Rifle Scopes Looking for recommendations on a hunting scope
- Thread starter Mach U
- Start date
locking elevation isn't really required, but I can understand wanting it.
The Bushnell LRTSi 4.5-18 is a very nice piece of kit with locking windage.
The Sightron SSVED 4.5-24 has both locking windage and locking elevation.
The Bushnell LRTSi 4.5-18 is a very nice piece of kit with locking windage.
The Sightron SSVED 4.5-24 has both locking windage and locking elevation.
I always thought I had to have locking or capped turrets for my hunting rifles too. But I decided to take a chance on the Bushnell LRHS, with just a capped windage and exposed elevation, and it's never moved on me while hunting. The elevation turret on those are nice and low profile, and if you set the zero stop at 0, it can only move on you one way.
Hell, since then, I've hunted with a fixed SWFA scope, with tall, non-locking or capped elevation and windage, and those never moved on me either (they have a good amount of resistance when you turn them which helps them stay in place). Just some food for thought in case you don't find one with locking turrets that you like.
Hell, since then, I've hunted with a fixed SWFA scope, with tall, non-locking or capped elevation and windage, and those never moved on me either (they have a good amount of resistance when you turn them which helps them stay in place). Just some food for thought in case you don't find one with locking turrets that you like.
Weaver tactical 3-15 was really good for me. I used it for the entire hunting season 2017-2018 and it was really good. Bushnell lrhs would be another good choice but I don't have much time behind mine.
The only accidental adjustment I ever made was to the windage. I had the rifle slung and it rubbed against my back.
I don't think the turrets lock however they are covered if that helps. I was looking for the same thing. I looked for a long time until I remembered a conversation I had with and old guy (sniper in WWII) he told me you will never get a better scope than a Zeiss. Well I wanted to shoot long range, and I found that his advise was seldom wrong. So two years ago I purchased one from Cabellas buy using my points and I waited until the end of the year when they go onsale. I purchased the Ziess 5-25 Rapid Z-800 HD5. Nice clear optics. BUT there a lot of things to fuss with and if your hunting moving game there is too much. (unless you can set it up prior.) Its a first class scope but....a tad heavy .
Leupold Mark 5HD 3.5-18 is what i would recommend (5-25 is also an option). Take your pick of MIL or MOA reticle, because it comes in both. Can't beat a Leupold for hunting! They usually are the best in class for weight and low light gathering ability.
What happened to Mach U? I tried to pm him and that feature is not available. I wanted to thank him, helping me find a manners stock. If you are listening, Thank you!
S&B Polar T96 4-16x56 ffp, vortex Razor AMG 6-24x50, Leupold Mark 5 5-25 or 3-18 are all good ffp hunting scope options. Locking turrets, ffp, illumination and not crazy heavy...I have the first two and have been very happy with them both.
Figure out what reticle first and then go for a scope. Some in the 3-18 range optics with fine reticles are not good for hunting without good illumination. If you are hunting in the timber or have any opportunities for shots at closer ranges or at dawn or dusk, you would want a thicker reticle. This may narrow your search really fast.
I took the advice of @psinclair and went with the S&B PMII 10x42. Turrets don’t lock but they haven’t moved on me during hunting, even slung in an Eberlestock backpack/scabbard.
These threads tend to come up from time to time, but I cannot imagine a better precision hunting scope than the LRHS or LRHSi with the G2H. No one has convinced me otherwise. If one is out there, I would like to see it. If you go SFP, you have to remember, in the heat of the moment, to dial to max power to use your holds. If you go FFP, you will have a hard time finding your reticle at times at low magnification in the woods. The G2H fixes that with a FFP reticle that can be seen at lower power and can be used quickly on movers. It also has excellent glass, capped windage and a low profile elevetion turret with zero stop that doesnt lock, but has an arrow up top that will quickly let you know if something is amiss. It is also not very heavy. Could it be better? Everything could, but its the best all-arounder out there.
Change my mind.
Manufactures, if you are listening, there is a hole in the market here. Produce a scope with a similar reticle, make it 50mm or 56mm for better light transmission, keep it 30mm and make it lightweight. Low end 2.5-3, High end 15-18. Build it, and we will come.
Change my mind.
Manufactures, if you are listening, there is a hole in the market here. Produce a scope with a similar reticle, make it 50mm or 56mm for better light transmission, keep it 30mm and make it lightweight. Low end 2.5-3, High end 15-18. Build it, and we will come.
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Maven RS1 2.5-15x44 has covered turrets and a tree-type FFP MOA reticle. It is a really nice scope and if they made a mrad reticle, I'd own one.
