I am looking at a new 6x42 scope, and wondering about
which would be some to consider in the $400. range.

I am looking at the Leupold VX3, and so how is that one,
and are there any others to compare ?

Buy that.

Or a used FX III.

Or a used M8.

All good.



Travis

The only rival to the Leupold FX-3 6x42 is the Leupold FX-II 6x36. Both good scopes, the 6x42 is larger and a bit brighter. The 6x36 is still bright enough to see to the end of shooting light.

SWFA 6x milquad reticle with mil adjustments. Have a couple now and going to buy more. $299.

I really like my FX3.

Application? Rifle/chambering/bullet?...................

Unless you have poor eyesight you don't need to start at 6X minimum magnification. There are takebacks on the field of view and moving game.

Instead get a 2-7X for a light rifle and 3-9X for a larger one.

2X-7X Leupold $236,00

Be curious to see a pic of a critter you've 2-7X'd.

Laughing!....................

I'd (personally) put the sightron big sky 6x42 in that mix, but the leupold has more options....and a gold ring.

If optical concessions and mechanical concessions are of keen interest...that'd certainly connect them dots...............

I love my Sightron. They're not easy to find now but a great scope!!

Big Sky

Never been tough to tell who shoots and who don't.

This is pretty funny!................

The Leupold 6x42 with M1 ele is my favorite scope by far. You can pick up the standard version with no turret for pocket change and send it in to Leupold and have them add a M1.

The SWFA SS is growing on me but I prefer a standard duplex for hunting. At least for now...

You might consider the Meopta Meopro 6x42. I like mine. The price for new ones has gone up since last year but Cameraland has open box demo units in your price range.

Cheers,

GrimJim

Better than Comedy Central!.................

I have three 6X42's mounted on hunting rifles. One of them, on my "Big Stick Special, .25-284" killed a big running buck that got up only 20-25 yds. from me. He made it almost 50 yds. before the second hit put him down for keeps.
Two of mine are the older M8's. One is the latest FX3. I really like the dead nuts on finger tip adjustments, and really appreciate the super hard Diamond Coat2 coatings on the FX3.
All of them have lots of eye box, the fore and aft leeway I really like when I'm in a hurry to shoot. E

Not too difficult to tell who's shot a Meopta and who hasn't

How do you arrange POA/POI correlations. Spare no "details".

Laughing!..............

I love my 6x42 M8. A great and easy to use scope.

Heard of them,though I've not seen of those either...............

Not in the price range you're looking at, but if you stumble across a Zeiss Diatal 6x42, they are, when coupled with the ASV+ turrets, the best of the 6x42s I have used. Tracked accurately and reliably and the glass is absolutely superb.

John

The Meopta keeps being brought up. If you don't mind, I would like to hear your findings on them. Specifically- how many have you used? How long have you used them? How many rounds through each? All off the bench or have you beat them up? Long term tracking with BIG adjustments? Long term zero retention?


Thank you.

I have a 3-9 Meopro on an AR. The outside objective ring came loose, but other than that it is still going after a few hundred rounds.

A serious question instead of a snide comment. You deserve an answer.

They were introduced in early 2013. I have about nine right now. I replaced all my Zeiss 3-9X40 Conquests which I bought when I could no longer use the Leupold 6x42. Just loved the Leupold but I could no longer bring them into focus with my latest eye prescription.

Number of shots with the Meoptas-well into the hundreds. Not bad for two seasons with them. I go to the rifle range instead of golfing. I added 40 more this afternoon at the range. Most of my shooting is at the range-load development from the bench and then offhand practice until hunting season. Hunting experience so far is one shot per deer and I hope to keep it that way.

My roughing it days are gone if they ever existed so I can't tell you about a HALO insertion into the wilderness followed by packing the meat and rack out to a river, felling a tree and turning the tree into a canoe with an axe to take me back to civilization.

I went deer hunting last year in the woods. The Meopta worked just fine for a very short shot and for a longer one to the top of a hill. I haven't had a shot in Pennsylvania much over 125-150 yards. Nor in Michigan before that, for that matter. No parallax issues at those ranges.

