Scope recomendations for mini-14

[chevy bob]

Hello all,
Newbie here,looking for recomendations for a scope for my Ruger mini-14 ranch rifle.I'm looking for something to be used mainly for 200 yd. target shooting and would like to be under $300.00 in price.I have a set of Ruger scope mounts that came with the rifle and would like to use them.Can I get some input from the experts here as I know very little about scopes?Thanks in advance.

 

[greyling22]

there are lots of good scopes in your price range. usual suspects include the bushnell 3200, burris fullfield 2, leupold, nikon, weaver, vortex......

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recommended_riflescopes.htm

For target shooting at 200 yds, I'd want at least a 12 power scope. Now, a mini-14 is not known for being particularly accurate, especially at 200 yds. You might find that you have a nice scope and a gun that just won't group well, and it may eject rounds right into the scope. Just a thought.

 

[Monk]

What about a red dot?

It doesn't really meet your criteria for a 200yd shooter, but I replaced the hand-guard on my 186 series Mini-14 with an amega http://www.amegaranges.com/product_pages/rugerMini14.html Picatinny rail and mounted a Nikon Monarch red dot sight on it and think it's a pretty good setup for this gun.

Before I did this I'd tried it with a 3-9x40 scope and one of those mounts that bolts to the side of the receiver and like Greyling22 in the previous post found the accuracy left a little to be desired and decided to try for a setup that was optimized for shorter ranges.

 

[skoro]

Can I get some input from the experts here as I know very little about scopes?

I mounted a Burris Timberline 2-7x28 on my Ranch Rifle and it's just about perfect. Nice, compact scope that doesn't look out of place on such a small rifle. Good optics and the ballistic reticle really does work.