I found the folowing FIXED 6power scopes. Picks? Picks at a price?
The Leupold FXII 6x36 @ $280.00
The FX III 6x42 @ $380.00:
The Sightron 6x42 SII Big Sky @ $380.00:
The Nikon Monarch UCC 6x42mm @ $227.00
Any others of merit out there?

Dino in Reno

I have all four of those, as well as the older SII 6x42, and the Pentax 6x42, and did own the Meopta 6x42.

I'd rate them, and do for my own use, this way:
1: FX-III
2: SIIB (ever so slightly behind the FX-III; virtual tie, though the Leupold CS and warranty may put the FX-III ahead by a hair. Optically, and in use, I find them to be identical.)

3: Meopta; Superb glass, the best of the lot, but very heavy, and with short, somewhat critical eye relief. The turrets, however, were top-shelf.

4: Monarch (very close fourth), virtual tied with the SII.

5: SII

6: FX-II (excellent scope, it just gives up a little bit in performance to the x42s that rank just ahead of it.)

7: Pentax

Of those, the best buy as you described the price, is still the FX-III, as it gives the best optical performance of the group, and carried by far the best warranty and options.

For the over $150 less, the Nikon would be my #2 choice from your list, and I'd not think twice about running that scope instead of the FX-III or the SIIB on anything that I own.

I do know that Kahles, but I have never used the Kahles.

Of course, ymmv......

Dino,

+1 on the FX III. Have mine on a Ruger #1 Bob, which I'm getting ready for Wyo antelope this fall. Easy to hold very closely on 200 and 300 yd targets. Almost seems like I'm beating the high magnification system. And good lord is it clear and bright.

Have used it previously in Wyo, and it is just about perfect.

Don't know of anyone who went wrong following VAnimrod's advice on optics either.

Steve

There is no simpler killing machine than a compact, flat-shooting SS/Syn rifle, wearing a 6x42. Knock your normal LOP down by a 1/4" or so and you'd be amazed how quick you can aquire an animal and shoot. The brightness is nice too, as you can see early and late. The one thing I noticed when using one last year is that does at longer ranges needed to be checked out with binos to make sure they weren't short-spike bucks. Aside from that, basic rack-judging isn't a problem out to 400yds or so. I took quick shots on two bucks last year at 270 and 300 yards and both times I was able to get a good idea of the headgear.

JPro:...luv it when you talk that way!

On a side note, the biggest bucks I've ever killed have required about point 2 nanoseconds with the naked eye to evaluate.

The biggest difference between most of the 6X's is that the Leupolds have the huge eye box that really makes a 6X a practical, all around scope. VA seems to feel that the latest from Sightron has a pretty good eye box as well. Don't know, I have tried one.
But I have checked out the Nikons. Much shorter eye relief and much smaller eye box. That would be the deal breaker for me. The toughest shooting I do is on fast moving animals up close that don't give me more than seconds to shoot. A big eye box makes that job much easier to do. E

As much guff as E takes on being a Leupold fan, he is right on the eyebox thing. It does allow a lot of latitude in regards to head placement needed to acquire a sight picture. "User-friendly" is its #1 gig. They aren't the end-all of optics, but the 6x42 works very well as a big game scope.



Bob, I know what you mean about the big bucks. They step out and you just know. And then you pray that you don't screw it up....

6X42 heavy duplex-

On running critters, if you swing the appropriate horizontal post along with the animals chest, it works out to being pretty close to the right lead on coyotes and deer. That can be VERY handy!


fred

Royce: Good tip;never thought of that....mmm!

Jpro:When muy grande steps out(or just as often),is moving through timber cross canyon,or blowing out from under your feet and making tracks,and you have about 3-5 seconds to do something about it,a lot of these discussions about the subtle nuances of gear go in the hopper.At that point,the SIMPLER THE BETTER.

VA,

Good run down.

Don

6X scopes are my first choice on my hunting rifles and I have many, a 6 X 42 Leupie Heavy D on a .300 win for Elk, Nikon 6X Monarch, 6X Big Sky, Burris, Weaver, Pentax and Redfields,, But without question the ones that I use for deer hunting are the Japanese World Class Plus, they are bright, wide angle and have help up well,great eye relief, I am aware of you get what you pay for and for me there aint a better bang for your buck when it comes to a 6X, of course egos and money go well together and its good for the economy, I just know what works for me.

