what is a good scope that shows yardage for a ruger mark VII 300 win mag?

'Shows Yardage' - do you mean like it has a Star Wars laser range finder built in that lets you see the distance to your target? Yeah, they make them - but they cost as much as a small new car.

There are scopes that have what are called 'Bullet Drop Compensators' or BDC. The top turret on a scope is what adjusts the up and down (bullet drop). Some BDC scopes come with a dozen different turrets and a big chart - you select the turret you need by choosing the cartridge and bullet weight, you install that turret and then go to the range. You zero the rifle at 200 yards, then set the turret to 200yds and lock down the Allen screws. Now when you turn it to 100 or 500 it is very, very close. If you want to get it closer - you set the thing at 100 yds - shoot at 100yds and notice any difference left, right, up or down.......... you do this for all the available distances - and make a little cheat table you tape to the left side of the rifle.

Some BDC scope have the ranges engraved on the lens glass. Nice if they make a model that is in your caliber and favorite bullet weights.

Some of the lower end scopes like Bushnell and Tasco make these in the $90 to $150 price range and they work like a champ for the first 3-6 years but then tend to fail. I loved them until they almost cost me a nice deer - so - you need to definitly spend some quality time moving the dials around before season.

Another option is to buy a target model. These have the big turrets with markings. These are not as quick or easy to read as the BDC - but - if you use women's fingernail polish to mark your zero and keep a cheat sheet taped to the left side of the rifle they can be lots more accurate.

Last - you can look at some of the tactical scopes. These will sometimes be a blend of all or two of the above designs.

Be sure to get a side focus model if you wear glasses or sometimes share the rifle.

300WinMag has a terrific recoil. An inexpensive scope will not survive long. Basically, anything under $275 and you risk having it fail when you need it most. I have a 338WinMag - has worse recoil than yours - back in the mid 90's I 'bit the bullet' and installed a top of the Leupold line 4-14.5x Vari-X III police tactical - cost me $800 that I did not want to spend. My ex-wife took a nice grizzly with it, my buddys dad took a nice grizzly with it, I've got a nice grizzly on the wall, a few moose, and some caribou....... and that thing is still on the same zero set from day 1 on the range nearly 20 years later.

With a belted magnum rifle you must buy quality brand name optics because you are going to push it to the limits. If I had put a $250 scope on that 338 back in the 90's I would be on scope #4 for sure. I am saving money now.

www.midwayusa.com and www.cabellas.com are great places to look for these kind of models. Cabellas has some BDC models made specifically for them. You can also look at www.brownells.com ........... that....... and there are no shortage of hunters who put nice scopes on thier rifles and need to sell them - EBay.com can be a nice place to find scope deals on the used market.

Good Luck. Feel free to email me any scope quesitons. I am a professional photographer and know what all the lens numbers mean and how the optics work inside the things.

Ruger Mark Vii

I know your looking for the most accuracy of your weapon you can get. There really is no such thing as a sniper scope. You can get a scope with a lot of magnification which you would think would be a sniper scope but it's actually a varmint scope. I'm a Nikon man, I've taken many deer and varmints with Nikon scopes. I recently discovered Swift scopes and am really impressed with their quality and customer service. Descent Nikon scopes on the affordable side can go from $200-$500. A good Swift is around $150-$350. If price for value is what you look for go with Nikon, you can try the Swift Premier line and read the reviews and try them out.