Welcome jorgenweb. Love the modified logo.

I am new at this, but am currently using a number of "lesser" scopes and shooting into the 30's/60. If I felt I could justify the cost, I would swap out for Leupolds or Weavers on all my rifles, but the scopes would cost more than the rifles I am currently shooting, so I held off and looked at the discount models as I was getting started in silhouette.

Irish, on the lower end of your price range at roughly $150.00 I cannot recommend the Tasco 6-24 x 44 which is cheaply made. But the Barska scopes seem to be pretty decent for the cost. I am shooting the Excavator models in 4-16x50 and 8-32 x 50 with illuminated red dots on my standard and hunter guns. It is so bright here in Phoenix I usually shoot the scopes with no illumination, in which case the target style dot is black. They both have 11 illumination settings for different brightness of the red dot. So far so good. The 8-32 gets dimmer at high level of zoom, so I shoot it at 28X for sb rifle. The 4-16 is super bright and I use it at 16x with no problems.

The rule with optics is always to buy as much scope as you can afford. And a lot of people end up upgrading to more expensive scopes later as they get more into it. But for getting started, I can still recommend the more modestly priced scopes. As long as they are bright enough to see the targets, repeat, adjust for parralax, and don't fail mechanically, like some of the worst ones do, you're good. The trick is to find a bargain model that does all that. In my limited experience, the Barska scopes have been a good compromise. But as I said, if I had a little bigger budget for optics, I'd get one with a better reputation (like Leupold or Weaver) in 24-25x fixed power. I have looked through Leupolds on the line, and they are clearly better. If anyone shoots in Phoenix and wants to look through my Barska's, just ask.

We have two SB rifle matches to shoot this month. Can't wait to send some chickens flying! Happy holidays and good shooting.

Last summer I took a wild hair and built up a budget Silhouette rifle around a CZ 452 Varmint ($300 used), a Weaver KT-15 ($219 new), a Timney trigger from the parts box ($dunno, but a Brooks kit would have worked, $15) and BKL rings (parts box, $27 new). Then I bedded it ($10 worth of Acraglas, $.50 worth of lamp post, and an afternoon) and had a one-hole-at-40-meters rifle. So that's about $530 in actual cost plus some bartering with other club members for small parts - don't be shy, we all accumulate a garage full of "junk" that truly proves "one man's trash is another man's treasure", so ask. Please! Help me relocate some of this stuff!

George swapped me a scope for the rifle (okay, he got some cash out of me too - gotta watch that guy...) and the last time I saw it some kid at the Benton, AR gun club was using it to whup me during the last leg of the Southern Trifecta. You can easily spend a ton of money in this game, but you don't have to, and it is kind of fun to build on a budget.

So....

Explain the glass bedding procedure. I'm familiar with glass (worked on boats growing up) but don't know the desired end-state in the bedding process. Do I want to bed only the action? The first 1/3 of the barrel? The entire length of the barrel?

I'm willing to give it a whirl if it's not terribly technical.

Thanks!!

Here's my favorite link: http://www.6mmbr.com/pillarbedding.html

This is my first year shooting, and for I believe nine or 10 months this year I've been using a Tasco Target/Varmint 6-24x42mm scope (at 16x) and it hasn't failed me yet. I even bought it used. Now, it may not last forever, but it's still going now. It was cheap. And, believe it or not, has remained perfectly repeatable thus far. I only missed May's monthly match with it, while the crappy Savage was back to the factory on warranty. The November and December matches I had the same scope sitting atop a new CZ 453 Varmint. November wasn't so good, wasn't used to the trigger at all. But December I shot my first AAA score in hunting, 26/40, as well as a 20, and a 23 and a 20 in silhouette rifle that day. And every time I double-check zeroes on paper before practicing at the range, it's still where it should be. I don't expect it to last like a Leupold would, but so far it's lasted a year, plus however long the previous owner(s) had it, which I don't know. For a new one it's roughly $100-$110, and I think I paid $70 or something for my used one. I can't complain, it's doing its job for now. And if/when it breaks, I may even get another to replace it since it's so cheap. Would I like a Leupold or a Weaver or something else better than the Tasco? Sure, but for the time being while funds dictate, I'm happy enough with the Tasco. Very cheap for what so far seems to be a repeatable scope with numbered/indexed target turrets. I almost forgot, Bushnell gives it a lifetime warranty, so if/when it does break, well, they'll fix it. Wouldn't hurt to have a spare to use while waiting for it to return I suppose, hehe.

Shorty, since you've stepped up to a CZ Varmint (453 no less!) it's easy to see where you're headed! One fun thing about scopes is that you can see what you pay for. For example, edge to edge clarity on a Leupold FX-III 25 is great, and colors are very bright, while a Weaver T-24 fuzzes a little around the edges and colors are duller.

Now, having said that, while I am privileged to use the FX-III in small bore I plan to use a T-24 on my high power build because (1) It costs less, (2) It still works very, very well and (3) I spend more time peering through the small bore scope than I ever will on the high power scope (ouch! Hurts just thinking about it!)

So once you've nailed down accuracy and repeatability, you're on to ergonomics, that is, making your contact points with the rifle as comfortable as possible. When you practice hours at a time, it starts to matter.

BTW
Congrats to Shorty on his promotion to AA in hunter. That 26/40 was a
breakout score while he was A class.
Have a great Xmas Shorty and we'll see you in 2008

Dryfire

BlauBear, yeah, I suppose that's a very significant factor I completely ignored in my post. The glass is only so good in it, and surely isn't as bright as the nicer scopes. At some point I'll have to treat myself to something I suppose, hehe. I sure am liking that 453 so far. The Savage was headache after headache, not to mention wasn't giving me any useful feedback to help me improve. I can see all my mistakes, and some things I'm getting right, with the CZ now.

Dryfire, thanks. Danne was happy to get his plaques, too, btw. He was kicking himself for not going, as he forgot it was the last one of the year. Looking forward to the next match. Heading out for some practice again tomorrow, hehe.