For the past few weeks, I've been shooting my side-match competition .22 caliber rifle with a Redfield Battlezone riflescope instead of my normal scope. I had liked the reticle on Redfield's "bigger"scopes designed for modern sport rifles or precision bolt guns in .223/5.56 or 7.62. Both the 3-9x42mm and 6-18x44mm scopes have the TAC-MOA reticle, a bullet drop compensation system and something my creaky old fingers really appreciate-finger click reticle adjustments that I don't just feel, I can hear click. If you have those units, you get a pair of turrets calibrated to either 5.56 55grain at 3,100 FPS or 168 grain .308/7.62 at 2,650FPS. The dials are calibrated in 50 yard increments. The TAC .22 on my rifle is a 2-7x34mm model calibrated to the .22LR in the most common 36-grain load. Since that's generally what I run in side matches, plinking or varmint control situations, it was exactly what I wanted to give a try for all-around shooting.

Redifeld's Battlezone Riflescope in .22 -light, bright and easy to adjust. And it includes a second turret for your favorite "hot" .22 load. Jim Shepherd/OWDN photo

Normally I don't care for lots of stadia lines on my crosshairs. Honestly, if it's competition, I've been running a fiber point rather than crosshairs. But that gets problematic on longer shots with older eyes. The TAC-MOA reticle, however, isn't so crowded that it looks "furry" with two minute of angle (MOA) lines. The eyepiece is also quick to focus and hasn't fogged under either cold or humid conditions. Since we haven't had any significant warm weather yet, I don't know about how it will perform in our swampy hot humidities, but it's shown no signs of fogging yet. I do know it's durable, because I've banged it around from case to bench and from shooting position to shooting position. The zero has held no problem and I haven't had to do my "tap-tap-tap" exercise to make certain zero adjustments have "taken". OK, I know it's probably not necessary to tap scopes today, but in years past, I've found that I needed to either throw away around before checking zero -or tap. With ammo in short supply these days -I tap. Although I haven't really run the scope through "serious" volume shooting, it's proven itself reliable with some fast sequences on varying distance targets and clear and bright when shooting more precision shots in less-than-optimal lighting conditions. It's also proven itself more than capable of giving me middle-of-varmint accuracy when I've used it in some varmint thinning activities. And I've even put the second supplied turret to use on long-distance shots. That turret is marked in 50, 75, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 and 150-yard settings. That means no math, just dial in the distance and shoot. It didn't vary significantly when I went to some heavier-hotter loads -after re-zeroing at the 50 yards. The Redfield Battlezone Riflescopes .22 2-7x are readily available, having been rolled out at SHOT 2013 and you can find them in the under $200 range. For a scope that's fast to use and accurate, it's a good choice for your favorite .22 without breaking the bank. It's backed by Redfield's "No Excuses" lifetime warranty, so I think I'll leave it on my little .22 racer for the immediate future. If I could only get a "No Excuses" warranty on my shooting..... -Jim Shepherd Editor's Note: Many of our readers will be joining our editors at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, Indiana later this week. We're be wearing media badges with our names on them, so we hope you'll take the time to introduce yourself to us - and let us have the chance to say hello to you.