I also wouldn't know about tracking and POI/POA. I sight in for the typical range where I would be hunting. If I see the deer I want, I take a rest, put the crosshairs in the right spot and squeeze the trigger. No laser rangefinder, no turret twisting, no GPS reading to calculate elevation above sea level , no reading of temperature and air pressure. It tracks fine but after I sight in, I am done. I can't tell you how the Leupolds I had tracked and adjusted for POI/POA at long range either.

In 1999, I attended a urban warfare demonstration at Alisoville in Camp Pendleton. Afterwards they let the mere civilians talk to the USMC participants. I walked up to the scout sniper team. They used a Remington 700 short action rifle in a McMillan stock with a Hart barrel chambered in 7.62x51; I use a Remington 700 short action rifle in a McMillan stock with a Hart barrel chambered in .308 Winchester. They said they like to engage between 500 and 800 meters. At ranges less than 500 meters they are susceptible to lesser rifle; over 800 meters the 7.62 runs out of steam. I said that if I saw a deer at 200 yards I would take the shot but I would like to get a little closer.

What I can tell you is that it gives a bright clear picture of what you are shooting at in the woods at dawn, at dusk and in the darker shadows-which is what I need from it. So did my Leupolds. I don't buy them for long range performance I buy them to see detail in the deep woods-details like how many points are really on that buck when you hunt under point restrictions.

The original poster said he was looking at 6x42 scopes and asked for comments. He got some friendly comments which appear to amuse laughing boy in Alaska. Not everyone hunts in the same terrain or in the same manner. If the original poster hunts in the woods I have some useful observations; if he shoots at longer ranges, I don't, because POI/POA tracking and such, are completely irrelevant to me. I just don't care. And why should I.

I'm crying I'm laughing soooooooo phuqqing hard!!!

You REALLY get after it.

BEST gawdamned optics "critique" ever!.................

The Helen Keller Scope R&D Chronicles!..................

One of the nice things about the campfire is that you can block people.

Stupid Phuqqers REALLY like to Imaginary Pretend that Ignore.

Great story!...............

Stick: I just posted this question about a 6x42 rifle scope.

You Alaska guys, now you are sounding just like Boxer, are you his other posting buddy ? Or just another same moron
under another posting name.

Point out the answers that were too "vague" or "tricky" to follow.

I'm not buying that she's Ignoring anything either...which just might add to the humor.

Hint....................

The question was about which 6x42 scope. Have you heard
about that size scope? Stay on subject.

I'm fairly certain Stick has provided a plethora of info concerning the 6x42 scope, over and over again. Gleaning said info, shouldn't be that tough

KH:
I was just looking for some advice about a 6x42 riflescope.

Where do you fit in.

Hey, that's funny.

P.S. Buy a Leupold and don't look back.

Here's my point, hopefully clearer this time. I wanted info on said scope, I read Stick's posts relating to said scope, and I got all the info I needed.
Sometimes you have to dig a bit, read between the lines. I guarantee all the info you could want will be there.

There is another 6x42 in town these days, but no flies on the Leupold. Got tags to punch, good luck guys.

That statement alone is enough to get you uninvited from about any place I have ever hunted. You see so poorly you cannot focus a Leupold and do not see the absolute need for good binocs?

If it were not so sad it would be amazing...

You are soooooooooooo far behind the curve,that is AMAZING..............

Stick's 6X Scope choice (I've been taking notes and applying same)

Leupold 6X VX3

M1 Elevation Turret installed by Leupold
Parallax adjustment ring right in front of occular - same general place power adjustment rings are found on variable scopes.

Thank you for the response GrimJim.

I've broken, and seen so many scopes fail that it's not even a blip on the radar anymore. . So few scopes actually work that when I see someone touting an optic with nothing but how they "feel" about it, I can't help but ask.


For comparison and what most apparently fail to understand is that one shouldn't judge a scope as being "good" until they have thousands of rounds on multiple examples to ascertain zero retention, tracking, usability, reticles, Etc.

This is but 600 rounds in a single afternoon flogging a new rifle and scope....








And was barely a start. That scope is nearing 10k rounds of 7.62, 5.56, and 300WM this year. And we have racks full of guns and scopes with significantly more than that.


This broke two scopes



And that just a puny 5.56.....



