I just bought a Savage .17 HMR, I plan on hunting ground squirrels. What size scope should I get?

Depends on how far away you plan to shoot, under 50 yards a good all around 4x would be fine, under 100 yards may want a variable powered scope, say a 3-9 or 4-12 if you are shooting beyond 100 a 4-12 to 6-18 power would work out well. Just buy a quality brand IE Nikon, Burris, Leopold. there are cheaper scopes than these but you get want you pay for in optics. My experience has been that Nikon offers the brightest image and clearest lenses for the money. Brightness pay dividends in lower light conditions, and Tasco and Simmons just don't have what it take in low light or clarity.I just bought a Savage .17 HMR, I plan on hunting ground squirrels. What size scope should I get?
You dont need a scope.........you are hunting squirrels.........not elk at 500 yards away. Use the iron sights....once you get used to it.....its the best.....most reliable way.I just bought a Savage .17 HMR, I plan on hunting ground squirrels. What size scope should I get?
A red dot scope gives you parallax free sighting.
Get a BSA Sweet 17 scope. I have a 2x7, but they have all the way up to 6x18. It depends on how far away you want to shoot the squirrels, but a 2x7 should do the trick. It works pretty good on armadillos.
I would use a 4x40 scope, just one of the cheaper brands like Tasco. This is what I have on one of my .22's for small game.





They make some small 3x20 scopes for .22's, but I like a bigger view, so it is easier to follow something that is on the move.
You can get the nikon prostaff 3x9 for under 150 or around there, I think cost is about 130.
If you use a scope at all, there are plenty of low-power scopes on the market designed for use with 22's. There's certainly no reason to get anything more than a fixed-four.
I prefer my sights on my .22 for squirrel hunting but if you insist on a scope a fixed 4x should work out fine.
For those of you recommending him to stay with the open sights, as of 2006, Savage didn't make a .17 HMR with open sights. While normally an advocate for higher end optics on a rifle, on a .17hmr I would, (and did), buy a BSA Sweet 17. The lack of recoil in the 17 makes some of the concerns about an inexpensive scope fade away. The range in power, and the calibrated elevation adjustments give you the ability to do some pretty long range target shooting. I put a 3-12x40 on my Savage 93R17-BTVS, and have used it both in the woods for rabbits, and at the range to plink. The clarity and light gathering is not quite as good as it's higher priced counterparts, but is more than adequate for what you want it for. For right around $100, you can't go wrong. Good luck, and have fun.
A good varmint scope would be a .32 mm try it and see