Glass for .22 Squirrels up to 50 Yards?

[Swifty Morgan]

I am thinking I may give up on giving up on rimfire. Accurate rimfire, I mean. I'm one rationalization away from buying a 16" Tikka T1x. It has proven its accuracy, and it's short and threaded, so I can put a can on it.

The purpose is to punish squirrels, mainly, although I do have coons here. My dream is to have a <2-MOA hunting .22 up to 50 yards for humane kills. Ordinarily I would not want a lot of magnification in a hunting scope or a .22 scope, but squirrels are tiny, and I would like to know exactly where my POA is on the rodent. I think going as big as 15x on the top end would not be crazy. Maybe even a low-end Athlon up to 24x.

I suppose it is conceivable I might try whacking a possum or some other reasonably large animal up to 150, but probably not. I'm sure I would eventually do prone target shooting at 100.

Is there any glass I should look into for this purpose, or should I forget overthinking and just pick up any decent MRAD scope somewhere in the 15x range?

I don't want a plain old hunting scope from Walmart. I like target turrets.

[mikejonestkd]

Quality optics make hunting squirrels much easier.
In my limited experience, I always choose clarity and quality of glass over magnification - a quality 3-9x will be better for small targets that a low budget 4-16X
I really like Leupold XV3 and VX3HD scopes, and have several of them on some of my more accurate .22 rifles.

[Swifty Morgan]

I'll tell you what. The squirrels here in Florida are so small, I quit cleaning them. I leave them to rot. My feeling is that high magnification will help with humane shot placement on these miniature squirrels. I was thinking I would concern myself less with quality glass and more with magnification and reliability. Maybe I'm wrong.

I have a Vortex Viper for long-range shooting, so I do like good glass for some things.

[ocharry]

you should check out ARKEN scopes....you wont be sorry

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at their scopes last night.

[rc]

If just for pest control and you don't plan to eat them a 17 HM2 or 17 HMR might be more to your liking if the noise is not an issue. The problem with subsonic 22 LR is they don't expand well and they ricochet often. There are lots of scope options but what is your price limit? I don't mind a good Bushnell Trophy 3-9 for shooting out to 50 yards but you seem to want to put a celestial telescope on your gun which will not make it very friendly to walk with.

[Swifty Morgan]

I have a .17 HMR, but the barrel weighs a ton.

I don't plan to use subsonics.

I have decided to forget about targets at 100. I would never be satisfied with .22 accuracy at that range, so I plan to zero at 35 and shoot targets at 50. With that zero, my POA will be half an inch high at 25, and I can figure out where it will be at 50. Past 50, I am not interested in trying to hunt squirrels with a .22.

I'm going to go outside and figure out exactly which maximum magnification I want, and then I'll go back to picking glass.

[ocharry]

i tell ya swifty these scopes punch WAY above their weight class

they just had a sale and i picked up one of the japanese glass scopes for under 325 with a REX discount code.....and i dont have a need for it...just couldnt let it go by at the price....it is looking for a ride right now...i have 3 of their scopes

if you do decide to get one of their scopes us the code of rex or cyclops(not sure about the spelling on cyclops its for cyclops joe)...anyway i think it will get you 25% off the order

that sale could be still going on

again you wont be sorry

[jmr40]

More quality trumps more X's every time. And you don't need a lot of either to hit a squirrel at 50 yards. Any decent 3-9X scope has more than enough magnification at 50 yards.

They have been discontinued, but you can still find Burris FF-II on Amazon for $169

They come in 3-9X and 4.5-14X. I have both. The 4.5-14X has an adjustable objective that will help you focus at close ranges. You don't need near that much magnification, but the adjustable objective is a plus at those ranges.

https://www.amazon.com/Burris-42mm-F...16&sr=8-6&th=1

[Swifty Morgan]

I have a Fullfield II I'm not using; 3-9x. It's on a K31, which explains why I'm not using it. I miss that cheap ammo.

[FITASC]

'll tell you what. The squirrels here in Florida are so small, I quit cleaning them.

Maybe where you live, here in Northern FL, our squirrels feed on bird seed and a lot of pecans........

[tangolima]

I have a cheap fixed 4x on mine. 3/4" at 50yd no problem. I routinely use it to hit soda can at 150yd. I prefer fixed power to variable.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[rc]

Exact hold over at various ranges depends on the height above the bore. I used to shoot a lot at a club with well defined range and would sight 22 LR high speed from the bench at 25 yards and it was pretty much be back on at 50 yards but would drop about 6 inches low by 100. I never had a problem connecting to 50 but the 17HM2 and 17 hmr have extended my point blank range a lot with my preference being the mach 2.

If you sight at 50 with 22 LR high speed you just hold a little high at very close ranges while the bullet is rising to line of sight inside 25 yards and a little high at 60 while the bullet is falling from line of sight. From 25 to 50 you probably won't notice much difference from point of aim to point of impact.

[Shadow9mm]

Based on my experience with airguns and shooting inside 50yds, the main thing is to make sure it has a side focus parallax.

Arken makes a great scope, but they can be a bit bulky and heavy depending on the model.

Had good luck with primary arms scopes 4-14x44 as well

[FrankenMauser]

Arken scopes are huge, heavy, and have a cheesy turret cap mounting method.
Athlon is a better buy in that market.

