The Best 22 Scope – .22 Rifle Scopes Reviewed

I love shooting .22 caliber ammo. I take my Ruger 10/22 out to the range and I can seemingly shoot all day for cheap. Let me tell you, the right scope on your 22 can really make it a tack driver.

While I’m a pretty decent shot with iron sights, adding a good scope to my .22 rifles really made a difference. Not so much in terms of amazing optical clarity and spending a ton of money, but it sure did add a heck of a lot to the fun-factor of shooting 22 caliber rifles. It’s hard to beat the ability to shoot 150+ yards all day with a 22.

best 22 scope

In this post, our experts reviewed and decided which 22 scopes are the best on the market right now. Our top picks may even surprise you! Let’s get started below.

1. Aim Sports 4X32 Compact Rangfinder Scope with Rings for .22 Rifles

This scope is compact, fixed at 4x magnification, and perfect for the best part of rimfire shooting: plinking. It’s a sturdy construction with a standard magnification and a matching primary optic that will deliver a bright image, even as the sun is setting or in the dark. You can have fun all day and keep going until you either get tired, or you run out of ammo.

AIM Sports puts out good quality products, and at this price, it’s hard to pass this scope up for your favorite range plinker.

2. Simmons .22 Mag TruPlex Reticle Rimfire Riflescope with Rings

Fully coated optics for bright, sharp images on a budget. Simmons isn’t the best name in optics, but their products are great for budget applications, and you get a lot more than you pay for. This scope is adjustable from 3-9x and offers a decent 32mm objective lens to deliver a bright picture. If you like trying your rimfire skills at 100 yards, a 9x scope comes in handy.

Overall, the optical coatings aren’t the best, but they perform admirably. The scope will hold zero on a rimfire rifle, and for the money, it’s a capable scope for a wide range of applications with your 22.

3. UTG 3-9X32 1″ BugBuster Scope, AO, RGB Mil-dot, QD Rings – Perfect for 22 Rifles

Whether you are looking to mount this on a 22LR, 22Mag, or any other rimfire, the BugBuster is a treasure in the rimfire world. It can take a knock from a 30-06, so you never need to worry about losing zero, and it comes with all the best features you could want in a scope.

It’s nitrogen purged, shockproof, fogproof, and probably more scope than you need on your 22, but at a 22 price.

It comes with a 2 inch sunshade and high quality flip-open lens caps to keep it protected from both the sun and the elements. It has a generous field of view to accommodate the funky mounting on some 22 rifles, and it even has an illuminated mil dot reticule. You probably won’t need some of these features, but it’s always nice to have them.

4. Nikon P-223 3×32 Matte BDC Carbine

If it’s quality you want, combined with a solid brand name, fully multi-coated glass, nitrogen purged, and o-ring sealed, then this is a bargain that’s too good to pass up. 3x magnification isn’t for everyone, but on most 22s, it’s more than enough.

At the same time, you get the precision and quality that Nikon offers, and a mind-bogglingly bright image from the 98% light transmission and 10mm exit pupil.

This is a fantastic scope for plinking, varmints, or most other things that you’d like to use your 22 for. And for the price, it would be hard to find a similar scope at this quality level. For a 3x application, this is the best all-around scope to specialize with.

It’s available now for a very reasonable price on Amazon.

5. AR15 Tactical Rifle Scope 4-12x50EG Dual Illuminated Optics Sight & Red Laser & 4 Holographic Dot Sight

Okay. I’m normally not into gimmicky tacti-cool stuff to stick on a rifle. But this is your 22 we’re talking about. If you use it for fun, and you know you do, you can maximize the fun factor by getting this amazing (to the point of being slightly insane) scope and play all day and night, and morning, and the next day.

Everything is included. Laser, holographic sight, 50mm objective, magnification range from 4-16. I mean, if you want it, you have it, in one package.

For this price, you might want to pick up an extra 22, if for no other reason than to throw all of this stuff on top of it and have a fun gun. You know you’re thinking about it.

Obviously, this scope isn’t for everyone. But if there’s a zombie-killing fun-loving fast-shooting kid inside begging to get out, give him or her this cool scope to play with.

For this price, it’s a freaking blast to have on a 22.