Scope for coyote rifle

[Justin Crossley]

I just picked up another AR15 that will be used mostly for calling coyotes. I call in open country, timber, day and night.

What are some scopes you guys like for that use?

 

[Shooter19802003]

I'm big on straight power scopes. Cheaper and more reliable than variables. The super sniper scopes from swfa are hard to beat. Heavy, but built to last. Don't be turned off by the cheesy name....they are tanks. Research them. I like a straight 10x for open country.

 

[Minnesotamulisha]

I would choose something with a 50mm bell. It will collect more light than a 40mm. I bought my dad a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x50 for his deer rifle for $169 at Natchez and it does pretty well.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[16Bore]

I'm big on straight power scopes. Cheaper and more reliable than variables. The super sniper scopes from swfa are hard to beat. Heavy, but built to last. Don't be turned off by the cheesy name....they are tanks. Research them. I like a straight 10x for open country.

Do what he say.....do what he saaaay!!

They track like a mofo and the price is laughable. Bargain of the century.

 

[30338]

Just rolled a coyote coming into a fawn distress call. 6x SWFA works great.

 

[Nuke Man]

I love my Leupold VX-R 3-9 X 40 with the ballistic firedot reticle! I run it on my AR aswell. It's built like a tank, light and really nice glass. Even with a 40 mm objective I've had no issues with low light. I do plenty of night time yote hunting with it also, the red dot really comes in handy there. A large objective is not necessarily going to have a huge difference on light gathering. It's mostly the lense coatings so don't base your choices simply off 50mm objectives.

 

[GKPrice]

I just picked up another AR15 that will be used mostly for calling coyotes. I call in open country, timber, day and night.

What are some scopes you guys like for that use?

Justin, do you keep a shotgun across your lap with you're calling ?

 

[Schnee's]

I just picked up another AR15 that will be used mostly for calling coyotes. I call in open country, timber, day and night.

What are some scopes you guys like for that use?

The Nikon 223 scopes are VERY tough to beat. I have tried quite a few scopes out for this exact purpose and this is by far the best solution I've found for not a whole lot of $. Depending on your budget and local laws, the burris laser rangefinding scopes make predator and varmint shooting very easy and really fun!

Matt

 

[Justin Crossley]

Justin, do you keep a shotgun across your lap with you're calling ?

I have a Benelli with a coyote choke that I carry sometimes.

 

[GKPrice]

I have a Benelli with a coyote choke that I carry sometimes.

just askin' - by far, the most coyotes I've missed have been the ones that show in my periphery at 10 yds +/-

 

[duchntr]

I have a razor 1-6 in aero mounts that I like. Heard good things about the swfa 1-4 and 1-6 too.

 

[5MilesBack]

Justin, do you keep a shotgun across your lap with you're calling ?

That's what I was going to ask. If not.......I'd want as low a power on the bottom end as possible. Trying to find a coyote at 20 yards with a 10x scope isn't easy or fun.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Great feedback so far guys, keep it coming.

I'm heading out to do a little calling Saturday with a buddy on the east side of the mountains and I'm going to use one of my Nightforce SHV's for now. It's the 4-14x56 that I reviewed before. We'll see how I like it for this use and maybe it will stay on that rifle. I will still need a scope for the new AR either way though and I really want them to match eventually.

 

[H82miss]

I've tried quite a few different scopes with various magnification ranges on my predator hunting AR15 and what I have found is that I like a plain Jane, Leupold VX-2 3-9x40 with a duplex reticle the best. Most of my shots at called in coyotes are in the 60-80 yard range, some a bit farther, some much closer. A 3-9x40 gives me plenty of magnification for a coyote sized target out past 200 and enough field of view for those suckers that try to climb in your lap. I'm a Leupold fan, but I'm sure a Nikon, Vortex, or Burris in the 2-7 or 3-9 range would get the job done. I see no need to put a $500+ scope on my predator AR. Just my $.02. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[mcseal2]

I run a Bushnell 3200 2.5-10x50 on my primary calling AR. I leave it on 2.5 unless one hangs up. One of my favorite things about this scope is the power ring turns extremely easily. I don't like a stiff power knob on a scope I might want to dial up or down fast.

