Asking for some scope suggestions

[Where's Bruce?]

Nightforce is lightyears beyond Leupold and Zeiss when is comes to dialing.

^^^Agreed^^^ Look at the SHV line. I bought a 4-14X56 & a 5-20X56. Ringing steel at 1000 yards my first time with NF. Bulletproof scopes.

 

[HuntnPack]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Any thoughts on CDS-style turret vs. BDC-style reticle vs. plex reticle with standard elevation turret? I think 500 yds would probably be my limit.

Time permitting I prefer to dial for the shot with the precise elevation & environmental Adjustments Holding main crosshairs centered on target.

 

[PathFinder]

CDS and BDC are gimmicks/bandaids for people who don't shoot.
The only thing a scope HAS to do is be mechanically reliable. That eliminates 90% of the market...
SWFA can't manage a supply chain near as well as they make an optic, they're totally out of stock. Great scope if you can find one. NF SHV 3-10 is a brilliant scope. Fantastically reliable, great glass, compact, not expensive.
Nothing makes a rifle shoot like a reliable optic. Don't compromise reliability for gimmicky features or hip advertising. Definitely not for a warranty, they won't warranty your sheep tag if the scope botches it...

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

 

[alexanderg23]

I keep going to Leupold. I’ve have maybe 10+ VX-3s. Currently running at VX-3i 3.5-10x40 on a Fieldcraft 30/06. I kind of wish I got the 4.5-14 but all good. The 13oz Vx-3i cds zerolock is hard to beat. It’s probably no NF, but for my limited dialing i have faith in it.

 

[pirogue]

It’s one thing to lug those 30 oz NF 50 yards to the shooting bench, for those 1000 yard targets, and quite another thing to lug them up and down mountains. Now I know why there are threads wanting light weight rings.

 

[DropTyne]

Do yourself a favor and focus on the scopes that have the proven reputation of being mechanically sound, have repeatable dead on tracking, and most importantly retain their zero. Any penalty in weight will pay dividends in not having a costly scope failure when you are 12 miles from the truck.

SWFA SS HD 3-9×42 if you prefer a FFP. This is my favorite hunting scope now and what I have mounted on my NULA and Forbes rifle (design the Fieldcraft originated from). It is as mechanically sound as anything out there and beat out several Alpha scopes in a recent low light test I performed. They are back ordered now, but SWFA expects them to be in stock at the end of July. It would be worth the wait.

If you prefer a SFP:
Nightforce SHV line or
Tract Toric 2-10x42.

I don't have a NF, but their reputation is solid. I have a Tract Toric. The scope is mechanically sound and IME the optics exceed many of todays Euro alpha glass. I like the Tract reticles better than the NF, but that is certainly subjective.

You have one of the best lightweight rifle platforms out there, chambered in one of the best hunting cartridges. Don't be fooled in the optical superiority hoopla. All 3 scopes mentioned above beat most alpha glass optically, and are in a far superior league mechanically.

Good luck!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Check out the BRH reticle by Swarovski.

I am looking at picking up a Z6 3-18x50

Have had great success with their BRH reticle on my Z6 2-12x50. Once you have your desired load chosen, whether factory or handload, go to the Swarovski online ballistics calculator, pick your scope and enter your load data and other info (zero yardage, elevation, etc.) and it will give you values for the hash marks that in my experience were very close when tested at the range (see attachment).

Shot a caribou at 347 yards and 12X was OK, but I like alot of magnification, so I personally would go 15 - 18 on the top end if you are wanting to shoot a sheep sized animal out to 500 yards.

(Had a range officer come up to me yesterday as soon as I put my rifle on the bench before I could even fire my first round, and ask what caliber I was shooting....told him .300 win mag. So he goes on for 5 minutes about how he watches Life Below Zero, and all anyone in North America needs is a .308. Then he asks what the top end on my scope is....I tell him 12X. He then goes on for 5 more minutes about how he knows a guy who shoots 1X per 100 yards with his pre-64 M70 and makes tighter groups than the folks with the precision rifles and 20X Nightforce........ Basically came down to tell me I am a googan and don't need my rifle or my scope. The offer I make to him and my bowhunting friends who have never left the southeast is, you pay for my hunt, and I will use whatever you want me to. Until then I will use what I like.)

Good luck on your sheep hunt! That is a dream for many, including myself!

