Whats the best optic for my M82A1?

[GT3RS]

So I'll be honest I know absolutely nothing about long range shooting... That being said I want to get into it but I want a scope that is versatile and will hold up on my .50bmg. I want to be able to shoot at 800-1000 yards accurately while also being able to use the same optic for much shorter ranges. My budget is $800-$2000 Thanks for your input!!

[sniper7]

Nightforce in a larue mount.

this one:
http://www.laruetactical.com/nightforce-55-22x50-npr-1-w-moa-hs-zs-and-lt104-30


You can also upgrade to this mount, but the other will hold on just fine!
http://www.laruetactical.com/larue-tactical-50-bmg-qd

[TriggerHappy]

Nightforce, schmidt and bender, US optics, premier or leupold. Not in that order.

[hatidua]

European glass is tops, all the others fight for second place. Doesn't matter if discussing photographic lenses (Schneider/Rodenstock/Leica), binoculars (Leica/Kahles/Swarovski/Zeiss) rifle scopes (Zeiss/S&B/Etc) -if it didn't come from a country with German as their primary language, it might not be the best there is in terms of optics, just the nature of the beast. There might be optics with more features, magnification, sex appeal, etc. but European glass is optically as good as it gets.

[JM Ver. 2.0]

European glass is tops, all the others fight for second place. Doesn't matter if discussing photographic lenses (Schneider/Rodenstock/Leica), binoculars (Leica/Kahles/Swarovski/Zeiss) rifle scopes (Zeiss/S&B/Etc) -if it didn't come from a country with German as their primary language, it might not the best there is in terms of optics, just the nature of the beast. There might be optics with more features, magnification, sex appeal, etc. but European glass is optically as good as it gets.

+1

I've looked through a bunch of glass in my day. The Europeans have the clearest glass.

[islandermyk]

Going over that $2000 mark... you really need to set your mind on a reticle, and magnification of glass you're willing to live with.

I would say S&B PMII 5-25X56.... you'll only cry once [Coffee]

[silentshooter]

S&B 5-25x is probably tops other than the reticle options are not the best, they have some new options that are hard to find instock and are a long wait to order. The Premier heritage 5-25x has in my view the best available reticle the Gen-II's (Love my Gen-II xr, and S&B used to be available with them) Also the Premiers use euro glass.

US Optics offers a version of the Gen II's and makes a quality scope, but for the same money I would get the S&B.
For low budget get the Leupold, as it can probably handle the shock of the 50 unlike most cheaper scopes.

Remember that the .50 BMG puts a lot of shock load on your scope so a cheap one will probably not hold zero and overtime might actually require it to be sent in to fix from shock damage. You will want to get a High End tactical scope to handle it and one that has plenty of elevation so that you can use the long legs the 50 has.

Night force has the new Beast that they released at SHOT (Finally after years of rumors) that might be worth a look as well. I would stay away from the other Nighforce unless you are looking at an F1 which is a lower magnification.

[Delfuego]

NF 5-22x56 worked just great on the one we used last summer out to 1k.

[Hoser]

One thing to keep in mind is the fact 82s are not that accurate. Minute of car door... I tried lots of stuff from trigger jobs to custom bullets to everything.

While I have a S&B on mine, I could do much better $$$ wise with a NF. I am sure that here soon I will yank the S&B off and stick on a bolt gun.

[silentshooter]

Only issue I have with NF, is that most are not FFP scopes. The F1 (and the New Beast) were the only FFP's last I looked into NF.

[GT3RS]

What do you guys recommend as far as a Mil dot or an MOA based system?

Rob

[silentshooter]

I love sticking with a Mil/Mil setup. Never was a fan of a scope with MOA turrets and a Mil Reticle. Now with calibrated MOA reticles if you want MOA turrets get a MOA reticle.

Me I am staying with Mil/Mil

[wolffo]

troll snipers hide for deals on used glass

[SA Friday]

Only issue I have with NF, is that most are not FFP scopes. The F1 (and the New Beast) were the only FFP's last I looked into NF.
FFP can be nice and it helps in some situations, but it's not as necessary as many make it out to be. Determine if it's really a necessary option before dropping the extra cash on a scope that has it vs one that doesn't.

[silentshooter]

FFP can be nice and it helps in some situations, but it's not as necessary as many make it out to be. Determine if it's really a necessary option before dropping the extra cash on a scope that has it vs one that doesn't.

True. If you sre going to ranging or shooting movers a ffp with the right recticle is a must

[Hoser]

FFP can be nice and it helps in some situations, but it's not as necessary as many make it out to be. Determine if it's really a necessary option before dropping the extra cash on a scope that has it vs one that doesn't.

When using the reticle hash marks for holding off they are worth their weight in gold.

On a square flat range with targets of known size, FFP scopes are not that big of a deal.

For me, after using them for a while, I wont go back.

[USNrigger]

I agree you need to nail down the magnification you want and the retical and adjustment scale you like or feel like learning. Mil/MOA retical and Mil/MOA adjustments some guys like Mil reticle and MOA adjustments just because we have been trained that way. Some guys say once you learn MIL/MIL its easier and "better" someway. Is this going to be a tactical or target type rifle in your mind. My rule for tactical rifles wanting 1000yd shooting is a 10x optics, i never needed more glass and i always had a nice wide FOV. In target you can close down that FOV as you dont need to see whats going on around target like in tactical shooting. With the M82A1 you can stretch its legs so magnification is going to be needed over 10x to do that. I would go with a S&B PMII (yes i know its over your 2k budget). Its worth it and will pay off when your trying to hit at 1800yds. My other suggestions would be US Optics, Premier and then Nightforce. I would look at around a 16x-20x. I know some of my suggestions are over 2k but glass isnt cheap and at the range that rifle can perform you need solid glass.

USNRigger

[Kraven251]

I've become a fan of the IOR optics, and for mounts everything I own goes on American Defense mounts.

[mobbs]

+1 on SB PMII

Also realize that even if you have the world's best glass on there, you'll still be frustrated with your lack of accuracy. Just the nature of the weapon, it was never intended to smoke a dude's dome out to 1k.

[Hound]

NF 5-22x56 worked just great on the one we used last summer out to 1k.

This is what I got with Barrett 20-40 MOA Zero gap rings. Just got back from Whittington 1000yd range and nailed the black first shot once zeroed. Get the Velocity reticle.

[ark3maxu5]

Had a Leupold Mk4 on my .50 for a year and it seemed to hold up fine but then upgraded to a U.S. Optics. Love the Nightforce scopes but don't love the 2nd focal plane (if you will only ever target shoot with it maybe it doesn't matter), their new 1st focal plane "Beast" is surely a great scope but I don't like how high the turrets sit including that button on top. The USO Erek knob is super low profile and makes it easy to stow and USO is built like a tank. My 5-25 SN3 is the new "Long Travel" which has over 100moa of total elevation travel so you can surely get out to extreme ranges with no problem. Mil/Mil for me. When you have a nice scope on your .50 take it out past a mile, that's when it starts to get fun (and challenging).