Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best lightweight scope for a .375 H&H

I've got a .375 build in progress and will have a swaro z6i 1.7-10x42 in rings for it and I want to have a backup scope that is very lightweight (as a backup, in case I know I have a long day of hiking, to lighten my luggage, etc). Not price sensitive, want to get best one possible.

An obvious option is the Leupold 2.5-8x36 or the Leupold 2.5x but the second one is too limited.

Thoughts on best option here?

Thanks

Other option I just remembered is the swaro z3 - 3-9x36?

Long-tube Leupold M-8 fixed 4x.


Okie John

I have two 375's, one Ruger No.1 and a Whitworth. Both of them are primarily used for elk hunting. I have 6x36 leupolds on both of them and have been very happy.

I have a 2.5 - 8 V3 on my 9.3 and it works very well

I have a Leupold VX-3 1.75-6x 32 on mine and like it. Light and low mounted with fast acquisition. This lacks some for low light performance but not much and would be a good back up or companion for the Swaro. Others I like are the 6x36 and 6x42 as well as the 2.5 - 8x. All are in a similar weight class with the 6x42 having better low light performance but only a slight edge. A fixed power or one with a straight 24mm objective would be even lighter and as a back up you aren't giving up much in performance.

What do you guys think of the Z3 on a .375, would it hold up? I know the leupold will.

My 300 RUM totally destroyed a Swarovski PH. I can only imagine what a 375 would do. At the advice of one of our most esteemed on this forum, I ditched the Swaro and went with a Schmidt. He didn’t have anything to say that was positive regarding the ruggedness , or lack of, of Swaro scopes, and I tend to believe him.

Another thought: take a look at any serious big game rifles in Africa, either in print or on tv. Most of them wear scopes with gold rings around the objective lens.

Irons

vx3 1.5x5

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THIS

I blew up a Z-3 on SIL's 300 Wby during sight in. Promptly repaired by Swaro.

My last .375 was a fairly light for caliber Browning Safari (FN). I topped it with a fixed 4X Leupold, likely a M8. It worked. All my belted magnums are gone. My 9.3x62 is topped with an old M8 3X.

Jack

Ingwe,

That is a great picture of you!,

Who’s the guy in the ballcap?

Sorry but I just made a deal with Johnny for his 3X Leupold.......these long tube scopes
are perfect for magnum action rifles and nearly indestructible.

fwiw, for a long action the Leupold 1.5-5x20 at the low power setting has nearly the same mounting latitude as the Swaro 1.7, while both have substantially more than the 2.5-8x36 and any Z3.

For a tough old backup scope, get a long tube Leupold M8 4x. It'll do the job.

I used the Leupold 2.5x8 on three .375s, then the VXIII 1.5x5 on another. the last one was a rifle I gifted to my SA friend, a Whitworth Express .375 with (a new then, discontinued now) Nikon Monarch 2.5x8) it is still holding up. Muzzle brakes ruined more scopes than recoil, in my humble opinion. That "sudden brake" upon firing acts like an air rifle piston does. Not all scopes can take that. I've never had a .375 or .458 braked. The braked custom MGA ultralightweight .340w I had was a scope/heart "breaker deluxe"!

I am a fan of the Leupold 1.75X6X32. Gives me a bit more light transmission than the 1.5X5X20

Another vote for the Leupold custom shop straight 3x. One tough son of a gun.
My Dad had one on his 7-3/4lb Remington KS IN 416 Magnum. I should’ve bought that gun! 😔

I've never owned, or even shot, a .375 H&H, but it seems to me that I see a lot of VX-3 1.5-5x20mm on big game rifles in the Africa forums.