Hi everyone, I'm looking to buy a scope to shoot at club shoots near me, consisting of 5 each, chickens at 25 yds, pigs at 50, turkeys at 75, and rams at 100. I have no idea of what I need. I'm looking at a Bushnell Banner 4-16 x 40 with FOV @ 100 yards of 6 ft. I'm on a tight budget and it's going on a marlin model 60 to start with, so what do you all think? I guess my main question is how's 6 ft field of view going to work? It seems OK to me but I'm guessing. I plan on buying a Savage Mk 2 but for now it's the marlin. Thanks for the help, Paul

Paul,
Most rifles with ammo they like will outshoot the shooter. Weighing in that comment, think about investing in good optics, even on a tight budget the reliability of the mechanical parts of a scope are the biggest factors in this game of constant elevation adjustments. Lower dollar but known reliability scopes include the Weaver KT's (with Tseries stepping up from that) , Sightron, then into the the Leupolds. In many cases the optics have cost more than the rifles original cost, and typically are about the same as the rifle costs after trigger, bedding,and other fine tuning is done.
This is probably not what you want to hear, but investing in good glass will save a lot of heartache down the road, trying to figure out why your scores have suddenly dropped off, or the rifle no longer groups.

Mary

Paul, Mary is absolutely right even though it's hard to hear. You might also try the Redfield, although they lack an adjustable objective. Good glass holds value, so it's an investment, instead of an expense, and that's one key in this game. We all buy things that turn out wrong, so you come off better buying things that others will want later.

First off, thanks for the responses. Both of you make very good sense. The glass can stay with me through many guns. I can probably trade a couple Nylons for a CZ and be good for a while with a good scope. I go to a gravel pit and pick up pieces of clay pigeons and shoot them at 100 yds with my Marlin. It will be interesting to see how bad I shoot with a $10 gift card from the grocery store in town on the line and $5 to shoot. I usually don't do anything half way and I bet silhouette shooting won't be different. Thanks for talking to me this looks like a fun and informative place to hang out.

Welcome aboard! And remember, the first taste is always free!

Welcome to the crowd, and remember, have fun, you are only competing against yourself.

Mary

In all honesty, you are talking with about the same exact setup I started with. I had the Busnell scope and a Marlin 880SQ and soon after a Marlin 29N. If you are on a tight budget that will work. The one tyhing that was a pain in the #$^ was having to diagram the scope settings by pictures to be certain of the proper setting on the dial. I was using that scope on both rifles, standard and hunter. From the bench it worked well enough. For some reason offhand it did not shoot worth crap (haha!).

Understanding a tight budget and you being new to the sport, what you described is good enough to figure out if you want to continue with Rifle Silhouette in the future. There is no reason to go into debt just to try it out. If in the future you decide to be more serious, start saving your $$ now for a better rifle and optics. If you decide you don't like Rifle Silhouette, you can get some great fishing equipment.

Personally, I hope you continue and prove to be a greeat shot at it. The fact is, it frustrates some into not wanting to continue. It is not easy to knock those targets down and it can be frustrating to start.

I have a $400 scope I am trying to sell for $300 and nobody has even made an offer on it. If you end up trying to sell the Bushnell, you will be out about $50.

Hope this helps and Good Luck! with whatever you decide.

Jerry

Great points from Jerry! Keep this in perspective and remember this a hobby and you do do not go into debt or neglect needs for a hobby. (On the other hand, I never let Significant Other know there's money in the Toy Fund, 'cause she'll find a way to tap it...)

Hey everyone, thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the food for thought. You all make sense from a different angle so to speak. I'm going to join the gun club where they have the shoot. At least I can practice there. I have no problem shooting a few hundred rounds when I shoot. To be honest I don't even know of anywhere else in my area to shoot silhouette. I just know that this looks like a lot of fun. I don't expect it to be easy, I just want to get out with some like minded folks and have some fun. Punching paper is OK but that gets old for me. Anyway it's good to be here and I'll be around with more newby questions I'm sure. Paul

neglect needs for a hobby

Defination of needs is a fluid thing depending upon the wants at the moment....

Kitty

We do have an infinite capacity for rationalization. Most internet shopping sites build their business model on it.

22paul wrote:Hey everyone, thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the food for thought. You all make sense from a different angle so to speak. I'm going to join the gun club where they have the shoot. At least I can practice there. I have no problem shooting a few hundred rounds when I shoot. To be honest I don't even know of anywhere else in my area to shoot silhouette. I just know that this looks like a lot of fun. I don't expect it to be easy, I just want to get out with some like minded folks and have some fun. Punching paper is OK but that gets old for me. Anyway it's good to be here and I'll be around with more newby questions I'm sure. Paul

I have listings to clubs that shoot rifle silhouette. I am not sure if it is complete but, it is all that I was able to find by some fairly extensive research. They are listed by state and have links to maps of the exact range location.
you will find the link on the top-right corner of the home page.


Jerry

I have listings to clubs that shoot rifle silhouette. I am not sure if it is complete but, it is all that I was able to find by some fairly extensive research. They are listed by state and have links to maps of the exact range location.
you will find the link on the top-right corner of the home page.


Jerry


Thanks Jerry, I'll check it out. I live just outside of the "Peoples Republic of Madison" guns and or shooters aren't very popular around here. I need to move.