Ruger American 450 Bushmaster Scope

[HemiChallenger]

Lets hear everyones $.02 on a scope and rings for a Ruger American 450 bushmaster.

Just picked mine up last weekend.:grin:

Post, opinionate and flame away.

[oldmann1967]

I think the Nikon Buck master is a fine scope for most applications. Not sure about mounts. Have fun with it!

https://www.google.com/search?q=nikon+buckmaster+3-9x40&oq=nikon+&aqs=chrome.0.35i39j69i57j0l2.6125j0j4&client=ms-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

[xtrema312]

A budget range would help nail down some options without being all over the place between $50 & $1,000.

I hunted with a E1 on my 450 BM this year. I liked the radical with the small dots for range including wind drift. This is a big bullet and I hunt in some spots with 5-10 mph cross winds often and 150 yd shots. Having a dot for that distance with wing drift is nice. Down side is that it is hard to pick out the small dots and lines those last few minutes of the day.

[Ol` Joe]

The American IIRC come with Weaver bases, so any name brand ring that fits Weaver style bases should work. There is no problems with Weaver brand rings if you can accept their looks, they are probably one of the stronger designs on the market and, low priced.

The 450 kicks. recoil energy is somewhere in the slug gun range but a little sharper IMO. Not abusive, but I wouldn't want to shoot more then a box off the bench at a sitting if I didn't have to. (yep, I'm a wuss :shrugs:)

I won't recommend a specific scope, but will say don't go with a $129 Dunhams special. I saw two 450's, 1 a AR, 1 a Ruger American destroy the scopes on them this fall, a Bushnell and one Dunhams special. A RO friend told me of one on a Ruger he saw loose the crosshairs. That I believe was a Vortex Crossfire.

I would try to stay with low to medium rings if possible along with a lighter weight scope of good reputation. This eliminates big bells on the scope, and high magnification in most cases. Make sure all screws are tight, and be aware rests like the lead sled put all the recoil back on the rifle as they take it off you. Especially if you add a bag of shot to the sled. That I feel was the problem with the Bushnell, the guy had his AR tied down and 2 bags of shot on the sled. Stick with bags when you sight in.

BTW eye relief in the choice of scope is a consideration also. I gave a guy on the range a paper towel, then a gauze pad after the third whack on the bridge of his nose from a scope mounted a bit too far back this fall. Yep a Ruger American 450 Bushy ;). He had some stones though, and did manage to get it sighted in.

I've sort of changed my mind. I still wont recommend a specific scope but, here's one along the line of what I would consider if in your position. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1362117468/leupold-vx-2-ultralight-rifle-scope-3-9x-33mm

[shortround]

I would have to say the Vortex Strike Eagle 1-6. Good usable magnification for the range of the cartridge, 30mm tube, good glass, illuminated reticle, fantastic warranty.

Will the reticle match the ballistics of the 450 BM? No, but with a little experimentation, you can match them up to practical ranges for the cartridge.

With a little shopping around, you should be able to find it under $300.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-strike-eagle-1-6x24-riflescope-ar-bdc-reticle/reticle

[Langford]

Need a budget before we can make recommendations...

Personally, I hated my strike eagle...bad fish eye at 1x, dark at 6x, green coating on the lenses made it hard to see through in certain lighting conditions. For a hunting rig, I'd want a bigger objective for a larger exit pupil diameter. .

[quigleyman]

Weaver scopes are fantastic for the money...I have several. Don't know exactly what you're after,but I think a weaver fixed 4x would be perfect for that cartridge on a hunting rig.

I use weaver grand slam steel rings and they are nice and sturdy, but I lap them on every install. They aren't too precise if you don't lap them (i.e. They don't always line up, and don't always have good contact. It's the luck of the draw)

Whole setup should be rock solid and less $$ than you paid for the rifle

[Omni]

Mounted on home built AR 450
http://www.hawkeoptics.com/endurance-3-9x40-ler-slug.html

Sight in at 100yd, secondary aim points come out good at 200 and 300yds.

[Shyster]

I wanted a Picatinny rail on my Ruger American. TREMENDOUS pain in the ass to get that Weaver rail off.

As far as a scope, I would second that Vortex 1-6

[HemiChallenger]

I'm puropsely not giving a $ amount, I want honest opinions and real world experience. Which is exactly what im getting.

The top rails are weaver... ok that makes sense.
I tried a few bases I had lying around and nothing seemed to fit.

Opinions on the bushnell dusk&dawn shotgun scope? I have one mounted on another gun and really like it. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/693160/bushnell-banner-shotgun-scope-175-4x-32mm-circle-x-reticle-matte

[HemiChallenger]

I've sort of changed my mind. I still wont recommend a specific scope but, here's one along the line of what I would consider if in your position. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1362117468/leupold-vx-2-ultralight-rifle-scope-3-9x-33mm

I think this might be the specific one that randys recommended with the 450.

