Hi,

So I took my new Ruger SR-556 to the range yesterday for the first time. It was the first time I shot a rifle in at least 10+ years and I wasn't that good back then.

My Ruger has a Leupold AR Mk 2 1.5x4x20mm scope on it.

I felt the Ruger preformed very well all in all.

I shot 200 rounds of new Federal 55gr .223 ammo and about 50 rounds of various other 13 year old .223 ammo.

The gun was slightly oiled in the bolt and piston before I went to the range.

The gun jammed only once surprisingly with the new Federal ammo, NOT the 13-15 yr old ammo I had! I'll chalk that up to anything could have happened.

My first major concern is that at the 4x setting at 100 yards, the target seemed very small!

At 50 yards the 4x setting seemed OK.

So my questions are ---

1) What range was a 1.5x-4x scope designed for?
2) What is the largest scope that should be put on a 16" AR?

Thanks!

This post has been edited by mdzx111: November 9th 2009 3:26 PM

i just built my first ar and intend to use it mostly for paper targets. with that said i've got horrible eye sight and teh 3-9x40 just wasnt enough for me at 100yds. on my .308 i have a 6-24x42 and at 100yds its better but still not as good as i'd like. with that said i'm planning on buying a new 8-32x40 for on the ar at the range. i think im going to experiment with quick change mounts and depending on how they hold their zero i may buy multiple scopes for it and only use the 8-32 for the range and have other scopes ready to go for other conditions.

I guess I'm a little upset I bought a 1.5x-4x instead of a 3x-9x or something larger. :( Does anyone want to buy a new Leupold AR Mark 2 1.5x-4x

mdzx111 are you setting up the 556 for longer shooting than 100 yards?

Hi,

Not really....

The local range max distance is 100 yards.

Why?

to the Armory!



TS

Your scope is fine for your rifle, lots of shooters use that power of scope & I've got a 1x4 on a AR & at 100 yards it works great, just learn to use it with both eyes open.

The sky is the limit on what scope you want & the intended usage of your AR, but the stronger the power the smaller your field of view is.

I resemble that remark. First contact with BRD caused me to completely lose my mind and with it all objectivity concerning my physical condition, particularly these eyes. If I would have paid attention to what I already knew and not have started with a top shelf and costly unmagnified red dot which was useless for me at 100 meters, I would have had my eyes examined right out the box to confirm vision correction potential and gone to the highest quality magnifying glass I could afford - specifically one which offered parallax adjustment.

Three scopes later I have clear and well defined target architecture with:

1. ESS ICE 2X Eyeshields and ICE Rx Lens Inserts. Note that the ESS Ice series comes in Naro (narrow) and 'regular.' My head is wide but the NAROs fit perfectly. ESS contracts with a talented optometrist and can provide a finished product for you. For details call Mountain West Optical at (208) 734-3937 and speak to Terry Tranmer. The man did a bang up job on my Rx shooting glasses inserts. I bought my glasses from Optics Planet and the prescription insert/lens from Terry.

Be sure to check out the new ESS Crossbow Eyeshields if you use Rx eye glasses.

2. Parallax adjustment function on a Luepold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm variable power optic made a world of difference for me and I now generate very clear and detailed sight pictures at 100 yards. Not all quality glass that is rated up to 10X on the high side offers parallax adjustment, and the Leupie mark 4 was the only one which my dealer stocked which did. I believe that the Mark 2 3-9x40mm does not while the Mark 2 4-12x40mm does per adjustable objective. For me the lack of parallax control was a game breaker.

Hope this helps...

Doc

I don't have a scope on my AR but I do have a Nikon Monarch 4-12 on a Kimber 8400. Living in Florida, I NEVER get to the top of the magnification range. I keep it on the lowest mag. almost 100% of the time. I do plan to put a scope on my Bushmaster and was thinking of the Millet 1-4 that was on the armory group buy.

You can shoot successfully at 100 yards with a 4X -- I can keep them in a 5 inch circle with an unmagnified red dot at that range. It just takes practice.

The only exception I can think of is if you have vision problems and you really need a higher magnification just to see the target clearly.

also are you at the correct eye relief distance, it not only protects ya from gettin scoped but can affect the FOV especially if yer too far behind the eye relief