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Okay, I have some gift cards saved up for Cabelas and am looking at adding a nice scope to my AR. I have a Daniel Defense M4 with an Eotech on it now but am wanting to hit the longer side of the range. I am wanting to reach out to 300 yards at the minimum but double that would be nice. I have been looking at the Leupold Mark AR 4-12x40mm. I guess my first question is, will my AR be accurate out to 500-600 yards and is this scope overkill? Second question, if not, should I be looking at the 3-9 instead? And last question, is there another type or brand of scope I should consider?

thanks!

Munk wrote:I guess my first question is, will my AR be accurate out to 500-600 yards and is this scope overkill?

My first question is do you have a place to shoot at 600 yards to see how accurate the rifle/scope combination is?

I am sure that there will be a few dissenters, but my uneducated guess is that 600 yards is overreaching the capability of the rifle. In other words, buy a scope that works well at 100-300 yards and be happy with it.

WildBill wrote:

Munk wrote:I guess my first question is, will my AR be accurate out to 500-600 yards and is this scope overkill?

My first question is do you have a place to shoot at 600 yards to see how accurate the rifle/scope combination is?

I am sure that there will be a few dissenters, but my uneducated guess is that 600 yards is overreaching the capability of the rifle. In other words, buy a scope that works well at 100-300 yards and be happy with it.

I would agree, as far as I know the DD are designed as battle rifles and not really designed for long range shooting. There are AR's made specifically for that. I have shot my DDM4V3 at 200 yards and that is plenty far enough for me. BTW, most people today go overboard on scopes as far as I am concerned. There are so many choices and higher magnifications that people feel like they need a scope variable up to 14 times magnification just because they are for sale.

I believe the DD M4 is a 16" bbl carbine. I don't think any carbine is designed for ranges over 300 yds, but hey, I'm still mystified by black rifles

I have a couple of these on my rifles and have been VERY impressed. I have the 4-16x42mm with the Nikoplex on a Remington 700 SPS Tactical .223 (I know, not an AR) and have used it to pop prairie dogs out to 400 yards. I have put it on paper out to 500 and the BDC works brilliantly. On a 16" AR I have used the 3-12x42mm on a coyote at 220 yards and got him in the head on the first shot. This was not my rifle but a buddies and he shoots coyotes and prairie dogs with it on a very regular basis out to 400 yards. YMMV

Thanks everyone... I ended up grabbing a Nikon M223 3-12x42. Taking it out this weekend to see how far out it will reach.

I've got a leupold rifleman 4x12x40 on my deer rifle. My son has a nikon prostaff 3x9x50 on his. We've shot them out to 500 yards but most deer shots and kills have come in the 200 to 300 yard ranges. Both are crystal clear, mount easily and can adjust easily. Not sure how they'd work on AR type outfits. But these have taken quite a few deer down!!

Munk wrote:Thanks everyone... I ended up grabbing a Nikon M223 3-12x42. Taking it out this weekend to see how far out it will reach.

A 3-12x will let you take shots out to 600yds pretty well. Of course, a 5.56 will need some extra legs. If it's a DD M4, your barrel twist should be 1:7, so you should be able to push a 62-77gr bullet out there pretty easily, assuming winds are light.

OldCannon wrote:

Munk wrote:Thanks everyone... I ended up grabbing a Nikon M223 3-12x42. Taking it out this weekend to see how far out it will reach.

A 3-12x will let you take shots out to 600yds pretty well. Of course, a 5.56 will need some extra legs. If it's a DD M4, your barrel twist should be 1:7, so you should be able to push a 62-77gr bullet out there pretty easily, assuming winds are light.

The Nikon M-223 was developed for use with 55gr polymer tipped ammo, I would (and do) stick to that for the best results out of the BDC or Rapid Action Turrets.