[quigleyman]

I can tell you what not to get....

I have a nikon pro staff 3-9x40 and I hate it. It's really really dark and grainy and unforgiving on the eye relief. I've looked through barska's that were really impressive compared to the pro staff

[xtrema312]

Randy's is a VX2 with a custom turret to dial in specific ranges for the 450. I don't think it has and extra dots and it was not that much. That one linked would be nice, but I plan to run mine set for max point blank of 200. It is hard to get a shot anywhere I hut that is much over 150.

I would pass on the Bushnell Banner. I have one also. I also have a couple similar, but trophy versions, and they are noticeably better than the banner in every way. I had the banner on a 44mag for a while but now it is on one of the kids 22's where it is more useful for small game. It might end up on a turkey gun. It was replaced with a redfield revalution 2-7. Far superior scope and it would work very well on the 450. I have one trophy on my brush slug gun and one on a ML. I don't use either gun as a first string, but the scopes have served me well. My first string slug gun and ML both have Bushnell Legends. They are a very noticeable steps up frome the trophy and the minimum for quality I would want on a true 200 yd. point blank range gun. The 450 can reach out with consistent accuracy. I personally will use a rifle scope and not a shotgun scope for a100 yd parallax vs 75. Also I want more than 4x max.

My son hunted beside me a lot this year. I saw the banner in many conditions with a deer in the X and compared the legend and E1 I have in my 450 to it in gun season. I also compared the trophy to the legend in ML season. Then made the change to the revalution. I already knew the banner fat radical basically covers about a 2" dot at 100 yd. It covers a lot of deer at 200. That is just the fine hair part if you can call it fine.

The revalution is real nice. Lots of eye relief, light, compact and good to the last minute of hunting time. I prefer the locked focus vs fast focus so I am strongly considering the revalution, VX1 or VX2 for the american 450. I prefer more of the bold and smaller amount of fine cross hairs of the VX and legend over the revalution and E1 because it is easier to pick up in real low light in cover on a dark night in those last few minutes. However, the E1 is the hardest to see in very low light and it did fine on a doe tonight at 90 seconds before end of hunt time.

[Garry219]

Just ordered the Leupold vx2 from Randys. They told me it comes with info to tell Leupold and they'll send you a special BDC turret for that scopes marked in yardages up to 300. Just zero in at 100 yards and you are all set.

[Ol` Joe]

Just ordered the Leupold vx2 from Randys. They told me it comes with info to tell Leupold and they'll send you a special BDC turret for that scopes marked in yardages up to 300. Just zero in at 100 yards and you are all set.

Sort of, "if" the velocity is correct and bullet weight matches that the turret was designed for. Then you have to figure wind drift. The bushy with a 250 gr bullet drifts over 2 ft at 300 in a 10 mph breeze. Be sure to dbl check your drop by actual shooting at range, and practice to help with judging wind. I have crono'ed a awful lot of loads that fell 100 or more fps from the claimed velocity from a barrel length that matched the one in the data.

Good choice in scope however. I don't think a leupold is ever a bad pick. :thumbup:

[quigleyman]

Ya...bdc's are a fantastic idea but having them match your setup exactly tends to be the exception rather than the rule. Brand doesn't seem to make any difference either.

I like mil dots because you can make them fit your load and even swap loads out on the fly without too much effort

[HemiChallenger]

Heres another one I noticed that might work well: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/817249/burris-fullfield-ii-rifle-scope-2-7x-35mm-ballistic-plex-reticle-matte

I wonder how a red dot would work on this rifle out to 100. Recoil could be a concern.

[xtrema312]

The Fullfield 2 is a nice scope. I have the E1 version with the floating raticle, but I am thinking of the FF2 for the next one. The E1 3-9 30 mm is on sale at Cabelas for 149 free shipping.

[Yakfisherman]

Just do it right the first time and get the Leupold VX2 3-9x40mm (or 2-7x33mm) with the CDS turrets. This is what Randy has on his gun and it is what he recommends. It works. It will make shooting the .450 out to 300 yards pretty darn easy with factory Bushmaster loads. $350 and will last you forever and will last the person that gets it after you their lifetime. You can buy custom turrets from Leupold at any time for any caliber/load combo in the future should you want to. The CDS is a great system and nicer than those stupid circles Nikon uses on the BDC.

[mbergeon]

I put a Leupold Ultimate slam scope on my 450. Started with the leo mark 2 mount and had to switch to the pepr mount to keep the scope from sliding on recoil. If anything the 300 yd shot is slightly high.

My brother liked it so much he bought the same upper, scope and mount. Sighted in at 50 yards, next six shots hit 12" steel at 200 & 300 yards.

[coobie]

I put a weaver 1.5X6X24 super slam euro-stlye it has the illuminated german #4 reticle on my AR 450 cal.bushmaster.Great optics for $$ spent.Natchez was closing them out last year for $329 reg price was $663.