I have several 6x scopes too - including the Meopta. Their customer service was incredible btw. I agree with VA on it and the adjustments. If you don't mind the weight I would say Meopta- if that is a factor go with the FX III unless money is an issue then any of the others are fine -including Burris or even the Weaver K. I have yet to buy any 6x that didn't please me. The point about l.o.p. is well to be heeded. Might sound stupid but I would mount the scope wearing my hunting clothes\jacket just to fine tune its placement. I prefer thick #4 type reticles.

If you need a cheap 6x, the Japanese Weaver K6 is hard to beat.

I agree, I have one on a 99 Savage in .243, it is nice and lightwight and seems to hold zero well, my eyes are used to the bigger lens on the World Class plus models, especially when I have to zero in on running Whitetails on a deer drive, Tough to beat the price on the Classic Weavers also

Thanks to all, price is important this time, so I think I'll give the Nikon a try. So what is the best under $300.00 laser rangefinder? :-)
That's why the scope has to be, er, thrifty...

Dino in Reno

Save your pennies on the scope, and get the Leica LRF 1200 Scan. Nothing else under $1k is close, and nothing under the Leica price is even in the ballpark. Ran Bushnells and Nikons, ran pards Leupolds........ owned and still own Leicas.

Worth every extra penny, and then a bunch.

OOPs, let's add two to the list. It looks now that I will have two markX 7mm mags to scope as well as a Win 70 in .243. $ become important when buying three scopes. Anyone offering a three for two deal :-)
ADDED two more:
Lup FXIII 6X42 great eyebox & relief, good+ optics,$380.00
Sightron IIB 6X42 good optics, OK eyebox and good relief, priced $370.00
Lup FXII 6X36 great evebox & relief, good optics, priced $280.00
Monarch UCC 6x42 ok eyebox & relief, good optics, priced $226.00
*Fullfield II 6x40 ? but price is less by a bit from Monarch,$215.00 ish
and last
*Gameskeeper 6X42 Low price, $109.00 but ? on the rest

How does the IOR 6X with 4a reticle compare. I understand the glass compares with meopta, 3.75 eye relief, comes with a 4a or #8 reticle, as well as their military type reticles.

Huge, heavy, but fantastic glass.

VA answered all my questions when I was looking for a 6X scope. I bought the FX III with dots and am beyond happy with it. My dots came out (zeroed @ 200) about 2 inches low at 300, about 2 inches high at 400, and about 4-5 inches high at 500. Very good on every score. Only drawback is that in low Leo DD rings there is not enough clearance for flip-up caps. Bikinis work.

"How does the IOR 6X with 4a reticle compare?"
Valdada IOR Hunting Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 6x 42mm 4A Reticle Matte $595.00 :-)

With three scopes needed even the Leo FXIII is top end now...

Thanks to all, with special thanks to VAnimrod (VAnimrod, she's getting a 6x42 wide plex mat FXIII), and to Kaiser Norton. It's nice hanging around with good people.
Field reports to follow later, especially if we both get our buck in October...

Looks like you need to try out the alumina flip-up's

Dino, I'd say you made a good pick. About 3 months ago, I asked the same question, except I was soliciting opinions on fixed 4's. I ended up with a Loopy FXII in matte with the wide duplex (if they made a fixed 4 FXIII, thats what it would be wearing.) Love that damn little scope, and having it on a Kimber Montana in 308 I'm in paradise. I just don't know why it took me 32 years to warm up to a fixed power scope...

Tough little scope too, I've bounced it off of dirt on accident a few times. Then that got me thinking (since it has a great warranty and all) just how much abuse it would take. So I threw down a thin piece of carpet on the concrete slab that our rifle range has and bounced it off the carpet several times just to check and see if it holds zero. It does... I have a lot of confidence in that gun.

However, then a 2nd Montana fell in my lap in 338 Federal. So I was thinking about putting the 4x on it and going with a fixed 6 with dots on the 308. Then I have one set-up for coyote calling and hunting the thick stuff (where you usually get a quickee shot offhand out to MAYBE 100 yards) and one set up for all the rest of the hunting around here. Even then, a prone shot at 400 yards is very rare for me around here. I've seen a lot of game out at 400, but I enjoy the hell out of a good stalk and most of the times I can close within 200 yards...