Rifle Scopes Low power variable for hunting?

D

Danjabellza

Private
Minuteman
Dec 15, 2017
4
0
#1
Hey guys,
I’m looking at putting together a deer/elk hunting rig here pretty soon. I live in Nevada, and expect that this is where I will do the bulk of my hunting. I was shopping for scopes the other day and it occurred to me that
A) I won’t be comfortable/capable to take accurately take a deer/elk past 500 yds
B) If I’m not shooting past those distances, the extra magnification won’t be of much benefit.

So... would there be a significant benefit or any huge drawbacks to getting a 1-6x or 1-8x scope vs a traditional hunting scope?

I don’t have a ton of experience with scopes, so feel free to educate/inform me. Assume I don’t know.

Thanks,
Danny
 
#2
A deer at 500 with a 6X would be pretty impressive! I personally prefer all the magnification that I can get without too much distortion/mirage.

For us to help you, we may need a little more info:
1) Budget
2) First or Second Focal Plane
3) ANy weight requirements? Are you going for a super lightweight rifle that you will carry, or does weight not matter?
4) Environment you normally hunt in, if hunting early AM or after sunset, you will probably want a large objective to gather as much light as possible.


I have a deer hunting rifle that has a Leupold Mk6 3-18 power. This is a pretty lightweight scope, but doesn’t have the best glass available. If weight is not a concern, Nightforce ATACR 7-35 F1 is through to beat.
 
#4
In addition to accurately placing a shot you also need to be able to accurately judge an animal in many situations. That could be difficult at 500 yards with a 6 or 8 power tops. Just something to consider.
 
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#6
Thanks for the speedy replies. The areas I’ve pulled in the past(Nevada is a lottery state for deer) were high desert mountain areas. So lightweight is good. I don’t currently have the rifle, but I’m shopping for 308, 243, or 6.5CM.

Budget is going to be $600+/- for the glass.
I would very much like a first focal plane.
And based on videos and articles I’ve read, Mils are probably more up my alley than MOA.

I was looking at the SWFA SS 3-15 initially, which is a little more expensive, but would probably be worth the jump, but I figured the extra magnification would be excessive.

My shooting experience is mostly iron sight bolt guns and M4s from the military, I was an army medic, and always just shot irons growing up. I’ve borrowed rifles in the past with scopes. I had a 700 with a mk4 4.5-15(I think...) but never got to shoot it really. Traded it a lon time ago.
 
#9
Danjabellza said:
Thanks for the speedy replies. The areas I’ve pulled in the past(Nevada is a lottery state for deer) were high desert mountain areas. So lightweight is good. I don’t currently have the rifle, but I’m shopping for 308, 243, or 6.5CM.

Budget is going to be $600+/- for the glass.
I would very much like a first focal plane.
And based on videos and articles I’ve read, Mils are probably more up my alley than MOA.

I was looking at the SWFA SS 3-15 initially, which is a little more expensive, but would probably be worth the jump, but I figured the extra magnification would be excessive.

My shooting experience is mostly iron sight bolt guns and M4s from the military, I was an army medic, and always just shot irons growing up. I’ve borrowed rifles in the past with scopes. I had a 700 with a mk4 4.5-15(I think...) but never got to shoot it really. Traded it a lon time ago.
Click to expand...
I used to live, shoot and hunt around Elko so I know the area well. Trust me get scope with better glass because the background sage grass and trees makes shit very very hard to see when everything is brown during hunting season. The LRHS is as low as I would go on glass and it's a great all around hunting optic with all the features you could want. The next step up would be a March 3-24 which is also 3x the price. Most people here don't know what real hunting in this kind of terrain is like and how hard it is.

The Lrhs has the perfect mag range, size, weight, Mills, ffp, great reticle and is dead nuts reliable as well as having capped windage and zero stop. It also has better glass than anything In it's price range. Less shit to go wrong or have to calculate for that small window shot on a muley or nice bull elk. I own 3 of them for this reason even though I strictly bow hunt now.
 
