With so many .22LR scopes on the market not to mention standard rifle scopes, it’s hard to figure out what is the best .22LR scope for your rifle. The best .22LR scope for the price is a Vortex, the question is why, and are there other scopes that maybe better?
The Best .22LR Scope for the Price
The Vortex Crossfire II scope is by far the best .22LR scope for its price. While there are cheaper scopes, they don’t have the same clarity Vortex does.
The 2-7x variable power gives you a good range of magnification to shoot up close or distances out to 100 yards with your .22LR Scope. The 32mm objective is big enough for a clear sight picture without making the scope too big or heavy for the smaller .22LR Rifles.
Plus the V-Plex reticle with only a simple crosshair makes it less distracting when aiming your rifle. Don’t forget Vortex also has the best lifetime warranty of any scope company. If you send them back over 50% of the pieces of the scope they send you a new one. Even if it’s your fault it was destroyed.
What Makes a Great .22LR Scope?
There are plenty of factors that make a great .22LR Scope. Having a good objective size is a good start. Add to that the correct amount of magnification. While finishing with the right reticle. All of these add up to making a scope of good scope.
What truly makes the best .22LR scope is having all of these factors in a scope priced to where you don’t spend more on the scope than you did the rifle. It is after all a .22LR the rifle most people shoot to save money.
Objective Size
Objective size is the size of the lens. Basically it’s the size of your sight picture. Normally you’d think bigger is better. This is not necessarily true. Larger objective size is something cheap scopes use to make lower quality glass look better. Of course on the flip side, you go too small and you won’t be able to see much through your scope. Which means you want somewhere between 32mm to 42mm. If you go bigger you get into heavy scopes that have no benefit, and smaller and it’s hard to see.
Magnification
For .22LR Scopes you have a few options of magnification. The basic is choice is fixed or variable. When it comes to fixed you won’t need anything more than 3x. This is enough to see your target out to 100 yards. Which let’s face it if you are shooting past 100 yards with .22LR you have will have to do a lot of adjustment and what not to get good hits.
As far as variable power scopes. A good 2-7x or 3-9x power scope is more than you will need. While shooting with 9 power at 25 yards lets you see every single hit, it makes it really hard to be accurate when you can see your pulse in your sight picture. Honestly, the only reason to ever buy a scope with more than 4 to 5 times magnification for a .22LR scope is because that’s the way it was sold and it was cheaper to buy than a one with less magnification.
Reticle
Reticles come in all sorts of different shapes. Many scopes offer what they call BDC reticle. This has small dots under the main crosshairs. These dots represent the hold over you need for shooting longer ranges. So if the main crosshair is sighted in at 25 yards the next dot or line may be for 50 yards then 75 yards. These can be very distracting. Unless you are hunting at various ranges they just get in the way. Which means it’s best to stick with a simple V-Plex reticle or simple crosshair.
Eye Relief
Eye relief is the distance from the scope your eye needs to be to get a clear sight picture. This distance varies from scope to scope. The amount of eye relief you need also varies from rifle to rifle. As many .22LR rifles have slightly smaller stocks than rifles in larger calibers you want to have a shorter eye relief in your .22LR Scope.
As you can compensate for different eye relief distances by the position you mount the scope to the rifle. The problem is on many rifles you can only mount it so far forward before you can’t mount it any further. In short look for scopes with less eye relief.
Other Suggested .22LR Scopes
While the Vortex Crossfire II may be the best scope for the money there are a couple of other scopes that great for your .22LR Rifle.
Leupold VX-Freedom Rimfire
For less than $100 more than the Vortex, you can buy a Leupold scope. Leupold is THE name in high-end rifle scopes. The Leupold VX-Freedom Rimfire gives you the option of either 2-7x or 3-9x and objectives of either 33mm or 40mm. With an extremely clear sight picture and amazing build quality then only reason it’s the best .22LR scope is due to its MOA reticle that has hash marks every 1 MOA. Making the reticle slightly busier than need be for a simple .22LR scope.
Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II
Even though Nikon is known to most of the world for making higher-end Cameras they are also known in the shooting world for making good quality rifle scopes. The Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II is a great quality scope for just over $100. The Prostaff Rimfire II is a simple 3-9x scope with a BDC reticle. If you like the BDC reticle Nikon even has an app you can download to your phone to tell you distances each extra ball is equal to.
Conclusion
When it comes to .22 LR Scopes the best one is the one that works for you. The Vortex Crossfire II is the best scope for the money. However, there are a few things to look at before you just buy a .22LR scope, learning rifle scope basics will help with your decision. You’ll want to look at the objective size, magnification, reticle, and eye relief. If you find a scope that meets your needs for these different aspects you’ll find the best .22LR Scope for you need.