Edited this original post it was way too long. If you could only have one scope for all of your hunting needs what would you go with? I’m not trying to buy a new scope just curious.

I think I would have to go with my Trijicon Credo HX in 2.5-10 even over several more expensive scopes in the safe. I love the light gathering as well as the durability and the simplicity of the illuminated duplex style reticle that I have on mine.

Hoping this will be fun to read and enjoyable to share with one another

I'd probably go with the Bushie LRHS/LRTS 3-12, depending on which reticle fit my overall use better.

Most importantly, they've proven to be tough. Secondly, I like the reticles, overall size, X range and feature set. Lastly, the view is very good.

But I hope to never experience a time in which I am constrained to own one scope. I enjoy the process of trying new and different scopes far too much.

Many years ago this is what Leupold recommended...for the "one scope rifleman".

Amen to this!! ^^^

Nightforce 2.5-10x42mm Compact. For al my big game needs.

It would depend upon the focus of shooting to be weighted more toward big game hunting or shooting varmints.

If attention is to big game, it would be a Swarovski Z3 3-10 with BRX reticle.

If varmints it would be the Swarovski Z5 3.5-18X44 BT with 4W crosshair. It still only tips the scales at 15.9 OZ

A scope no longer made. Leupold 2.5X8X36...

For me, it would be the S&B PMII 6x42. There are a lot I could get by with but it's my favorite. I like simple things, no illumination, no parallax, no power adjustment, fewer lenses. Simple things have fewer points of failure. The P3/Mildot is a measured reticle that matches the adjustments, bold enough to be visible in low light/broken backgrounds, fine enough for accuracy work, not so cluttered as to hinder the view of branches/twigs, 4 outer posts to reference and subtend from in low light. I don't feel over scoped at 6x in woods or under scoped to 500...though I do appreciate more x's there. The scope has proven reliable in zero retention and adjustments for me. The glass is very good and the resolution, along with depth of focus, is great. It's not extremely heavy or oversized while still having a 30mm tube and enough tube length to work for mounting on most actions. Again, lots I could use and be happy with, but for the hunting I do, I prefer the 6x42 PMII to all others I've used.

What kind of hunting? Big game or varmint? If just big game hunting, I could easily get by with a Burris FFII 3-9x40 with ballistic plex reticle. Plenty good enough for shots out to 500 yards. Most of my "hunting" rifles wear them. I've tested them quite a bit and trust them. That is why they are on said rifles. For varmints, I like a little more magnification and something that dials more precisely.

Am close to shrapnel, but would be for all game, Swaro Z5i 3.5-18x44, BRX-i. Just have not taken the time to get used to turrets, the 'Christmas trees' work good for me!

If I could wish, it would be alpha glass in 1x10x42 with a #4 reticle, 1" tube, and in a compact format. That would cover every base.

x2

Still a great option, but wait for Ringman to come along and suggest a Bushnell because he looks through them at grids…

x13.....

Then we have the screwball old curmudgeons like me who insist on classics with a half century trouble free track record...Bausch & Lomb Balsix B for my money. If forced to go with a 'new' scope...a Meopta straight 6x is working well. Never been a huge fan of buying and packing 'features' that I don't use or need shooting dinks at 150 yds max. I have modern scopes to ring steel at a half mile, fun, handy but necessary? Nope. Apparently there are others that feel this way as well...there is a plethora of Hubble 50mm objective scopes for sale in the classifieds here every week.

They still make them.

I’ll take the Trijicon 2-10x36mm

x a bunch more

IMHO
Offer this with a #4 reticle SFP

OR mil/mil in a FFP they would have something

Just one? That is tough.

For 90% of my hunting uses, something like the NF SHV Illuminated Forceplex is tough to beat.

For hunting - Either a Zeiss Victory HT or S&B Polar 2.5-10x50

Target/Varmint - Nightforce Nx8 4x32x50

When the Kahles 2-7 x 36 were available, I bought two in the rimfire parallax and five in the CF version, yes 7 total. One with the TDS reticle.
Now these are not made, so I buy the Swarovski 3-9 x 36 in the 4A reticle.

