Hunting scope in the $400 range?

[westcliffe01]

I think the sponsors of this forum and the associated business would disagree with you, lloydsmale. They have exactly 1 scope with a 10x max power in their offering, 4 in the 20+ range, 1 that is 15x and 1 that is 14x. The 14 and 15x are 50+mm on the bell, so are hardly compact.

Anyway, if you can hold your own with a 10x scope, all the power to you. The money you save will buy quite a bit of ammo.

 

[lloydsmale]

probably because most here punch paper with there guns not deer and elk. Also many here consider 500 yards the starting point for long range hunting and the op was talking 500 yards. You sure as heck don't need a 15x scope to hit deer at 500 yards or less. The increase in showing your shaking and the decrease in field of view would probably make it harder to hit with not easier. yes if we were talking 1000 yard bench gun optics id agree with you but were talking sporter weight 270 and 06 deer rifles at 500 yards. Ive never felt underscoped with a 3x9 for those purposes. All that extra power and extra cost isn't going to make eating backstraps tomarrow a bit more likely.

I think the sponsors of this forum and the associated business would disagree with you, lloydsmale. They have exactly 1 scope with a 10x max power in their offering, 4 in the 20+ range, 1 that is 15x and 1 that is 14x. The 14 and 15x are 50+mm on the bell, so are hardly compact.

Anyway, if you can hold your own with a 10x scope, all the power to you. The money you save will buy quite a bit of ammo.

 

[planetwaves]

I have a Nikon Monarch 3, 4-16X50 with the BDC reticle. The light gathering and clarity are exceptional. I have an old Leupold Vari X II 2-7X42 on another of my rifles, and I really like the Nikon much better. Although these list for $500, I got mine on sale for $400. I was actually looking for a 2-10X50 but during this sale they were more expensive than the 4-16X50. One thing to keep in mind is that the distance associated with each of the BDC dots depends on the magnification setting (of course, this is true for any scope with any type of long range reticle markings). So unless you have a photographic memory, it is a good idea to make a small table for your specific ammo with the dot/distances for several magnifications. I recently went on an elk hunt. I had been practicing with my scope set at 8x which was good for me out to 400 yards for elk sized targets. I had memorized what each BDC dot represented at 8x and had verified with practice. I figured if I was closer than 200 yards and chose to use a lower magnification, I would just be using point of aim so didn't make note of dot/distances at other magnifications. The guide I hunted with insisted that I set the magnification to 4X, and no higher than 5X. We were sitting at the edge of a large clearing, and he was expecting the elk to enter the far end of the clearing at about 300-350 yards and come toward us. I sneakily adjusted my scope to 8x, so I could use the BDC. But an elk stepped out at less than 100 yards. Although target aquisition was immediate, its head and front shoulder filled the scope. Luckily it was broadside and I was able to place a shot just behind the shoulder. But the guide was right. Next deer and elk season, I will have a BDC table for 4X, 6X, 8X and 10X taped to my stock. Unless I am hunting coyotes at very long distance, I doubt I will ever go above 8X for large game. If I had it to do over, for this rifle, I would buy the 2-10X50.

 

[Panchik]

I would not recommend to play with magnification with SFP optics unless you use turrets. For my hunting purpose 2.5-10x42 it is very good proposition until 700 m. for big game. I am not a fan of LRH (beyond 700 m.) when you have an opportunity to come to an animal closer....

 

[RT2506]

What ever scope you choose let me pass on something that 40 years of big game hunting have taught me. ALWAYS KEEP YOUR SCOPE SET ON THE LOWEST POWER. You always have time to turn up the power for a shot but you NEVER have time to turn the power down. I have killed many a big buck that pops up right under your nose usually walking at a quick step. I learned a long time ago that if you have your scope cranked up on high power it is really hard to find and shoot a moving deer up close. Yes we like to have those long shots with our 264/300+38 whizzbangs with the hubble telescope on them but with this type of set up I have killed more deer inside 300 yards and a great many under 100 yards than 400 and over.

