The 50mm lense makes for a large / heavy scope and depending on what habitat you live and hunt in, you might consider a couple of options:

* If you're into shooting long distances, keep things as is and enjoy the setup.
* Mount the scope on your 243 rifle for a longrange varmint rifle.
* Sell or trade it for a more realistic replacement.

The 300 Weatherby Magnum is a flat-shooting rifle (like your 234 Win) and IF you hunt in wide-open areas, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Put an aerodynamic bullet like Nosler's 180-gr. AccuBond (B.C. of .509) / 200-gr. in it and you'll have one fine recipe to hunt with. As far as I know, no factory loads exceed the Weatherby Magnums, especially the 300 and with the high velocity, it's important to choose heavier than normally constructed bullets.

What do you plan on shooting with the 300 Weatherby and how's the terrain where you hunt?

Steve

Yes, the 6.5 magnification is not suitable for deer for two reasons:
(1) Looking through a 6.5 magnification at,lets say 50 yards) all you're going to see if fur,taking too much time for critical focus.
(2) AND MOST IMPORTANT. Relative brightness of scope/binoculars is calculated by dividing the magnification(6.5) into objective lens diameter(50) for a realitive brightness of 7.69 compared to:
3-9 x40..........13.3
2.5-10 x 50....20.0
WA(wide angle) increase your "field of view" and a great safety feature.
Since the best hunting is at dust and dawn, the answer is in "relative brightness"
My favorite scope is a 3-9 x 38 WA Bushnell, I've been hunting with since 1979

If you are never, ever, ever going to hunt in an area where there is dangerous game - leave the scope on. We (ten of us) all shoot leopold variables (mine is a 3.5 to 10 x 50 Varii X lll) and hunt with them on either 6x or 7 x with no problems from 30 yards out.

However, in bear country, you will want the lower power in case of the "OH SHIT" scenario. When I travel and hunt in bear country, the tighter the cover, the lower the power on the scope. So, if you hunt in an area where a close encounter (30 feet and closing fast) with a dangerous animal is a real possibility, trade out the scope. If not, enjoy it just like it sits.

jvc58dke

I just sent you a private message concerning your topic

hammer1

Thanks to all of you for your insight. My current tasco scope (I know, I know...but hey...it works!) is a fixed 3x20mm....the .243 is my great uncle's gun...he bought it in 1960 or so and I think the scope came with it...thanks again for all of your thoughts!

A 7x 32 scope is the maximum power anyone needs on a big game rifle. A fixed 4x 32 or 4x 20 would be enough scope to handle a big game hunt. Big game are large targets with an eight to twelve inch kill zone. A larger scope isn't really necessary and becomes heavier and cumbersome. A higher power doesn't change the trajectory of the bullet and could create more of a disadvantage than an advantage with the smaller field of view and mirage.
I just bought a new fixed 10x 40 for my xlong range varminter and I'm looking at shots out to 600 yds at small targets.
Marketing of scopes is getting a bit out of hand. A good fixed high power is getting very hard to find. I had no problem finding target tower scopes from the 3x-9x 40 to the 6x-18x 50 or even 8x-24x 50. Where's the sense. Get a spotting scope.This fixed 10x 40, I bought, has better glass and is practically indestructable with about half the price tag.
I have one adjustable power scope that is greater than 7x. A 3x-9x 40. It is such a fine scope and the price tag made it impossible to turn down. All of the others are in the 1x-4x 20, 4x 20 or 2x-7x 32 range. I've never needed anything else in the last 37 years of hunting.

Most game are taken within 250 yds, unless your looking for the long shot.
If it's a general hunting rifle. Mount a scope that would be practical for the conditions expected.
Good glass with all lenses multi coated.
Good field of view from 10 yds to 200 yds. you should be able to see all of the targeted game, and some, at any range. The picture book shot isn't always presented and you want to able to see the area behind and to either side of the target.
Long eye relief.
Single tube construction.
Mount it so it fits you. Close your eyes and bring the rifle up to shooting position. When you open your eyes (eye), the scope should be lined up to your sight view.

The mounted scope is for the shooting scenario. Binoculars are for spotting.

I agree with California Hunter about using this scope for bear hunting. In fact I like to go one step further, I prefer using a fixed 3 power scope or just plain old fashioned iron sights. With a variable scope I always find myself somehow leaving the scope on a higher power and forgeting it only to pull up on target and see nothing but fur or branches. Not a good scinario in bear country. While bear hunting nothing beats iron sights, a quick shot picture and fast target aquisition could be all that stands between a good hunt and becoming a statistic while hunting dangerous game.

You said it right fuzzybear. I've often ranted about the same philosophy on this forum, so I'm not going to repeat myself again. I'll finish by saying that there are those scopes for benchrest long range target shooting and then there are more practical lower powered, smaller objective lens scopes for biggame hunting. A hunter should choose wisely.