[gsasc]

I put a Nikon Slugmaster on my AR 450. Use them on my 1187 and 1100 slug guns. Never a problem, excellent scope. Great eye relief 4"+. Even though I don't feel the 450 kicks that much. Like a 20ga to me. I've shot 50 rounds from a bench in an hour and would of kept shooting if I hadn't run out of ammo:flamethr:

[foodguy]

Lets hear everyones $.02 on a scope and rings for a Ruger American 450 bushmaster.

Just picked mine up last weekend.:grin:

Post, opinionate and flame away.

I have a Nikon Slug Hunter 3x9 on my Bushmaster and it takes the pounding of many shots down range.

[Danco411]

Some info I have learned about the 450BM to think about when purchasing an optic. The 450BM has a distinct recoil which is brutal on scopes. Of the many 450's I have sold I have had six customers blow up their scopes. Talked to some folks who have done testing and learned the high volume of fast burning pistol powder in the 450 produces a sharp 800g recoil impulse. To me the 450 "seems" not much more than a 308 but the .308 has only a 650g recoil. The .308 uses slow burning rifle powder so the recoil is a slower push than the sharp hit of the .450.

Any scope with a wire reticle won't last 20 rounds on the 450 so an etched reticle is mandatory. Also the erectors in the less expensive scopes will also fail in repeated shots with the 450. The 450 really needs a heavy duty shot gun or muzzle loader scope to survive very long. One of my customers put on a Primary Arms 1-6 which for all purposes is a great scope and I have hundreds of rounds through mine on a .308 with no issues. He put 50 rounds through his 450 then missed on an 8pt on his first day hunting. The erectors had locked up completely. Of course PA replaced the scope but they do not recommend them on the 450 now. I'm now recommending the Leupold super slam or ultra slam which is designed for heavy shotgun use. Interestingly enough the slug reticle works perfectly on the 450 out to 300. I'm sure the Leupold VX-R would also be a good choice.

[Scattergun]

Its hard to beat Leupold I just put a VX3i 3.5x10 with the CDS dial and a DNZ reaper one piece mount have had great success with this mount on my ML's . I have the 22" SS barrel on the R.A. 450 looking forward to dialing it in 100/200/300 yards.

[gsasc]

Well I'll say it again. I have the Nikon Slughunter. Shot over 200 rounds this weekend and it's still zero'd in. Over 600 rounds thru it in the past 3 weeks and it just keeps ticking. I've had one on my 1187 Rem slug gun for over 8-10 yrs and have never had to re-zero. Broke 3 Leupolds on my 1100 Rem slug gun before I told them to just keep it. Broke another Leupold on a 300 mag 18 yrs ago and said then I'd never pay the prices they ask for them.

[xtrema312]

Midway has the Burris 2-7x35 ballistic plex etched reticle, steel on steel adjustments, 50 BMG tested and 100 yd parallax. $135 shipped.

http://rt1-t.emails.midwayusa.com/r/?id=h18ecde2,38c7625,38c7634&p1=817249&p2=pe_weekly-_-wishcartsale-_-wishcartsale_automated

To me this is a lot of scope for the dollar and a good match to the 450 BM.

[HemiChallenger]

Midway has the Burris 2-7x35 ballistic plex etched reticle, steel on steel adjustments, 50 BMG tested and 100 yd parallax. $135 shipped.

http://rt1-t.emails.midwayusa.com/r/?id=h18ecde2,38c7625,38c7634&p1=817249&p2=pe_weekly-_-wishcartsale-_-wishcartsale_automated

To me this is a lot of scope for the dollar and a good match to the 450 BM.

Thanks for the heads up! Just got mine in the mail. Will mount it up soon. I cant swallow the $ for a leupold on a gun I probably wont shoot a lot and paid under $500 for. Maybe my #1 should get a leupold...

Anywho, the more and more scopes ive purchased and used I like the lower power scopes best. 4-12's for .17hmr's, 3-9's and less for deer guns.

[Noodles40hands]

Looking to put a Nikon monarch 1-4 on mine. Have the same on my 3006 great for targeting deer fast. Other than that the slug hunter would be a safe bet. Just going with the general consensus here is don't buy a dicks special and you should be fine

[IceMan89m]

I think this might be the specific one that randys recommended with the 450.

The scope Randy uses is the Leupold VX2 3-9x40 CDS (custom dial system) Windplex.

[Magnum Man]

The scope Randy uses is the Leupold VX2 3-9x40 CDS (custom dial system) Windplex.
Is this particular scope only available through Randy's?

[Ol` Joe]

Is this particular scope only available through Randy's?

No, they are a cataloged item.
https://www.leupold.com/scopes/compact-scopes/vx-2-3-9x40mm

[IceMan89m]

Is this particular scope only available through Randy's?
I believe Randy has them with the 450 turret from the factory on hand and also the MK AR with the 450 turret also on hand, I know the MK AR can be found at other sources also under Leupold part # 173465.