Best Scope for 308 Rifles And Long Range Accuracy

The .308 is a hefty cartridge with excellent ballistics and long-range accuracy. For most people, iron sights simply don’t help this cartridge reach its full potential. Optics can solve this problem and turn your 308 into a precision rifle, which extends your range as well. Here are the best scopes for .308 rifles.

Best Scope for .308 Rifles Long Range & Budget Scopes Reviewed

There’s an enormous variety of riflescopes available for .308 and other large cabers, and they each offer a wide range of features. In this review you will find the best long range scopes, scopes for those on a budget, and some of the best options for AR 10’s. Here are eight of the best scopes for .308 rifles, along with what they’re best for.

How Do You Choose The Best Scope For 308 Caliber Rifles?

The 308 cartridge is versatile, And so are the rifles that fire it. That means that you Should consider the rifle in question and what you plan to use it for when choosing a scope.

The AR-10 is a rifle that could benefit from a short or long-range scope. For a tactical combat AR-10, a small and compact scope such as the UTG 30mm Compact Scope would be ideal.

Hunting rifles, on the other hand, benefit most from traditional long-range rifle scopes. Scopes that would be too large for a tactical rifle, such as the Leupold VX-Freedom, are ideal for long-barreled hunting AR-10 and bolt-action 308 rifles.

Factors to Consider when Buying a Scope for 308

After deciding what the primary use of your rifle will be, it’s time to choose a scope. Here’s a short list of factors to consider.

• Scope Length and weight
• Scope housing diameter
• Magnification
• Illumination
• Reticle type
• Lens brightness
• Mounting system

All of these factors can determine whether you get the shot and if you’re comfortable using your rifle. Price is also a factor, as it’s always important to find the best scope that fits your budget. Let’s dive deeper and cover the differences.

Scope Length, Width, and Diameter

Scopes come in a wide range of sizes, and size doesn’t necessarily correlate with magnification power or quality. The best scope for 308 hunting rifles tend to be relatively long and lightweight, in the neighborhood of 12 inches in length and about a pound and a half in weight.

Smaller tactical scopes usually come with more features in a more compact package, which shortens the length a few inches but adds a few ounces of weight. If you plan to carry your rifle on long hunting trips, it may be best to opt for a lighter and more basic scope.

Magnification

More isn’t always better when it comes to magnification. Hunting rifles benefit from high magnification, which usually begins in the 3-.9x range. That said, most hunting scopes are too high in magnification for close-quarters tactical rifles.

The best close-range scopes begin with 1x minimum magnification, which allows for open-eye close-range shooting. If you intend to use your rifle for mostly close and medium-range shooting, it’s best to opt for a scope with lx minimum magnification.
Using Mil Dot
An example of standard Mil-Dot Reticle.

The most commonly known of these “ranging” reticles is probably the mil-dot. Its name derives not from its military origin, but from the fact of being graduated in mil, which is, as we have seen (check out the full post here), is an angular unit of measurement. In a mil-dot reticle, the distance between the center of the reticle and the centre of the first dot, as well as de distance between the centres of two consecutive dots, is equal to 1 mil. The size of the dots varies among the various types of mil-dot reticles. In the standard mil-dot developed by the US Army, for example, each dot is equal to 0.22mil.

How to Triangulate

Step 1

If you know the size of your marks and the size of your target, you can easily calculate the distance. All you have to do is to aim at the target, positioning the reticle to get the most accurate measurement possible. It is advisable to always measure the longest portion of target. In example, if your target is a silhouette, you should measure its height. This way, you will always maximize the accuracy of your triangulation.

Once you have taken the angular measure of the target, you can obtain the distance with a simple formula.

Step 2

Metric: If you work with metric units of measurement, you just have to divide the size of the target (in millimetres) by the number of mil it measures on the reticle, and you will obtain the range in meters. For example, you know that your target is a paper sheet of 500mm X 500mm, aim at it with your scope and you’ll see that the target measures 1.5mil (from the centre of the reticle, to half way between the first and the second dot, in a standard mil-dot reticle). Calculate 500/1.5 and you’re answer is 333m, which is the distance from you to your target.

US/Imperial: Working with US/Imperial units, the formula is a little different. You’ll need to multiply the size of the target (in inches) by 22.77, and then divide the result by the number of mils it measures on the reticle to figure out the distance in yards. For example, if you have a target of 20in x 20in, which measures 1mil on your reticle, calculate (20×22.77)/1 and you’ll 455yds.

MOA

Almost all the ranging reticles are graduated in mil, but there are also MOA reticles (I’m starting to see more of these on the market now than there used to be), that are more US measurement-friendly. If you have a MOA reticle, to calculate the range in yards, divide the size of the target (in inches) by the number of MOA measurements on the reticle, and then multiply the value by 100.

