Upgrades to my Bushy .308

[johncanfield]

I've decided my new Bushy .308 ORC is like my Jeep Rubicon - capable, pretty good out of the box, but nowhere near its full potential which money and effort will cure .

I just ordered a 12.5" Apex handguard with top rail and 2" accessory bottom rail and a Syrac adjustable low profile gas block. Now I'm glass shopping. The two contenders at this point are both First Focal Plane models - the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP (sub $1k) and the Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm ER/T M5 (~$1.7k.) The jury is out if the Lupy is worth almost $1K more than the Vortex.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

Have you given any thought to the Nikon M-308 w/ Rapid Action Turret?

[johncanfield]

I'll check it out, thanks. I have a Nikon Buckmaster on my bolt gun and it's a fine scope.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've decided my new Bushy .308 ORC is like my Jeep Rubicon - capable, pretty good out of the box, but nowhere near its full potential which money and effort will cure .

I just ordered a 12.5" Apex handguard with top rail and 2" accessory bottom rail and a Syrac adjustable low profile gas block. Now I'm glass shopping. The two contenders at this point are both First Focal Plane models - the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP (sub $1k) and the Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm ER/T M5 (~$1.7k.) The jury is out if the Lupy is worth almost $1K more than the Vortex.

When I scoped my custom AR10, I paired the choices down to these three:

1. IOR 6-24x50 Tactical 35mm Rifle Scope, $1,599.95, http://swfa.com/IOR-6-24x50-Tactical-35 ... P8947.aspx
2. Leupold 8.5-25x50 Mark 4 ER/T 30mm Riflescope, $1,899.95, http://swfa.com/Leupold-85-25x50-Mark-4 ... 45012.aspx
3. SWFA SS HD 5-20x50 Tactical 30mm Riflescope, $1,499.95, http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-HD-5-20x50-Tact ... 51642.aspx

I drove to SWFA, and I was able to handle all three scopes, and to sight through them at a water tower a little over 400 yards away to get an idea of the quality of the reticles and the clarity of the glass. All three were FFP scopes. Of the three, the Leupold and the SWFA had the best reticles, but the Leupold's was not illuminated. The SWFA's had the most unique reticle design and offered the most ways to range a target, and it was illuminated. The IOR Valdata's glass was really clear, but the reticle was coarser....although it was illuminated....and because it is a 35mm tube, there is the problem of limited mount/ring selection. Of the three, the SWFA was the only one with HD glass. Maximum magnification for the three scopes was 24X for the IOR Valdata, 25X for the Leupold, and 20X for the SWFA. Lest the SWFA seem weak by comparison, at 20X an object located 1,000 yards away will appear as if it were only 50 yards away to the naked eye.

At the end of the day, I went with the SWFA scope. It had the best reticle, the clearest glass, was built like a tank, had more than sufficient magnification, and was a full $100 cheaper than the 2nd cheapest scope, and was a full $400 cheaper than the most expensive scope.

I have had no regrets whatsoever. It is a wonderful scope, and it comes in midway in price between the Leupold you are considering and the Vortex scope.

I mounted the scope with a Bobro Precision Optic 30mm Mount, $199.95, http://swfa.com/Bobro-Precision-Optic-3 ... 47215.aspx, also from SWFA.

Pictures.....

The Mount:




The adjustments, left to right: illumination brightness and parallax (both on left), elevation (top), and windage (right). The elevation and windage knobs use .1 mil clicks and are regulated to the reticle stadia lines:


Mounted scope, with sunshade in place:


Written scope review here: http://www.snipershide.com/2011/06/swfa ... cal-scope/

Video scope review
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=l26bDVQztRo[/youtube]

If you buy this scope, you will NOT be disappointed.

[johncanfield]

Thank you so much TAM for offering another contender to consider, that one wasn't on the radar at all .

I've just spent about two hours looking at reviews and comments about the SS and of everything I looked at/read, I found only one grumpy-pants owner and one comment about the zoom ring being so integrated to the tube, it was a little difficult to grab and orient to a particular power while looking through the scope. The excellent quality of the glass was mentioned over and over again as was low-light performance.

Doing well in low-light is an important attribute for me since I'm building the gun for hog hunting primarily and paper-punching secondarily.

My current Bushy scope is mounted with tall 30mm Burris rings that seem to work okay after I used blue threadlocker, is your Bobro mount worth me spending $200 since I already have ring?

I think I've spent more time agonizing over a scope than when I bought our last car .

[The Annoyed Man]

Answers in red:

Thank you so much TAM for offering another contender to consider, that one wasn't on the radar at all .

I've just spent about two hours looking at reviews and comments about the SS and of everything I looked at/read, I found only one grumpy-pants owner and one comment about the zoom ring being so integrated to the tube, it was a little difficult to grab and orient to a particular power while looking through the scope. The excellent quality of the glass was mentioned over and over again as was low-light performance. SWFA also makes a "throw lever" which you attach to the zoom ring, making it much easier to turn. I have one, but my picture (above) was taken before I installed it: http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-Switchview-Thro ... 50882.aspx

Doing well in low-light is an important attribute for me since I'm building the gun for hog hunting primarily and paper-punching secondarily.

