Rifle scopes

[Ebuar]

3-9x Zeiss. Hunt mostly in bush at shorter ranges. I once had it set at 9x when a sudden shot presented at close range in a cut line. Hard to pick up something at high mag if it is close. Now I make sure it is set to 3. Dialing up is easier if I need it.

[Rangifer]

3-9x for me. Keep it on 3 if you are in bear country. A few years back at a hunting camp full of old outfitters and guides the consensus was Leupold scopes are maybe the toughest for the money. In years of guiding and outfitting the only scope I saw fail was an entry level Zeiss.

[Coiloil37]

My bolt guns use a 2-7x33, 2.5-8x36 or 3-9x40. My lever guide gun occasionally wears a 2.5x20 in quick detach Warne rings and my varmint rifles wear 4.5-14x40's. I prefer field of view, light weight and compact size to magnification most of the time.

[rusty51]

i have a Zeiss 3-9,wish I had a Leupold 4X or a 6X

[gtr]

That is like a lot of fellows!

[heybert]

2.5-8x36
3-9x40
1.5-5x20

[JonBoy]

Originally Posted by madball

can you further explain "I can just shoot by line-of-sight over the barrel" ??

I can use the alignment of the barrel of the gun to shoot at close range. I don't need to actually get the animal in the crosshairs of the scope. Basically, the bullet drop is so minimal that I can trust the bullet to go where the barrel is pointing.

The "line of sight" of the barrel (ie, what the barrel would see if it had eyes) is a straight line and the bullet path, at that range, is pretty much straight as well.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by JonBoy

I can use the alignment of the barrel of the gun to shoot at close range. I don't need to actually get the animal in the crosshairs of the scope. Basically, the bullet drop is so minimal that I can trust the bullet to go where the barrel is pointing.

The "line of sight" of the barrel (ie, what the barrel would see if it had eyes) is a straight line and the bullet path, at that range, is pretty much straight as well.

At 3x or 3.5x, I find that the crosshairs fall on the animal as I shoulder the rifle, so for me it's quicker to use the scope than trying to look around it.

[Demonical]

I'm an oddball and prefer low power variables 1.5-6X, not into all these new scopes with huge magnification ranges.

But that's just me...

[LJalberta]

Been trying a 4-16 the past couple years, but think I'll be moving back to something with a lower end in the 2-3 range. I've personally found I don't use the higher magnification nearly as much as I use the lower end.

[winterwinds]

I find my Vortex Diamondback 3-9x40mm on my .308 works great for most situations. Great warranty on Vortex scopes too.

[Chip07]

4x16x44
Walking around i have always left my scopes on 7x, shot one deer at 25yrds like that and never seemed like too much.

[Elkster]

All my rifles use a 3-9 power. That is a combination of bush hunting and fields. Had good luck with them so far.


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[00Dark]

Vortex Strike Eagle® 30mm AR Riflescope
1-6x /24mm / 3.5"

for deer in BC, field and woodlands

Tikka light 30.06

30mm rings .87? not sure about that part yet.

[Nyksta]

I find Vortex has great value whatever price point you fall into. Viper HD is very nice for $700. Viper PST for tactical knobs and precise adjustment, or Viper HS for great glass but keeping it simple without adjusting. I have both of these in 2.5-10x44. If i was going to build a lighter rifle, vortex has a new Razor HD LH 1 inch tube with 2-10x40 or 1.5-8x32 scope with even better glass and both pretty lightweight, but these are at $1000.

[00Dark]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, my friends all seem to love vortex as well. This will be the 1st time hunting 4 legs lol so if I enjoy it I can move the 1st scope to different rifle and upgrade. Finding it hard to trust the people at the counter when looking at buying stuff. 2 people 2 different answers at cabalas.

[rembo]

For me it depends on the style of rifle and the chambering.

My Whelen wears a 2.5-8, 280AI wears a 3.5-10, 7 Mag wears a 4.5-14, all Leupolds. Also have 2.5-8's on a Kimber Montana in 243 because the short length of the scope matches the receiver length better than a longer tubed scope.


Scopes are chosen as much for their size as their power range.

[00Dark]

that's kina the issue without having all the gear to play with at the same time lol

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by 00Dark

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, my friends all seem to love vortex as well. This will be the 1st time hunting 4 legs lol so if I enjoy it I can move the 1st scope to different rifle and upgrade. Finding it hard to trust the people at the counter when looking at buying stuff. 2 people 2 different answers at cabalas.

a deer sized target is plenty comfortable at 400 yards in a 10x zoom.