There are also formulas that allow you to mix units of measurement, but I suggest you to keep things as simple as possible and stick either with mil and metres/millimetres, or with MOA and yards/inches.

Target Field Measurement

As you can see, the formulas are pretty simple. What’s more challenging is to actually measure the target when you are on the field. Keeping the reticle steady enough for an accurate measurement is not always possible, unless you are using a bench rest. In addition, it’s not always easy to read the correct value at the decimal degree, and that’s that’s accuracy you need. If the target is small, or if it’s very far, a difference in reading of 0.1 or 0.2 mil can make a big difference. My advice is to always take multiple measurements, taking note of what it seems to be, at first glance, the correct value, and then take the average value between them. For example, if you are unsure if your target size between 0.6 and 0.8 mil, just take the average and input 0.7 into the formula.

Magnification

An important thing to consider when you triangulate with the reticle is magnification. If the reticle is installed on the first focal plane, its size changes with the magnification (you see it becoming smaller or bigger), along with the size of the target, and you can use it at every magnification. On the other hand, if the reticle is on the second focal plane, varying the magnification, the reticule will always appear the same size, but it may vary in relation to the perceived size of the target. In this case, the ranging can be done only at one magnification. Ranging at different magnification, the angular value of the reticles would not be true anymore. For many scopes, the ranging magnification is the highest, but it is not unusual, especially on scopes with high values of magnifications, to find it half way. Always check in your scope’s specs at which magnification you can range, and always remember to set it correctly on the field before starting the ranging process.

Non-Graduated Reticles

But what if you don’t have a ranging reticle? Many scopes, especially hunting scopes, come with standard, non-graduated reticles. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use your scope to triangulate range. Many reticles are built following angular measurements. The scope I have on my deer rifle, for example, has a stanadard Plex reticle. At the range, I discovered that the thin part of the reticle measures 2mil in length from the center to the beginning of the fattest part of the reticle. It is not very accurate for ranging, but with some practice it can work, especially at short distances and when ranging with large enough targets.

There is also a trick that everyone can use for ranging. You can use the scope’s adjustment, instead of the reticle, to measure the target. If you keep the rifle steady while you rotate the scope’s turret, you can see the reticle moving. If you count the clicks it takes to move the reticle for the target’s entire height, you have the angular measurement of the target to insert into the formula. It is not simple, because you’ll need to be rock steady (repeat in your mind: “I am a stone. I don’t move” like in Enemy at The Gates) while you turn the turret. With practice, and maybe with the help of a “spotter,” this can serve as a very accurate and reliable method.

I suggest practicing these techniques as much as you can. Triangulate known distances, or confirm your estimations with more accurate instruments. You can triangulate distances even without going to the range. Triangulate the range of objects out of your windows for example (just mind the safety rules).

To test what you’ve learned from this article, you can try to estimate the distance the distance of the target you see in the featured image at the top of this page. The white paper target is 500mm X 500mm, while the reticle is graduated in mil (the big lines are 1mil, an the smaller ones measure half a mil). Give your best guess below in the comments.

Is a 308 Rifle Good for Deer Hunting?

Fundamentally, the .308 Winchester round is just a shortened .30-06 Springfield. It’s a powerful .30-caliber cartridge with surprisingly good ballistics. As a result, .308 is a popular cartridge for deer and medium-sized game.

Unlike smaller calibers, .308 is almost universally legal for deer hunting with few restrictions. Some care is required when using AR-10 rifles for deer hunting, as some states and localities restrict the use of semi-automatic rifles or certain magazine capacities for hunting.

What Is The Best Long Range Scope For 308?

The best long-range 308 rifle scope should be lightweight, durable, and capable of holding a zero between shots. Based on these qualifications, we believe that the Vortex Optics 4-12×40 Diamondback Rifle Scope is the best long-range optic for 308 rifles.

Magnification is an important factor to consider when choosing the best 308 scopes for long-range shooting, but it’s not the only quality to take into account. The Vortex Diamondback is a high-quality scope with a reputation for holding accuracy, even on lighter bolt-action rifles with heavier recoil. It’s also light enough to carry on long trips and reasonably compact as well.

The 308 rifle is powerful and effective at long ranges, which is why adding the right scope can help you make the most of its capabilities. So, what’s the best scope for 308 rifles and why?

Overall, the best scope for 308 rifles on our list is the Steiner TX5i 1-5x24mm scope. It features powerful magnification, excellent brightness, and the best build quality in its class by a significant margin.