My current Bushy scope is mounted with tall 30mm Burris rings that seem to work okay after I used blue threadlocker, is your Bobro mount worth me spending $200 since I already have ring? I loaned my rifle to my son to use at a trade show for his company (they make and sell night vision related equipment). At one point, they removed the scope and mount.....AFTER I had already zeroed it.....so they could demonstrate some of their equipment on my rifle, using another scope. Then they put the scope/mount combination back on. I tested it at the range, and it had returned to zero. The manufacturer guarantees repeatability to zero after remounting, within some small devation like <1MOA. I don't remember the exact number. In my case, it shot to zero, at least at 100 yards.

I think I've spent more time agonizing over a scope than when I bought our last car .

[johncanfield]

Ah-so. Zoom ring minor complaint now mitigated, thanks. The mount sounds like a dandy, then.

[johncanfield]

After agonizing for a week or so over a scope to buy I called SWFA and had a long chat with Skylar. I gave him my requirements and price range and of all of the various scopes they sell what are his recommendations. He really likes the Vortex PST 4x16x50 but said the SWFA 5-20 SS would be his choice in my price range.

And of course the model with the illuminated reticule is on backorder. I ordered the scope, covers, throw lever for the magnification ring, and the Bobro mount. The more Skylar and I talked about the Bobro mount, the more I liked the idea of being able to remove the scope for transport or when cleaning the Bushy.

Unfortunately no ETA on the scope.

[johncanfield]

My Apex handguard and rails arrived yesterday in the mailbox and got to work taking the stock handguards and gas block off. To my utter astonishment I found the delta ring and barrel nut assembly only hand tight! - I guess the lunch whistle must have blown before the nut was torqued down.

I was also very surprised at how hard I had to whack the tapered pins on the gas block to punch them out, I wound up using my five pound hammer and the sturdiest punch I had . Finally after three or five very hard smacks they moved. Got the new Syrac adjustable block installed without too much drama.

I'm waiting on my Apex bipod mount (hopefully it will be here today) and then I can finish up the handguard install. Zero word on the scope I ordered.

[johncanfield]

Bipod mount delivered by the Brown Santa this afternoon today (UPS) so I got to put it all together - looking good! Now if the new scope ships...

[AggieMike]

Very nice, but I might suggest (of course spending your money) a Magpul PRS stock for it. Well worth the money, and it certainly improved my shot.

[johncanfield]

Very nice, but I might suggest (of course spending your money) a Magpul PRS stock for it. Well worth the money, and it certainly improved my shot.

Yeah, I'm not crazy about the Bushy stock but it works - I'll take a look at the Magpul product. I wonder if any of those are in stock anywhere .

[johncanfield]

After agonizing for a week or so over a scope to buy I called SWFA and had a long chat with Skylar. I gave him my requirements and price range and of all of the various scopes they sell what are his recommendations. He really likes the Vortex PST 4x16x50 but said the SWFA 5-20 SS would be his choice in my price range.

And of course the model with the illuminated reticule is on backorder. I ordered the scope, covers, throw lever for the magnification ring, and the Bobro mount. The more Skylar and I talked about the Bobro mount, the more I liked the idea of being able to remove the scope for transport or when cleaning the Bushy.

Unfortunately no ETA on the scope.

Just got off the phone with SWFA and there is still zero information about when the illuminated reticule scope will come in - it's been about five weeks since I ordered the darn thing . Seriously considering a Plan B.

[stevie_d_64]

You know, I mounted that Leupold 8.5-25x50 Mark 4 ER/T 30mm Riflescope on my Barrett, and using the $250 rings that I bought with the rifle, that scope had definetly been a good combo for such a heavy caliber weapon...It has kept the zero I dialed in back in the day, and since I do have the BORS system on this rifle as well, my cold bore shots are really scaring me...In a good way...

If you have a choice, and are still contemplating, I would go with the Leupold Mk4 and see what it does for you...

A side story, another reason I went with the Leupold, was that at the time, the Japanese earthquake had just hit and already the component supply for Nightforce optics was in jeopardy, at least that is what I was told...The Nightforces were more expensive, but seem to have a range of products that might be better for the Barrett at the time...But since the lead time in delivery was in question, I went the other way and got what would work right away...I was a little impatient, but in the long run I was not disapointed in the performance once I got it ALL put together and dialed in...

The potential high rate of fire through that .308 I see you have there, I would make sure I have a good investment in the ring(s), and ensure you have those torque values on the base and the rings themselves just right, per the spec...Nothing new I suppose...Just something I remind myself from time to time when the issue arises...

Mannnn, I just don't have any more room in the safe for another gun!!! Yeah, I do get jealous every now and then...hehehe

[johncanfield]

The Leupold would absolutely be a finalist for consideration if it had an illuminated reticule . I'm now wondering if I shouldn't go a bit lower in power, say 3.5-4 on the low end since the Bushy needs to be an all-purpose rifle, i.e., not just for long shots. I was looking at the Nightforce F1, liking what I saw, and got that model confused with another NF model in the $1600 range. The F1 is ~$2600 .

I'm considering working up the courage to suggest to dear wife that the F1 is an investment, the best scope for the money and for my application (and I want it.)

My standard size gun safe didn't take long to get very crowded - it looked so large in the store . I think I need a separate safe for the ammo I'm trying to accumulate.