BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

therookie · Joined: 24 Mar 2003 Posts: 59 Location: centennial, co

OK now that I've decided what kind of gun I'm getting (Remington 700 LSS in .300 win mag) I need to decide on my scope power. I've decided on the Nikon Buckmasters scope, which comes in 3-9 X 40 and 4.5-14 X 40. What I like about the 4.5-14 X 40 is that it has adjusment for parallax. Is this not as necessary with a 3-9? I want to be proficient out to 400 yds. Is the 3-9 powerful enough or would the 4.5-14 be more beneficial? Again, thanks in advance.

Kupe

BareBack Jack · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Centeral Montana

Hey Kupe,
Nice pick on rifles thats a good looking modle,I have one in 300 ultra mag.As for a scope pick, I would stay away from the Buckmaster.My only reason being is I had one on another ultra mag and after the first season the cross hairs got distorted, they started to look like an S up top and I no longer could hold a zero. I sent it back to Nikon and they replaced with another wich I put on my 25-06.I went back to Burris on my big guns exept my WSM.As for magnification 3-9x40mm is all the scope you need for any big game hunting. Best of luck to ya picking a winner.BBJ

therookie · Joined: 24 Mar 2003 Posts: 59 Location: centennial, co

OK, I'll even go a step further and ask for suggestions as far as manufacturers. I'll narrow it to 3-9 x 40 or 3-10 x 40, $300 or less. I think my search is encompassing Nikon, Burris Fullfield, and Weaver Grand Slam for now, but I'm always open to suggestion.

BBJ, thanks for your Burris suggestion. It actually got me looking more seriously @ Burris. Yours is the second suggestion I've gotten. The first was for the Fullfield.

I just like to have explored all possibilities before I make big purchases. It eases my mind and keeps me from second-guessing myself.

Thanks again guys!!

Kupe

PS350XLT · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 25 Location: Oregon

Just throwing in my 2 cents worth. I've had a few scopes and the best one so far for me is my 3x9x40 Nikon Monarch Black Matte. The light transmission levels are so amazing. Along with it's durability. I slipped down a slippery rock wall it still held it's 3" grouping at 250 yards. For the money($290) I think it's a quality scope and at a decent price.
This is just my opinion, because everybody has one.

BareBack Jack · Joined: 06 Jun 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Centeral Montana

Well as you know what my to pick is wich is Burris. I put a list down of the ones I feel are durable.
1. Burris (lifetime warrenty for life)
2.Sightron SII (lifetime warrenty of the owner)
3.Weaver Grand Slam (Most excelent glass and warrenty)
4.Last but not least-Cabela's Alaskan Guide series.(as allways backed up by cabela's no qestions asked policies) pluss this is a verry nice scope for under $300.00 biggies.but on draw back you have to mail it to them.
As for your scope power I don't know where your hunting area.I live in Montana and hunt the deepest tangles and blowdowns for elk and mulies to the sagebrush and wheat feilds for whit-tail and antelope and never neede more than a 3-9 vardible,most of could get by with a straight 4x,but I like the cranking of the power.Just remember, the bigger the Obj.lens the higher you have to mount it. A lower mounted scope is way quiker when that Bull busts at 30 yards in that blowdown timber.

rather_be_huntin · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 369 Location: Utah

I've owned a few scopes but my all time favorite has to be my Nikon Monarch. Its an adjustable 5.5-16.5 X 44. I absolutely love it. However a 3-9 X 40 should be just fine for anything you or I would ever hunt. I hear people say they put their scope on 3 and leave it there but I put mine on 16.5 and leave it there. I've spent hours practicing and I can find any target at 16.5 power as fast as anyone can with a 3 power. Makes a 400 yd shot a sinch as long as you can keep steady.

A parallax adjustment is used usually at 10 power or more. Supposed to help but who knows. Sometimes I adjust it and sometimes I don't and I've never noticed a difference.

HuntorDieHunting · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 17 Location: Colorado

You guys mentioned alot of good scopes. I finally went to a 50mm objective in a Leupold 4.5x14x50mm Vari-X III. The light gathering capabilities in the morning and the evening are amazing. With the parallax adjustment, you can preset it at the distances you think you are going to shoot at,from 25yds to infinity. I scratched the rear lense real bad, and had to send it in for repairs. I added target turrets for a nominal fee, I thought, and there service was excellent. With the larger scopes you can use them has your spotting scope when you are sighting in. Can you see your bullet hole in the target? There are some great targets on mytargets.com for free, if you have a color printer, that are real easy to see the bullet holes. Has far as the scope height goes, mount the lowest rings you can get away with. I am going to purchase a 44 magnum for in the dark timber and leave my rifle on my shoulder. It is hard to get on an animal in there. Any there are alot of sweet scopes these days and personal preference is mostly what is all about.

[ This Message was edited by: HuntorDieHunting on 2003-06-20 10:22 ]

therookie · Joined: 24 Mar 2003 Posts: 59 Location: centennial, co

Well, I've narrowed it down to two. What sucks is that it really boils down to aesthetics. Oh yeah, I threw my $300 number out the window. So anyway, with that being said, my two choices are the Nikon Monarch in 3.3-10 x 44AO and the Leupold VX-II in 4-12 x 40AO. OK yeah, the price went up about $100, but the more I thought about it, the more it is worth it knowing that my crosshairs will be where I want them when it counts. I also like having the adjustable objective as an option. Really the only difference I'm debating between the two is that the Leupold comes in silver (which would look really good atop my 700 LSS), but the Monarch has a 44mm objective. Oh, the Leupold is about $20 +/- cheaper. Leaning towards the Leupold. Thanks guys for all the help!!

