Hi powdr, hope you are doing well.
Hey, this is an "extreme" thread...:)
Actually it has a little more utility than that...for me. Decided to quit flirting with it and wring it out--so hunted with it seven days, all day. I put it on a light rifle, so it looked worse than it was to carry. My pard was amused...:) I wasn't really hampered still-hunting by the 8x, eyeballing does as if they were bucks--it was kinda grim buck-wise in our hunting area of the UP this year...but the yotes were down and hopefully the wolves take a hit, too.
On the 56mm I wouldn't have an issue with 9 or 10x for sitting. The 6 EP works well for me, too, as MD covered. Most of this stuff he's been over...multiple times. And on another covered point, prefer fixed w/wire due to fewer lenses.
The FFP non-illuminated variables that are the cat's ass mid-range up have miniscule looking reticles at the low end. I do better with a bold reticle on the low setting for jumpers and runners.
Thus, happening to have more than one rifle, I use another scoped more appropriately for still-hunting and for tracking if there is snow. But for sitting set-ups, the 8x56 was excellent. fwiw...
