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[drago78]

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[wpage]

There are other factors. Dependent on what type of shooting you will do. Also what are your budget constraints.

[blsniper]

What do you consider to be budget? You bought a 338 and will be buying/reloading 338ammo, neither of which is cheap. People never want to pay $ for the scope. There are a lot of factors with optics. From a budget and reliability standpoint a fixed 10x will hold up well and most likely your skill level. Bushnell and US Optics both make quality optics, the USO obviously being the better but more $.

[FIRSTGUN]

SWFA SS 5-20X50

[blsniper]

So what kinds of distances are you thinking?

Finding a scope that can handle dialing the knobs to the distances you can potentially shoot and doing that over and over again under the recoil of a braked 338 is hard pressed to find in a budget scope. You cant go cheap when it comes to optics.

not hunting, I will use it to sharpen my skills to shoot at distance

[Junkie]

wow

definitely getting a lot of help

You post a thread after 11pm and them complain that people haven't replied at 3:24am, really?

I'd suggest spending as much on the scope as the gun.

[RiverRunner]

If you are on a budget, but want to get shooting with it, you can't go wrong with the Bushnell 3200 10x / 40mm scope. Usually $200 +/- all over the place.

It has a mildot reticle and 1/10 mil adjustments. I have one I bought for one of my .308s as a starter scope ($150 or so on sale) and it is a damn fine scope for the money and very tough.

Barrett used to (and may still?) include them with their 50 bmg and .416 rifles, which are a lot more punishing than 338 lapua.

Again, it is only 10x (OK to 1000 yds on steel sillhouettes), but if you want to get shooting while saving for a better optic, it isn't a bad placeholder.

[Whatisthis?]

Don't take this offensively, it's my own personal opinion. Junkie is right. Posting the thread and expecting answers that quickly is ridiculous.

He is also right that you should probably be spending at least as much on the scope as the rifle costs. Seeing as how you're on a budget though, I understand not wanting too spend that much... but it's all very conflicting. How do you expect to shoot a .338 lapua with any kind of regularity if you can't even afford a $1000 scope?

Also, when people ask how far you are going to shoot it, they aren't talking about how far the cartridge is good for... that is found online without much searching... Just because it's good for 2000+ yards doesn't mean you'll be shooting it at that distance. Example: My 16" Lr-308 is good for 800ish yards, but I will mainly be using it out to 400 on most occasions and 5-600 on rare occasions. So a 1-4x scope for shooting steel is completely appropriate even though I would want more magnification if I was shooting at 800 yards.

Solid budget options that I would use on a .338 lapua would be any of the fixed magnification SS from SWFA. That's about all I can recommend based on experience. It would be hard for me to suggest anything below $700-800ish besides those.

This is about as inexpensive I would go for any variable power for it (and it's a FFP):

http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-3-15x42-Tactical-Rifle-Scope-P62238.aspx

Hopefully this helps some.

[brando]

Look for a maximum magnification of 25x, but most importantly look for a scope that has lots of available elevation. You'll also want a 45MOA mount if you want to get the most out of that rifle. A low budget will get you crap and just frustrate your efforts to shoot to a mile or more that the rifle is capable of.

Oh, and you should be reloading.

[SloChicken]

I have SWFA HD scopes in a few different magnifications and they are excellent glass and great quality.

However, I also have 2 weaver tactical scopes that are also quite good. I have a 4-20x50mm FFP mil/mil (non illuminated) with resettable turrets, side parallax. It is a great scope. I use it out to 1000yds and the magnification and quality of glass is quite acceptable. It isn't my Leica, but it is as good as my SWFA HDs, and Trij Accupoints, and Pride-Fowler RR900.
I prefer the controls on the weavers. I also have a Weaver tactical with same specs but 3-15x and illuminated.
You can find examples of Weavers for between 650 and 900.

And if you are going to shoot 338 Lapua, you may as well invest in reloading equipment - it will pay for itself in a couple hundred rounds.

15x illum

http://www.amazon.com/Weaver-Tactical-Illuminated-Range-Scope/dp/B004NRXLN4

20x

http://www.amazon.com/Weaver-Tactical-Scope-4-20x50-Reticle/dp/B002RGCIGO/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1439108228&sr=1-1&keywords=weaver+tactical+4-20x50

Last, do yourself a favor and get a scope mount with at least a 20MOA cant (and for 338 lapua, I would think 40 MOA wouldn't hurt), it will stretch the adjustability of your scope choice.

[Divernhunter]

If you are thinking of that scope just buy a Nightforce scope.

[craneman]

I think I found a winner, guys please correct me if I'm about to make a mistake buying this scope:

SWFA SS HD 5-20x50 Tactical 30mm Riflescope

do I really need a Illuminated reticle??