Kupe

[ This Message was edited by: therookie on 2003-06-20 14:29 ]

rather_be_huntin · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 369 Location: Utah

If its down to those 2 scopes you've got a tough choice. The one scope I want to try but have not is a Leupold, I've heard for that price range thats about the best you can get. Since the Leupold is $20 cheaper and it comes in the color you want(I think the Monarch is available in Silver though)I'd probably lean towards that one. However you won't be sorry for buying the Monarch either, especially with the little bit bigger objective lens. Good luck with your choice.

donmillion · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 394 Location: Colorado

Okay, I'll play the devil's advocate here and offer an alternate view.

I've been hunting for many years and for many years my rifle always wore a 3-9X50 Leupold. It was an outstanding scope that worked very well.

The thing is, I hardly ever set it anywhere but at 3 power. Even for 200-300 yard shots, 3x was plenty. And if a deer or elk showed up at 75-100 yards, much beyond 3x was too much.

Someone else mentioned the issue of holding the rifle steady and that's the limiting factor in how far you can shoot, not how powerful your scope is. I could easily make 600 yard shots with the scope set at 3 or 4 power, if I could hold the rifle steady enough... but I can't. A high-power scope may make the shot SEEM easier, because the target looks bigger, but the scope does nothing to steady your hold so in reality it is mostly illusion.

So when I bought a new rifle and scope recently, I bought a fixed 4x scope. By getting the fixed power scope I was able to get a much higher-end scope for the same cost as a downgraded variable. Besides that, the fixed scope is lighter and smaller, so my rifle handles nicer as a result.

I am extremely happy with my decision and doubt that I will ever buy another variable power rifle scope.

Oh yeah, I'm glad you gave up on getting a scope for less than $300. If you want to make long range shots you need sharp optics with a good, well-mounted reticle. You are simply not going to get that in a cheap scope. You should expect to spend AT LEAST as much on your scope as you spend on your rifle, and probably MORE!

HuntorDieHunting · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 17 Location: Colorado

SWFA.com is a great place to buy scopes at a reasonable price and they carry practically every brand. They beat Cabelas prices when I bought my Leupold. And if you want to get fancy with a Leupold, contact Premier Reticles.com. I still go for the larger objective of 50mm for light gathering.

rather_be_huntin · Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 369 Location: Utah

Donmillion you have a point but I think it just comes down to personal preference. If we were forced to use open sights I'm sure we'd all adjust and call all those scope users of the past sissies.

You're right about holding the rifle steady as the biggest limiting factor at long range shots. However in my opinion the higher power the easier it is to identify rifle shake. If your target takes up half the scope then you will see rifle shake a heck of a lot more than if it takes up only say 1/8 of the scope. Once you identify it then you can do whatever it is you need to do to correct it. Change your breathing habits, get a better rest, put the gun down and shake of your tension for a second or two. But once you correct it you know it because you can see it clearly in the scope. At worst know you can't hold it steady and you know its out of your range.

Any time yo want to test shake take a high power variable scope. Put it on the lowest power, hold it on a small target at a long range. You will feel like you are right on it, have someone adjust the scope while you're holding it to the highest power. You will then realize that you are bouncing all over and can do what you need to correct it.

However I agree that you can become deadly accurate with a 3-9 or even a 4 fixed power. Heck some old timers still use sights. Its just like driving a Cadillac compared to driving a Pinto, they both get it done. Ones just a little more comfortable.

My 2 cents.

bitmasher · Joined: 27 Feb 2002 Posts: 2652 Location: Colorado

I think what Don and the others are driving at Kupe is that none of these scopes are necessary to get you out to 400 yards consistently (your original question). A fixed 4x will work fine and will not be a limiting factor in hitting the target at 400 yds. Other factors such as your rest, bushes, and wind will play a bigger role than the magnification on the scope (even if it is just a fixed 3x).

I thought parallax was something that snipers needed to worry about, rather than the typical hunting shot distances (less than 300 yards) with 9x or less.

Meaning that your exact focus on the reticle only becomes an issue when shots are very long and the magnification very high. At least that is my understanding of it...

[ This Message was edited by: bitmasher on 2003-06-24 22:59 ]

donmillion · Joined: 27 Feb 2003 Posts: 394 Location: Colorado

You probably said it better than I did, bitmasher. Kupe originally said he wanted to be "proficient to 400 yards." Well, being proficient at that range has a whole lot more to do with developing good habits and practice, practice, practice than it does with the equipment you choose.

Guest · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 6:32 pm Post subject:

I see we have quite a crew of elk hunters on this forum. My feelings are simply this: if you need anything power wise above a 9 power on a rifle scope to hit a bull elk at 300 or more yards, well best you not make the trip.

First off a 3 x 9 is more than plenty of scope, lets check out the size of a bull elk hunters. It's 3 times the size of most whitetail deer! I use a 2 x 7 power Leupold (Best Warranty in the Industry) scope on my rifles. A 300 win mag general elk hunting and back up rifle is a 338/06.

Now anything over 40mm in the objective lense is a waste of time and money.....your eye can only take in so much and why add more weight to a highcountry elk rifle.