Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Help with choosing a scope

New to the website and was looking for help choosing a scope. It will be used for deer hunting and most of the reason I hunt are 100yd or less shots. I'm looking for a clear glass and good low light ability. I'm looking to spend around $400. I was leaning towards the conquest 3-9-50. I've heard a lot of good about it. I'm jut wondering if there is anything a good or better that i should consider for around this price range. Thanks

Welcome to the forum Leed,

Try to look thru some scopes. That's what the eye doctor does. He puts lenses up for us to pick what WE see best with.

I have many scopes including Conquests and Leupolds. The Conquest is heavier. If that's not a big problem then ok.

How about a 4x or 6x as your shots will not be way out there.

The 50mm objective won't do anything for you but make the scope weigh more and force you to have to mount it higher above the bore of the rifle.

A 3-9x40 Conquest from Doug at Camera Land (I think he has a special running right now?) would be tough to turn down. Same with the Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40mm from Natchez for $350.

Of course someone already said that at 100 yds a 4x would be fine and I agree with that. My muzzle loader wears a Nikon 4x40mm that is amazingly clear, adjusts crisply, and holds zero. A brand new Leupold 4x will set you back $250-ish IIRC but they come up for sale here on the classifieds regularly for $150-ish. You can't go wrong there.

Good luck and welcome to the 'fire!

Perhaps you could consider a Bushnell 4_16X. Mine is fantastic in low light.

If he wants a variable,a 2x-7x would be a good choice.

There is great advice on this website. On the other hand everyone's eyes are different. Look through as many scopes as you can and trust what your eyes tell you.

Sounds like you need a Leupold FX-3 6x42 with Heavy Duplex to me!

Buy something in the not less than $300 range is a recognized name scope, with a full lifetime transferable warranty.

Personally, I prefer 40mm scopes over 50mm and 36mm over both. I like the 2-7 power range but 3-9 is fine.

The Zeiss Conquest 3X9X40 that you can buy right now for $299 is about the best deal going except for the above mentioned Leupold 3.5-10X40 from Natchez. I don't buy from them because they won't sell to Alabama. Both those scopes originally sold for $500 or more.

I think I would prefer at least a 3-9. There are places that I might have over 100yds just not many right now. I've got a 3-9x40 bushnell elite 4200 on a 270 but my dad had neck surgery at the start of season and needed a smaller caliber from his 300, and so I let him use that gun. Didn't know he was going to use it all season but thats how dads do sometimes . My other hunting rifle is a Winchester 30-06 model 70 Ranger. I had a Simmons Atech 2.8-10-44 on it and for a cheaper scope it wasn't bad. It messed up and wouldn't sight in and they replaced it with a Simmons 44 Mag. After using it last week I knew I needed something different. The field of view is awful. Its the only time I've ever pulled up on a deer and had a hard time finding it in the scope.

The conquest 3-9-40 would probably be fine ad weight doesn't bother me. I just thought it would help in low sight situations to have the 50.

Cabelas has their Instinct(same scope as the 3-9x40 Conquest) on sale for $280 right now. If I was looking for a 3-9 in that price range that's as far as I would look.

Cabela's has 2 Instinct Euro 3-9x scopes on sale at a very good price.

One is the Instinct 3-9x40 (Meopta made Conquest) priced @ $280 and the other is the 3-9x44 Instinct (Meopta Meopro) priced @ $250

For the flexibility they give you for varying ranges, I'd stick with the 3x9 Conquest. I'd stay with the smaller objective too. I had one with the 50mm lens and had a parallax problem at shorter distances.

I really like that FX3 scope--superb optics, 4.4" eye relief, moderate weight. If you will be mounting the scope on a "kicker" you need to check the eye reliefs--lots of European, etc. scopes have just over 3".

Leed,

I have the conquest in 3-9 x40&50 and the 50 appears to be a little brighter and the Z600 reticle doesn't look crowded. My go to for several years has been the plain Zplex 40mm and it really does cover legal shooting hours and then some. I've hit pigs over 500 yards and gongs to 1,000 yards with it mounted on a 7mm RM so it goes farther than needed for hunting. At $299 from Eurooptics it really is lots of scope for the money. If the Conquest glass looks good to you I think you will love it. On my 7 I've always felt those crosshairs were the signal for unavoidable impending demise of the deer or elk unlucky or stupid enough to be there.

Zeiss conquest 3-9x40 is a damn good scope as is the Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40. Hard to go wrong with either one...I personally would not go with a 50mm objective for reasons already stated...

zeiss conquest 3-9x40
cabelas instinct 3-9x42


either of those would b my choice

I use 1.5-4, 2-7, 3-9, and recently a 2.5 fixed. At the range, I set them all the way up, and when in the woods keep them turned down unless I need to see through the brush at a distance. With one exception, all of my shots over the last five seasons have been at less than 50 yards; usually much less. The little doe I shot in November was at less than 50 feet, and 1.5 was perfect for the quick offhand shot.

Get one that lets you mount it low for a solid cheek weld, and for proper eye relief so you can mount the rifle, find your target, and shoot quickly. With those things covered, the actual magnification doesn't matter much.

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I'll third this motion.

Here's a man that hunts. Bless you. Good advice.