ILya
I've looked at it and am going to try one on another build. Reticle looks nice but likely won't solve the issue of being hard to find at low magnification
With the LRHS being discontinued in favor of the LRTS line, you might want to consider the new Forge line. I've got a 3-18x MIL/FFP model right now to do some eval and video work for Bushnell, and so far I am impressed.
Unfortunately, this scope does not have illumination. On low power, it looks like a plex reticle. Not ideal, but workable.
Illumination and mrad reticle would do it good. For some reason, all the people who approach this from a hunting origin are convinced that MOA-tree reticles are the way to go despite all evidence suggesting that mrad outsells MOA 10 to 1 or thereabouts.
ILya
+1 for the Vortex AMG if you are wanting variable power. It has great glass, weighs only 28oz, and with the Vortex VIP warranty you should have no fear in buying used (about $1,750 or a little more).
I just can't get over folks hunting with 6x bottom end magnification... I can't get on target quickly above 4.5x with the limited FOV in the high mag scopes.
@Deadman Pointers I understand where you are coming from, but it all depends on the environment you hunt in. I hunt whitetail deer predominately in fields where a 600 yard shot is not out of the norm, and I sometimes spot coyotes out to 1,000 yards. Finding a deer or a dog a 400 plus yards is difficult for me with LESS than 6 power on the low end. On the other hand, if I am in the woods I would never dream of carrying one of my guns topped with a 6-24x50 or 5-25x56. But for long range I love my Vortex AMG and Nightforce ATACR.
Agreed, different strokes for different folks. I'm out west in AZ, and my typical hunt is an exercise in finding the same damn spot at 500-600 in my rifle scope that I just found with my 20x spotter or 15x binos. I recognize terrain easier at 4x than 6-8x.
I know, I know... "you're a shitty hunter if you can't get within 200 yards of your game." For the most part, I agree. Unless said game is on the opposite canyon over a half mile away, 2000' down, 2000' back up, at 7000' in 10 deg weather, and 6 inches of snow. The elk out here have zero consideration for us hunters. Just plain selfish.
I know, I know... "you're a shitty hunter if you can't get within 200 yards of your game." For the most part, I agree. Unless said game is on the opposite canyon over a half mile away, 2000' down, 2000' back up, at 7000' in 10 deg weather, and 6 inches of snow. The elk out here have zero consideration for us hunters. Just plain selfish.
LMAO! The damn whitetails here are just as inconsiderate! I used to be all about getting within 30 yards and shooting them with my bow when I was younger. The places I hunt today are too wide open for that, and I am too damned impatient. Besides, these f#@ckin' deer just love to make it a game of coming out in different places in my field each day!
A
atreeman
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I run a Schmidt 3-12x50 klassik with target turrets and illuminated p3 mildot. Kind of a PM1... had to order it from Schmidt.
I think Schmidt used to call it a precision hunter.
Not perfect (id like a bit more top end) but the glass is great, illumination does the job and it’s under 23oz....
I think Schmidt used to call it a precision hunter.
Not perfect (id like a bit more top end) but the glass is great, illumination does the job and it’s under 23oz....
Forget the FOV, I can't get over the recommendation of these scopes with horrible hunting reticles. The LRHS has the best FFP hunting reticle available and it's not even close. Change my mind.
Well, uhm, pretty much all of them other than the LRHS. Hunting is exactly that....hunting. When you hunt an animal, the animal, the shot, the terrain, the weather is not predictable. I guess if you had an open field of exacting conditions, to shoot farm raised game in, who cares about the reticle. But FFP reticles in magnification levels low enough to be suitable for hunting (yes, FOV) are very hard to see in all but the best conditions. Unless you have something like the G2H reticle which gives you a centered reference point at low magnification, low light, low contrasting background or on moving targets you will be at a considerable disadvantage. Everybody wants to be cool and look good when they hunt with an incorrectly chosen optic combo, but you know whats cool? Meat in the freezer.
A couple of points: given that LRHS has been discontinued and effectively replaced by LRTS with a reticle that not ideal for low light, a good part of this argument is kinda moot.
Most FFP precision reticles are indeed not optimized for visibility on low power. Many are OK in daylight, but disappear in low light. That is where illumination becomes important.
All that having been said, I think the manufacturers are not unaware of this and I fully expect this niche to be filled with new designs. The question is not whether appropriate products will be introduced. It is rather a question of who is going to do it first.