My bolt calling rifle has a 3-18x44 Leupold VX-6 with the TMOA reticle. It's a great scope and I love it, but I don't know that a calling rifle needs that good of glass.

I try to select a pretty fine reticle also on a calling scope. In some of the 1-4x or 1-6x scopes I have the reticle is really heavy. I have a Leupold VX-6 1-6x that is this way, a Trijicon 1-4x, and a Leupold VX-R 2-7x with the circle reticle. They cover to much of a coyote at 200yds for me to like them, I want a fine enough reticle I can put it on a spot on a coyote, not cover most of his shoulder. Especially when threading a bullet through grass or brush this is important to me.

The Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x is a darn fine scope also I've used in the past. It isn't quite as good in low light with its smaller objective but they can be bought used for around $200 and are good tough scopes with a nice reticle.

I had trouble hitting coyotes around 150yds with the AR's for a while at first. I wasn't taking into consideration the difference in how high the scope is mounted compared to the bolt rifles when zeroing at 100yds. I highly recommend zeroing your AR at 200yds, then checking your point of impact at 50, 100, 150, and 250yds. You might want to tweak the zero a bit. I found that the true 200yds zero worked best for me. Factory 223 ammo can vary greatly from advertised velocity also especially in shorter barreled AR rifles. My 20" AR is running a 55gr V max at 2963fps average instead of the advertised 3200fps. Checking the actual point of impact can save much frustration later.

 

[MHWASH]

I don't have an AR, but on my calling rifle I use a Leupy VX3 1.75-6. I really like this scope on a calling rifle. The fov is huge on 1.75, and 6 is sufficient for 300 and under.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I run a Bushnell 3200 2.5-10x50 on my primary calling AR. I leave it on 2.5 unless one hangs up. One of my favorite things about this scope is the power ring turns extremely easily. I don't like a stiff power knob on a scope I might want to dial up or down fast.

My bolt calling rifle has a 3-18x44 Leupold VX-6 with the TMOA reticle. It's a great scope and I love it, but I don't know that a calling rifle needs that good of glass.

I try to select a pretty fine reticle also on a calling scope. In some of the 1-4x or 1-6x scopes I have the reticle is really heavy. I have a Leupold VX-6 1-6x that is this way, a Trijicon 1-4x, and a Leupold VX-R 2-7x with the circle reticle. They cover to much of a coyote at 200yds for me to like them, I want a fine enough reticle I can put it on a spot on a coyote, not cover most of his shoulder. Especially when threading a bullet through grass or brush this is important to me.

The Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x is a darn fine scope also I've used in the past. It isn't quite as good in low light with its smaller objective but they can be bought used for around $200 and are good tough scopes with a nice reticle.

I had trouble hitting coyotes around 150yds with the AR's for a while at first. I wasn't taking into consideration the difference in how high the scope is mounted compared to the bolt rifles when zeroing at 100yds. I highly recommend zeroing your AR at 200yds, then checking your point of impact at 50, 100, 150, and 250yds. You might want to tweak the zero a bit. I found that the true 200yds zero worked best for me. Factory 223 ammo can vary greatly from advertised velocity also especially in shorter barreled AR rifles. My 20" AR is running a 55gr V max at 2963fps average instead of the advertised 3200fps. Checking the actual point of impact can save much frustration later.

Some good input. Thank you.

Interesting about the velocity with the 55gr V-max. My Remington R15 VTR has a 22" barrel and I'm running the 40 Nosler ballistic tips at 3580 fps if memory serves me right.

 

[GKPrice]

Some good input. Thank you.

Interesting about the velocity with the 55gr V-max. My Remington R15 VTR has a 22" barrel and I'm running the 40 Nosler ballistic tips at 3580 fps if memory serves me right.

that might be a tad slow for 40's, I get 3700-3800 and have bumped 4100 with the 223 AI (although not as a rule) BUT let's not wander from the thread .....

 

[Justin Crossley]

For tomorrow's coyote hunt I'm going with a set of SHV's.

 

[mcseal2]

Good looking rifles. My calling AR is a DPMS Prairie Panther which I think is pretty much the same gun. Mine is in Mossy Oak Brush and I had a few upgrades done. I had the barrel lapped for better accuracy and a 2lb trigger put in at the local gunsmith. Both helped it to shoot well. It's still picky on ammo but what it likes shoots really well.