Squirrels are mocking me!

[Snarky]

Hi, I'm Scott. New to calguns.

I have a destructive squirrel issue and recently borrowed a Marlin-60 from a friend. The rifle has iron sites. My distance vision is 20-10 (I'm a pilot) but my uncorrected vision is massively farsighted. The rear site on the Marlin is blurry to the point that I'm having trouble centering the front site in the rear site aperture. I setup a target in the yard and my marksmanship is not sufficient to kill these squirrels. They stay about 40-yards away from me and I can tell they are laughing it up.

Would a scope help me?

I recently purchased a new Springfield M1A. I just received it Friday and haven't managed to take it to the range and shoot it yet but can tell that I will have similar trouble seeing the rear iron site. If a scope can help a farsighted shooter, what is a high quality scope and mount suitable for an M14? A little point in the proper direction would be most appreciated, Thanks.

Oh, I'm not shooting the M14 at squirrels.

Scott

[nick]

A scope would definitely help with vision-related issues. As for the kind of scope, how much are you looking to spend? How far and how are you planning to shoot it?

Oh, and welcome to Calguns

[Snarky]

Well, I just got one with the Marlin. I figured out which rocks they were hiding in and setup where they had a dirt embankment behind them. I rested the rifle on a fence and knelt behind it and got one through the head. The other disappeared and I could not reacquire it. The headshot was about 50-yards with a CBee subsonic. Sure makes me want to buy myself a .22 rifle. Is the goldenboy any good with a scope on it?

My grandpa was well known for killing tiger in Sumatra. I'm pushing 50 and finally managed to bag a squirrel lol.

Nick, I bought the M14 to accompany my Model-66 .357 and my 870 Tactical Magnum. I want it to serve as the long-range defensive rifle for my home. I have a hilltop ranch and its about 2000 feet to the bottom of the butte. If I could set my rifle up to work effectively at that range (and learn to operate it at that range) I would be a happy camper. I would like to try to keep the optic under $1000 but have an open mind. I may upgrade the rifle as necessary to support that kind of range, it is a standard model. I would also plan to grab this rifle and my pistol if I was run off my property suddenly etc. I'm mostly concerned about a mount that won't loosen due to the punishment of the .308. I would appreciate your input if you have a scope you favor for this application, thanks.

Scott, annihilator of squirrels and other dangerous game

[Tox]

If the goal is squirrel reduction, google for "squirrel pole".

[maxicon]

You can get a Golden Boy cantilever scope mount - they show one at the bottom of this page:

http://www.henryrepeating.com/h004_goldenboy.cfm

I don't have one, but people say the stock drop is too low for a good cheek weld with a scope mounted like this. There's a lot of Golden Boy discussion over at the rimfirecentral Henry forum - try searching there for golden boy scope.

http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

For squirrels, it would be hard to beat a Marlin 60 or a Ruger 10/22 with either a small, light red dot (these are good if your rear sights are too blurry) or a low-power scope.

[bruce_ventura]

Sounds like the rifle has a rear peep sight. As long as you can get your eye close to the rear sight and focus on the front sight, you should be good to go. I wear reading glasses and use very small peep sight apertures on my target rifles, but I can still focus on the front sight. I shoot service rifles out to 600 yds with iron sights no problem. If you can't focus on the front sight, you should get a scope or red-dot sight. Not a bad idea even if you can.

I've heard that Ruger 10/22 may fail to feed some ammo. Most rifle manufacturers make a solid entry-level bolt action magazine 22 LR rifle that will feed any type of ammo you have, including the subsonics. Used single shot rifles can often be found cheap at local gun shops. It's hard to imagine a 22 LR with a clean barrel not hitting a squirrel at 50 yds. It may be easier to mount a scope on a new gun though. I own a Savage MK II for target practice / short range squirrels - great gun for the money.

Figure $400 max out the door for rifle, rings and scope. I'd go with a Bushnell 3-9X40 Sportsman, Banner or Trophy scope or equivalent, but you can get by with spending less for this rig. You might get lucky and find a used package deal for as little as $150 out the door.

Have fun and bust up those squeaks!

[oldschool88]

Oh, I'm not shooting the M14 at squirrels.

Aw...I was laughing thinking about shooting squirrels with an M14.
Also, Welcome