Leupold 6.5-20x40 AO too much for a 17 Hornet?

[Jonesy]

Debating between a VX II or VX 2 6-18x40 AO Fine Duplex or an older Vari-X III 6.5-20x40 AO Fine Duplex for the CZ 527 17 HH Varmint I just purchased. I've been searching eBay the last couple of weeks for a good used one. This will be used exclusively on a bench in the rat patch.

Questions:

1. Is a 6.5-20x40 scope overboard for a 17 HH? Should I go with a 6-18x40 or maybe even a 4-12x40?

2. What would be a good price for a Vari-X III 6.5-20x40 AO Fine Duplex in good condition?

Thank You,

Jonesy

[Rick in Oregon]

Hi there, Jonesy,
Either would be fine for a rat rifle, and I have rifles that wear both versions.

The only thing I find a bit of a hassle in the rat patch with an AO scope, is always reaching up and over to adjust parallax at the objective barrel. But with a 17HH, you'll most likely set it in one place and really not have to move it much, as the effective range of the HH should cover one, maybe two settings in the field. All my 'more serious' rat rifles wear 6.5-20's with side-focus, and I much prefer them because of that one feature.

My 17AH on a Ruger No.3/Pac-Nor wears an older VX-III with AO, and it seldom gets moved much in the field, so I'd expect about the same for what you're after.

Some of my walkabout rifles wear 4-12's, and many times I'm wishing for a tad more power....FWIW. In the rat patch off the bench though, most of the time my scopes are set on 10X - 14X for a good field of view, especially when the heat comes up, then the mirage limits magnification anyway.

As for price, the last one I sold went for around $450 if memory serves.

Either scope will allow you to make head shots on rats peeking out of their burrows over their mounds past 250 yards, as long as the ammo, the rifle and you are up to the task.

[futuretrades]

After I ordered my VT, while waiting for it from Cooper, I needed a scope for it. I got a flyer from Todd Kindler with one of his used Leupold scopes off,one of his test rifles. It just so happened it was the exact scope I was looking for, a VXIII AO 6.5-20 with the varmint hunter reticle. Cost, $500.00. IMHO, it is the best buy I ever made on a Leupold scope! Like RIO, I spend a considerable amount of time behind my rifles in the "Rat Patch". And like RIO said I have my power set at 14 to 16. But when the temps rise, I back down to 12, or maybe even 10 power. I think you will be completely satisfied with that 6.5 to 20 Leupold on your 17 Hornet! On both my 223 and 204, I have the Leupold VXII 6-18 AO Long Range Varmint reticle. I really like them too!

[Jim White]

I have both AO and SF parallax adjusted scopes and from a bench either one works quite well for me. The facts are; there are plus and minus with each system.

One thing for sure; the SF scopes have a extra piece of glass that certainly doesn't help clarity IMO (the more pieces of glass to look through the more potential for something to be amiss), the AO type scope doesn't. Another plus for the AO scopes is one can really tweak the parallax right down to to a knats-behind. The SF can as well but the movements are more course and less refine. On the flip-side, AO style scopes tend to be longer than their SF counterpart.

FWIW, my AO style scopes are Leupold, Nikon and Swarvoski. My SF type scopes are Leupold and Zeiss. The scopes you have mentioned as well as those by the previous responders should serve you well barring any material defects in the scope, which does happen, even with the high end brands.

Always, get the best scope you can afford even if you have to hold off on the purchase for a little while.

HTH

[Bodei]

I find that I rarely use more than 12x in the rat patch. I also don't plan on shooting my hornet past 150-200 yards therefore I went with a 4-12 Leupold. So far it works great!

[Captqc]

After I ordered my VT, while waiting for it from Cooper, I needed a scope for it. I got a flyer from Todd Kindler with one of his used Leupold scopes off,one of his test rifles. It just so happened it was the exact scope I was looking for, a VXIII AO 6.5-20 with the varmint hunter reticle. Cost, $500.00. IMHO, it is the best buy I ever made on a Leupold scope! Like RIO, I spend a considerable amount of time behind my rifles in the "Rat Patch". And like RIO said I have my power set at 14 to 16. But when the temps rise, I back down to 12, or maybe even 10 power. I think you will be completely satisfied with that 6.5 to 20 Leupold on your 17 Hornet! On both my 223 and 204, I have the Leupold VXII 6-18 AO Long Range Varmint reticle. I really like them too!

Dang Kevin you sure got a heck of a deal! Gary

[Cammo]

Jonesy

I have a CZ 527 in .17 Hornet and I use a 4.5-14X50 Zeiss Conquest. I found this to be perfect on foxes and rabbits.



Regards

[savgebolt]

Jonesy, there you go ,,,, couldnt get a better board of review for advice on any subject involving rifle shooting on the internet,,,,, they have been there,,, done that ,,, this forum is fantastic , a great group of people,,, extremely knowledgeable and always willing to help

[moorepower]

I use a Weaver V-16 with a dot reticle and A/O and love it. I would think it would be a good fit for the .17HH. It's very effective out to 300 when the wind is light

[204Luver]

I agree you do not need more than 12 - 14x to shoot p-dogs but an AO scope is a huge PITA to me. Regardless of the caliber I want the rat in clear focus. There is no "set and forget." I'm focusing at 75 yards one second, then 400 the next, and 150 the next. Even limiting shots to 175 or so, as I do when shooting my 17 HMR, I am still constantly making focus changes. If a scope doesn't have a good side-focus, it isn't going to a town with me.

Also, while you don't need high power to shoot, being able to go up to 24 - 25x (or more) is really nice when you are trying to figure out if you are looking at a clod or a rat's head. In the $500 or so range I'd take an Athlon Midas 4.5-27 over any Leupold in that price range. Glass is just as good, retical is way better.