I don't think I still have any in service, but I killed a lot of game with Leupold 3-9's and 2.5-8's. Had 20+ at one point.

I wouldn't feel just too slighted in life if my one and only scope was a 6X. At one point or another I ran 6x's from Leupold, Sightron, SWFA and Meopta. They all served me well, and they are what I carried most frequently for a few years while on back pack/rugged country hunts. Still have a few of the SWFA's. Pretty well sold the rest off except for the Sightron, which is really a dandy scope that I have a hard time parting with, even though it hasn't been mounted on anything in awhile.

I bet the S&B 6x is a dandy scope.

56 mm objective??


I have one of these........cant disagree with your assessment.

However, if less is more.....my Steiner GS3 2-10 x42 is probably as good a scope as i need for what i do.

That does exist, and as you well know, it cannot exist. The closet you can come to that is the March 1.5-15X42 in a 30mm tube. It's my favorite non-competition riflescope. It weighs 21 ounces and is 10 inches long.

Yes exactly. I love the field of view and didn’t think I’d like that big old objective but I do. It is my go to now. Sits in my T3x and I like it so much I bought a second one.

You guys make me laugh....or cry. I need a second job or a cheaper house. I'd love to get one of these for every rifle.

If I had to choose just one of what I already have and that would suit just about any purpose it would be the Leica ER 3.5-14x42 mm with the 4A.

Phil

MosesTucker: Tough one this - but I would be able to do at least 90% of what I need done in the Varmint, predator and big game Hunting world with a Leupold 4.5x14 variable scope with adjustable objective.
I have several of these and they have served me extremely well and reliably.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I am not sure its the ultimate, but I am pretty fond on the vortex ( did I say vortex?) 2-10x40 LH RAZOR Its has a nice heavy reticle sort of a modified #4 but with a couple of ticks for hold over , pretty decent glass, its fairly compact, 1"" tube made by LOW and of course discontinued.

Nightforce NXS 3-15 x 50. Will do it all, near to far, with aplomb. And not let you down. Some of these “lifetime” choices make me chuckle.

Any decent scope in 2-10 range. For 90% of my hunting.
But no bigger 3-12 if it was set up as a longer range hunting rifle

There are so many differences in hunting styles, game animals, locations, terrain, and personal preferences even for the same hunter's situations that this is nearly impossible to pin down to one scope, or one rifle. IMO.

MosesTucker, you do know that the One Ring you are parodying was was a creation of unspeakable evil, created by the Dark Lord himself don't you?

That being the case, the scope corresponding to it on this forum would have to be a Leupold. If I must pick the means of my corruption, it would be a glossy M8 6x36 duplex.

Oh, the horror, the horror.

That's a great scope; I have several. I didn't know it was no longer made.

If there could only be just one. I think I'd have to agree with this one.

The March compact checks a lot of boxes. 2.5-25. Reticle choices, open or covered knobs. 21 ounces. Illuminated or not. On & on.

Hunt up close in dim light or fur off with plenty erector travel or reticle...hint

Swarovski 3-10-42 With a 4A...Over The Last 20 Years I've Killed Elk,Bear, Hogs, and Close To 80 Whitetail...Ive Had Them All.. Nightforce,S&B, Leica, Leupold Zeiss And Pretty Much Ever Other Name Brand Scope Made.. Still Take The 3-10-42 With a 4A..

Holy crap Don, Stick has hacked your account... change your password...

Don - how's that Arken 6-24? Got one coming
...

Haha you got me. Huge Tolkien fan here!! And you have good taste in rifle scopes. That 6x36 would work from the Shire to Rivendale to Rohan or really any point in Middle Earth.

For the type of hunting I do in the south, my Schmidt & Bender 1.5-8x42 Stratos mounted on a Ruger #1 in 6.5x55 SE covers a lot of situations. It’s a solid little workhorse.



If you took that one away from me & left me with my Swarovski z6 1.7-10x42 on my Sako 85 you wouldn’t hear any complaining either. But seeing as one of my all-time favorites & the last rifle that put a deer in the freezer was my .303 British with a fixed Leupold 6x42, it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Hand me any one of those & I’m good to go.

well worth the bux.

