Any Recommendations? (New rifle optic)

I recently picked up a new (in the box) Remington 700 BDL Mountain chambered in .257 Roberts +P. I paid next to nothing for it so I have no qualms about spending some money for a good optic. I plan on primarily using it as my antelope gun (and I may just leave it at my relatives ranch in Montana).

Any recommendations out there? I currently have a S&W 1500 chambered in .270 with an older 3x9-40 Swarovski on it. I sometimes feel even that is a little underpowered for the gun. Am I right to be thinking 4x12-50 on top of that .257?

I"ve got my own ideas, but thought I would bounce it off of you"s guys. Thanks!

Billy

If you don't mind spending a little more money, you can't go wrong with Leopold. I have a 50mm 4x12 Vari x II on my deer rifle. Excellent scope.
We do a lot of 200+ yard shots here. Good scope is essential. Best one I own.

I personally use a 3 x 9 Leupold on my Remington 700BDL in .243. I have gotten woodchucks as far away as 600 measured yards and have been able to shoot the head off of a tack at 200yd at the range. I couldn't ask for more out of a weapon or scope.

just my opinion,but any rifle i intend to be carrying, i prefer a smaller scope.less weight(even though not a whole lot less) becomes more important than more power.more power in a scope used out of a stand is what i personaly look for.another thing is i personaly prefer fixed power scopes on my stalking rifles.but thats a holdover from when variable power scopes were simply not as rugged as they are today. i really dont think you would need that much scope,i think you would run out of steam in a 257 long before you needed more magnification.but its largely a personal choice,if i were hunting from a truck and spotting and shooting far off, might even go with even more magnification.

Where I hunt in Montana is the higher altitude plains (not yet to the Rockies). Long flat shooting is almost the only shot presented. I've taken plenty of muley's with the 3x9 at the 300+ yard mark with my .270, but I just wanted some additional input as to what others thought.

Thank you.

back when i hunted antelope in wyoming, we mostly would just drive the big ranches trails and when we saw one we wanted would simply shoot either off the hood of the truck or off sticks on the side of the road.my rifle was either a 6mm ruger with a old 3x9 redfield.or a parker hale 7mm mag with a 4x12 weaver. both worked well and i dont recall anytime where i thought i needed more magnification.if we saw one go over a rise or something before we got a good look i would most often grab a highly customized and lightened 7mm mauser,with a fixed six power german scope that i cant even remember the name of,and wished for less once in a while when i was winded and trying to steady that rifle for a shot . little rifle weighed around 5 1/2 pounds,so it was real nice to carry. probaby depends entirely on your style of hunting,i prefer to not shoot at long distances,and probably the longest shot i recall making was MAYBE 300 yards. if you regularly shot longer ranges,maybe more magnification,but keep in mind that as you increase power you decrease field of veiw and on a antelope you may need all the field of veiw you can to pick up a moving one in your scope quickly.

I'm a 25+ year Leupold fan. I have a 3x9 Vari X II that has not moved,fogged or failed in those 25 years. I have a 3.5X10 Vari X III that is my favorite on a .270 Remington 700AS that is about 20 years old with no issues. I have a 4.5X14 on a 22-250 and a new 6.5X20 Mark X on a .223.

I had a 6.5X20 vari X III on a 300 win mag that was just awesome for long shots. It got too kicking me too much so I sold it.

I have buddies who brag on their Schmidt and Benders, Swarovski's, Zeiss etc that cost 2-3 x's more that aren't any better than my Leupolds.

More magnification is better!!! Slap a 6.5X20 on it and bust em out as far as you can see.

I think 4X12 is okay for antelope. From my experience, 3-400 yrds is a close shot on them in southern NM. I used to hunt them in the early 70"s with a Rem 1903A3 .243 with a Weaver K-10 or Win 70 .30-06 with a B&L 2X8. Leupold and Burris probably make the best scopes for what they cost now.

You will like the 700BDL. I have one in .22-250 with heavy barrel for target/varmit.

Can't go wrong with Leupold and if you can't quite afford it, I've been having good luck with Nikon so far (2 years so far is all I have)

On a deer rifle you are really concerned with object and light gathering as you get a lot of shots before sunrise and after sunset. Not so much with antelope You will be shooting in mid day, no shadows, so you can save money on that.
No way your 257 can outshoot 9 power. And I never heard of anyone shooting a goat much under 150 yards. I'd say a fixed 10 or 8 power 40 mm Leupold would be perfect. I have several fixed 10 and 12 power leupolds for prairie dogs and goats.
I could probably hook you up with one of my spares.
Consider trading the mountain for the heavy barrel or standard BDL I have the 60's model heavy in .223, royal blue finish like a Weatherby, and kill many pd's at 500 yards, 80% kill ratio, (Light wind) with fixed 12 Leupold.

Thanks for the input Gordo. I didn"t mean to imply that the gun can actually outshoot the scope, but at that 300 plus range the crosshairs start to look pretty beefy agains the vitals.

When I picked up this gun I was actually looking for a .25-06, but I bought this thing NIB for $175 with scope mounts. I couldn"t turn it down.

Have you ever had any drawbacks to shooting a high fixed power scope out there? My average shot at muley"s in MT has been in the 300 range.

Thanks again!

Big fan of my Lepoulds but also really like the new Redfeilds scopes Lepould is putting their optics in the scope and making the scope the same way it was made in 1978 when Redfeilds was top of the line.
I put one on my Remminton .280 engraved 7400
Because I have the same exact gun in 30.06 they both take the same magazine I wanted a different scope
Dialed the .280 in to drive tacks in 8 shots at 100 yards
Great scope for $300. Bucks love it