Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Wintertime Question--Leupold 4x33, 6x36, or 6x42

In the summer and fall I don't think much about rifle configuration. I have better things to do! My centerfire rifle hunting is done for the year.

I will have a Model 70 long action (30-06) coming this year. I am thinking about a scope to pair her with.

I already have Talley fixed mounts and some case colored Talley fixed rings.

Can I mount a Leupold 4x33 in the Talley fixed rings? I think the 4x33 is a good looking scope. My grandpa had one on his 30-06, so it must be a good choice.

Any other drawback to the 4x33 I haven't thought about? I used an M8 4x33 a couple of years ago and liked it fine. I also have used/hunted with a 6x36 and 6x42, and like them too. This rifle will kill things a 30-06 will kill, and will be hunted from as far west as Wyoming/Montana, north to Saskatchewan, east to Virginia, south to Louisiana. Pretty much wherever I am stationed or travel for deer, elk, pronghorn, and hopefully moose and caribou one day.

Thanks for your suggestions!

The 4x33 may be a bot too short to fit with those rings. The 6x36 ought to fit perfectly.

The 6x36 & 6x42 will work perfectly. The 4x will be a tight fit and if you're not a "leaner or stock crawler" when you shoot it will be hard to get a proper view.

Thanks Oregon 45 and Crew Chief!

I too would vote for the 6x36. Little better power and just as good a glass. Can reach out w/a little better clarity. powdr

6x36

I've used them all and like every one of them. As I get older, I am tending towards more magnification, and either of the 6x's are good. I love the compactness and lighter weight of the 6x36, but really appreciate the little extra "pop" in the view through the 6x42. A person could choose any of the three, and slay an ark of game. But lately, whenever I click on the "buy" button, it tends to be the 6x42.

Merry Christmas to all,
Steve

And a Merry Christmas to you also!

I'm a bit surprised few have chimed in to support a 4x33. The 6x36 and 6x42 are great scopes, though! Maybe they have left the 4x33 behind.

I've gone back to the 4x33. It'll fit just fine, and the eyebox is so easy to get behind that you seemingly can throw the thing up any which way and still come out ready to shoot.

6 is great, 4 is perfect.

I'd have a 4x on my M70 30-06 if the tube was 1" longer. It's my favorite scope.

6x42.

A Leupold 4x33 is what I've run on my M70 375 when I've scoped it�no issues. I have also watched a lot of stuff die with the same scope mounted in Warne QRs on a pre-64 340 Weatherby. (I've since put a 6x36 on the 340 just because it has a bit more range than most rifles I own.)

4X makes very excellent glass for every 30-06 I've used.

The 6x would best the 4x, past 400. The 4x would (is for me) be slightly faster and more useful, inside 100. In between is probably a wash. Unless I was not hunting thick/short much, the 4x would get the nod. Either will work fine, I'm sure.

All of them!!!!

Yes...

I like and use all of them. That said, the 6x42 is "the one" if there can be only one.

FWIW, my 44-year-old Model 70 Featherweight '06 (now refurbished) has worn a 4X scope for all of its life. It now has a relatively new 4x33 FX-II mounted in Buehler rings and bases. I have hunted a lot of big and small game with it over the years, from Mexico to British Columbia, and and used it some for scientific collecting early in my career. I have never been tempted to go to a variable or higher power scope in this rifle. I think that it's a good match for the Featherweight rifle in .30-06.