A couple hundred rounds (while admittedly way more than most) isn't "use", it's "new". It's the same as someone saying that they've had a certian truck for 15 years and never a problem..... Until you find out that they've only put 10k miles on it. I'm more interested in what the guy who puts 70k miles a year on it thinks.




While you may not use your stuff as much as some, you can be sure that if it works for those that actually shoot more than a whole lot, that'll work for you too. The reverse can not be said, and therein lies the rub.....

I have both a Leupold M8 6x42 and a Meopta Meopro 6x42. By far the better optics are the Meopta, although I don't have an FX3 to compare it to.

The Meopta is bigger and heavier, but also has a more forgiving tube length between the objective and ocular bells allowing more options with mounting.

?

Pray tell, what the difference in "optics" between them will effect their use?




Once again as long as people crow over "glass" and "optics" we'll continue to have scopes that don't hold zero, don't track, aren't durable, have compromised ergos, and generally suck. Good thing no one actually shoots anymore.

Stick's 6X Scope choice (I've been taking notes and applying same)

Leupold 6X FX3 <---My mistake from my previous post.

M1 Elevation Turret installed by Leupold
Parallax adjustment ring right in front of occular - same general place power adjustment rings are found on variable scopes.

If you're asking me, I haven't a clue.

Not on a Leupold FX3.

We are talking past eacy other. The 6x42 is a hunting scope and is sold as such. The Meopta has only been out a year and a half. It is a fine hunting scope.

I once had a 6x40 that met all your requirements. It was a Leupold Mk. IV. It had rugged construction, a turret with adjustments matched to ballistics, parallax adjustment, all the bells and whistles. The problem was I never used all that stuff in hunting. It did nothing that the M8 6x42 didn't do just as well.

I have seen a scope that meets all your requirements. It was on the rifle the USMC scout sniper team let me hold. Two things about that rifle made an impression. One was the amount of wear on the McMillan stock and on the Hart barrel. Clearly a rifle undergoing military use. The other was the scope, the only scope I have seen with turrets that looked like plumbing fixtures. It was a Unertl and a 10X. There's the rub. The sniper scope market went from 10x to variables. If I was going to ask all these things of a long range scope, I would go to 10X too.

The original poster just asked about 6x42's.

I was happy when Meopta came out with a 6X42 with a European eyepiece designed for a wide range of eyesights. I was turning the Leupold eyepiece out all the way and still not getting a clear focus with my new prescription. Both the Zeiss Conquest and the Meopta took care of that (and so have several Nikons.)



I originally had some comments in that don't really apply to you. I deleted them.

I am sorry to see this post. Alaska is not Pennsylvania.

Just because no one mentioned binoculars doesn't justify your conclusion. I regularly carry 7x42 binoculars with me but when they are moving in trees in shadow you occasionally need to see detail when you shoot. Once in Michigan I could make out the antlers on a buck among does ten minutes before shooting time ended with the binoculars but I could not with the 4x scope, which was a Zeiss.

The Leupold is a fine scope but it is the same basic design as the M8 6x42 I bought in 1992 with much better glass, coatings and tracking. It retains the focus by adjusting the entire objective. About five years ago I was turning the objective out until I was worried about it flopping around with each shot and still not in focus. Switching to scopes with the European style fast focus eyepiece took care of that.

You guys in Alaska seem pretty free with personal remarks about people you've never met.

Grim,

Kudos on taking Stupidity to places it's never been before!

A MK4 M3 6x with wrong wayzee BDC is something I've never heard of either.



You "hard chargers" really get after it and you can almost get a mornings worth of shooting done...in "only" a coupla years.

Funny schit!...................

Only fair to fuel your Imagination,so as to bolter your Pretend.

If only in fairness I've never seen a Leatherneck Retro Handle or a MK4 M1 10X(whatever that is)...let alone in the last week or so. Also certainly never whistled more rounds through it in a morning,than you do in years.

Laughing!



Who chews your food for you?................

Alaska is not PA, which is why I do not live in PA...

Basic Firearms safety says you do not point a gun at any target you cannot see, period.

I am thinking you might want to edit the obvious errors out of your post...

He's got several pics up of a Leupold 6X42 that show a parallax adjustment ring that butts up against the front of the ocular. He has to send it in to have it installed on the scope(s?).

