Rifle Scopes Lightweight Hunting Rifle Scope Choice/Suggestions

[lancetkenyon]

Let me preface this by saying I am most assuredly an "optics snob". I have a couple S&Bs, a Kahles, a Premier, Vortex Razor Gen II. I have also owned a few other mid-top tier scopes that have been replaced as funds allow.
I am getting parts together to rebuild one of my 11.5# hunting rifles into a lighter weight mountain carry rifle. It will be a 800-1000 yard max rifle. Hopefully in the 8-9# range all in. I have 3 scopes in mind for it, and wondering if I am forgetting any others. The rifle will be chambered in .280AI and loading the 168 HVLD @ 2900-2950ish?

Must haves:
Great tracking
Great glass (I know, subjective)
"Lightweight" (under 30oz)
FFP
Illuminated reticle
MIL with some subtensions, but not overly busy like a Horus
Price is in the $2000-3300 range (I am not looking for a PST quality scope)


My current top 3 (in no particular order, but I am leaning towards one)

Vortex Razor AMG 6-24x50:
Pros: Warranty, good top end, great reticle, good tracking, good glass, cheapest of the bunch, good adjustment range
Cons: Heaviest of the three @ 28.8oz, 6X on the low end

Tangent Theta TT315M 3-15x50
Pros: It is a Tangent Theta, best glass, best tracking, decent reticle in the Gen 2XR (I have a Premier 5-25 w. the gen 2XR and love it), middle weight of the 3 @ 27.7oz
Cons: "Only" 12MILS of elevation, most expensive of the bunch, lowest top end magnification range

March F1 3-24x52:
Pros: Lightest weight @ 24.4oz, cheaper than TT, best magnification range in 3-24x, OK reticle in the FML-1, Low profile, shortest length
Cons: A lot of "unknowns" to me....Unknown tracking, unknown glass, unknown eye box. No one has one I can look through to satisfy my curiosity..

 

[Covertnoob5]

I've had all 3 of those scopes and currently still have the AMG.

To me, the March had the most cons. I didn't like the warranty, I didn't like the edge distortion especially at low power, and I didn't get that warm fuzzy feeling in terms of ruggedness I got from other scopes like the 4-16 ATACR or the TT315M or 5-20 ultra short. Yes the size and weight was nice and the mag range was also a bonus, but being that it was going on a hunting rifle that could get banged around I didn't feel the best. But I will say glass quality was top tier, with the best.

I really like the TT315M a lot. I had the Gen2XR in it and I will say it was pretty thin below about 8x power. The FOV was amazing though. Best in the class for sure. Truthfully the main reason I sold that was because I had the TT525 and also wanted to fund a 5-20US. I've thought about picking up another TT315M if I ever get another rifle to put it on. And the TT warranty seems pretty good. Lifetime fully transferable. It's not vortex though, as TT will charge you around $200 to replace a scratched lens, but that's not the worst I've seen for that repair either.

And the AMG. For me it had the most pros and least cons. It has my favorite all time reticle. I can use the reticle even at 6x if I needed too. Yea FOV isn't the best but here out west it's pretty open land so it doesn't concern me as much. The glass is top notch, it's better than the gen 2 razor, and up there with my 5-20US. The weight is great, I like the locking turrets, and the warranty really put my mind at ease. Not saying that it's a good thing to have to use it, but on a hunting rifle if I slip and fall and bang my scope on a rock (which I've done before) it's peace of mind knowing I'm covered.

I would say you could also consider a 4-16 ATACR in your budget.

Edit to add: don't forget the 5-20 or 3-20 Ultra Short. I personally think between these two, might as well go for the shortest and go 5-20US. Only thing I'm not a huge fan of on mine is the clicks are really close together.

Better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and say oh shit.....

 

[Conrad]

Covert and I have discussed ideal hunting scopes. We've agreed that the AMG offers the best of most parameters we set. We also agree that if we could get an UltraShort that was slightly lighter with an EBR-7 reticle and the NF ATACR top turret we'd be pretty damn happy. Or maybe just a shorter lighter AMG, that'd be BadA too. Definitely a fan of the AMG turrets and Vortex L-Tec turret for perfect zero.

