Set and Forget Scope Recommendation

"lightweight 308"

Leupold wins this.

Look on ebay for a Burris FFII 3x9 or a Leupold Freedom 2x7...even a Leupold 1x4 would be fine.

Stk said:

I have a trijicon accupoint 3-9x40 with a triangle post reticle that provides about the brightest, easiest aiming point of any scope I've looked through. Illuminated by fiber optics and tritium so no need to worry about batteries, forgetting to turn it on or off. Check them out if you haven't seen them before. Rock solid dependable scopes too.

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I have two of the 3-9 Trijicon Accupoints. Both have mil-dot reticles. For a light, set and forget scope, I think they are hard to beat.

Bominiscious said:

Correct

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Two easy options:

Find a good old K4 and you're golden to 250.

Now if you wish to have the ability to go longer than 250 from time to time the easy button is a 3-9 Burris with BP

What power do you prefer? For short ranges there are some great options.

I've been using Crimson Trace Hardline scopes lately.

Light weight. Good glass!

I don't use an illuminated reticle.
If its too dark to see the reticle, it's too dark to see whatever/whoever else might be there.

akdad said:

What power do you prefer? For short ranges there are some great options.

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2-7x40 firedot. One moa dot. Excellent scope

For a set it and forget it scope out to about 300 yards, it hard to beat a 3-9×40 from the manufacturer of your choice. I have several rifles set up like this. All are sighted in 2 inches high at 100 yards and are hold on hair out to 300 yards.

I picked up a Trijicon 3-9x40 over the weekend. Thanks for all of the input, lots of great recommendations. I'm into this for under $500 so I couldn't be happier!

I have a Swaro Z3 10x with the BRH reticle that I really like in the woods. I have other scopes with more magnification but since being in Virginia (from a tree stand or side of a hill) everything I have killed has been on the lowest power setting from each rifle or muzzle loader.

EDIT: Well I guess I should read the entire thread.

Shane Lindsey said:

I have a Swaro Z3 10x with the BRH reticle that I really like in the woods. I have other scopes with more magnification but since being in Virginia (from a tree stand or side of a hill) everything I have killed has been on the lowest power setting from each rifle or muzzle loader.

EDIT: Well I guess I should read the entire thread.

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I'm guilty of doing that myself, don't notice that the issue has been resolved and add my 2 C.

The Z3 3-10 with BRH reticle is really the perfect hunting scope. It's light, it's got enough magnification for 95% of all hunting applications, it's reliable, it's got a very simple mil based BDC reticle that works extremely well, it's got excellent glass, and it's very reasonably priced for what you get.

Bominiscious said:

I've been hunting with a bigger scopes the last few years. My last "simple" scope set up was an older VX-III 3.5-10x40 and it served me well for my eastern white to a hunting. Hi bought a VX5, 5 years ago and have added a Leica since then. Last year I killed two bucks during rifle season one was 80 yards and the other 70. The Leica (Amplus 6) , and VX5 and both are bigger with dialing capability.

I have a lightweight 308 that I want to scope. I'd like to set a max point blank range and be able to hunt from the tree stand to about 250 yards. I'm wondering what is the best glass for good resolution in deep timber and hardwood bottoms, with lowlight capability.

The market seems to be so big and flooded right now. Should I go with a Leupold VX3hd? Swarovski Z5? Something else?

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Hello shooter! I have similar combinations of rifles and glass. Without going further, IF the Leica looks good to you eyes, I would stick with it! I haven't shot with top end Leupold, so not first hand experience. For my eyes, again very subjective, Leica stands above many others tried and even (cough) two Schmidt Bender scopes I have owned. I have a 2.5-10x Leica ER on a Win70 FW .30-06 (I also have 10x42 binos) -- this combination has closed the deal on many Eastern white tail and even NM elk. MPBR is +/- 265m with factory ammo and BDC reticle just in case.

To your point, I have a Remington 7005R .308 that shoots .3moa with hand loads, MPBR of 288 yards on a 8" kill zone. This would satisfy your MPBR requirement and you'd still have BDC or dial solutions. My 700 formerly wore a PMII 5-25x56 for PRS; it now has an Eotech 3.5-18x which is a fantastic scope, full stop. At the price point, I can't say enough good about it.

As subjective as glass is, I recommend trying as many different makers as you can. After crossing the "best quality" Rubicon, the subtle differences are in lens coatings and robust-ness of build. If you're hard on scopes, are a serious professional operator and/or have the money to burn, the top tier German and American makers are there for you - Kahles, March, USOptics, SB, Hendsoldt, Elcan, Trijicon, Nightforce, et al. If you're looking for best quality hunting and practical scopes that allow for long range precision work look to Leupold, Leica, Swarovski, Trijicon, Zeiss. To my eyes and experience, everything else is... everything else.

Do buy what looks best to your eyes. And... don't "buy" a warranty -- buy build quality and repeatability/stability. A warranty is cold comfort when you line up on a trophy bull to find your reticle took a dump somewhere in the airspace 1800 miles from home.

taylorms said:

You didn't state a budget, so...

Riflescopes - Hunting - 3-12x54 Polar T96

www.schmidtundbender.de

Then give some us some feedback, because I have been foaming at the mouth for one of these...

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I really wanted to like it - almost pulled the proverbial trigger on it. Except, I couldn't get into it even from a 5-25x PMII. No exposed turrets didn't allow for my desired uses. Don't want to sound like a salty-*** poor, but Eotech 3.5-18x really delivered the goods on their scope. No tall-target test yet, but repeatable dialing has been 100%.