338 Lapua??

[brando]

It seems like the most common mistake for people making the jump to .338LM is that they go out and buy a scope with more than 25x magnification. The name of the game with ELR shooting is having available elevation to work with and most of those high-magnification scopes (with the exception of the late USO SN-9) have limited erector cell travel. Most are in fact designed for benchrest shooting inside of 300m.

Get a scope with 25x max magnification and at least 26mils of elevation along with a 45MOA mount and you can take that rifle to 2000 yards.

[ar15barrels]

OK, good to know.
I do like the 3.5-21 that i have.

Look at your 3.5-21 at 15x, 18x and 21x.
Notice how it gets darker/softer at 18x and above.
The 30x does that even more.
Most guys don't use the 3.5-21's much above 18x for the same reason.

[diver160651]

338 Lapua??

It seems like the most common mistake for people making the jump to .338LM is that they go out and buy a scope with more than 25x magnification. The name of the game with ELR shooting is having available elevation to work with and most of those high-magnification scopes (with the exception of the late USO SN-9) have limited erector cell travel. Most are in fact designed for benchrest shooting inside of 300m.

Get a scope with 25x max magnification and at least 26mils of elevation along with a 45MOA mount and you can take that rifle to 2000 yards.

Well said. Plus heat and often laying on your belly low across a valley or desert floor; mirage makes the super high power offerings a poor choice.

Keep you 3.5-21... When you start shooting at 2+K you'll like everything you have but the optical quality. Then upgrading to something with the similar features but better glass might be in order. You'll notice MOA size targets look a bit soft in Bushnell's offerings (actually in everything if the heat is up), but it will still work.


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[brando]

I wouldn't put a Bushnell 3.5-21 on a .338LM. It's a great scope for a .223 SPR or maybe a .308, but I wouldn't consider them durable at all. And like Randall said, the optical quality leaves much to be desired. This becomes painfully obvious at full power in less than ideal conditions.

[JMP]

How do you know that the picture will not be great? have you been behind this scope at 30x and at 2K?
I am really liking the bushnell ET line for the price-to-value. I use the 1-6.5x24 on my AR & AK. I have the 3.5-21x50 on my Rem 5R in .308
would the 300gr ammo be a better choice out to 2K?

The 50mm objective lens and 30x zoom are not a good pairing. But, to be honest, most scopes look like hell at 2k. Budget scopes like Bushnell have gotten quite effective for more practical ranges. It's in the very long distance where the glass makes a big difference. There's just so much convection and other distorting issues to cut through, most scopes will not resolve a small target. You'll be aiming at a waving blur unless conditions are just perfect. For value at that range, NF or Kahles is probably the way to go. The one scope that I've seen that is an outlier for very long distances is the Hensoldt 3.5-26; it's in a different league than anything else I have looked through, but it is very expensive and you will need to use European turrets. After that, I'd favor a Schmidt.

I don't plan on shooting the .338 much because of the cost, recoil and barrel life.

The barrel life on a .338 Lapua isn't that bad. One of the things is that it isn't a particularly high velocity cartridge, but .338 bullets are very efficient. Personally, unless you are trying to hit very large targets, I do not think you'll find that much success at 2k with a .338 Lapua. It is running ragged at that distance with a long time in flight. You can greatly improve your ability to make longer hits by going to a monolithic bore-rider to run at higher velocities with a higher BC.

I do like the 3.5-21 that i have.
do you have any input on the 30 MOA vs 45 MOA base?

Yes, you can use the 3.5-21 for now as it has pretty good elevation range, then look to upgrade. I'd not get too carried away with the base elevation. You can always add more cant with a mount.

it's the indian not the arrow...

Indeed, but at that range, you need a very strong arrow.
One of the other issues you will have at 2k is that you cannot hit something if you do not know how far it is. Most rangefinders will fail around a mile unless you get a Vectronix rangefinder.

[ExtremeX]

I was looking to go 338 at one point with a Sako TRG, but I would need some serious upgrades across all my support gear to even making it a viable system... ELR Scope, Spotting scope, weather meter, range finder... It was such an expensive proposition to do it right that I never did it at all.

Speaking of a Vectronix rangefinder... man those things are impressive...

The ranging performance and beam divergence is just amazing.

[brando]

Yup, and slaved to a good spotting scope gives you an ideal ELR spotting rig.

[diver160651]

338 Lapua??

Your correct- the ELR game is expensive!

Here is a ELR DIY target cam thread I did on the hide. There are some shots (videos) at 2.2kilomiters including the misses in the thread.

A must have is the Vectronix... and for me, the tuned FFS on a Trimble w/ differential GPS is worth every penny.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=541&f=5539&t=13236426

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[jmf_tracy]

Your correct- the ELR game is expensive!

Here is a ELR DIY target cam thread I did on the hide. There are some shots (videos) at 2.2kilomiters including the misses in the thread.

A must have is the Vectronix... and for me, the tuned FFS on a Trimble w/ differential GPS is worth every penny.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=541&f=5539&t=13236426

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Wow. Nice set-up and shooting.

[Justintoxicated]

I wouldn't put a Bushnell 3.5-21 on a .338LM. It's a great scope for a .223 SPR or maybe a .308, but I wouldn't consider them durable at all. And like Randall said, the optical quality leaves much to be desired. This becomes painfully obvious at full power in less than ideal conditions.

I thought the Bushnell 3.5-21 was supposed to be one of the most durable scopes out there. I don't know if it would be good on a 338, but they are fine on 308's. Tons of people are running them that way. It's a bit much scope for a 223. It's on my long range rifle. I have the 4.5-30x, and I can agree that 30x isn't all the great, but it is still usable, especially at closer ranges where you really want to shoot a tight group. The eye relief is kinda crappy at 30x though, not going to be ideal for getting those quick followup shots.

I'm planning to buy a second one, but a 3.5-21x soon.

[safety-1st]

I am liking the idea of 300win caliber now as some suggested Especially for the extra power over 308 and its a cheaper caliber than 338 It is also a stepping stone to 338 if one ever decides to jump up to that caliber.

[JMP]

I thought the Bushnell 3.5-21 was supposed to be one of the most durable scopes out there.

It's like a tank compared to the cheap Chinese scopes like PA. But, a nice scope like a Schmidt or Hensoldt is like a tank compared to a Bushnell. The BTEs are a very good all around scope for most people's purposes. That said, many here will tell you that the nice German and other high quality optics are obsolete, which is pretty much comical IMHO.

[brando]

Just play with the turrets a while and you'll see what I mean. My HDMR feels like it's ready to break in that regard, so I just keep 'em locked at zero

[Clever]