I grew up reading the OLD outdoor writers - Keith, O'Connor, Townsend, Trueblood and others - and in much of their writing, a sporterized 30-06 with a Lyman Alaskan 2 1/2X or a Weaver K4 scope was THE hot setup.
Of course, it had to have backup iron sights for when the scope failed - and it seemed everyone knew someone whose scope failed in some way during a critical phase of their hunt, especially those whippersnappers who dared to get a newfangled variable scope.
Anyway, I just cleaned out my gun closet and found three fixed 4X scopes - a Burris, whose matte black finish has gracefully aged to a dark gray, a gloss Leupold M8 4X28, whose turret caps are just starting to show a bit of the dark plum color old Leupys are known for, and a Bushnell Scopechief 4X with a post and fine crosshairs reticle, the body showing scars of many ham-handed attempts to mount it in ill-fitting rings.
Other than a single 30-06 with a fixed 6X, every other rifle I have is used either with iron sights (Springfield Trapdoor 45-70, Marlin 1894 .357 lever action, T/C Hawken 50 cal muzzleloader) or a variable scope.
Is there any hunting situation where the 4X reigns supreme?