Arken's large bodies and ocular bells also usually require some pretty tall rings to clear the barrel and bolt.
Some Athlon scopes do have the same problem, though.
The low end Athlon Neos, specifically, with the combination of the weird nubbin that sticks out the bottom and the large ocular, needs scope base modification or extra tall rings. They'll mount on most semi-autos, pumps, levergats, and some bolt guns while needing slightly taller rings or a little clearance in the scope base (for the nubbin); but many bolt guns need extra tall rings to clear the bolt handle, or simply cannot get the bolt clear of the ocular bell, no matter how high the rings are (Ruger 77/22s and Marlin 880s are in the latter category) - and might also need clearance for the nubbin.

My preferred Athlon scope for rimfire use is the Heras 2-12x. Not expensive. Not big. Not heavy. Good turrets. Zero stop (that can be set to allow negative dialing - which Arken cannot do). Good parallax adjustment. 1" tube, so rings are not a billion dollars. And the reticle is very usable, but not too busy. (Also no nubbin clearancing needed.)
12x is more than enough for me, even in PRS22 matches, with shots to 500+ yd. In some conditions, I might not be able to spot my impacts at those distances - but my son and our competitors and squad mates usually can't either, with their Arken SH4s, EP5s, and Vortex Vipers at 20-35x.

Regardless of what brand you're looking at, keep in mind that the higher the magnification, the shorter the field of view will be - and the more important it is to dial for parallax/focus. And, the higher the magnification, the smaller the exit pupil on the ocular end.

Some examples of exit pupil size:
(calculated at maximum magnification)
Generic 3-9x40mm - 4.44mm
EP5 7-35x56mm - 1.60mm
Heras 2-12x42 - 3.50mm
SH4 6-24x50mm - 2.08mm

If you've ever used a scope that had a frustratingly tiny spot to align your eye with, and short window for eye relief, you should be able to see what a difference the above examples represent.

[tangolima]

Isn't all that gross over kill for 50yd?

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[Shadow9mm]

Really depends on your hunting style, but I like 4-12 for my airguns simply because the targets are small. I take headshots on squirrels, whole head is the size of a gatoraid bottle cap. 4x is a great base power, and i can zoom in if I need to.

[tangolima]

You meant size of a bottle cap, right? Can you hit it with iron sight at 12yd? That's equivalent to 4x scope on same target at 50yd. Many shooters would jump up and say heck yeah. But yet when they have a scope, they want enormous magnification.

I like fixed low power for its simplicity, lower cost, and brightness. It works perfectly for my needs. Even when I have variable power, I mostly leave it unchanged at a convenient lower setting, 6x out of 18x, for instance, and multiply reticle value 3x.

-TL



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[Shadow9mm]

Originally Posted by tangolima

You meant size of a bottle cap, right? Can you hit it with iron sight at 12yd? That's equivalent to 4x scope on same target at 50yd. Many shooters would jump up and say heck yeah. But yet when they have a scope, they want enormous magnification.

I like fixed low power for its simplicity, lower cost, and brightness. It works perfectly for my needs. Even when I have variable power, I mostly leave it unchanged at a convenient lower setting, 6x out of 18x, for instance, and multiply reticle value 3x.

-TL



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Yes, cap, sorry, long day.

[Swifty Morgan]

I would not be happy shooting paper at 50 yards with 4x. I want a nice clear view of every hole.

Somebody recommended an Athlon Talos 4-14. Looks neat, but I started thinking about the minimum focus distance. It is surprisingly hard to hit a squirrel a few feet away with a scoped rifle, and sometimes you need to.

I have a 3-9x cheapo UTG Bug Buster scope which is actually pretty neat. At 50 yards, it's pretty clear, and it has reticle illumination, which I really like at my age. It focuses down to 3 yards, which is actually useful if you have to kill a wounded squirrel. Although I could just draw my carry piece and make a squirrel doughnut with a 10mm hole.

I think I paid about $70 for this thing, so no promises regarding tracking, but on the other hand, you don't need tracking to shoot a squirrel 50 yards away.

I am seeing 30 yards a lot in the minimum distance specs for better scopes.

I had to paint the baseboards in a closet today, so I didn't have time to get my existing glass out and make comparisons. Tomorrow I may come out of the closet, so to speak.

[Pumpkin]

Vortex Sonora 4-12, great price, nice clear scope.

[FrankenMauser]

I have a Sonora, as well as a Crossfire and a Diamondback. The Sonora falls in between - as it is supposed to.

But none are worth my time. Too much distortion and chromatic aberration.
I'd rather use a Tasco Pronghorn 4x. The image quality is, sadly, better.
All three Vortex scopes are on the 'shelf of shame' - which is populated by regrettable purchases, broken scopes, crappy scopes that came with a rifle, and scopes so bad that they are destined to be used as targets.
I will not buy a low-end Vortex scope again.

[Pumpkin]

Your eyes are better than mine.

[Adventurer 2]

I'm with Tangolima on squirrel hunting -- fixed power 4X. I use a Nikon Prostaff 4X 32MM - fogproof, waterproof, shockproof, light, clear, good eye relief for sitting and standing, and parallax is set at 50 yards. Squirrels 75 yards and in -- no problems.

[44 AMP]

The big issue I see with a 15x or higher scope for shooting squirrels is you have a small field of view and squirrels don't often sit still much. One hop and that squirrel you had dead in the crosshairs is now at the edge, or even out of your field of view.

Same thing with a variable, low power end is fine, and usually fast enough, but the time it takes to crank the scope up to high can mean the squirrel has moved by the time you get there.

A 4x .22 scope on a rifle that puts the bullet where the crosshairs are, does the job on squirrels pretty well. Don't think that 4 times more magnification will result in 4 times better shots. It might, but life rarely works that way.