Leupold VX-6. 3 X 18.

Not the same..

I’ve been using Zeiss Conquest scopes for a long time with excellent results. The 3-9x40 duplex would still work fine but if choosing one the 3-15X with Z800 Christmas tree reticle is simple fast & capable. If money was no object I’d love a S&B scope in a similar magnification but doubt it would make much real difference hunting. I have a friend who sold his Swaro 3-15 & put 2 Leupold 3.5-10 scopes on his deer & elk rifles for simplicity. The older I get the more I like higher magnification but simple is good.

That scope works for everything with a heartbeat, except maybe Prairie Dogs I'd like a few more X's, and I could get by with an IHR or Mil-Dot reticle for them too as they're both fine enough.

You do realize that the 56mm objective has nothing to do with the FOV. The Trijicon Credo has a very ordinary FOV compared to other riflescopes with a 2.5X low end. For example, the NF Compact 2.5-25X42 that Fotis mentionned has a better FOV with a much smaller objective 42mm Vs 56mm. The NXS runs from 44ft to 11ft at 100 yards. Compare this to your Credo running 38.3ft to 10.2ft at 100 yards.

I can cite many other examples, and none of them make the Credo look better.

I will stick with the bushnell 4200 4x16x40 or any of the japanese bushnells

I’ll add the 3-10x40 Weaver Grand Slam…

Shows how much I still have to learn. I assumed FOV was connected to objective! 🤦🏽‍♂️

Anyways I love the Trijicon but learned something new here. Thanks

Sir I remember you long being that scopes proponent. Curious how you like their tracking and RTZ?

Yeah, most people forget that in a riflescope the image has to come through the internal erector tube and then be presented to the eyepiece. This is also the reason why some people think a larger tube will pass more light to the eye; while it is true that a larger tube would do that, the light still has to go through the internal erector tube and they usually the same diameter, regardless of the main tube diameter. The large diameter main tube just allow for more internal adjustment range.

Coming back to FOV for a minute, you have to realize that your eyepiece is a certain size, usually something round 40mm. If you look at a target and want the 2.5X magnification, you will only see a small part of what the objective lets in to get to the eyepiece. This is why more magnification reduces the field of view. It's a balancing act. Now, some manufacturers such as March, have been producing riflescopes with a wider than usual field of view. Their eyepiece is 46mm instead of their usual 41mm. March talks about their regular eyepiece having a 20 degree view and the wide angle eyepiece having a 25 degree view.

The formula is angle of view/magnification = actual degrees in the apparent FOV. You can then translate the degrees to MOAs and get the apparent FOV at whatever distance. Let's use 100 yards. The standard 20 degree eyepiece computes like this: 2.5/20 = 8 degrees. That's 480MOA (8*60). That's about 41.9 feet at 100 yards. Your scope provides for 38.2 feet at 100 yards, which is a little worse than usual. Maybe they take up more room attaching the front objective or it's just a poor internal design.

The 25 degree eyepiece would provide for a little over 52 feet FOV at 100 yards. The eyepiece has to be larger to present a bigger image at the same magnification, 41 to 46mm.

Except for the turrets, what's different?

FTR, that all makes really good sense. Feel like I learn something every time I post here. Thanks for sharing!!

Easy answer, I've read the most popular scope on the planet is a 3-9x40 leupold.

For how I hunt and where I hunt and what I hunt, its gonna come down to:
4-16 Atacr
2.5-20 NX8

The poverty winner is:
6x swfa

This only applies to my hunting areas, things I hunt and how I hunt with a centerfire so it has zero impact on anyone else.

Most of my hunting rifles wear a M8 6X42 or a Burris FF II 3X9.

Key words for most posts on the Optics Forum.

I have number of scopes from a Weaver K-1.5 on a drilling to a 6-24 on a varmint rig I have to say if I had just one scope it would be a Leupold Vx-3 1.5-5. I have one on a coyote hunting rifle and it is perfect.

