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Squirrel gun scope upgrade

803 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Ohio Varmint Shooter 
#1 ·
When I bought my Savage Mark II about 4 years ago, I put a 3x9 scope on it...one I had laying around from a 223 package rifle I bought the year before. I realize now that the parallax is probably fixed at 100 yards. And I've always had clarity problems with it. Not quality of the scope, but most of the time when trying to shoot a squirrel at 30 yards, the cross-hairs will be blurry. I've still shot plenty of squirrels with it. I figured I could put up with it.

But this year, it seems to be more troublesome. The blurriness seems to be getting worse. Yes, I know it's my eyes, not the gear!

So I made the decision to upgrade. I wanted a scope that has an adjustable parallax. I know I'll be shooting mostly from 20-40 yards, and that may not be a lot to need an adjustable parallax, but the shortest parallax scope I can find (fixed) it set to 50 yards...still further than anything I'll shoot at. (If I'm going for head shots...which I do, I don't have the skills to shoot them at 50 yards leaning up against a tree)

I have a Savage 17hmr that I topped with a Mueller 4.5-14 APV. It serves as a later-in-the season squirrel gun (when the leaves are off) and a short range groundhog gun. I've been very happy with the scope. It has the adjustable parallax. Much clearer than the one I had on the 22, so I bought one of these for my 22. I know it's probably overkill for squirrel hunting, but I get my adjustable parallax. I couldn't find anything else that could make me switch. And what's unusual, Mueller has a new scope out: it's basically the same thing I bought, but only 2-7 power. But it's MORE expensive. That doesn't make sense.

Here's the new 22. Going to hunt this morning with the 17....but after I'm done, I'll sight in the 22.

Yep...I'm left handed.

 
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#3 ·
Many times. I even did it to extremes at times. I could never get the cross hairs and the target to be in focus at the same time. Mostly, the problem is the cross hairs. Plus, the old scope was cheap. It came as a package deal on a Savage 223. Those are never high quality. And like I said...coming from a 223..probably parallax at 100 yards.
 
#5 ·
I'm sure your right about the parallax being set at 100 and that it's a cheapo scope .
What kind of groups can you get from your rifle at 100 yards . I have a Savage mark II and it will shoot pretty good at 50 . But it won't shoot very well at 100 yards .
 
#7 ·
I've never shot the rifle at 100 yards. I used to sight it in at 50.....but a few years ago, I switched to 35 yards. So at that level, I'll be close if I shoot at only 25, and I'll also be close if I shoot out to 45....which would probably be the absolute limit of my squirrel hunting shots.

If I remember correctly from years ago, with CCI SVHP @ 50 yards, it was shooting about the size of a quarter...sometimes a nickle...with a flyer here and there.

Both guns have Apache triggers. (Apache triggers are rather pricey for what parts actually comes in the mail...but it IS nice)
 
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