I have a Ruger 223 Rancher that I want to put on a 4X18 50 scope. I will have to go to higher rings so the wider diameter of the 50 versus the present 40 will clear the barrel.
My question is with the higher rings if I sight it in at 100 yards will my accuracy be affected at 200 yards etc? Or should I say how will this affect the accuracy at different yardages?
It not a change of accuracy. It is a change in the point of impact compared to the line of sight. Your raising your line of sight a minimal distance, and you will see a minimal change. I had first put the “High” Burris XTR mounts on my Howa 22-250. Soon realized I didn’t like it as high as they were and swapped out for the medium. When I zero’d it out after the mount swap, I had to make no changes to my index card for my mil-dots.
Thanks Randy
I have heard great things about the Howa 22-250, Which model do you have? I would really like to make that my next varmint rifle.
Another dumb question going from the 40mm to the 50mm in real world is there a big difference in the light gathering? In the store with the lighting hard to tell for sure.
I personally think so, but then my test was very unscientific and not necessarily fair. I was able to compare a $200 40mm vs. a $350+ 50mm.
As stated the accuracy will not be affected by the ring height, you will be ok. As far as light gathering, the size of optics does play into the equation but it is still limited to the size of the main tube.
Just my thoughts
Jeff
Quote:
but it is still limited to the size of the main tube.
Jeff
Jeff has that right. Any scope can look good with a reasonable amount of light. But when it comes to dusk/dawn and seeing your mildots against a dark target, you want all the light you can gather. Naturally I’m bias to Burris, and would love to see everyone with a high quality scope. But before you make the investment (if you haven’t already) take a good comparative look at scopes. Most retailers will have an optics chart they can set out at 100 yards. It has writing as well as black blocks on it. Until you see the difference through the optics, its hard to really express what you will see. When I was working the Fall Hunting Classic sale at Cabelas, I had people looking at a optics chart across the store. In a leopold, (1″ tube) you could see some definition of different blocks, but you could not count them. Comparable scope in Burris, and you could count the tiny dashes that made up the black block. Quality glass, AND the larger 30mm tubes make a huge difference in what you can see….and ultimately improves a shooter’s accuracy
Randy – So you would always recommend going with the 30mm tubes when its an option?
From what I understand, the larger tube also makes it somewhat “stronger”, correct.?
—And with regards to your bias towards Burris…. Have you found them to be consistently better quality through trial and error compared to other similarly priced scopes, or is there some other bias for other reasons??
Thanks.
Mike
30mm when option – Most definitely!!!! when compared to a 1″
Think of your scope like a funnel. You pay extra money for larger optics to gather more light and to most importantly give you the clearest image. Then you neck it down through a little pin hole…
I’m on a Pro staff for a Burris Distributor. Not because I get to, because I want to. After comparing Burris to Ziess, Nikon, Leopold,…I didn’t want anything else on my rifles. If your ever in the Cabelas in Richfield, take advantage of looking at the Burris scopes at the Nikon Target set up by the Bargin Cave (top left of the mountain of mounts).
It’s a bummer that Cabelas has a very limited stock of Burris scopes. Everyone in the midwest has been brainwashed on Nikon. But until you see the clarity difference, you would never understand what you have sacrificed to settle with less. Even comparing the 1″ tubes, there is a distinct clarity difference. The target set up on the railing at Cabelas is an optics chart. It has writing on it, as well as, a series of black dashes or lines. The lessor quality glass makes them appear to be a solid block of black. As you look through better quality glass, you see the much finer detail of what actually makes up the black dashes on the target.
Does it make a difference??? It depends on what your expectations are. Is shooting a 2″ group at a 100 yards acceptable? It is if you only pull a rifle out and need to do nothing more than hit a paper plate at 100 yards once a year. For myself personally, I demand a much higher level of excellence. I’m one to take what I feel is an ethical shot at a deer or elk through the tiniest gap between limbs or trees and much longer distances. Because I have the drive to be able to consistently take these shots, I need the equipment that empowers me to be able to do it. Now, if the equipment was similar in cost, wouldn’t you opt for the better optics? Strange, but not many people are willing to investigate what constitutes better quality. They’ll just buy what their buddy has…… So, that’s why I say I am bias to Burris, and I don’t really want anyone to jump on buying Burris because it what I have. They need to see the difference for themselves.
