In need of help deciding on my next rifle scope

[A1C]

I've had the vx-6 but in the 4-24 (MOA RET called 23 or 26 I think) and the glass was surprisingly good, tube size is great, and it tracked well for me the entire time I had it. I sold it as I only hunt w FFP now to just make things easy. It worked great.
You can't go wrong with Swarovski either IMO. I love their binos (have SLC and NL Pures) but don't hunt with their scopes though Kahles is high on my list for next scope.

My experience is I'd like to have at least a 30mm tube but prefer bigger. It just opens the field better and that means I can see a lot more and pick up on movement a lot better IMO.

I wouldn't tell anybody to not buy a Swarovski as everything I've had of theirs has been top tier for sure… but I prefer a bigger tube size (and FFP which I know you said isn't a big deal to you) and I'm picker on reticles because I love to shoot at the range a lot and love looking through my scopes.

Good luck sounds like a nice build.

 

[Slick8]

I love the VX6-HD line for weight and performance. Again I don't know much about the Swarovski or zeiss lines but it's hard to cram as much glass quality and tactical performance into a scope that weighs what the VX6 line does.

I've gone up a little in weight class to 28 ounces. I had my rifle set up with a suppressor, bipod and a nf nx8. It weighed 9 pounds on the nose.

I've since replaced the suppressor with a light brake and when I hunted public land in NM I removed the bipod to save another 10 ounces.

 

[Glenn Tullius]

I am putting together a mountain hunting rifle and need help deciding on what rifle scope to put on it. The rifle is an Alamo Precision Rifle chambered in 7 PRC. The maximum distance I expect to shoot an animal is around 800 yards. I am looking for a lightweight rifle scope that is easy to dial for those long shots. I am currently looking at the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18 x 44, Swarovski Z5 5-25 x 52 P BT, and Swarovski Z5 3.5-18 x 44 P BT. I am also open to any other suggestions on different scopes and looking for the pros and cons of any of the scopes.

The specifications I would like to fit in are, Weight - around 25 oz but preferably less, Max zoom 15 or higher, first or second focal plane doesn't really matter, reticle style also not all that picky but prefer a less busy reticle sort of like a duplex or Leupold T-moa. I prefer to use MOA.

Appreciate the help.

I bought the Leupold for exactly the weight issue on my CA Ridgeline carbon barrel. This scope is exactly 20 ounces. On average 5 ounces less than everything else I looked at. My CA in 6.5 PRC and Talley ring/bases is 8 lbs, and is a dream to carry and shoot. My 2 cents. Good luck!

 

[BrentM]

I've had the vx-6 but in the 4-24 (MOA RET called 23 or 26 I think) and the glass was surprisingly good, tube size is great, and it tracked well for me the entire time I had it. I sold it as I only hunt w FFP now to just make things easy. It worked great.
You can't go wrong with Swarovski either IMO. I love their binos (have SLC and NL Pures) but don't hunt with their scopes though Kahles is high on my list for next scope.

My experience is I'd like to have at least a 30mm tube but prefer bigger. It just opens the field better and that means I can see a lot more and pick up on movement a lot better IMO.

I wouldn't tell anybody to not buy a Swarovski as everything I've had of theirs has been top tier for sure… but I prefer a bigger tube size (and FFP which I know you said isn't a big deal to you) and I'm picker on reticles because I love to shoot at the range a lot and love looking through my scopes.

Good luck sounds like a nice build.

Tube size only give the erector more movement travel. Has nothing to do with fov. Fov is a combination of how the lenses are configured with the diameter of the front lense. Just like light transmitted has nothing to do with main tube size.

 

[A1C]

Tube size only give the erector more movement travel. Has nothing to do with fov. Fov is a combination of how the lenses are configured with the diameter of the front lense. Just like light transmitted has nothing to do with main tube size.

So bigger tube has nothing to do with light gathering then?

 

[Slick8]

No it gives more vertical and horizontal adjustment with your turrets.

Light gathering is a false conception.

Scopes don't gather light they, they transmit light from one end to the other. They are measured in percentages of transmitted light and none reach 100%. To gather it would have to transmit more than 100%. This is all done with quality of glass and lens coatings.

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

Too bad we can't just use the Funnel Method to solve these scope selection issues. You know. Dump everything in the top, and best choice comes out the bottom. It would save a LOT of time, and be a LOT less fun.

 

[Ricpowel]

I had the same situation and settled on this. https://vortexoptics.com/razor-hd-lht-45-22x50-ffp+reticle-XLR-2~MOA
i got it from cabelas with a sale and a 10% off on their card ,so gor 1400, it was priced right.
Cannot yet write my thoughts but will be using this spring to see if it meets my expectations.

 

[TXTrained]

If you want to dump a bunch of $ for some reason then got that route, if you want a great tracking very good optics, repeatability then go ck out the 'Arken 6-24 FFP in mils, I have 4 and have never had a issue with anyone, tough, great scopes, mine shoots out of the 6.5 C 1.4" groups at 400, but they all do, the 7mmx08, the 6.5 PRC and the 308, partner has some $ prices one that starts with a Le, ---- out of my his gun with my scope, the same, his scope, 6" So there you go, settable zero also

Arken won't fit the weight parameters. They are too heavy.

 

[blackbrush1]

No mention of the LHT….

 

[Mark37082]

I have really been searching the light weight scopes for the past year or so. I was kind of stuck in the Leupold rut for decades and wanted to try something different. The March F and Compact caught my eye. They are in your weight range and are highly recommended by many. They are pushing $3k out the door. I ended up purchasing a Zeiss V6 3-18x50 on sale and it checks a lot of boxes for my hunting. The March F will probably be my next scope as I need to give FFP a try for more than a few shots at the range. Nothing wrong with Leupold V6 / V5HD or the Swaro.

 

[BrentM]

So bigger tube has nothing to do with light gathering then?

Correct. It's about the lense design and coatings. Leupold has a really neat video on scope function. It's long but we'll worth it

 

[73driver]

I have a NX8 4-32 Nightforce, it is on a competition rifle and I like it very much. The dang thing weighs a ton and if I ever hunted with it and needed the 4X good luck seeing the reticle. I hunt with with a VX-6HD 3-18X44 and like it, this hunting set up is also my silhouette rifle so the scope gets a workout dialing up and down. There is also the Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16X44 SFP, it comes in at 22oz's. If I was in your shoes I would give Doug at CameraLand a call. I called him about tripod heads and he did me a solid.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

My "off the shelf" rifles that are suitable for long range use all wear Viper Vortex 4-16 X 44 HS-T scopes. All my custom rifles wear the Leopold VH6HD 3-18 X 50. All of them shoot great but I really like the zero stop of the Leo and the light gathering from the 50mm objective and love the red dot for low light conditions. I prefer the profile of the 44mm objective but during the "plague of the worlds" I could only find the Leo in 50mm. So, OCD guy that I am, I wanted all my custom rigs to match, so they all have 50mm eyeballs--I know, pretty "Sheldon Copper". I have a couple of Zeiss glass, a Kahles, a Swaro, but honestly, I can't tell the "quality of glass" difference between any of them as they are all great, and truth be told the cost vs capability of the Vortex make them a great bang for your buck scope too, especially if you wanted reliability and capability, wanted to play LR but had a limited wallet. So, on the higher end I recommend the Leopold. I also like their simplified crosshair display with fire dot and MOA adjustment. Can't go wrong there and it is a serious LR optic.