Now, I know he's been shooting forever, and has several generations of the Leupold 6X42, so it just makes sense to me that if Leupold could do it on one of his older 6X42 scopes, they should be able to install the parallax adjustment on their latest model.

I know he has several pictures of Super Sniper 6x42 scopes that are built that way from the get go, but I truly don't recall ever seeing a picture of, or having been made aware of, such a Leupold 6x42.

Different handles, same name. Believe he has another handle as well (someone chime in). Varies his spelling and language up with his various handles slightly but he's one in the same.

Person really has to wonder why the dual or multiple handles and slight change in spelling & language between each handle?

I'd tend to believe Schizophrenia, maybe dual personalities, Bi-polar?

One in a hundred posts will actually be beneficial and knowledgeable. Those posts are actually worth reading. But at the end of the day it's a classic case of Little Dick Syndrome.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Little%20Dick%20Syndrome

Didn't mean to horn you up and I'll feign my "surprise" that you burn far more bandwidth on Cock Talk...than you do glass.

Congratulations?..................

Reupold 6x42's come in a goodly smattering of flavors. That includes both .25" and 1/8" adjustments,A/O and non-A/O.

The Comp 1/8" A/O being my least favorite,non-A/O .25" the favorite.

I have also heard of the 6x42 Fixed Fhuqcqer,in both MilDot and MilQuad. They may or may not be shown here.



6x42 .25" non-A/O M1,with 45MOA stabbed in the fray.




A rather famous 6x42 .25" Target Turret A/O...next to a 6x42 M1 non-A/O.



Don't take much to get these Clueless Whiners hitting the high note..................(grin)

Now if forced to suffer parallax adjustment,I'll take it on the ocular,as opposed to objective or side...if only because I've 6x's and 10x's so configured to extrapolate.




That not as a function to reach farrrrrrrr,but instead up close.

Hint...................

If only to coax another heartfelt Whine,out of yet another one of you Drooling Clueless Dumbphuqqs.

Let's kick some numbers around,while sneaking up on inherent abilities of a given glass in extrapolation,as per objective overview. Pun be intended(Google it).

Laughing!





I apologize up front,for the obscene round counts,scritches,scratches and perhaps even some of that new stuff they just invented,which they are calling "weather". Realizing of course,none of them things is "fair"...when using "all" that you "do" as a comparison.

My bad.

Laughing...................

Give me 300 yard fixed parallax please.

What do you think of the depth of field focus on the SS, which is the reason I dislike most adjustables. Wish I could spin it to 300 and leave it, but can't do it.

BTW, the scale pic looks WAY too sanitary. Must be the office.

That'll kill alotta schit and punch alotta tags.

The rear focus is unobtrusive and there,if you ever wish to dabble different. Again,that isn't to stretch pokes(where good habits and consistent cheekwelds nip parallax)...but to thread needles up rather close. As per my applications,that denotes Rimfire Fun.

Poke the Fixed Phuqqer MQ 6x on 300yds and it's exceptionally forgiving. Many would likely never touch it again..................

Good stuff!

I can see just fine with the Meopta and the Zeiss Conquest. I used to think highly of you now not so much.

Oh no.......the "DREADED" I don't think highly of you anymore smackdown.

Laughing!............................

Form, out of curiosity, how many scopes have you used that perform to your standards/requirements ? Specifically which ones, besides Nightforce, Mk fixed powers and the SWFA SS's ?

Bushnell HDMR's. I can dig Leupold 6x's for true lightweights. Leupold's MK8 1.1-8x's are solid. S&B's fixed 10x are good.



The vast majority of scopes if actually used, fail.

With all due respect, and I mean that sincerely, your requirements/demands are most likely 10 times greater (probably far more even) than any hunter would ever require.

I require that my rifles/scopes stay zeroed and adjust correctly at all times. Pretty sure that is what scopes are supposed to do.

It's easy to claim that [insert favorite scope] works great.... When you don't shoot.

Spent primers,remain THE Supreme Tutorial.................

Went out Thursday and flung 500 rounds and felt like a slacker. Gotta tighten schit up and get my arse in gear

That's like a decade of GrimJim shooting.

If she lives to be 1000...she'll still be light years shy of a clue.................(grin)

You're way ahead of me. I only shoot a few thousand a year.

