Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics who uses lower powered scopes? (1-4x, 1-6x)

Depends on the usage.

My "woods" rifles have LPVOs:

Rem M7 350RM 1.25-4X Swaro
Rem 7600 358Win 1.5-5 Leupold

My midrange rifles wear a couple of Leupold 2.5-8x36s.

My 3Gun rig wears a 1-6X

Similar here. I really like those 2-7Xs. The 1-4Xs are nice, do well in the dark w/lit reticles but I wouldn't mind a little more top end.

I generally keep the magnification on the lowest setting in case I have to get off a quick or close shot, and crank up the magnification to the max setting when I have the time to spare (longer shots) so that it's easier to evaluate antlers and pick clear lanes through the brush. Used 3-9X for many years, but I like the 2-7X better.

Most of my hunting is in thick woods so the range is usually right under the tree. Early season I hunt with a T/C carbine with an 18" .357 Max barrel. It wore a 2.5 compact for years, then I put a Sightron 1.75-5. After the leaves fall I put a 30-30 barrel on. That barrel had a 4x till about ten years ago when I put a 2.5-8 on it.

I finished setting up my .22 mag AR last night. It has a Bushnell Elite 4500 1-4, a 1000 lumen Streamlight, and a little green CT laser and I’m planning on some night predator hunting when that season comes in. I took it out on the deck last night and adjusted the laser to match the scope reticle and both were easily visible in the beam of the streamlight. That’s a nice little scope and would be a good one for Eastern woodlands deer hunting too. It’s a 30mm, so a bit heavier than some others in its range.

With one exception that I can remember, all my deer have been killed with fixed LP scopes or variable set on the low end. For the most part my variables are used as 3&9, 1&6, 3&15, etc, rather than someplace in the middle.

I used nothing but 1-4X and 1.5-5X scopes on everything but varmints until they eyes got to be 60+ years old...now its 3x9s

Fixed 6 covers everything. Not sure why I have a bunch of variables now, but 6x worked fine for me for years.

i do have a 22 K-Hornet with a 1-6 x24 Burris with illumination i kill critters with and my 35 Whelen has a 1-6 x24 Burris with illumination i plan to use this rifle for bear hunting next year 2024.

No one has written about the advantage of those lower power scopes having a huge exit pupil diameter and much larger FOV. I wish that I was young enough and stealthy enough to go still hunting with my 99 with a 1.5-5x20 Leupold Heavy Duplex because that rifle and scope points so naturally with the full fov through that scope even with a less than perfect cheek weld. I do like the higher power 4.5-14x40 on my varmint rifle, but the eye position behind that scope needs to be way more precise.

In stand deer hunting there is usually time to turn up a variable, so most of the time my scopes are in that 2.5-3x range. With a self imposed 6x maximum on my woods hunting stand rifle, it is enough without it being too much. As a kid I remember borrowing a Pre-64 .300 WM (Should have bought that one) with a 3-9x42 scope and I was looking at some does with the scope dialed up to 9x trying to make antlers on one of them. Then when an 8 point showed up, that 9x was too much and all I saw in the scope was brown fur when he ran. A larger FOV matters and a 1.5-6x42 has been ideal ever since.

Most of my hunting scopes are 2-7s and 2.5-8s. I have one 760 30-06 with a 1.5-5.

Have used straight 4X Leupold’s almost exclusively for the last 60 years. Never cared for the look of a variable scope on a rifle and I read everything Jack O’Connor wrote.

I only have one, a (discontinued) Leupold 1.75-6X on a Ruger-made Marlin .45-70 SBL.

I believe your problem is not your scope, it's your stock fit. With a stock that fits you correctly it won't matter, anything from about 6x down, and sometimes 8x down, will line up on target. The only issue you'll have is if the critter is so close that it fills the sight picture completely and you can't figure out which part you're aiming into. Otherwise, it is a stock fit problem. Most people misunderstand those and try to fix them by changing scopes. That's like trimming your fingernails 'cause your belt is too tight.

For close shots I never had a problem with 2-7x.

I'm a user of Leupold 1.5-5's on primary deer rifles for nigh onto 40 years now (those that didn't employ aperture rear sights that is). Mind you my hunting has been in the eastern mountains/woodlands where high magnification heavy scopes would've been as much a hindrance as a help. Come to think of it that model scope served me equally well a couple times in Wyoming too.

Varmint rifles and target rifles are another story though.

My primary woods deer rifle has long worn a Leupold 1-4x20. It's never not been enough.

I have more low powered scopes than any others. I do have some 2.5x8, 3x9, 3.5x10 etc. There are very few places I hunt that offer 300+ yard shots. I cannot stand carrying a rifle with something like a big 20+ power scope with a 50 mm+ objective. Longest shot I ever took was 342 lazered yards on an elk. The 2.5x8 handled that shot just fine.

I have four 4x scopes and one 3x. My variables get set on 4x when hunting.

My rule is that no matter if I'm hunting woods or open country, using a 2-10 or a 5-25 scope, if the rifle is not mounted the scope will be turned to its lowest power, every time. If a close up shot is presented, shouldering, seeing & shooting will be as natural as shooting a shotgun. Provided the rifle fits & the ocular distance to eye is correct. Shouldering practice helps.

No time to turn down the power setting at 20 yards so keep it at minimum. Plenty of time to turn up the power at longer range, or should be. If not enough time, the shot probably shouldn't be made .

Great discussion and info. I have 3 rifles with 2-7x scopes and those are great. I have one rifle with a 1-4x Vortex. Its a CVA Scout in 350 legend. I normally wouldn’t use the Vortex, but it just fit that rifle well. It shoots realy close to 1 moa at 100 yards with it and I love how handy it is to just throw up and get a good sight picture. I put a 1-4 Leupod on my son’s 77/357 but he thought it wasn’t enough, so I changed it to a 3-9x that he likes.

I’ve had and used 3-9x, 2-10x, 4-12x, 4-15x, 1-4x, and 2-7x. I’ve always liked the 2-7 or 1-4 the best. My first deer rifle had a 3-9x and I never used more than 4. Longest shot with it was just at 200 yards. The only time I’ve ever turned by scopes all the way up is when shooting paper.

I’ve set up and shot a lot of rifles. setting up the scope isn’t the issue. I like the eye relief and field of view you get with a lower power.

I’ll go ahead and call myself out here. I forgot that I asked almost this same question here in February. I thought it was on another forum. Apologize for the repeat.

Very first big game rifle I bought, in 1975, was a Ruger M77R. I mounted a 3-9x on it. Next was a Browning BLR .308, in 1978, and I mounted a Bushnell Banner 1.75-4.5x on it, and I've killed deer from 5 ft to around 400yds with that setup. Most of my big game rifles wear 1-4x, 1-5x, 1.75-6x, or 2-7x scopes. I've got a few that have 3-9x, 2.5-10x, or 3.5-10x scopes, none over 10x on top end, IIRC. Of my two longest shots on deer: one was made with a Nikon Pro-Staff 3-9X at 728 yds, laser measured, and the other, just short of 600 yds with a 1.75-6x Leupold with the heavy duplex. I don't own a scope that I twirl the knobs on, but several have some variety of drop compensating reticle.