Looking for inexpensive scopes and range finders

[stovepipe]

I'm hunting tree squirrels 99% of the time. Farthest shot would probably be 60 yards. Budget would be around $300 range. I was looking at Hawke's website and was thinking of this one or something similar. But before buying I'd guess it'll be a smart idea to understand MOA vs MIL.

Vantage SF 3-12x44 Half Mil Dot

An extensive range of scopes to suit all calibres and disciplines. All Vantage riflescopes feature our H2 optics in a variety of configurations. Capped Low-Profile Turrets. 1 Inch Mono-Tube Chassis. Side Focus. 11 Layer Fully Multi-Coated Lenses. High Torque Zoom Ring. Fast Focus Eyebell

us.hawkeoptics.com

The least expensive FFP scope that Athlon makes is the Athlon Talos BTR Gen2 4-14x44. Different reticles are available in milrad and moa. Prices are about $280 - $320.

I'm not suggesting that you only look at Athlon. Think of other companies that make reliable scopes and look at their least expensive FFP scopes and the reticles and other features, then look at what they are selling for at street prices (not retail).

stovepipe

 

[stovepipe]

Regarding milrad and moa angular measurements, I don't have a preference. I can use either unit of measure. When I'm looking at a scope that I might want to buy, I look at the reticle and imagine myself trying to quickly find and then hold an angle on target. If the layout of the reticle makes that difficult for me, then I'm going to hate that scope every time I use it and regret buying it. I don't care if it's milrads or moa.

stovepipe

 

[zerochance]

If getting a First Focal Plane scope (which I recommend) it does not really matter whether you use MIL or MOA. The reason being, both scope's turrets will (should) click and adjust per the reticle markings. Basically, what you see in the scope's hash marks from the center dot to where the impact is will be how much turret clicking needs to take place.

Read through this thread and see if this scope has all the specs on your list. These are such a good little scope I've bought two since making the thread on the experiment. What is about the coolest thing I found is, though its FFP and with a parallax adjustment, parallax can be set to around 40 yards and is virtually parallax free and the image clear at all but the closest yardages.

Discovery HD 2-12X24 SFIR FFP. A little experiment.

I bought a new offering from the Discovery factory this week to do a little experiment with. And when I say little, I mean it is a little scope at 81/2" long. Discovery HD 2-12X24 SFIR FFP is a gem of a scope for the price. In the daylight it compared on par with it's next biggest brother...

www.airgunnation.com

Thank you. Looks like I have some reading to do!

 

[zerochance]

Regarding milrad and moa angular measurements, I don't have a preference. I can use either unit of measure. When I'm looking at a scope that I might want to buy, I look at the reticle and imagine myself trying to quickly find and then hold an angle on target. If the layout of the reticle makes that difficult for me, then I'm going to hate that scope every time I use it and regret buying it. I don't care if it's milrads or moa.

stovepipe

I'm also trying to better understand all of this. Watching this video helps tremendously but I'm still not getting it 100%. I'll have to watch it a few times.

 

[stovepipe]

Regarding milrad and moa angular measurements, I don't have a preference. I can use either unit of measure. When I'm looking at a scope that I might want to buy, I look at the reticle and imagine myself trying to quickly find and then hold an angle on target. If the layout of the reticle makes that difficult for me, then I'm going to hate that scope every time I use it and regret buying it. I don't care if it's milrads or moa.

stovepipe

I don't want to turn this thread into an MOA vs Milrad thing, but there is one thing I prefer about milrad scopes.

With a milrad scope, when I see that I need to adjust my scope by some number of milrads, the number of clicks on the turret is simple to know.
For example:
0.7 mil = 7 clicks
1.2 mil = 12 clicks
2.3 mil = 23 clicks

With a moa scope, the relationship between some number of moa and the number of clicks on the turret is not as simple.
For example:
2.5 moa = 10 clicks
4.25 moa = 17 clicks
8 moa = 32 clicks

stovepipe

 

[zerochance]

I don't want to turn this thread into an MOA vs Milrad thing, but there is one thing I prefer about milrad scopes.

With a milrad scope, when I see that I need to adjust my scope by some number of milrads, the number of clicks on the turret is simple to know.
For example:
0.7 mil = 7 clicks
1.2 mil = 12 clicks
2.3 mil = 23 clicks

With a moa scope, the relationship between some number of moa and the number of clicks on the turret is not as simple.
For example:
2.5 moa = 10 clicks
4.25 moa = 17 clicks
8 moa = 32 clicks

stovepipe

That is interesting... I didn't know that. Definitely something to consider.