Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Which 4x scope?

Yup, Normally on my leverguns I run a 1.5x4.5 Bushnell Banner. That scope's optics far out perform its price range.

However on this particular gun I'm looking to hunt most of the time with open sights, yet be able to put on quality optics when I feel like it. I'm hunting very thick woods where 100yds is a long shot, more like 50. Every now and then I can slip out and sit on a powerline where I can have up to a 200yd shot that is where I'd like to have a good 4x scope at.

I have a Buckmaster 4x40 on a nicely sported k98. Very clear optics and I like the fast focus eye piece. Some say you set the eyepiece focus and forget it. My eyes do not work that way as I correct my vision w/contacts. That said given day to day changes I do need to fine tune the eye piece focus on occasion.

+1 for the Nikon.

Why in the world won't Natchezss ship to AL?

That doesn't make much sense.

I guess if you wanted one I could buy and ship it to you?

My guess is that it some how revoles around the collection (and lack thereof) of sales tax.

Thanks so much for the offer, I've actually done that before with a member from another board. If I decided on the Nikon I'll contact you to see if the offer still stands.

It has been done before, by a member of this forum for another member of this forum.

JCM

Are the older Leupold M8 4x's the same size and weight as the new FXII 4x32?

I believe older models were 28mm and longer tube, later ones also 4x33 as the FX model, but lacked full multi coat, still good scopes, none bad really.

So of these choices, which do you folks feel would perform best in low light situations?

So of these choices, which do you folks feel would perform best in low light situations? The Nikon, new Weavers?

Any of those scopes would probably be fine on a 30-30. The smart move here is to skip the peep sight.

I hunt deer in steep, brushy country where shots past 80-90 yards are rare. Most are half that or a bit or less. After tens of thousands of rounds on peep sights in the Army and several thousand with scopes as a civilian, I�m forced to admit that I can hit faster with a scope than I can with a peep. Even more important, I can see my reticle 30 minutes before my buddies can see their iron sights and 30 minutes after they run out of light. That�s an extra hour of prime hunting time.

Years ago, I had a rifle set up with a peep and a scope. I switched from one to the other on the last morning of a hunt. About an hour later, I missed a 25-yard shot at one of the finest blacktail bucks I�ve ever seen�shot right over his back. Why? Because I trained for one sight system, then switched to something else at the last minute. Even worse, I did it in front of a witness who will never let me forget it. Lesson learned? Don�t change your sights in the field.

I bought my current rifle, a bolt-action 308 with a 4x Leupold scope, a few years after that hunt. The weather was horrible the first year I hunted with it. After three cold, rainy, windy days, I decided to go back to camp before I became another dumbass hypothermia victim. Half a mile from camp, I saw a spike 90m away across a clearing. I turned and shot him through the lungs in less time than it takes to read this sentence. Since then I�ve used that rifle to kill a couple of other blacktails with very fast close-range shots. And needless to relate, a scoped 308 will reach out pretty far if I hunt in open country some day.

You�re overthinking this. Skipping the XO Rail system adds $90 to your scope budget. Put that money into a good 4x scope (ideally a Leupold) and stick with it.

I think you�ll kill more deer that way.


Okie John

I just picked up a Nikon Monarch UCC 4x40 on E-Bay in new condition, never fired. I'm very pleased with it, especially for less than $200. One went for $145 that I saw.

Would fit your Marlin well at 11.5" & 11.5 oz. There were 2 more last time I looked.

Yep, I just picked up one of the older M-8's for a period rifle, and was surprised at how long the tube was, compred to the newer ones. I think there's much to be said for the longer tubes, re easier mounting.

What Okie John said. The off again, on again thing would worry the hell out of me as well. Buy a used or new Leupold FXII 4X, put it in good mounts, sight it in and forget about it.

I've had 4x Sightron on a 1895GG for a few years now. I can't think of a better lever gun scope, especially for the money.

eBay is an easy source for plenty of used Leupie 4x. That is the obvious and easy choice.

The Weaver K4 from Japan is a nice enough scope, but as already mentioned is a real pain to mount as it has short eye relief yet an extra long front bell that forces the scope to sit far forward.

The Nikon Buckmaster is nice but large, and in my comparisons does not outrun the non-multicoated Leupie for my eyes in dim light.

Might as well go ahead and get an S&B 4X. Buy the best, get divorced once.

my problem is that when she divorced me she would take half my rifles....the conquest 4X does not look too bad.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I look forward to hunting with this gun with the peep sights and with the scope. I've done it both ways and appreciate the pros and cons of each. I think I'll be choosing between the burris and the weaver. But I have a while to make up my mind. The rifle won't be put together until latter this summer.

I just bought a Ruger 77/50 ML because it weighs about 3lbs less than my other ML, an Austin & Halleck.

Last week I got a new Conquest 4x on Ebay for $275 to put on the Ruger. Now I see that the Conquest weighs about 1/4 more than a 4X Leupold so I may get a leupold and keep the whole rig as light as possible. The Zeiss will find a home here anyway.