What's your favorite rimfire scope?

[Dougfirtree]

Currently, I have a very cheap scope on my .22lr. I'd love to have something with more precise adjustments and better glass. This is primarily a hunting/practice rifle for shorter ranges and I'm not looking for anything really big, or heavy. I'm also not looking to spend a ton of money. What are your favorite options?

 

[CorkyM]

I like the Bushnell 4X that I have on my Marlin bolt action with the attached magazine.

 

[Elktrack]

I like the Bushnell 4X that I have on my Marlin bolt action with the attached magazine.

Sounds like we’re in the same tax bracket!

 

[pabearhunter]

3-9 leupold or vortex rim fire.

 

[Seamaster]

I like the Leupold Rimfire, and (if you can find one) the Weaver Rimfire. Both of these make fine hunting scopes. As a 22 lr has no recoil there are many scopes that will do the job if they have parallax set correctly, or have adjustable parallax. I have tried some of the others and was not satisfied, but everybody's eyes are different..

 

[Don Fischer]

I had a rimfire scope one time, never own another. Get an inexpensive 1" rifle scope for it. My 22 mag has a 4x ElPaso Weaver on it!

 

[ludville1]

I have a Tasco 3-9x 40 on my Ruger 10/22. Combo. works out fine.

 

[TN2shot07]

I have a tasco 3-9x40 on a 10/22 (bought the rifle/scope from my late uncle, so it’s staying as long as it works) and a Nikon 2-7 on my cz. If anything happens to either I’ll pick up one of the leupolds

 

[Beignet]

I ended up with the cheapo Vortex 2-7 on mine and it’s fine for what it is. The 2x is nice for offhand silhouette style shooting and the 7x is big enough for whatever bench based target distance. Think I found it on fleabay for $80. Seemed like a step up from whatever cheap-cheap sub $50 scopes are out there.

Hasn’t had to go in for warranty from the punishing recoil yet.

If you see one of these 4x Bushnell Scopechief Rimfires you should buy it. Incredibly clear glass. Unfortunately they won’t mount on my Marlin bolt gun.

 

[Ben Lamb]

My 22 mag wears an old Denver Redfield 4x on it. Fits perfectly on the old 9422.

 

[LuketheDog]

I put a Bushnell A17 3.5-10x36 on my Savage .22mag, it's worked great so far.

 

[Caseknife]

Put a Leupold FX-II 2.5x20 on my wife's Ruger rimfire, simple and works great and very lightweight.

 

[buffybr]

My favorite .22 rimfire rifle is my Rem 541 T that I currently have a 3-9x32 Simmons scope on it.

Five of my hunting rifles have various Leupold VX CDS scopes on them.

I recently read an thread on "cheap" long range practice, and someone opined that shooting a .22 rimfire out to 200 yards was a good way to learn long range shooting skills.

Last summer I was given five 300 round boxes of CCI .22 LR Target ammo.

Then a couple of weeks ago I was in Denver and my GF and I went to the Bass Pro store there. I made a $50 dollar purchase that I put on my Cabela's card and my GF asked why I didn't use my points.

This past weekend I was thinking about all of this and concluded that I should put a Leupold CDS scope on my Rem 541 T .22 rifle. I could shoot all 1500 of those CCI .22 shells for less cost that I can load one .300 Weatherby round!

Sooo, yesterday I used some of my Cabela's points and ordered a Leupold VX Freedom 3-9x40 CDS scope to put on my Rem 541 T .22 LR rifle. It should be here in a few days.

This will also give me another project to build a set of 50, 100, 150, and 200 yard steel gongs that will correspond with the sizes of the highpower steel gongs that we have at 100, 200, 300, and 430 yards at out range.

 

[Beignet]

A Leupold CDS or a something with a good BDC reticle would be the cat’s meow for ringing (pinging? dinging?) steel at the range.

 

[Jbotto]

I’ve been really tempted to put a VX-Freedom Rimfire scope in my current favorite .22. The way I use it I think the 2-7x33 would be about perfect but I will probably go up to the 3-9x40.

 

[PorterHouse]

I went down this path not too long ago myself as I upgraded my .22 to a Bergara BMR. I, like you, didn’t want something super heavy and cumbersome and also didn’t want to spend a ton of money. I initially looked at the Leupold Rimfire options but after talking with the guys at CameraLand NY, I ended up with a Hawke Vantage 3-9x40.

It’s my first experience with any Hawke optic but it seems very solid and well built, especially for being a Rimfire scope. They make a couple different versions with dedicated Rimfire reticles (I went with the High Velocity option).

Sight in at 50 yards and there’s drop compensation in the reticle in 25 yard increments out to 200. And the drop compensation works…I’ve verified it at 100, 150 and 200. Can ring 8” steel at 200 yards with boring regularity now.

So for me it has checked all the boxes and they can be found for less than $200. You might give them a look.

I’m typically a Trijicon/Leupold/SWFA guy when it comes to riflescopes but I’ve been very happy with the Hawke thus far.

 

[Curvebow]

I shoot 22LR inside during the winter at a gun club at 50 feet. The idea is to make a perfectly concentric hole in the very center ring which is slightly larger than a 22 hole. I use a CZ 457 with a Boyds At One stock (came that way). I installed a ~2 ounce trigger made by Triggers by Scar in it, I shoot Lapua Center X, Lapua Polar Biathalon, Eley Match, SK Standard, etc in it.

The big thing with any scope is that you need parallax adjustment to see clear at 50 feet. I was using a Bushnell 6 - 18X. I saw a deal on a Sightron 3 - 16x with side focus, 30 mm tube and a reticle with a very fine floating dot in the center & bought it. Yup, I use 16X at 50 feet! Others use 6.5-20X Leupold, 4-20X Sightron, etc. Some guys are shooting Remington 40X rifles with Hart barrels on them. And, its not even a league, no scoring is done, its just to get together for trigger time & BSing about guns, powders, primers, ammo, etc.

This is a hold over until we get back outside for our 300 yard F-Class (basically 300 yard benchrest) at 2 ranges all summer. Yup. We're warped!

 

[howl]

My son really likes his Simmons ProTarget 4x for that sort of thing. It was pretty cheap when I bought it a few years ago.

 

[Schaaf]

I’ve been really tempted to put a VX-Freedom Rimfire scope in my current favorite .22. The way I use it I think the 2-7x33 would be about perfect but I will probably go up to the 3-9x40.

Don’t do it. I had the 3-9x40 on a 22 for a while and it never felt quite right. I then swapped it for the 2-7x33 and it’s absolutely perfect.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I bought two 2.5-7 Weaver rimfire scopes for my daughter’s 22s. I think they are discontinued but if you can find one somewhere, they are very nice scopes.