If you are buying a ballistic drop reticle, they usually come in the second focal plane, which means they only work at the maximum magnification. so, if you are gonna depend on the hash lines for anything 200m and out, just remember that when considering a higher magnification. 200m at 14 times is pretty big animal in your crosshairs.

if you pick a first focal plane, so that the hash marks work the same at all magnifications, then you have to deal with the fact that the retical lines are very thick at max power and block your image which is usually far away and tiny at max magnification, and at minimum magnification, the reticle lines are very very skinny and hard to see, which the manufacturues sometimes to try add illumination to fix this issue, but that adds money and electronics and buttons to push and twist and batteries and wires and that can go faulty... so theres gains and losses.

another note, the technical side of things, the higher the magnification, the dimmer your image will as you zoom in. the way they fix the darkness is by increasing the objective size = heavy scope, or by increasing the quality of the glass = big $$. so if you want a bright light value scope, stay away from the extreme high magnifications.

Traditional 3-9x40 is a very nice midpoint for all hunting aspects, keeping it simple is both fast and solid. the deer wont judge you....

if you want to be the best paper target shooter ever with a super technical adjustable scope to bring those groups as tight as possible for competitions and bragging rights, then a bigger scope might be what you are after.

[newhunterjp]

Vortex razorgen ii 4-27x56
Vortex razor 5-20x50
Nightforce nsx 3-15x50
Kahles csx 3-15x50
Vortex viper 4.5-22x40 ( would not buy again)

[West O'5]

3-9x40 has been my go-to for 30sum odd years....more recently(last 4yrs),a 1.5-4.5x32mm sits atop my go-to bush/deer/moose/elk rifle.(rem 7600 30-06)
Drooling over Loopy VX6 1-6x for the 'ol ought-six for a wee bit more and a wee bit less magnification...best of both worlds(?)....and the clarity of the VX6 is phenomenal.
That said,3x9 has served me well over near 4 decades of hunting,with a preference for stillhunting/spot & stalk bush hunting for WTs where shots are often up close and personal and window of opportunity often measured in fractions of a second.
Scope is ALWAYS dialed down to LOWEST setting when hunting,ie;3x or more recently 1.5x for fastest acquisition of short-medium range targets.
If a longer shot is presented warranting more magnification,there's always time to crank it up.....the reverse does not hold true in most cases.
If I had to guess,with close to 100 give or take deer/elk/moose/bear kills behind me,I've cranked the scope up to 9x maybe 4-5 times for 150-300+ yard shots.....90%+ shot at 3x or no scope at all,ie,bow,cap and flintlocks,shotgun,and an old iron sight 30-30.
FWIW,I can't recall ever using nor any reason to use the mid-range magnification in any situation?Its always either 3x or 9x.

[00Dark]

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...-scope-review/

[harv3589]

2 - fixed 6x scopes
1 - 2.5-8x36 scope

I like the fixed 6 personally...

[Geomancer23]

Leupold VXR 2-7x with QR mounts. 2x is great for bush country, but wish I had a little more magnification for open country.

[BIG AL]

I run 3x9x40s, but rarely do they ever come off 6x magnification.

[Girlsfishtoo]

I run a bushnell 3.5-10-40 on my 300 and it's been great so far I just put a 4-12-40 Nikon prostaff on my 7mm and its crystal clear

[270 ELK]

I use VX-3i 4.5-14 X 50

[00Dark]

ok what about a

Crossfire II Vortex 4 - 12 X 40 or the X 50

19.2 oz. vr 20.9oz and a 20$ difference lol

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by 00Dark

ok what about a

Crossfire II Vortex 4 - 12 X 40 or the X 50

19.2 oz. vr 20.9oz and a 20$ difference lol

12x40 will be pretty dim with that pricepoint on glass... 3-9x40 will provide a brighter image...

Another note on the minimum magnification. I had a deer walk by me at 10m and with my scope at 2.5x, I couldnt see the top or bottom of his body. All i could see was fur, hard to tell what part of his chest your aiming at. When you start getting to the higher magnifications, your field of view goes smaller.

[FellSwoop]

2.5. X 10 X 50 Zeiss Victory on 300 WM,
3 X 9 X 40 Cabellas Meopta on 308 Win
2 X 7 X 33 Leopold VX1 on 6 my Rem
My other 3 hunting rifles are unscoped