Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles fixed scope

Between traveling for work and the new lady things have been a bit slow there but I'm planning a trip this weekend.

Why he chose the 4x is becuase where he hunts, it's thick old pine, cluttered black oaks and waist high ferns. He still-hunts blacktail most of the time. Out of all 3 of us brothers, he's the better hunter. All his shots are less than 50 yards and he would not hunt with any other kind of rifle besides bolt actions. My younger brother on the other hand, is a lazy SOB who sits on a ridge all day glassing the clear cuts and when any buck presents itself, will plunge out his 10 lb. 257 roy with a champagne bottle scope knocked all the way to 24 power and squeeze away a 110 grain bullet 800 yards away and cleany miss the deer and blame it on the trigger.

.........I agree with ya! Hubble like optics or "overscopingitus" for hunting purposes are very abundant! Many seem addicted to over magnification, thinking that somehow they`ll take game better, or group their shots better during target work, while maybe forgetting or not considering how their rifles will be used, hunting distances and in what type of terrain they`ll be hunting in.

Now that is a great pic, take a kid hunting and you won't have to hunt for them later on in life.

Thx for taking the lad on the hunt!

Dober

Looking back at my records, I dropped a deer with a PF FWT in 7/08, had to shoot by my weak side/left hand about 80 yds, used a 4x32 Bausch and Lomb Compact/Balfor scope. Damned optics I swear rivaled Zeiss.....so it seemed (very dark light/bright view thru scope). None the less the fine Plex Crosshair and Dusk light made me want just a tad more.....so off it came and on went an M8 6x36 duplex. A VERY subtle marginal improvement.......and so it was the next deer dropped at only 30 yds from that rifle. Last year a 6x42 took my deer at 250 yds. My shortest using a 6x42 was 15 yds. Very versatile those fixed x's.....more often in 6 power persuasion in my experience.

Money no issue, an S&B would be the cat's meow I'd imagine, and the old Swarovski 4x32s now discontinued likely nice, but a plain old 4x33 FX-II (preferably with a custom shop installed #4 or #1 German Reticle for ME) would be very adequate, as would a Conquest 4x. A 4x will take game far away, though a 6x might allow a better 'look' not to be confused with better hitting.

FYI, that B&L 4x later wound up on another PF M70, a Syn/matte 20" carbine in 7/08.......yep, dropped a running deer around 115 yds IIRC, so it still had value as a hunting scope! Oh, did I mention the running deer I dropped at 200 paces using a 7mm BR rifle, and a Nikon 4x32 Pro-Staff? I had enough time to get a sight pic and sqeeze as that deer almost cleared the field and disappeared into a thicket when it went down. I NEVER thought about the Scope Brand or the Magnification - Interesting

Now can SOMEONE please just make a quality 5x35 Fixed with a #4 and/or #1 reticle and lest us be DONE with this 4x vs 6x dilema? LOL.

Make that a 5x38 with a 1" dot and we'll really have something now won't we...gack gack gack

And don't forget to keep it @ 10 oz or less.

Dober

How about a 2.5x fixed for the woods (not a scout scope)? In thick woods, I think that would be a neat option. Iron sights work great in that venue except at the edges of legal shooting light on the high side of 100 yards. Then a scope makes some shots possible that are too sketchy with irons.

LMAO Dober! Can we make that a 1MOA Yellow Dot for the woods?

My eyes are not so hot on the red/green eye chart/tests for color blind folks! Lol. The Lit reticles via Schmidt/Bender and Nightforce really got my attention at the SHOT show, but I err on back to K.I.S.S. on my eyes and pocketbook, no batteries to worry with, etc.

Awww, nice, what's with the extra 3mm Dober? A 7.6 vs 7 exit pupil? Your eyes must dilate more than mine? My 40 something eyes likely emulate what the books say, those other than the blessed youth do well so they say to get 5.5 actual vs. max of 7 theoretical but not knowing what some are smoking out there.......Ha, just kidding.

You know, I won't discount that, a 1 MOA dot might just be quick, akin to a Flash Dot?

Btw, I think Weaver was onto something, a 4.75 Grand Slam.....

Gringo, my 2.5x FX on a 357 did well on a doe at last light last fall, but the Coon that came afterwards to steal corn the landowner scattered, well, he was lucky I was not using a 6x42 with German #4 or #1 Just a matter of a dark colored animal, in a dark shadow, in last shooting light in timber. High respect for those itsy bitsy 2.5s.

Likely all any moose or bear hunter needs, let alone a lot of deer killing. FWIW, I knocked off a few tree squirrels to 55 yds or so using a 22 LR Marlin Model 70 HC, clip fed carbine. No complaints.

