Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope Specs Question.

I had purchased a VX6 for a hunting rifle of mine, and while it is an excellent scope, I have decided it is too large for the given rifle. What I like most about the VX6 is the very forgiving eye box and the ability to quickly shoulder the rifle and get a good clear scope picture. In shopping for a replacement I would like to know what to look for on a scopes spec sheet that would correlate to a forgiving eye box. I would like a compact type scope like a 2-8 or so, but I still want that quick, easy scope picture. I'm sorry if this is a basic question or the answer is staring me in the face. Thank you for your help.

Find a vx3 Leupold 2.5-8x36

What you are looking for is the Vortex Razor HD LH. Either the 1.5-8X32 or 2-10X40 will be what you are looking for.

I guess I'm not really looking for specific scope recommendations, although they are greatly appreciated, I'm really looking for what on a spec sheet correlates to a forgiving eye box. Is it objective to ocular lens ratio, or tube length to lens ratio, or something else I can look for. I will definitely check out the recommendations tho, I have been looking at Vortex for a while but don't have a place local to really try different optics.

I know what you are asking but I think we would have to be optical engineers to fully understand everything that goes into designing a forgiving eye box. Some of it has to do with a large exit pupil since surly eye box gets more critical as exit pupil gets smaller. Some of it will have to do with magnification,the number of lenses used,and some is in the overall design of the ocular which I do not understand fully.

I can tell you that the Razor HD LH scopes have very good eye boxes for their size and weight which is what you are looking for. I think better than the Leupolds that I liked before the Razors. CameralandNY did have some of these heavily discounted, and you could try one out for the price of shipping. The Steiner GS3 2-10X42 also has a phenomenal eye box but it is a bit heavier and a 30mm tube.

I've been very interested in such a "spec sheet" or at least some way to determine that before I buy a new scope. The only thing I've found is to look at scopes where the store has a stock that can mount a scope (usually with soft rubber rings) on a sort of "try stock" to allow you to see for yourself.
Buying Leupolds does not guarantee you'll get one with a large, forgiving eye box. I own several Leupolds that do have such eye boxes, but I also have two which do not. As a rule, however, they do come that way, particularly at the lower magnifications of their variable hunting scopes.
BTW, a scope with a large exit pupil may or may not have lots of eye box. E

Simple correct answer. While I've not looked through all of them, as a rule Leupold scopes are better than average when it comes to a forgiving eyebox. Compared to a VX-6 you may give up some quality. But I'd at least look through one.

The Razor HD LH 1.5-8 simply blows away the VX3 optically.

RH did a great job summing a lot of what you're looking for up. You probably want a larger exit pupil as that gives you the appearance of "forgiving" head position. The second part of that is eye relief. With shorter ER's and ER's that condense when magnification is increased, the scope is less forgiving as you need to make adjustments.

The 2.5-8x36 is a choice that fits that criteria. I would also recommend looking at our 2-10x42 Toric. A large EP and a constant eye relief of 4" makes for a forgiving cheek weld and head placement:

https://www.tractoptics.com/products/riflescopes/toric-2-10x42-t-plex

It should being twice the cost of the Leupold

How does "constant eye relief" equal "large eye box?" That is mostly rhetorical. What is the actual usable size of the eye box?

Zeiss was forced under EU law to stop using the term "constant eye relief" because ER is not constant in a variable power scope.

I don't know if you can determine how easy a scope is to get behind from "specs". The larger the exit pupil, the more room you've got to wonder in. I don't think eye relief, even if long or constant, tells the whole story. Some scopes seem to allow more fore/aft movement that makes them easy to use. The Leupold 6x42 and Nikon Monarch 4x40 both are sweet in this respect...both have exit pupils between 7-10 with the Leupold having longer eye relief. I like the SWFA SS 6x42 but its not nearly as easy to get behind as a 6x42 Leupold. The Leupold VX2 2-7x33 in the mid-power ranges has always seemed easy to get behind for me....more so than the 2.5-8x36 Leupold for some reason. I'll throw another plug out for the Tract Toric 2-10x42, it shines on ease of use/eye box in my experience.

Yea,but Doug was selling them for $500 which I thought was a great deal,especially considering I paid $700 for mine.

That’s still about twice. Nice scopes.