Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics "Best" lightweight, trim, medium power variable riflescope?

My favorite scope is now the Kahles Helia CT 3-9x42,with the Swarovski AV 3-10x42 just as good ,but a little more pricey.

Oh no. You ain't blaming it on me.

I do not think you will be sorry. What is all this alpha beta crap??

I have ordered from Natchez over the years. Only had one problem. I called him back because there was a mistake on the price. He realized it was their mistake and sold it to me cheaper than the advertised price. However I never returned anything. Ask him. Tom.

Swarovski AV or Z3 3-9x36

Euro glass fanciers, particularly in conversations about binoculars, often refer to the products of Swarovski, Zeiss and Leica as (trumpet fanfare) Alpha glass.

Thanks for the information. I had not heard that before. Tom.

Jeff I wish you would hurry up and buy this scope. You have got me thinking about one of the 6X18's. Be sure to do a little more shopping. I have seen them in a couple of other places also. Tom.

Putting all else aside, my favorite scope is the 2.5-10X42 Diavari bar none. Advertised at 15.5 oz's and weighing 16.1 oz. on a calibrated postal scale isn't light! Still my favorite.

I went in the lightweight craze and tested, used and hunted quite a few different lightweight scopes, the Z3 3-9X36 has become my favorite. Reason: It has a very good mix of all the things I was looking for in a lightweight scope. Roughly 12 oz. Constant eye relief and oh ya, the dreaded "eye box word" The eye relief is very usable and forgiving. While it's not a Leupold, I would say it's middle of the road+. I have found the lack of eye relief at the higher mags on some scopes to be a hindrance. The Z3 is not a hindrance at the higher nor lower powers!

Thanks guys. Gonna give one a roll (Z3 3-10x42). Been wanting to try something like this; I didn't realize they were out there for $799; thats doable (barely) but $1200-$1500 is not.

Talk Z3 turrets with me. Are the stock turrets usable as such, or are they more just useful for zeroing the scope?

I wish I could find another one of the older ones with the friction adjustments, they are not the best optics in the world but very reliable and tough.

My all time choice is the Leupold fixed 3X on my big game rifles, particularly the big bores. I also like the 4X...

Most of the younger bunch wouldn't choose such a scope as I have..sooooo probably what most would look for is the 2x7x33 as its light and trim..I have a couple of them and I have a 2.5x8 that I like real well...

To many of todays shooters bigger is better for some reason known only to them..and they start out with 4x12 and go up from there. There is a since that more power in a scope makes one a better shot..

I bet a "WTB" on the Free Classifieds would net you a fair deal on one pretty quick.

Just a thought...

DJ

I concur entirely with your post. As well as 2-7s, I have five of the Leupold 3X scopes, and not only on big bores. My father-in-law killed a really nice Dall ram using my old Husqvarna 270 Featherweight with one of them on top. The sheep was 300+ yd off, and went down with a single hit.

Ted

I have a few of the older ones. They are actually 2-7X28mm, and although they are very light, they are tough! I had one that slid and bounced halfway down a talus slope. It was really beat up, but survived intact to continue hunting!

Ted

I was poking around the Swaro website today; it looks like the Z3 stock turret works much like, or identically to, a Conquest turret. This is a Very Good Thing. You zero the rifle, then lift up the turret and set it back down so that the turret is now zeroed to a hash mark.

Yay.

With a little luck I'll have one in a couple weeks. I'll put it on my hyper accurate .223 first and run a tracking test.

Jeff,

Wouldn't S&B's Summit work?

Just a few statistics to add to the mix:

1) The Summit weighs slightly over 16 ounces. It is a great scope but I bet it doesn't meet Jeff's criteria for lightweight OR trim.

2) I recently tested a 3-9x36 Swarovski Z3 and the eye relief is not the advertised 3.5" but 3". This is an example of one, admittedly, but there it is.

I think that most of the current production Leupold 2-7x scope now have 33mm objectives. The pre-Vari-X, Vari-X, Vari-X II, and current lightweights and rimfires(?) had, or have, 28mm objectives.

I've had a 2-7x28 on a Winchester 70 in 375 H&H for about 25 years and although it doesn't shot a lot, maybe 400 rounds during that span of time, the Leupold has never missed a beat and the combination worked well when I did my part. I like the way that the 2-7x28s look on the short action Ruger 77 RSIs, so that is where most of mine are mounted.

Jeff

I agree with JB....I love my Summit but cannot consider it "light" or "trim"....to me it's my great,big,Alberta low light scope. A fabulous instrument on the big fields that will do OK pressed to service if I have to go into thick stuff.Very versatile with great optics,without being too heavy or large.

Something along the lines of the 2-7,2.5-8 seems to fit the bill here IMO,and I would not want anything larger or heavier that a 2.5-8X.

For that matter the best in this category may likely be a 4X Leupold or a 4X Conquest,or similar 4X.They may not be variables but they are kings of pure versatility in that (notwithstanding conventional wisdom of those who have never used them extensively)they can be used up close to pretty darn far under a wide variety of conditions. I've used them successfully at 20 feet to a bit over 500 yards....I'd call that "variable"....

...............Jeff,,,,,,,

I see that with some the other scope recos, they are generally going up in size, are longer in length and are more in weight than what you were originally wishing for.

The 3-9x36 Swaro is reasonably light but is not one of the more compact scopes.

I recently swapped out my 1.5-5x20 Leupold VX111 for a higher magnification (like new) 2.5-10x32 Sightron S2 which I found for sale here on this forum. It now sits on top of my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier shorty carbine. As far as I can tell, this S2 is the lightest and the most trim 2.5-10x32 on the scope market. I think that someone else mentioned it before here on this thread.

The quality has been reported to lie between the VX11 and the VX111. Frankly, I can`t tell any difference optically between this S2 and my remaining VX111.

Though optically superior, the Zeiss, Kahles, Swaros and so on, will not be as lightweight, as trim, with as much magnification as this little S2. Trimmer imo, means a smaller objective bell along with having a little less overall length.

The 3-9x36 Swaro American though relatively light, is not as trim as this S2. The lightest and most trim 3x9 scope that I know of, is the 3-9x33 Leupy Ultralite.

I don`t think you`ll be able to find a more "lightweight" and "trim" scope with the optical quality of the Zeiss, Kahles, Swaros etc. So, it may boil down to a lightweight and trim scope with less cost vs better optical quality, a larger size along with the higher cost.

Btw! I haven`t been scope whacked on the bench with this S2 set on 10x!!! Eye relief lists from 2.9" to 3.5"..With help, I measured the eye relief set on 10x. It`s actually 3.3", which is no different than a 3-9x40 Elite 4200.

Bob,

As God made little green apples, I won't be putting a fixed 4x on this rifle any time soon.

The Swaro AV3 3-10x42 will still fit my Talley Low's, and costs me an ounce over my current 2.5-8. Eye relief is a concern but with the added tube length I think it'll work.

Kinda thinking at $799 it's a no-brainer...? I mean... in the context of spending crazy money on a scope chasing the bleeding edge... <grin>.