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#12
How about the Steiner GS3 2-10x42 - 4Areduced from $879.99 to only $599.99

Tube Diameter 30mm
Length 13.5
Weight 18 oz

5x Zoom Range provides sharp resolution at long distances for more accurate shooting for wide open areas.

CAT™ Color Adjusted Transmission
amplifies contrast in the peak human vision sensitivity range, to spot game in any environment.

Steiner 4A Reticle provides a simple, uncluttered aiming tool

Short Mounting Length of just 5.4 inches for mounting on short actions, muzzleloaders or lightweight mountain rifles.

Rugged 30mm Tube milled from solid aluminum stock so there are no welds or seams, for greater strength and durability.

Waterproof/Fogproof durable construction you can trust to stand up to any cold or wet condition.

Field of View at 100 yds 52.0 - 10.5
Eye Relief 3.5 - 4.3 in.
Exit Pupil 12.0 - 4.2 mm
Length 13.5 in.
Diopter Adjustment Range +2 to -3
Elevation Adjustment Knob Resettable Zero
Wind/Elevation Click Value 1/4 MOA
Elevation Range at 100 m. 70 MOA
Wind Range at 100 m. 70 MOA
Parallax/Focus Fixed
Parallax/Focus Range 328 ft
Nitrogen Filled Yes
Waterproof/Fogproof Yes
Special Features CAT™ Color Adjusted Transmission Coatings
 
#14
Primus said:
Ok show me another scope with it's features, build quality and reliability in the same price range. The only other one that comes close is the SHV with shit reticles and less magnification. Hint: there isn't one.
Click to expand...
You said "best hunting optic there is". You didn't say anything about price.

One clue is that the LRHS is discontinued. Probably not because of quality or value at MSRP, I think it says it's a hunting scope but beside the capped windage turret it has more of a "tactical" feature set.

Typical high end hunting scopes are SFP with more consideration to light transmission at dusk and light weight than zero stops, exposed turrets, Mil vs MOA, etc.

So nice but not the best.
 
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#15
flyer said:
You said "best hunting optic there is". You didn't say anything about price.

One clue is that the LRHS is discontinued. Probably not because of quality or value at MSRP, I think it says it's a hunting scope but beside the capped windage turret it has more of a "tactical" feature set.

Typical high end hunting scopes are SFP with more consideration to light transmission at dusk and light weight than zero stops, exposed turrets, Mil vs MOA, etc.

So nice but not the best.
Click to expand...
It was discontinued because it's the same exact scope as the lrts without a circle of death and uncapped windage. Doesn't make sense to produce 2 different scopes that cannibalize each other's sales.

Let's be realistic. Typical high end hunting scopes suck ass. Sfp is shit and most of these clowns are shooting less than 200 yards where you could just as easily use open sights.

What makes a good tactical scope equally makes a great hunting scope. Does physics change when going from tac to hunting? All the features we love for tac/prs type shooting benefit the hunter. The only drawback tends to be weight and price for a gun most people shoot less than half a box of ammo each year.

Why go back to shitty SFP, shitty reticles and moa turrets when we already have found better solutions.
 
#17
Well if tactical is better, then LRTS should be better by your logic.

Hunters typically don't dial so Mil/MOA doesn't matter, a good BDC reticle would work better for a quick shot.

Different types of shooting take different types of gun and different optics too.
 
#18
If you are taking shots past 200 then I hope you dial or have a good reticle.

Traditional bdc reticles suck because the variety of ballistics you can have. Knowing your drops in Mills is easier and quicker than trying to do the math and hold between two stadia lines one at 226 yards and the other at 467 while making sure you are the correct magnification set in your sfp shitty scope.

A good tac reticle in ffp is the fastest way to drop an animal. If you dont dial than just holdover in Mills on whatever power you want. If you want to dial it's there and quick.

Why deal with two systems one for hunting and one for field shooting. That's fucking retarded. Learn one system, master it and use it for everything. I dont understand how this is not obvious.