I don't have any, but I like those German #4 and #1 reticles. Did you fry any of the squirrels? Been a long time since my Marlin 39 has done any squirrel play time.

I have fried a few, but they do better slow cooked IMHO as rabbit.....the latter just falls off the bone....and by sheer size more satisfying! Those cat squirrels (grey's) are really tough fried, course an old boar fox squirrel is not much better.

Knocked off a rabbit w a borrowed 39 Golden, but my 9422 took a few fox squirrels via the buckhorn irons.....what fun!

That 39 is calling, but my brothers BL22 has given me an itch all these years.....now there is the newer nickel classic Grade II....purty! Octagon 24" model even more so.

That was two falls ago when he was six. Now, two years later, he has grown well - perhaps due in part to a diet rich in fish, seal, and, well....moose. And as much as I'm looking forward to the day when he punches my ticket for me, perhaps prior to when he will be able to buy his own - (but I'm not pushing him; that's for him to decide when) I very much look forward to the time when he will throw one of those super-size drumsticks over his shoulder and begin paying off the grocery bills!
I'm not sure where the "energy of youth" went, but it seems to be a bit weaker these days, and shorter in supply ??!?

They sure were, and so, it got discontinued.

Klikitarik

I agree, that is a great picture. Thanks for sharing.

As far as fixed power scopes, a few rifles in my safe have the following on them.
3 - Weaver 2.5X
2 - Weaver 3X
1 - Leupold 3X
4 - Leupold 4X
1 - Weaver 4.75X
2 - Leupold 6X

That is funny.....

If by "really good" you mean light weight,tough,waterproof,able to withstand recoil forces from about anything rationale,maintain constant POI,and reliable dependability,with optics sufficient for most hunting, you are hard pressed to find anything better than a 4X Leupold.

You can shade it optically if you want,by a slight margin,but you'll spend a LOT more to do so.And when it comes to slapping reticles on BG animals,I doubt the others will do a whole bunch better (yes,I've owned about all of them).

+2. 4X is only inadequate on the Internet.

Well written with a double entente as well.
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When I started out our favored brand was Lyman and they did not make a variable. Thus for big game I used the 4X All American. It was fine for the woods and small fields in VT. It could have been a lot more fun at the range to have more magnification where I shoot the most.

Since the late 60's I have got ten or so variable Leupolds. Many said that they were the 'best' and at least the magnification could be turned up. A Leupold never fogged up either but they could have crosshairs that don't fade and sharper definition. I got by. These days I have bought some Conquests and other Zeiss.

Nine of these Lyman 4X All American's are still in service here.

Did you say ALL SHOTS ARE UNDER 50 YARDS? That is what I bought a 44mag lever action for - no scope. Seriously, for fifty yards - or likley less, I find a scope more of a hindrence then a benefit. If the gun comes with iron sights I would suggest using them.

I use the Leupold 4X scopes, either the new FXII, which is fully multicoated or the older M8, which is single coated.
The things that make the euros different, and some say better, is their short eye relief and super fast focusing system.
That short eye relief also allows the scope to better reolve the image to some degree. Many insist that this is proof of "better optics," which they insist means that the glass and coatings are significantly better.
I don't believe it. The single coated Leupold I have can be focused to show me .30 caliber bullet holes at 100 yds. The fully multicoated FXII might be able to show me 7mm bullet holes, but not always. On the other hand, my old B&L Balfor 4X can show me .25 caliber bullet holes at the same distance.
If a difference like that is worth it to you, fine. However, that short eye relief comes with a much smaller eye box. That's the fore and aft leeway one has when trying to acquire the image. The "better" B&L, for instance, has something like 1/4 - 1/3 the eye box of either of my Leupolds.
The other thing is the euro's very fast focusing system. Good if you need to refocus your scope from time to time, say because your eyue sight isn't the best, but bad as they don't have a locking ring for the adjustment. Rub that thing against you body and you can move it. Doesn't take much to move it pretty far out of focus. Not for me.
Leupold's 4X scopes have the rep of being as tough a scope as made by anyone. They put up with heavy recoil as well as anything does save the little 2.5X Ultralight Leupold. And they take all sorts of heavy impacts w/o changing zero. That I can personally attest to.
The FXII with a German #1 reticle works on the very darkest nights. Another thing I can personally attest to.
That's another point. You can customize them with things like special reticles. Lots of good things about them. E

Define usage or purpose for your fixed powers as I have everything from a 1x to a 46x from old Unertl and Lyman external adjustment long tubes to short bush scopes to modern BR scopes...

I like a 1 to 3x for bush, 4x for general big game hunting, 6x for my rimfires for squirrels and rabbits, 10x for long range guns, 12 to 24x for varmint shooting, 30 to 46x for bench rest and of course some crossover with the 4/6 controversy...