That is mostly the point, in that most people have jobs, families and such and literally don't have the time in their days to shoot 100,000 rds of ammo a month. "Eye [bleep]" glass is a moot point.

The less that ANY goods are used,the more "equal" they are.

Joe Average ain't a barometer of much,other than how to obliviously arrange humor................

Unfortunately, Joe average is who the scope manufactures respond (cater) to.

To a degree.

However...one can spend "X" amount of clams and get VERY different results.

Folks really should be taking notes.................(hint)

A bit late here, but I'd recommend the Meopta Meopro 6x42 or if you can find one, a Swarovski PF 6x42. Have both and really like them.

HDMR's...

Never heard of them before; seems like they go for about $1300 or more.

Mk8's 3 to 4.6 thousand...

ARGG

The Bushnell Elite LRHS is a better bet for a hunting rig.

Potentially.






So far it's fine with only a few hundred rounds, but we're going to replace the POS rings and flog the hell out of it next week.

Ninja style....grin

Grin....

I think everyone is going Meopta.

Give or take...............

I know I am.

Be cool to arrange a Group Buy with a Cough Silencer Watch!.............

That's it! I'm gettin a Meopta, windage adjustable bases, the biggest MAGNUM I can find and a watch!

Is that a pre-64....? ?

Add NPT's to the fray and I'm there!................

For whitetails I prefer A-2 tool steel jacketed Barnes mono's @ 69 RC

Are those boost gauges at the bottom left I see ? .......lol

Top secret prototype turbo controls.

You know, I wish you would. Its sounds more like you would be trying deliberately to destroy the scope than evaluate it but it would take you out of the irritating category of not having the slightest idea of what you are talking about.

The Meopta is a solid scope with minimal complication: fixed power, no moving erector, no adjustable objective. It might be tough enough to do well on your testing, which is more useful for scopes headed downrange. But how would you know? Everyone that has one seems to like it. You disparage them because it doesn't meet your standards. Actually you have no idea if it meets your standards or not.

I have fired 110 rounds this weekend; you don't think this is useful experience but you have fired no rounds with it and have no experience with the Meopta.

Right now you are critizing gear that others like and you have never used. That's fine and its a free country, but there is nothing particularly special or noteworthy about it.

110 rounds? Holy schit...that is nuts!!! Laughing.

WTF good is a glass,that precludes POA/POI correlations?

Google it.

Wow.................

GrimJim,

You believe that I've never gunned Meopta?

She's still trying to believe I haven't.

Don't think she can pull the ruse off...though I am rooting for her!................

You have never mentioned evaluating the Meopro 6x42. Your first question to me was that you were hearing a lot about them and asked about my experience. If you have evaluated the 6x42 you have not mentioned any results. Frankly, I think it is too new to have undergone your extensive tests.

If you have, I will take back my message but I would like to know your objective evaluation.

It won't make much difference to me, but it will be interesting. It's the only current 6x42 I can use. I bought a couple and tried them. Someone whose opinion I value published a review praising their brightness, clarity and tracking. This confirmed what I already thought. As a simple fixed power scope on a deer rifle they will do fine in my remaining lifetime. If one happens to break down (all scopes do at some time or another) I will send it back for repair and mount another one on the rifle.

Does your Montana 84s (light done right) not feel like they are 'light done right' with a 20+ oz scope on top? Steel rings, too? Seems like a scope for a chunk build. I was going to try one but those scopes are too [bleep] fat for my Montana's.

150+ MOA on the erector and another 35+ on the windshield,don't suck.

DD's shim easily with Signatures and it's nice to mechanically center windage,while maximizing ele.

Samtucky has 42.7 Mils available on the erector.

Hint...............

]

Clean your truck.

That's not mine.


Mine is way dirtier....


Gotta love dogs and dirt!

This one will last you a lifetime ! Get an S&B

http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/products/hunting/6x42-klassik.html

Considerably more than the OP's proposed budget, and the ER is too short.

Leupold is by far the best option when it comes to a 6x42mm scope.

Everyone has their opinion, but wow! For me, Leupold 6x42 is not even in the same ballpark as the S&B 6x42. A little more eye relief would be nice if a kicker were in the cards, but for me its not. I know that some who knock the Leupold reliability can still find comfort in the 6x42 but it was my first and absolute worst Leupold failure. You know what they say about first impressions.