Just out of curiosity do you have a specific magnification range? I just received a little NXS 2.5-10x42 compact to put on top of my 10/22, and if you wanted to save a lot of weight and keep it simple but have lower mag range (not horrible for medium range hunting) it could be of interest. 20 oz and 12" long. Zero stop and illuminated MILR reticle. 5 mil turrets will get you pretty far on a 280 AI. Just a random thought, carry on.

 

[ICU22250]

I absolutely love the zero set elevation turret on my 4-16 ATACR F1, the scope feels rugged as hell and I just love everything about it...

 

[ggmanning]

My March's have been abused. They are durable, track well and have great glass. Can't offer any experience on the others. Some don't like the reticle. I prefer a center dot so it suits me well. I don't think there is a better lightweight compact hunting scope made.....it's all pretty subjective though. You couldn't go wrong with either of those listed.

 

[Wyzrd]

I know it's not in the same league as the scopes you mentioned, but there's also the Leupold MK6 3-18. The size and weight of them often have me considering them for a lightweight hunting scope (with the lower profile m5c2 turrets). I just haven't taken the plunge yet because of the bad tracking reviews I've read, but maybe they've fixed those issues....?

 

[5RWill]

Having used the Mark 6 i wouldn't recommend it. On paper it seems incredible. Real world use..not so much. Other than my tracking being off, which they fixed, the eyebox is the tightest eyebox at 18x i've ever been behind. It wasn't just me either anyone that shot my gun when i had the mark 6 on said the same. Past 15x it was terrible, any slight movement from your cheek weld and the scope goes black. Glass was good but nowhere near the quality that price commands. I had the M5B2 knobs as well which were extremely mushy. Then if you need illumination that's an extra 1000$ or so.

Out of the 3 mentioned personally if i had the budget i'd go TT, checks most of all the boxes for a light-midweight hunting scope, Great clicks, phenomenal glass, illumination, a nice clean reticle, 50mm objective, etc.

 

[Covertnoob5]

I know it's not in the same league as the scopes you mentioned, but there's also the Leupold MK6 3-18. The size and weight of them often have me considering them for a lightweight hunting scope (with the lower profile m5c2 turrets). I just haven't taken the plunge yet because of the bad tracking reviews I've read, but maybe they've fixed those issues....?

Yea I had an mk6 with the m5c2 turrets and it was pretty bad for me. Glass was not up to par, and as mentioned the eyebox was ridiculously tight.
Mine had the tremor 2 reticle so I wasn't as concerned with tracking thus didn't check it. But who knows.
I wouldn't recommend that scope to anyone to be honest. I would rather them save a couple more dollars and go for the 4-16 ATACR in the sub 2k price range.


Better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and say oh shit.....

 

[knockemdown]

OP, sent you a PM...

 

[lennyo3034]

OP, where are you located? Someone here might live close and can let you look through theirs.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Phoenix, AZ area. Lots of high elevation hunting, timber, sage flats, high desert, cross-canyons, etc. for me and my hunting family members.

 

[akg102]

I'm not sure I would actively steer someone away from the mk6 3-18x w/ m5c2 turrets -- for its size/weight, there's really not much else like it with the exception of the March options, which I've also owned.

Neither are great in the eyebox department. But if you're #1 concern is weight/size, I'm not sure you can do much better. I'm constantly on the lookout for sub-24oz optics, so if I'm overlooking something please let me know.

 

[Marine24]

I'm running a March 3-24x42 on my 6.5CM long range hunting rifle and am very pleased with it. For the money, it is an exceptional scope with very reliable tracking. Optics are better than my Gen II Razor, Swaro Z6 and USO and is pushing very close to the S&B and TT quality. Downside of the March is there is a slight, emphasize slight, bit of tunneling and eyebox is critical at the top end of the magnification range, which is pretty consistent with most scopes above 18x for me.

I looked at the TT and Premier line as well. While I believe they were better scopes overall, couldn't justify the nearly 2x price difference and really liked the weight of the March. Only thing I would do differently is opt for the 52mm objective.