Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting long range hunting scope magnification??

Good stuff Shane!

Good post Shane.

There is a world of difference between 340 and 550 yards, then again between 550 and 700 yards which is an extreme shot for a sheep hunter.

If you are going to make a mistake on chosing power for a sheep or goat rifle, make the mistake of having too much power....you can always turn it down. The only further consideration is the wieght of the scope.

IMO 10x is adequate to 1K. 6x is easily good for 550.

BUT wind in the mountains is the deal breaker.

I like a 6-24 on my long range rig, never hurts to have too much.
unless you count the time I had a 300+ lb bruin pop up over the hill at 15 yards.

nothing like having the entire FOV filled with bear hair to get the 'ol heart going...

I like 20x and more for 1000 yrds,I like 10x alot up to 400 yrds.Look at a deer a 1000 yrds with 10x and well...

you're telling me, first shot double lunged him, second took out the shoulder as he rolled and died at about 15'
yeah, he got the heart pumping

he aint so scary now

You coulda taken your old dirty drawers off of him before you snapped the picture.

R.

i have a blackie rug that squares 6'8" that i shot at spitting distance with a .243 when i was 16 years old.

so i can understand the dirty drawers on him

He's colored chocolate for more reasons that one.

I shoot groundhogs out to 900+ yards or so & I use 2 boosted Leupold scopes they are now powered at 18-40X50 & 20-50x56. For groundhogs it's key for me to have the magnification so I can see that the crosshairs are positioned where I want them.. Too much power??? NO.. If mirage gets in the way I can turn it down...I need to see what I'm shooting at & where the bullet is going! Please note that when I'm long range hunting like this I'm shooting on a table with BR equipment.

If I were serious about long range hunting or shooting, I would buy the best available.
http://marchscopes.com.au/tactical-10-60-x-52-scopes.html
Or the hunting scope for the people with good eyes.
http://marchscopes.com.au/hunting-25-25-x-42-scopes.html
They also have a 10X-80x with 34mm tube available. I understand these are the Rolls Royce, but I think glass is important. Are they good? Gary Costello from the UK won the World FClass with one last year and the 2007 and 2009 World BR Championships were won using them. Bear in mind the prices on the links are in Aussie dollars. Some of you guys are blessed with better eyes than this 67yr. old. I always try to buy the best quality scope that my pocket book will allow.
Butch

That is a bear skull laying on the hide isnt it?

A deer/sheep is approx. 16-18" top to bottom. I would suggest putting a target that size out there, get dialed in on it, and after shooting at it, make a descision whether you need more power or not.

My 4.5-14 B&C Leupy is calibrated at 12X for the load I'm shooting, and an animal shaped target looks plenty big at 450 yards. I have not shot at 600.

I used a 3-D archery target for this pattern, and makes for fun practice.

This debate is as old as 9mm VS 45 ACP. I will continue to argue that a few power on the lower end of the variable scale is not as critical as the high power at the upper end. The difference of a 2-7 scope and a 4-12 is huge on the upper end, not so much on the lower.

Go with the higher power, you won't be sorry. To try and shoot at 500 yards with a 6X scope to keep up with what you can do with a 16X scope is ridiculous. You aren't going to find long range shooters with 6X or even 10X scopes if they are serious about hitting their target.

so what can you shoot with 16X @ 500 that you could not shoot with 6X?

or is there a real need for micro groups in the field? i submit that a 1 moa rifle/shooter will handle schitt very nicely in the field (varmints excluded) and gear beyond that capability often compromises the system. weight, eye relief, FOV, physical size all can suffer as magnification goes up.

the weak link is more often the shooter than the equipment.

You serious?

i don't ask that because i haven't used both...

i ask that because i HAVE used both....

If you can't see the difference then I am amazed, because I dam sure can

i can see the difference. that's not the issue. but the difference doesn't necessarily carry over to the target in the form of smaller groups for me in the field.