Pretty sure you won't find a S&B for $400.

The ONLY practical reason to buy uber-expensive European scope is for night hunting from stand practiced on the continent. That is where x56 objective, illuminated dot or little cross, best lenses and coatings pay dividends. There is no reason for American hunter in America to buy one except perhaps for bragging rights.


If it was me I would buy Weaver 6x38 for about $160.

What was the mode of the failure?

Bridge geometry issues...which bound 'er up..................

Glad I was wearing boots while I read this....

Can't recall for certain but I would bet that the rings were properly aligned and lapped. The duplex wire reticle broke along with other internal parts that I am not sure of which were rattling around inside. Sub 7lb all up 30-06.

They weren't.

Hint..............

ct,

What you describe is exactly what happens to 6x Leupolds when there is a ring/mount problem. Not unheard of at all.

So it weren't the scope?!?

Laughing!..............

They make rings that don't [bleep] up sights and still align sans misaligned and lapping, so I've heard....

Is there something unique about the 6x that makes it more vulnerable? The rig wore other scopes without breaking them.

Rings were Talley LW's.

Was the rear ring placed right next to the ocular adjustment threads?

Of course.................

Do tell

Negative.

You simply had the poor thing bound right the phuqq up and it never had a chance.

MIGHT have something to do with reticle location................

Makes sense.

I believe you are correct...................(grin)

What you need is fine sporter with quality open sights. Measuring stick for factory made post WWII sporters were ZG47, 21H and 22H rifles made by Zbrojovka Brno in Brno Czechoslovakia. Find desolate place with plenty of bunnies & hares so you can hone your shooting skills. You will become like Koromajo Bell and will NOT need a scope!

Lovely Theorum.

Pass the Anschutz 54's wearing glass...and the ability to reach wellllllllll past the 500yd line.



Hint.................

Did you shorten those tubes?

Dwarfs can only handle short tubes. That is how they are equipped.

You are at of your price range Toots.

Scroll on by.

Laughing!.............

SquatToPee,

Didn't intend to horn you up.

I'd slap that rubber dick out of your mouth...but you'd just pick it up again.

Laughing!................

Jesus Christ...

If he was real...he'd be laughing too!...............

So.....

What is the fatal flaw in miss-mounting the 6x42 that binds em up and breaks the innards????

Binding them up,breaks innards. Hint.

Mounted square,they are all but impossible to kill.

I've never puked one,nor do I know of anyone who has and to say that's a "fair representation",is the most EPIC of understatements.

Re-hint..................

I am trying to sort out in my mind how they get mounted "un-square"???

I use weaver muffler clamps, sometimes one piece bases some times two piece. I can't see how I could mount the scope "unsquare"

What kind of tolerances are involved in an "unsquare" set up?

I have never heard of any of my friends screwing one up.

Just trying to figure it out...

I hate to admit it. But quite honestly I think I am a 6x42-lEUPOLD convert. This ain't the first time I have heard folks praise them to the skies. I bought one a couple of years ago. I might sell some stuff and get 4 at once and just get all the upgrades at once and be done with it.

From an engineering perspective what is it about the internals of the 6x42's that makes them rugged-er thaN the other leupolds? Other than the simplicity of the fixed power?

One way to have a problem is with front and rear receiver rings not having the correct relative height.

It's SELDOM the bases or rings,but the receiver itself. Hint.

Tough to beat Leupold DD bases and Signature DD rings. Re-hint.

I've flogged on a few 6x42's myself..............(grin)

How is the 6x42/M1 tracking, as compared to the variables, which I've not had much luck with?

Tracking has been repeatable. I've seen a lot of variation between different 6x42's on distance moved per the same number of clicks dialed.....but as long as it is repeatable on the same scope I don't sweat it. Just verify everything...a lotta times...

Yes, that's been my experience with the variables as well. I hear you; verify, document, don't sweat it. I just can't get to the don't sweat it point

I've had MOA not equal MOA and promptly sent the 6X42 back. When it returned the steering wheel worked as it should.



Travis

I probably have long thought highly of the .25" versions...................