Sure would be nice if more retailers had setups like that. If they have anything at all, they usually don’t have anything even close to an optic-specific “target” to look at. Most stores just say, “here you go” and let you look through the scope at the ice fishing gear ~80 yards away.
If I ever get over that way, I’ll have to stop in and take a peek. Is that set up all year?
Mike
Yes, its up all year long. Funny, the first few times into the store, I never saw the target up there while we were looking at the mounts. I had a Pro-Staff obligation day there, and one of the guys at the gun counter pointed it out to me. Now I see it as soon as I walk through the front door.
Here is what a optics target look like: Vortex Chart
Thought about this afterwards – Just do a google search for Optical Resolution chart. There are many on the web you can print out on 8-1/2 x 11 and take with you!
Randy, how do you think Burris stacks up against the Swaro’s or Kahles ??? And I know you get what you pay for, but are the mentioned optics worth up to $500 more ??? 
G – I’ve never looked through a Kahles, but I know a lot of competition guys use them. They are also on the high end of pricing for comparable scopes.
When I bought my Burris XTR 416, I directly compared it to a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18×44 w/ BRX. The price on the Swaro was about $1500. Couple of things I didn’t like. I wanted the turrets, and they were only available with the standard Plex Reticle. 25mm tube seemed whimpy for this scope. I couldn’t find the actual spec on the objective lens. Their spec sheet has it as 35-44mm which typically would be the glass diameter/housing diameter. Burris is 50/58mm.
Another thing I didn’t like was the smaller Ocular lens in the Swaro. My XTR416 has a 42mm rear lens which greatly aids in the transmission and faster ease of capturing a full field of view.
My XTR 416 was about $1,100, had a Clear view 50mm front objective, 30mm tube, Balistic Mil-dot WITH the turrets.
A huge negative for both scopes to me was the reticles I wanted were not available in the illumination. I have the adjustable illuminated Mil-Dot on my Burris XTR 312, and HOLY CRAP is that nice to have for just at dark/sunset for shooting coyotes along fence rows.
Biggest down fall of my Burris XTR 416 (besides I don’t own 6 of them yet) is the weight. The swaro weight about 17 oz and my xtr is around 22 oz (not sure on the exact) Plus I have the XTR weaver style mounts. You can mount that on BMG and hammer all day long and never worry about it.
I use my 22-250 W/ XTR 312 for outfitting clients for predator hunting. My XTR416 is on a .270 that my daughter (age 12) used this year. I have a couple Euro Diamond 3-10-40 on order, and will have those set for using by this spring on a couple of my other rifles.
For anyone that is looking at a mid-range budget 4-6 hundred, the Euro Diamond featuring a 30mm tube and 40mm clear objective is very much worth looking at.
but are the mentioned optics worth up to $500 more ??? That all depends on your expectations. I think it was Kooty that made a comment following a post I had on here regarding an old Browning .270. He questioned if it was even possible to group bullets so tight at 200 plus yards. The better you can see, the easier it is to do. My wife’s Remington 7600 .270 has a Bushnell 3×9 scope on it (in the process of being replaced) At 200 yards, at 9 power, you can not see any separation between the orange and green on a Champion small bore target….let alone seeing the vertical & horizontal lines. 200 yards I group just under 2″ because I can’t see the bullseye. Now at 100 yards, I can see the vert/horz lines and can group a sub-inch. Seeing makes a difference. But for a guy that only takes it out once a year, and maybe shoots 5 rounds/year…it probably isn’t.
In previous posts recently I brought up comparing scopes by looking at Optical Resolution charts. It is so obvious the difference in glass when you use one of these.
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