much scope" for 50-100 yard shots.

[6.5 shooter]

I bought a bunch of Sightron's when they were up and coming scopes for a decent price. The wife and my rifles .17HMR .22wmr .204 ..17 Hornet .22 Hornet all wear either S2 or big sky scopes with either HHR reticules, fine X or dots. I really like the 1/8" clicks even if they are the "lower" quality S2 scope :). They are probably the best scope for the dollar. I would not call them either heavy or rugged. But for taking out gophers at any sane range with the rifle on a pair of shooting sticks or on a improvised bench set up, they are VERY hard to beat.

[DLab]

The 3-9x33 EFR is on my wish list, but very hard to find now.
Got one on my Mark II, really like the Dot reticle. Have the 4-12 Pro Staff II model on my 10/22.
I am looking at an Athlon FFP for shooting some Precision rim fire simply because of the turrets, but the Nikons have been more than adequate in the Gopher patch. I rarely have them above 6 or 7 power.

[Speckle55]

I use a Bushnell Banner 4x
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/67905/bushnell-banner-riflescopes

11oz is huge

i hunt with mine

weight is important

but hey what do i know

have fun with your stepson's

Happy New Year !!!

David:)

[vance]

I like magnification too. Maybe my eyes are not as sharp as others......
For my 17hmr rifles, I have come to like 6-18x for gophers. For an accurate 22, I want a minimum of 12x. Helps me a lot past 100yds on gophers.
A nice clear 4x is great for gophers/squirrels out to 50yds, but why not have more magnification?
If you can afford a good quality scope, it makes sense for a rimfire. One will spend more time looking through that scope than one a big game rifle in the course of a season.
The older redfields and Bushnell banner scopes (made by B&L in Japan) had wonderful glass and often had AO.

Vance

[Faststeel]

The 3-9x33 EFR is on my wish list, but very hard to find now.


What happen to the one I sold to you .......??

[SakoAlberta]

The 3-9x33 EFR is on my wish list, but very hard to find now.

https://store.prophetriver.com/search.php?search_query=efr&Submit=Search

[DLab]

Got one on my Mark II, really like the Dot reticle. Have the 4-12 Pro Staff II model on my 10/22.
I am looking at an Athlon FFP for shooting some Precision rim fire simply because of the turrets, but the Nikons have been more than adequate in the Gopher patch. I rarely have them above 6 or 7 power.
Oops, I have the Nikon 3-9x40 EFR AO on my MarkII , extra fine crosshair reticle with Target dot, not the Leupold.

[Dean2]

Oops, I have the Nikon 3-9x40 EFR AO on my MarkII , extra fine crosshair reticle with Target dot, not the Leupold.

You know you are approaching a nearly sufficient number of guns when you can't remember what scope is on all of them.:)

[DLab]

You know you are approaching a nearly sufficient number of guns when you can't remember what scope is on all of them.:)
LOL Yup, between them breeding in the dark of the gun safe and others running away from home, I need to check them now and again.:)