 

[TheGDog]

I recently purchased a Burris Veracity 3-15x x 50mm. (30mm tube) They have a combo deal going on where it also comes together with a free 4-12x -42mm FullField E1 model (1in tube) in the deal as well! The Veracity has a FFP First Focal Plane Reticle with BDC marks so it grows and shrink when you zoom in an zoom out. It's got resettable turrets, side focus/parallax adjustment, and very crisp positive clicks! The turrets are capped. They aren't low, and they're not exactly tall like most tactical/uncapped ones either. Aggressive knurling on the turrets. And the glass looks damn good! At least as good, and maybe a tiny bit better than, the glass in my Vortex Vulture HD 15x56 binos, if that helps you visualize it. (NOTE: I'm limited to my own perception of the quality of the glass, and I have to wear glasses now, but it seems crystal clear and razor sharp)

The extra scope is good quality glass too! That one is typical SFP Second Focal Plane, and the reticle is just MOA markings in all directions, so you'd have to run somebodies ballistic table app so you could learn what the MOA drop is at various yardages for your load.

For the Veracity's Reticle they have a webpage on their site (which saves your load data into your profile) that you can go into and print out reticle chart and also field ballistics tables. And you get to choose the column data and ordering from left to right. And they've got lots of column data choices both in MOA, Inches and Mils.

And the Veracity comes with flip-up caps right outta the box. They are not push-button flip-ups. But they do have a nice tight-closing fit to the lids.

Not the lightest scope out there, but I wanted it specifically for an Open-Country area I've been working on where the shot opportunities are typically farther (for me anyway). Like 200-650yds. And I have like zero experience shooting past 200yds, and have to wear glasses all the time now, so I wanted that 30mm tube and 50mm objective for when I'm on the shady side of the hill in the AM pointing up into dark nooks and crannies far away.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

It’s one thing to lug those 30 oz NF 50 yards to the shooting bench, for those 1000 yard targets, and quite another thing to lug them up and down mountains. Now I know why there are threads wanting light weight rings.

while I agree that some of those scopes are a bit heavy, if that’s what worked for me, I can’t imagine worrying about an extra pound on a hunt, I bet I could dump out a pound right now or do a bit more exercise and get to the mountains with the scope I felt confident in.

 

[SDHNTR]

Once again, we’ve illustrated the need for a simple 1” scope that is rock solid reliable and can dial to moderate ranges, 5-600, And that doesn’t weigh a ton. Listen up scope manufacturers! There’s a market for this and nobody makes one! Figure it out!

A pound matters to me. After my first goat hunt, I started counting half ounces. My second goat hunt was MUCH more pleasurable because of this.

In my mind, a heavy rifle is already heavy and you probably aren’t going to pack it far anyway, so a 26 oz scope doesn’t matter. But a sub 6 pound mountain rifle is that way for a reason, and it would be sinful to put more weight than necessary on it.

So, imo, while not perfect, we are back to a Swaro Z5 as the best compromise. A Meopta with a Kenton turret is a close second too.

While I have several proven Leupolds too, buying a new one these days sure does seem like a roll of the dice.

 

[RyanC]

Once again, we’ve illustrated the need for a simple 1” scope that is rock solid reliable and can dial to moderate ranges, 5-600, And that doesn’t weigh a ton. Listen up scope manufacturers! There’s a market for this and nobody makes one! Figure it out!

Tract Toric seems to be getting a lot of good reviews and has a 1" scope they recently released. They have a 3-15x42 weighing 20oz or 2-10x42 weighing just under 19oz. Seems like that might fit what you are describing?

 

[SDHNTR]

Tract Toric seems to be getting a lot of good reviews and has a 1" scope they recently released. They have a 3-15x42 weighing 20oz or 2-10x42 weighing just under 19oz. Seems like that might fit what you are describing?

Close, but hard to get excited about 20 oz when better 30 mil scopes weigh that much. 14-16oz would start to make waves. Swaro Z5 3-18x44 is 16 oz.

 

[TheGDog]

For you gentleman with more experience at the longer ranges (600)... realistically... what would you consider the minimum needed specs a user should want in a scope (magnification range and objective size) so that they'd be able to accomplish the task of reliably seeing and hitting deer-sized game at those distances? Taking into consideration the low-light conditions of first-light/last-light?

Asking this question elsewhere I've been told 12x on the high end as minimum... and at least 42mm for objective.

What say ye?