Scope suggestions for 17HMR for ground squirrels

[lewdogg21]

A buddy of mine owns a ranch in central california where we shot some ground squirrels. Afterwards he told me 'Little guns are like crack', yup he's right.

So I have a Savage 93R17 heavy barrel with the stock 3x9 scope on it. I'm looking to upgrade to something with maybe a 12x or 14x top end for those 150 yard potential shots on the rats (all the way across the field). In my mind I narrowed it down to maybe a Nikon Buckmasters (original one) 4.5x14x42 which I can get for maybe $175 over on the campfire forums used.

Any other suggestions I should be looking at? This won't be for shooting squirrels at dawn/dusk but I want something that's clear enough I don't get a headache when I crank it up and scan for rats out far.

Price would be under $200. Older scopes that can be bought used are ok too.

[motox917]

I have the BSA sweet 17 3-12x40 on my Savage .17 and it's been good. I've dropped squirrels out to 230 yards with it no problem.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/reviews/reviews-bsa-optics-matte-black-sweet-17-3-12x40-w-illuminated-rgb-reticle-s17312x40rgb.html

[blubullett]

I'm really a fan of Nikon scopes. I have the Target EFR 3-9 on my 93r17 and love it. I can see where you could want something with some more magnification on it but I have tons of 100-150 yrd kills on my 3-9 and have a coyote at 230yrds.


The Prostaff 7 3-12 is on sale right now on their site for 269 and would be awesome on that gun. It comes with their bullet drop reticle so you can use their "spot-on" program to see what each of the marks on the reticle are distance wise. I have a bunch of Winchester 17gr ammo so if I use their program it says on 12x magnification if I use a 50yd zero then the next mark is 137yrds, then 192, 232, 283, 325. Use google chrome to use the program, it doesn't work great on all browsers.

[WartHog]

I have a Savage 93R17 GLV Bull Barrel with a BSA 4-14x44 FFP SF scope. Found out about the scope on this thread over at Gateway to Airguns when I was looking for a scope for my Benjamin Marauder .25 PCP air rifle. It was on closeout at MidwayUSA for $120 - regular $299, so I got one based on the great praise by the guys on the GTA thread.

Mounted it up on the PCP and tried it out on the Ground Squirrels up at Lake Pillsbury. Was so impressed, I went to the Rednck store at the lake and used their WiFi to order another one for the Savage I had yet to buy. After they sold out at Midway, I cussed myself for not buying another for my 10/22. Extremely clear glass at all magnification levels and I really like the etched MRAD Reticle. The distance markings on the side focus adjustment turret are off slightly but I just taped over them and penned in the corrections using a rangefinder.

[CamW]

I'm using a Burris Fullfield II 4.5x14 Ballistic Plex on my 17HMR. With a 100 yard zero the next two hashmarks are very close at 125 and 150 yards.

$200 at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Burris-42mm-F.../dp/B000MM2QU8

[Tom-ADC]

I have a Mueller APV 4.5 x 14 40mm on one of my savages very happy with it, & a Centerpoint 4x16 40mm on the other it was not pricey and has really been a good scope don’t let the low
price scare you away.

[67Cuda]

I'm really a fan of Nikon scopes. I have the Target EFR 3-9 on my 93r17 and love it.

I have this on my Savage Mark II FV. Scope is awesome.

[damon1272]

With a higher quality scope you can use less magnification. That said I use an older baush and lomb (now bushell) 2.5x10 No problem seeing the squirrels out to 150 yards. Nikon is about the lowest quality scope I would consider. Put your money into the scope and should be near the cost of the rifle. That way you don't end up with a headache after looking through it for a whole day.

[lewdogg21]

Thanks for the suggestions. I previously had a FFII in that power on my AR and am using the same power but in an E1 on my 257W now.

[deckhandmike]

Don’t have an exact scope to recommend but I’m running my 17hmr with a leupold 3-9 and a bump up to 4-14 would be perfect. Damn, I love that round. Twice as fun as .22lr.

[223m70]

I'm a big fan of the Weaver 40/44 series 6.5-20x44. I have this scope on both my Ruger 17HMR and my Savage 17WSM with the Varminter reticle although the dual-x is nice also.

[ChuckDizzle]

I say stick with 3-9x and get better glass.

[TRAP55]

I had a 4-12 Leupold on my Marlin 917V until someone here on the forums told me more magnification is better on the .17HMR. I swapped it out for an older Japan made Tasco 8-32x44 Target scope with a target dot reticle.
The only downside is that dot bouncing with my heartbeat on 32x.
Besides not needing a spotting scope, the upside is actually watching the bullet connect. When ground rats barely peek out their holes, it makes red mist head shots easy.
What Tom said about Mueller scopes is true, highly under rated for the price.

[lewdogg21]

Thanks all, I ended up with a buckmasters 4-12x40. Ironically when i swapped out the scopes on Sunday i quickly realized that all 4 ring screws on the original stock scope were not tight and backed out extremely easy. Essentially I have no idea how the scope held zero still.

Some blue loctite and now I'm G2G with the new scope.

[Blade Gunner]

Hawke sports optics 5-30x50 or 4-16x50


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