As for the scopes already mentioned here, given how many people seem to do just fine hunting with a fixed power 6x scope, I would think that a good quality variable with 6x on the low end could do quite well for the majority of hunting you may want to do, especially since the original question was about a long distance hunting rifle.
That brings me back to Vortex AMG 6-24x50 which, to me, is one of the better crossover scopes to do both hutning and precision. Keep in mind also that it has quite wide FOV when compared to a lot of the competition. For example, while the FOV of the LRTSi or XRS II is wider on 4.5x than AMG is on 6x, when all are on 6x, AMG FOV is 15% wider. Or the FOV of AMG on 6x is about the same as LRTSi or XRS II on 5.1x
What that means is that aside from the FOV difference being smaller than the magnificatoin numbers suggest, AMG also has a somewhat more immersive FOV where the image circle looks larger in front of you. That makes it a little easier to find stuff in the image.
While the ENR-7 reticle is somewhat thin, all those hashmarks on the horizontal mark that I generally find a little busy, really help with reticle visibility on low power and, of course, there is illumination. It is not a cheap scope, but if I were setting up a hunting rifle with some distance shooting in mind, I would start my search for the right scope with the AMG.
It is not ideal for huntign in the woods, but I do not think that is what the original question was about.
ILya
Most FFP precision reticles are indeed not optimized for visibility on low power. Many are OK in daylight, but disappear in low light. That is where illumination becomes important.
All that having been said, I think the manufacturers are not unaware of this and I fully expect this niche to be filled with new designs. The question is not whether appropriate products will be introduced. It is rather a question of who is going to do it first.
As for the scopes already mentioned here, given how many people seem to do just fine hunting with a fixed power 6x scope, I would think that a good quality variable with 6x on the low end could do quite well for the majority of hunting you may want to do, especially since the original question was about a long distance hunting rifle.
That brings me back to Vortex AMG 6-24x50 which, to me, is one of the better crossover scopes to do both hutning and precision. Keep in mind also that it has quite wide FOV when compared to a lot of the competition. For example, while the FOV of the LRTSi or XRS II is wider on 4.5x than AMG is on 6x, when all are on 6x, AMG FOV is 15% wider. Or the FOV of AMG on 6x is about the same as LRTSi or XRS II on 5.1x
What that means is that aside from the FOV difference being smaller than the magnificatoin numbers suggest, AMG also has a somewhat more immersive FOV where the image circle looks larger in front of you. That makes it a little easier to find stuff in the image.
While the ENR-7 reticle is somewhat thin, all those hashmarks on the horizontal mark that I generally find a little busy, really help with reticle visibility on low power and, of course, there is illumination. It is not a cheap scope, but if I were setting up a hunting rifle with some distance shooting in mind, I would start my search for the right scope with the AMG.
It is not ideal for huntign in the woods, but I do not think that is what the original question was about.
ILya
I didn't see the part where buying new was a requirement. Good to see you "basically" agree with my sentiments though.
Have you looked at the LRTSi reticle? Not a drawing but a through the scope view of the reticle? For whatever reason, the Bushnell’s illuminated reticles tend to be a little bolder than their non illuminated counterparts, making the illuminated more visible in low light, even with the illum not turned on. But, if you do need the illumination, Bushnell did it right, with the lowest settings being just barely visible in low light so they don’t detract from target visibility. The LRTSi is definitely worth considering.
John
I will say it.
FFP scopes dont make the best hunting scopes. They can be used. I do on some rifles but in low light shooting they do give up performance to SFP scopes even when the little tiny reticles are illuminated. Everything is a compromise. You gain a little here, you give up a little there.
FFP scopes dont make the best hunting scopes. They can be used. I do on some rifles but in low light shooting they do give up performance to SFP scopes even when the little tiny reticles are illuminated. Everything is a compromise. You gain a little here, you give up a little there.
Illumination makes a world of difference on FFP scopes at low power.
AMG at 6x, absolutely fine for hunting...this is in daylight, with the illumination off...pretty damn hard to see with a cluttered bright background. With it around 50%, it stands out just fine.
Excuse the rushed iPhone photos, not the clearest. My Schmidt P4L fine reticle is about the same, and only the center X is illuminated. At 4x, I’ve never had an issue finding the reticle in any hunting situation.
AMG at 6x, absolutely fine for hunting...this is in daylight, with the illumination off...pretty damn hard to see with a cluttered bright background. With it around 50%, it stands out just fine.
Excuse the rushed iPhone photos, not the clearest. My Schmidt P4L fine reticle is about the same, and only the center X is illuminated. At 4x, I’ve never had an issue finding the reticle in any hunting situation.
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