Rule of Thumb For Scope Power at Various Ranges?

[Kpknifemaker]

You have a lot of answers, but thought I would add my own preference that is more indirect to your question and more hunting situational.

For my blacktail and elk hunting in Western Oregon, I want a variable scope with a good low end of 2x or 3x in the dense woods. Shot this years buck at 25 yards. I do have a 1.5 x - 15x on my wife's gun for Western Oregon. I then want a 15x or 18x when I popout of the deep woods to look across a canyon. My vintage eyes like that higher power. I like my 3x-18x scopes.

Eastern Oregon, out in the sage and wide open space for pronghorns or mulies that same scope 3-18x still works great. I do have some higher magnification scopes, but I like the sweetspot of 3-18x.

 

[eoperator]

I pick a magnification that will alow me to see the impact of the bullet. For instance the cow elk I killed this year at 550yd was done at about 11x, watched her hit the ground through my scope.

 

[crashlanding]

I believe also that most second focal plane scopes with ballistic hash marks only function with their moa calibration at the highest setting, if your relying on them for shot placement, you need to crank the scope up for that purpose, besides that, it's up to individual taste to whatever power you like to use more often, terrain can dictate that. First focal plane is a different story. jmo

 

[BiggBeans]

Youre over thinking this. There are many fine optics in the 3-18 magnification range that will work for the purpose you stated. 3 is low enough for a closer shot and 18 power will get you out there a long way. A 4-20 will work just fine too.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I like 3-5x for carrying around to make the quick offhand shot.

i like to take a shot with high enough magnification to see my aiming point very precisely. If using the reticle of my ffp, I need >50% of max power. On the lower side, I need to be able to be zoomed out far enough to see the deer move, fall or stand after recoil.

At 600yds, I like 12-16x. At 800yds, I like up to 25x.

 

[Panhandle Pete]

I've never heard of a rule of thumb, but my old 3x9s were usually at 6 for most hunting situations and if need be adjusted from there, but I dont recall doing that often.
But then, my hunting usually mostly just involves taking my rifle for a nice quiet walk in the woods.

I think mostly, it depends on your eyes and how well YOU see at whatever distance. Also, quality of the optic will have a huge impact.

IMO, there's no real way for any of us to tell you what power to use but one quote that seems to fit is "Aim small, miss small".

Bob Milek was one of my favorite gun writers and was all about fixed power 6x scopes, I still have Leupold 6x42 on several rifle combos and is great for moving targets at closer range if you are capable of such, these combos accounted for lots of game both moving a stationary. I also carried a 2x Leuopld topped on my Ruger 77 R 338 win Mag for years and also on my custom Remington 700 338 Win mag and a Ruger Number 1 338 Win Mag on several hunts when I was younger and accounted for elk, mountain goat ,mountain caribou and oryx, it is great for young eyesbut being a 1952 model I really appreciate my Leupld Mark 5 3.6x18's with various reticles and my Nightforce ATACR scopes. My favorite on a $70 Remington 788 22-250 Rem is a Leupold 8x that cost $115 for scope, rings and bases in 1975, it accounted for lots of prairie dogs, coyotes and Texas Hill Country whitetails and a turkey or two. Field of view is everything in hunting scopes.

 

[JungleShooter]

Field of view is everything in hunting scopes.

Yeah, I would agree with that for dynamic hunting (stalk hunting): linger & stalk, scout & stalk, flush hunting, and a driven hunt (often practiced in Europe).
Less so for spot [glass] & stalk as ranges are usually quite long, allowing enough time for target acquisition.

However, for static hunting (from a blind, stand, or natural hide), having a wide field of view (FoV) is less critical.



As long as I had a wide enough FoV on the bottom end — I don't think I ever complained about having "too much magnification on the top end."
However, I have repeatedly "wished I had more magnification" when the situation had called for it.
Unless you're carrying the rifle for a very long time and/or over difficult terrain — the few extra ounces for the additional magnification seem to be well invested.


Cheers,

Matthias



PS: Careful with the FoV:
FoV is not the same as the magnification.
For example, there are 3-18x scopes out that have a FoV of 42ft (@100y at 3x).
And others — with the same magnification — have a FoV of only 32ft.

 

[RB II]

My favorite hunting scopes are 1-8 (AR-15 223 and 6.5G, bolt 308 truck gun), 4-16 (bolt guns in 223, 22-250, 6 Creedmore, 270) and 6-24 power (6.5-284 antelope and 7SS, 28N, 7mm rem mag deer and up), with 4-16 being the most favored. As stated, no real rule of thumb. IMO, 16x is plenty of scope out to 500 yds for shooting to kill. If you are trying to score a deer for size at that range, then 24x might not be enough.

 

[kgarrett]

3-18 to 5-25 will cover any reasonable hunting situation, and a number of unreasonable ones too. I also find a 3-18 to be a great choice for hunting in the woods to wide open spaces. Bought my Leupold VX6 and Mark 5 in this magnification range.