And stop assuming all hunting is east coast and mid west "harvesting" where you sit I a stand surrounded with bait and just wait for a deer to come withing 20 yards. You can use a 20ga slug gun or .357 lever gun where you Max shot is 100 yards. Out here you have to work for your game and you usually are presented with less than ideal shots in rough terrain shooting up, down, at long distances into heavy brush/timber. There is a reason the hunter success rates are 5-10% in most units where back east it was damn near 100% for anyone who actually put in the time.
 
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#20
Primus said:
If you are taking shots past 200 then I hope you dial or have a good reticle.

Traditional bdc reticles suck because the variety of ballistics you can have. Knowing your drops in Mills is easier and quicker than trying to do the math and hold between two stadia lines one at 226 yards and the other at 467 while making sure you are the correct magnification set in your sfp shitty scope.

A good tac reticle in ffp is the fastest way to drop an animal. If you dont dial than just holdover in Mills on whatever power you want. If you want to dial it's there and quick.

Why deal with two systems one for hunting and one for field shooting. That's fucking retarded. Learn one system, master it and use it for everything. I dont understand how this is not obvious.

And stop assuming all hunting is east coast and mid west "harvesting" where you sit I a stand surrounded with bait and just wait for a deer to come withing 20 yards. You can use a 20ga slug gun or .357 lever gun where you Max shot is 100 yards. Out here you have to work for your game and you usually are presented with less than ideal shots in rough terrain shooting up, down, at long distances into heavy brush/timber. There is a reason the hunter success rates are 5-10% in most units where back east it was damn near 100% for anyone who actually put in the time.
Click to expand...
Would the SWFA 3-15 mil-quad be a good all around scope for our neck of the... high desert...? It happens to be on sale right now.
 
#24
Danjabellza said:
Would the SWFA 3-15 mil-quad be a good all around scope for our neck of the... high desert...? It happens to be on sale right now.
Click to expand...
It's not a bad scope by any means but it's dated (10+yrs old), doesn't have very good glass and I don't like the turrets. It's a proven design tho. I would save a little more money and find a nice used lrhs or lrts. It's a much more modern scope with better glass and turrets. You could do alot worse than the ss3-15 however
 
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#26
flyer said:
You said "best hunting optic there is". You didn't say anything about price.

One clue is that the LRHS is discontinued. Probably not because of quality or value at MSRP, I think it says it's a hunting scope but beside the capped windage turret it has more of a "tactical" feature set.

Typical high end hunting scopes are SFP with more consideration to light transmission at dusk and light weight than zero stops, exposed turrets, Mil vs MOA, etc.

So nice but not the best.
Click to expand...
@Primus is right. The LRHS is still the best PRECISION FFP hunting scope there is.

OP, I hunted with a Kahles 1-6 (3GR) all last year and killed two deer. The scope is outstanding and the FOV and magnification range is perfect for 300 yards and in but you will have issues at dawn and dusk with a 24mm objective. I could have killed two more without this limitation. I bought a Meopta Meostar R2 1.7-10x42 this year with the BDC3 reticle and will put it to use this fall. I think it will be perfect.
 
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#27
S&B PMII 3-12x50 with P3 reticle will do you fine. Here’s one on a Tikka:





Or for less you can pick up the Klassik Precision Hunter 3-12x42 with P3 reticle and mil turret. Turret gets you 3.2 mils which is plenty out to 600 yards and it’s reliable. Looks like this:

 
#28
Having hunted with the 1-8 NX8, I would never use it for out west hunting. I have never out there, but know I would never do it. Took a 10 point in the mid west in that so called "Harvest" at 90 Yards with 300BLK. I would want something that goes to at least 15 power, like an Ares BTR. The 2.5-15x50 is not lite, it's 27.3oz.

I would look at something though with at least a 50mm obj for better low light hunting.
Camera land has it listed for $800, but never hurts to call and ask for Doug and see what he can do on price.
 
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