 

[planetwaves]

Yep, I agree. Lesson learned. I won't make that mistake again. Luckily, I was able to make the shot in spite of my stupidity. However, if someone does have a BDC or LR reticle, I would still advise either memorizing or making a table of what the dots or lines represent at several magnifications that you might use at some point. That way, if you happen to get a 400 yard shot at an elk, and you decide to increase the magnification a bit, you will be able to take advantage of the BDC or LR feature on your scope.

 

[lloydsmale]

heres my take on it. I do crop damage shooting and a lot of it is at long range. But some of the deer will be taken at a 100 yards or less. Ive got Nikon, leupold and vortex scopes with bdc reticles. I thought theyd be the ticket for doing this. What ive found is that I about ignore them in the field anyway. Most rifle rounds from the 243 to the 300 mags are pretty similar in trajectory. At least close enough that deer sized game don't make one shine over the other by much and over the years Ive about acquired instinct as to where to hold out to 500 yards which each of them. Fooling around cranking power up and down or ranging deer is more of a distraction then a benefit. I range the field im in to know what the range will be in different spots deer tend to come out and holdover is about automatic in my mind and I don't have to sit and think about it much or fool with gizmos. It may come in handy out past 400 yards and probably for sure out past 500 but its pretty rare that im off much. Ive also seen to many guys that sight there gun at a 100 yards and maybe check to see if the next line is hitting at 200 but take it for granted that the reticle is calibrated past that and trust that the program on the computer or the chart in the owners manual is right on when in fact just changing the bullet and not even the bullet weight can make major differnces. Best advice I can give them is to pick up a quality 3x9 and take the money that more powerful scope would cost them and buy some ammo and find out where there gun is REALLY hitting at long range. Now like I said I try to limit myself to 500 yards. Shooting from field positions any more then that has to much chance of making a mistake. Ive shot a few past that just to say I have but honestly Id have to admit ive screwed up on a couple of those shots too. that 16x scope might make mr whitetail look a little closer at 700 yards but hes still 700 yards out there and its a rare gun or shooter that's really skilled enough to guarantee a 100 percent accurate shot at those ranges.

 

[farpiece]

I bought a Hi Lux 7x30x50 for a little under 300. Sig Saurian long ranch school uses them on their rifles

 

[planetwaves]

I originally responded to this thread on "scopes in the $400 range" and described the Nikon Monarch 3 4-16X50 with BDC scope that I purchased for $400 and said I really like it. However, I mentioned a foolish mistake I made while hunting, and it sparked a separate thread with a lot of good advice for hunters, most of which I agree with. Yes, we should all work up a good load for our rifle or find ammo that shoots well from our rifle and put in a lot of time practicing. We should know where our rifle is hitting at all distances within the range we would feel comfortable shooting an animal in the field. While hunting, if an animal is beyond the range we are confident and comfortable shooting, we should try to get closer or pass up the shot. Having said that, I am guessing a lot of readers are in a similar situation to mine.

I am not rich. I do not have a collection of specialized rifles and scopes that I use only for target shooting and another collection of rifles and scopes that I use for only for hunting. I have a few rifles that I use for both. During the 10 months between hunting seasons, I spend a lot of time at the range, punching paper and hitting metal at distances out to 600 yards (that is the maximum available at the range I frequent). For the longer range shots, I do appreciate the extra magnification and I do make use of the BDC reticle; whereas, I would not use the higher end of magnification range while hunting. For each rifle, I work up a load and sight in to be dead on at 200 yards. I also use a chronograph to understand the velocity. Given the caliber, bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, velocity, etc., the Nikon Spot On app or web site gives the distance associated with each BDC dot, at a given magnification. I have found these to be very accurate, if you provide accurate information. If you are shooting factory ammo, either buy or borrow a chronograph and determine the actual velocity out of your rifle. This will help make the BDC info from Nikon Spot On as accurate as possible.

In this context, for the one rifle/scope shooter, a scope with a wide range of magnification and a BDC or LR reticle is a good choice. But yes, I agree with previous replies. You must practice at various distances, understand where your rifle is hitting, and if you use BDC or LR, validate and understand the point of impact for each dot or line at a given magnification.