The 22-250 cartridge has long been a favorite among varmint hunters. With
With
While some people can get by with iron sights to get the most out of this cartridge you’ll need a scope. Below I’ll review a few of my favorite .22-250 scopes on the market.
What’s The Best Scope For .22-250 Rifles?
1) Vortex Optics Diamondback 4-12×40 Riflescope
Notable Features:
- Premium Vortex Rifle Scope
- 4-12x40mm Magnification
- Durable Waterproof Construction
- Lifetime Warranty
Vortex has long been a dominant force in the firearm industry. Offering a ton of features at affordable price points. With its clear bright sight picture and durable design the diamondback scope is well worth a look. The Vortex Diamondback scope is perfect for any mid range varmint rifle.
The Vortex Diamondback scope lineup offers a lot of value for the price. Their mid grade diamondback scopes are available in a wide variety of magnifications.
With multi-coated glass that allows up to 91% light transmission while reducing glare. The sight picture is crystal clear and bright in all ambient weather conditions.
You’ll love Vortex crisp Dead-Hold BDC Reticle. It features easy
Vortex has long been known for providing extremely durable products guaranteed for life. With its aircraft grade aluminum body, this scope is completely shockproof.
The durable 1 inch main tube is argon purged and o-ring sealed providing a completely waterproof and
Vortex stands behind all their products and offers one of the best lifetime warranties in the business. Powered by 4-12x44mm magnified glass this scope is perfect for taking down small game. Metal on metal precision turrets offer the ability to zero reset after sighting in. A Vortex scope is well worth the modest investment.
2) Leupold VX-2 4-12x40mm Compact Riflescope
Notable Features:
- Premium Leupold RifleScope
- 4-12x40mm Magnification
- Crystal Clear Glass
- Durable Waterproof Construction
- Lifetime Warranty
I really do love Leupold’s VX-2 lineup of rifle scopes. Available in a wide range of magnification levels Leupold scopes always seem to deliver. With crystal clear glass and a durable design you can’t go wrong with this VX-2 Series scope.
Normally I recommend Leupold’s 3-9x40mm scope, but the 4-12x40mm better suits the 22-250 cartridge. A little extra magnification will extend your range to hit even the smallest game.
Leupold has long been known for offering some of the best glass on the market. The crystal clear glass and bright sight picture can’t be matched at this price.
As for the index matched lead-free lenses, they reportedly offer 94 percent light transmission. Pair that with the 40mm objective lens and you have an extremely bright sight picture. The edge of the lens
With extreme durability you won’t have to worry about damaging the Leupold scope. With its one piece aluminum main tube and backed by Leupolds Lifetime Warranty.
The nitrogen purged and
There are a few different reticles available to choose from, but my favorite is easily the Duplex Reticle. The VX-2 Riflescope will give you the clarity, brightness
3) Vortex Optics Crossfire II 6-24×50 Riflescope
Notable Features:
- Long Range Scope
- 6-24x50mm Magnification
- Clear and Bright Sight Picture
- Durable Waterproof Design
- Lifetime Warranty
Vortex Optics Crossfire II 6-24x50mm scope is another great product from Vortex. Vortex has a budget lineup of scopes called their Crossfire series. They’re made in China, but offer a ton of features for the price. Offering a lot of range at a value price.
It really is amazing that Vortex can offer a long range scope for this price. The Crossfire lineup come in a wide range of magnifications at an affordable price.
All Vortex scopes use a very durable design backed by a lifetime warranty. With a 6-24x
Using the Vortex
The easy to use fast focus eyepiece further helps you clear your sight picture. Multicoating paired with the oversized 50mm objective lens gives you an extremely bright sight picture. You’ll have a clear and bright view regardless of the ambient light.
Not only is the scope clear, it’s also very durable. Using a single piece tube constructed from aircraft grade aluminum, ensuring strength and shockproof performance.
Backed by the Vortex no questions asked lifetime warranty, you won’t have to worry about damaging this scope. O-Ring sealed and nitrogen purged, Crossfire scopes are all 100% waterproof and
4) Nikon Buck Master II 4-12x40mm Scope
Notable Features:
- Budget Rifle Scope
- Durable Waterproof Construction
- 4-12x40mm Magnification
- Lifetime Warranty
Very few companies can beat the price of this Nikon Buckmaster scope. Available in a wide range of magnifications all at an affordable price point. Nikon teamed up with Buckmaster to build this affordable hunting scope. Keeping prices low and throwing in everything hunters need made this one of the most popular scopes on the market.
Nikon’s Buckmaster lineup of scopes
It gives you enough range to reach out for coyotes and other predators.
The BDC reticle gives you multiple aiming points for faster target acquisition. With
Designed to be used in the field, Nikon built their scope on a sturdy platform. For a budget scope, it’s surprisingly well built. It’s both a sturdy design and backed by Nikon’s Lifetime Warranty.
Nitrogen filled and O-Ring sealed, the scope is completely waterproof and fogproof. It’s going to be hard to find a better long range scope for this low price.
Other Things To Consider
There are a ton of features that you should consider when purchasing any rifle scope. With so many options on the market it’s tough to choose just one.
From the glass to the housing, a lot of little features go into designing a great scope. Keep an eye out for the following features to find the right scope for you.
- Lens Quality: Shopping around for the best lens quality is crucial to finding crystal clear glass. Manufacturers use a wide selection of glass throughout their optical lineup. To make matters worse they sometimes change suppliers in the middle of a production run. You’ll see two of the same scopes with significantly different clarity. Good glass doesn’t come cheap, so you need to look out for major manufacturers. Budget scopes are tempting, but they tend to have poor quality control. Major manufacturers like Leupold, Vortex, Nikon, Bushnell etc. all have clear sight pictures.
- Multicoating: It seems like all modern scopes claim to have industry leading multi-coating. Not ever multi-coating is going to offer the same benefits. Multi-coatings are designed to increase light transmission while reducing glare. Good coatings will also protect the glass from scratches and abrasions.
- Magnification: You’re preferred magnification will likely differ depending on your application. I like to pair a mid to high magnification scope with my 22-250 rifles. Its flat trajectory and fast velocity make it the perfect long distance varmint round. With a 4-12x or 6-24x magnification scope you’ll easily hit game out to a few hundred yards.
- Durability: All the scopes listed above are extremely durable. When looking for durability make sure the scopes both shockproof and waterproof. Don’t be fooled by cheap optics water resistant rating. Water resistant can mean anything from a painted chassis to using a scope cover. The easiest way to check a scopes durability is by looking at the warranty. Warranty work is very costly so only proven designs will get a lifetime warranty.
- Reticle: Try and look at a few different reticle designs to choose the best one for you. I like to have some form of range estimation on all my hunting rifles. I tend to prefer small dots and a uncluttered sight picture.
- Eye Relief: Eye relief is one of the most overlooked optical features. Long eye relief scopes will give you a little more room to setup your shot. Long eye relief is especially important when shooting out of a tree stand. You never know what odd angle you’re going to be forced to shoot from.
- Objective Lens: As a general guideline the bigger the objective lens the brighter your sight picture. Even the best multi-coating in the world can’t make up for a small objective lens.