Most of my hunting rifles wear Leupold 3.5-10x40mm.
They are long enough to work on most long actions without having to resort too much on extension rings, bases, etc.
I like low mounted scopes, and they will mount lower than a 50mm objective.
I pay attention not to the highest power, but to the lowest power for the quick shot. (People usually want more on the top if they can get it, which is why we are seeing scopes with greater than 3x range, i.e. 4-16 as opposed to 4-12.) I find that if the rifle fits and points well enough, you can get away with 3.5 on the low end. As long as the target is in the field of view when you point the rifle, without having to "find" the target, you are in pretty good shape. Having said that, if I owned a genuine dangerous game rifle, I would probably go lower on the low end. If you tend to (or need to) shoot at moving game, then you must also consider keeping the target in the field of view.
They are more or less affordable. If you can afford more, I don't have any experience with those.
The 2.5-8x36 is also good.
Last edited by GunDoc7; 05/31/17.