Never seen one of those. But I've had several 2.5-8X36's in the past. Hard to argue with that size, especially on a short action compact rifle.

While I liked the Leupold 2.5-8X36 scopes a 3-9X40 just isn't that much bigger, nor different in magnification. The TRUE magnification of all scopes varies somewhat. And can vary even more depending on how they are focused. Some scopes advertised as 3-9X are actually 2.5-8X, some are closer to 3.5-10X, and some advertised as 2-7X might actually be 1.5X-6X.

I have no experience with high-end scopes, and no need for anything big and with a lot of magnification. The Meopta Meapro 3-9X40 scopes have won me over. They have been sold under several names over the years including Zeiss Conquest, Cabela's Instinct, and others. I have both Zeiss and Cabela's versions and like them a lot. They are a couple of ounces heavier than Leupold, but worth the weight to me.

Close race between Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 BRH reticle and Kahles Helia C 2.5-10x50 #8 heavy duplex. Several other contenders including Leica Visus 2.5-10x42 with #4A illuminated center dot and some older USA Burris Signature Selects. There are so many new optics out there making it impossible for me to know the best that there is.

well if you can only have one scope probably means you only have one rifle. so for me it would depend on what rifle I had what scope I would put on it..

I love them for there clarity and i like having 16x on a deer rifle. I dont dial much but they work fine when i need to. Japanese glass and rainguard is a great combination. I have 3200,4200,4500,elite,6500 and never had any problems with any of them. I dont see me replacing them in my lifetime.

That’s a good point and I think now I’m going to start another thread talking about this. I thought often about life in the UK, Canada or a place where there are challenges to firearm ownership that we don’t face here. I have a dozen bolt action rifles I use in different hunting situations but have wondered what rifle and scope combo I would keep if it all came down to that.

Another winner in my book!

This would be my vote, the 2x10x42, Leupold 5HD

For many years the Leupold 4.5-14X50mm was my favorite scope for 16 inch ARs to LR bolt actions.

The VX6 3-18X50mm TMOA Illum has replaced it.

Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x42 covers a lot of ground for me.

Weaver K4 out of El Paso mounted on a custom 03 with a Bishop stock.

Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 BRH I have this scope on my 300 WM at this time. At first, I thought it was kind of busy looking, as I looked though the scope. It still looks too busy.

I'll keep it on there for a bit.

I did see some other scopes on this tread, that I think I like better.

I'll take the 6x MQ,wearing HD glass,10 Mil turrets,and illumination. Hint...............

Yessir, that is a great scope.

I picked one of these up here in the classifieds and have it on a 308 that is a go to now for shooting pigs. Would like to get another one.

Never handled one but Tangent Theta is supposed to be ELITE........

My 19.99 bubble pack 2.5x shotgun scope.

Said scope doesn't exist ladies. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!.....................

Stick, you should sell me one of yours! I need a second one and you have more than you need!!!

I think BS is trying to tell you there is no 6X MQ HD with 10 Mill turrets and illumination. It does not exist, it's a unicorn. There appears to be 2 models of a 6X42 SS, an MOA model and a mil model. The mil version has 5 mils per rotation and no illumination. Neither one has the moniker HD attached to it. I'm not even sure what this "HD glass" is. It's certainly not explained in any of the HD models at SWFA.

I was wondering..

I kinda thought you were talking about the 1-6 HD….

Ok I am the dummy now. I literally Spent 15 minutes online trying to find a an SWFA 6X with an illuminated reticle.

I’m so bad at sarcasm and humor.

But I do like my SWFA 6X and would love to pick up another one. If anybody’s got one they’ll turn loose…

Non-illuminated of course😏

The SWFA scopes have become my go-to scopes on my hunting rifles. I have several-6x and 10x. For my eyes, the 10x is fantastic, but for moderate distance, the 6x shines its own light. Both have allowed me to make shots over 400 yards. I will not shoot at animals farther than that, although I can.

Since we’re dreaming up a 6x HD, can we add and 8x to the mix and nix the 16x?

Yes!

HD = Hits Deer