what kind of magnification should i be looking at for 1000+yd

[Graves]

42x is awesome for anything out passed 1k on a cool day (mirage can be a pita at this mag), but 12x on the bottom end is a bit overkill if you ever plan on using in the 100-600yd range IMO.

[C Ward]

The higher magnification scopes have a smaller field of view and the mirage is worse the higher up you go . Also the higher magnification Nightforce's have about 1/2 the elevation travel of the 15's and 22's . Not an issue with a bench gun but on a field rifle where targets will be engaged from up close to real far target location becomes problematic and you run out of elevation .

[xring]

The higher magnification scopes have a smaller field of view and the mirage is worse the higher up you go . Also the higher magnification Nightforce's have about 1/2 the elevation travel of the 15's and 22's . Not an issue with a bench gun but on a field rifle where targets will be engaged from up close to real far target location becomes problematic and you run out of elevation .

I see your point. Say 50MOA usable needed from a 100 zero with a 338? That would get you to 1500? Thats a pretty good poke even with a 338.
The 8-32 does that with a 20moa base assuming a center range of adjustment with a 0moa mount.

45moa total E on the 12-42
65 moa total e on the 8- 32

Considering the platform I would consider the 8-32 assuming a 20moa base. Ive noticed some of the 20moa bases lift the ass end i mean ocular of the scope pretty high however, making neck strain worse. Be advised ive made many a poor decision doing what I wanted rather than taking sound advice from knowladgable individuals. The 22 is most probably the right tool for the job.

[ark3maxu5]

+1 on the 20-25x range for a .338

[C Ward]

On most rifles even with a 20MOA base you will still be between.15ish to as much as 40 MOA off the bottom of the travel . My 308 , Rem 700 , with a 20 MOA Badger base is 35 MOA off the bottom of travel on a 3.5-15 Nightforce .

You cant count on being right off the bottom of travel because manufacturing tolerances vary and stack . The math works ok for doing the rough figuring but really the only way to know for sure what you end up with is to mount it up and see .

If the length of pull and cheek piece height is adjusted properly neck strain is a non issue unless your neck is jacked up to begin with . Only one of my bolt guns has a nonadjustable cheek piece and it will be the only one the rest are all adjustable .

On a 338LM class gun I'd look for a 30 or 40 MOA base to get the most usable elevation possible . Your data past about 650-700 yards will vary way more than closer with changes in atmospheric conditions and even more so past 1000 . It just makes sense to get a scope with the most usable travel to take advantage of the guns capabilities . With factory 338LM being 6 plus dollars a shot there is nothing cheap in the endeavor so it makes sense to get good stuff up front . It makes the learning curve shorter and a little less steep .

[mrfish83]

It just makes sense to get a scope with the most usable travel to take advantage of the guns capabilities . With factory 338LM being 6 plus dollars a shot there is nothing cheap in the endeavor so it makes sense to get good stuff up front . It makes the learning curve shorter and a little less steep .

+1 to that! There's nothing worse than buying a high end scope then later determining that your requirements for the system has changed and the scope doesn't have enough elevation travel.

I personally feel the higher magnifications are overrated for two reasons.
1) Atmospherics/mirage blurs the image, and it only gets worse at higher magnifications.
2) Limitations of second focal plane reticles. If your use your reticle for any angular measurements (ranging, wind holds, elevation holds), the graduations change (scale) as you change the power on a second focal plane scope. Even if you don't think you need the graduated reticle now, it sure sucks to later realize that you can only use it on max power (for most second focal plane scopes)

Now on a first focal plane scope (reticle stays to scale at different powers), higher magnification capability is awesome.

You may want to check out the Steiner 5-25x first focal plane scope, they are around $2500 or so. I have one of their 4-16s and it is a quality scope, as is Nightforce.

[wolffo]

I'm looking at a fixed 17x scope from US Optics for an AR-30 in 300 win mag
with a couple options it'll be in the $1,500 area.

[TommyTwoDogs]

1+ on the Steiner

[Dinosdeuce]

+2 for Steiner. I have a 3x12 on an AR. Had no problem hitting steel at 820yds at the Thunder Beast Team Challenge. Very nice glass.

Dino

[Kraven251]

I run the IOR Valdada 6-24 x 56mm mildot with a 20MOA ADM mount
http://www.valdada.com/scopes/tactic...nated-mp-8-dot

though they now have a moa version of this scope too,
http://www.valdada.com/scopes/tactic...ffp-long-range

It performs very well, the only thing I wasn't super happy about was the illumination for the reticle, but it does the job just was different from what I had expected. It is a bit of a monster, but then again I am compensating for my shitty vision, but it is probably one of my favorite optics.