Best .22 Scope 101: Riflescopes for Your Rimfire Rifle

Click here for the Best .22 Scope available in the market today!

22 rifle scopeSo what’s the best riflescope for your rimfire rifle? Keep on reading to find out. Many of the scopes in this list are capable of giving you great versatility and function without unnecessary expense. If they’re expensive, then rest assured they’re worth every penny. We have created a list of the best .22 scope available to buy.

The main thing you should realize when shopping for a rimfire riflescope is that the .22 LR is one of the most durable guns around, so you should get the best .22 scope that perfectly matches this tough rifle that generates little recoil and is perfect for target practice against small varmints and game.

That’s the main method on how to find the best scope around. You should definitely buy a 22LR riflescope that’s as excellent as the rifle it’s assisting. What this means is that you should be on the lookout for only topnotch scopes. With that said, the following are choice scopes that are highly recommended for .22 LR use.

The Top Recommended Riflescopes for Your .22 LR Rimfire Rifle

[table id=14 automatic_url_conversion=true automatic_url_conversion_rel_nofollow=true /]

Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-223 BDC Reticle Riflescope with Target Turrets and Side Parallax, Matte Black

Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars from over 33 customers! Click the image for discounts and reviews!

  1. Bushnell 2-7x32mm Rimfire BDC: The Bushnell Rimfire BDC won’t take the challenge of its Nikon rival lying down, of course. Bushnell AR optics are always topnotch, as evidenced by the Bushnell’s BDC (Bull Drop Compensating) technology that compensates for bullet drop inaccuracies with the way the riflescope is built. It’s one of the best .22 scope products around because it’s made from aluminum alloy that’s corrosion-free and incredibly resilient. It is pretty lightweight at 19.6 ounces and compact at 11.3 inches, plus the tube diameter is at an efficient one inch. In short, you won’t feel like you’ve tied a brick to your rimfire.

Meanwhile, even though it has a lower magnification of 2x to 7x, it’s better to be safe than sorry, which is why it features parallax adjustment for the higher magnifications so that the image won’t look like it’s swimming or moving even though your actual target isn’t. You can also make further accuracy adjustments with this 22 rimfire scope for maximum precision with its caliber-specific reticle and its customary windage and elevation knobs. It’s also comparable to the ProStaff in the sense that it is O-ring sealed with nitrogen to protect against fog and offers the sharpest images with its multi-coated lenses.

read-full-review-button

  1. Nikon P-223 3-9x40 Mate BDC 600

    Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 150 customers. Click the image for Nikon P-223 prices and reviews!

    Nikon P-223 BDC 600 with Rapid Action Turret, 4-12×40: Nikon has another contribution to the list that’s a great alternative or even rival to the cost-effective Nikon ProStaff Rimfire. The Nikon P-223 BDC 600 with Rapid Action Turret, 4-12×40 outdoes the Nikon ProStaff Rimfire 3-9 x 40 Black Matte Riflescope in terms of magnification and its Rapid Action Turret. What’s more, this viable contender for best 22lr scope understands that while people don’t necessarily need 4x to 12x magnification, certain marksmen appreciate the additional range and can take advantage of it in their target practice, although for others 3x to 9x is enough.

The multi-coating formula of Nikon ProStaff is still there with Nikon P-223 BDC, thus ensuring users of maximum light transmission and little to no light reflections. In other words, you’re ensured of acquiring the clearest and brightest image quality for all your hunting and shooting needs. Furthermore the P-223 has a higher BDC than ProStaff (it’s 600 versus 150), which translates to even fewer adjustments to get the perfect shot every time. In terms of mounting, you won’t feel any weight changes on your gun because this is quite the lightweight scope in and of itself at 2.2 pounds and 19 inches in length.

read-full-review-button

  1. Vortex Optics Crossfire II 2-7x32 Rifle Scope, Dead-Hold BDC Reticle (CF2-31003)

    Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars from over 30 customers. Click the image for prices and reviews!

    Vortex Crossfire II 2-7×32 Rifle Scope, V-Plex Reticle CF2-31001: The Vortex Crossfire II CF2-31001 scores quite high in terms of 22LR riflescope quality because it doesn’t only understand that more doesn’t necessarily mean better, it practices it. Available to you at under $200, the Vortex Crossfire II 2-7×32 Rifle Scope, V-Plex Reticle CF2-31001 offers quite a lot of impressive specs that make a good case for itself as your 22 riflescope of choice, such as its multiple layer lens coating that’s anti-reflective and ensures maximum light transmission and its nitrogen gas that’s O-ring sealed and purges oxygen inside the lens to get rid of fog. It’s a highly recommended scope in light of these facts.