I have that scope on my AR30 in .338LM. The most magnification I have used out to 2064 yards is 16x. That is on a 37" gong and it works just fine. It is repeatable and accurate. It has a lifetime warranty, and pretty good glass. I am sure it would be sufficient for 2500 yards in good light and reasonable mirage. That is about as far as you are gonna get with a .338. At least until they make better projectiles IMHO.

It is the minimum I would recommend for 1 mile +. However, in my case, it seems to match up to the rifles capabilities quite well.

Bare in mind I am pretty new to shooting these distances, so I may not be the most knowledgeable, but so far it has been working for me.

No, you so not need an illuminated reticle.

[JMP]

1 mile+? the round is very capable and I know I can't go cheap, I wanna go on a budged not cheap

OP, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you cannot get a budget scope and shoot 1 mile+. Sure, there are guys that can take a crappy scope out and a lot of shots and make a 1 mile hit. It's a good cartridge, so you will eventually make a shot if you shoot enough, or if you have giant targets. So, if that's the type of shooting you want to do, get the cheapest thing that'll work for it. What will work are scopes that are not made in China and have over 20 milliradian adjustment from a 100 yard zero.

For what I consider a budget scope on a 338 Lapua, I'd recommend the Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56 PMII, plain black with a P4 fine reticle. These scopes are great for long range as they have a nice picture, and the base model of the 5-25x56 PMII is in the low $3ks, which is better than some of the other PMIIs that have various features like Horus reticles and orange cerakotes that get you above $4k. While the Schmidt has only 26 mil of adjustment, it is generally more than enough for a 338 Lapua as once you get to that range, it becomes extremely difficult to make the shot. It also gets you perfect tracking and a good image in its entire range as they have limited the erector to stay inside of what is guaranteed to work with the geometry of the scope. There are now other 34mm scopes that will have over 30 mils of click value, but they are squeezing the maximum of the lenses and putting you at the extrema, which causes distortion.

I recommend this scope as a good value scope even though it is $3k as some of the alternatives to get more are twice that cost. A lot will depend on what type of conditions you are shooting in. If you are shooting through mirage and wind, the cheap scopes won't hack it.

For a budget scope, I would suggest the Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27x56 as this is one of the better scopes capable of ELR that run closer to $2k.

Brando this is for you brother, just to assure you that I will reload

The reason it is necessary to reload 338 Lapua is not only cost, but there isn't any factory ammo that is available that does well with the very long distance stuff (your objective of 1 mile+). For success at that range you will need more premium bullets and a more finely tuned load than what the factory ammo has to offer. While Lapua factory ammo is $6/piece, it's really not optimal for going much past 1,500m unless conditions are great.

I think I found a winner, guys please correct me if I'm about to make a mistake buying this scope:

SWFA SS HD 5-20x50 Tactical 30mm Riflescope

do I really need a Illuminated reticle??

If you are going to get a cheap scope, the SWFA 5-20x50 is absolutely the best game in town as it has very good glass for the price. It also gives you tons of elevation (however, we know there is distortion and tracking issues at the extrema due to the geometry of the 30mm tube). But, shooting at ELR ranges, you are generally not dialing to your target and making a cold-bore shot on the first time. Usually you will need to spot your hit as a sighter shot, then bring it on target. As you can hold, it's often best to see where you impact is and hold for a quick follow up shot if you are close in order to face as similar conditions as you can get. There are other cheap scopes out there with enough elevation like the Bushnell 3.5-21s, but the glass quality simply will not cut it.

If you are serious about long range shooting, you'll be very glad that you got a 338 Lapua as it really is the best bang for the buck that you'll find, and you will definitely end up with a better scope (and better rifle as you'll at least want to end up with a larger barrel) for long shots. Buy Lapua brass and no other case or you will spend a bunch of money and the brass will lack consistency and life. If you don't get Lapua brass, then Norma is the second best.

My recommendation:
Cheap: SWFA 5-20x50
Budget: Vortex Razor Gen II or Kahles k624
A little better: Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25
Best reasonably priced: Schmidt & Bender 5-25
Another good scope (a bit pricey): Tangent Theta 5-25
Optimal (expensive): Hensoldt 3.5-26 FF

There are others in the $2,000-$3,500 range that will also work, but those are what I suggest as they are all suited for long distance shooting. Do not get a BenchRest scope that has very high magnification with small 1/8MOA clicks as the erector systems on those are not made to handle the elevation required, and you won't really pick up any gains in more magnification than 25-30x as the mirage will generally be too much to deal with.

[Gunsrruss]

Scope ????

Yep, cheap is expensive, and expensive is cheap when it comes to glass. I have the Nightforce 5.5 X 22 X 56. The first one was so good I bought two more. I'll never look back. You have a good rifle, put good glass on it or it will cost you again when you see you have to replace it.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Lots of great scope info here.

I will tag in and say thanks!