The Vortex Crossfire II also delivers waterproof performance during the foggiest of low-light conditions, ensuring the most accurate shots humanly possible. It can withstand impact, recoil, and the like with its shockproof construction and its aluminum alloy body that’s aircraft-grade and comes in one piece. Finally, it’s hard-anodized with a black matte finish and its main tubes have an inch diameter and are sized at 30 millimeters, which means it’s quite the compact scope as well. The Vortex Crossfire 2-7×32 Rifle Scope, V-Plex Reticle, Moa (Cf2-31001) meets all criteria for .22 caliber rimfire big game hunting.

read-full-review-button

  1. Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-22 BDC Rimfire Reticle Riflescope with Target Turrets, 2-7x 32mm

    Rated 4.2 out of 5 stars from over 33 customers. Click the image for prices and reviews!

    Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-22 BDC Reticle: As for this second Bushnell offering for the .22 caliber rimfire riflescope line, it’s quite the beauty. The Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-22 BDC Reticle comes complete with 2x to 7x magnification, a 32-millimeter objective lens, bullet drop compensation that’s always important for rimfire scopes, target turrets, and an affordable under $200 price. The click value for the turrets are 1/4 MOA, which means you only have to worry about your shot going 1/4 of an inch off-center, thus you can always adjust to pinpoint precision deadliness. That’s what scope usage is all about, really.

You adjust for gravity with your elevation dial, you adjust for wind resistance with your windage dial, and you adjust for MOA with your target turrets. Every element that can stand in your way for making the perfect shot, there’s an answer with the Bushnell AR Optics Drop Zone-22. It might have humble magnification specs, but to be quite honest, 3x to 9x is quite enough for most hunters, so the 2x to 7x magnification falls within that limit. Even at that range, parallax can still present itself as a problem, hence Bushnell AR’s side focus parallax adjustment to ensure long-range accuracy that’s not deterred by the parallax effect.

read-full-review-button

Selecting the Right Scope for Your .22lr Rifle

We have provided a number of scope options in our list of the best .22 scope. We will now provide a summary of the things that you should look out for when selecting the right scope for your .22lr rifle.

Weight – Most .22lr rifles are light, kid-friendly, and quite handy. They usually only weight around five pounds in their stock configuration. When you attach a heavy optic to a rifle of this kind it can throw it off balance and this consequently affects the ease of handling and speed of movement. This can prove to be a disadvantage to you when hunting fast-moving targets.

Magnification – A sixteen power magnification scope is both wasteful and impractical on your .22lr. 3-9x or 2-7x power scopes are perfectly sufficient for rimfire rifles.

Reticle – It is not relevant to acquire a scope which has adjustments for windage and elevation at over one hundred yards because the bullet drop is usually significant at these distances. Also, it is important to note that illuminated reticles can often be too bright and so the resulting wash out can make small targets difficult to see.

Adjustable Objective – This allows shooters to essentially adjust the scop’s parallax to facilitate hitting very small targets. An adjustable parallax enhances the accuracy of the shot at various ranges and also provides a clearer sight picture.

Lens Size – Anything below 32mm will greatly reduce the quality of your sight picture. However, lenses that are larger than 40 or 42 mm will be too bulky for your rimfire .22lr rifle.

Dedication – Any suitable and well-built scope will usually do the trick, however, .22-dedicated scopes tend to perform better most of the time because they are ranged correctly and are calibrated for the most common .22 rounds.

Conclusion

You should specifically search for riflescopes that excel in the areas of weight, feel, brightness, clarity, power, magnification power, and optics. They’re the most important considerations you need to take into account when finding the best rimfire scope for your beloved rifle. In short, those are the earmarks of a quality 22lr scope for sure.

The market offers a broad lens spectrum as well, from competition optics to plinkers. Expect to pay for upwards $1,000 and over for first-rate scopes and a standard average scope price of $30. If you’re the adventurous type of hunter, then the top thee offerings from Nikon, Bushnell, and Zeiss should suit your needs.

All the rest serve as good alternatives with similar high Amazon ratings as these three best .22 scope. The Bushnell models are hard to beat in terms of image clarity, while the Nikon ones give the best value for your money.

We hope that this list of the best .22 scope has been helpful to you. We have highlighted some of the best .22 scope as well as some information on how to select the right .22 scope for your rifle. What are your thoughts on the scopes featured in our list? We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions. Please leave us a comment in the comments section below this article.

Click here for the Best .22 Scope available in the market today!