Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles How much scope do you need on a hunting rifle

Makes no difference what magnification your scope is, what makes the difference is can you see your target clearly,if the answer is no or I can see pretty good you have the wrong scope for you. Rio7

While we are on the subject of scopes I'll take this opportunity to ask those of you with industry contacts (i.e.MD et.al.) to encourage redfield to add a copy of the old long tube M8 4x to their revolution line. I like the leupold fx and weaver but both are a bit short in the tube. I think a sub $200 4x revolution would be a nice addition. Another option would be to convince weaver to adapt their current quality 4x to a configuration that matches the old steel ElPaso made k4's

I need about 20 oz. of scope on my serious hunting rides. Minimum.

Shoot 600 yards on a life-sized target, with a 2-7 anything, and please post your results. I'm genuinely interested in the results.

Dean I don't recall actually ever shooting a live target at 600 yds. though I have killed a several groundhogs at around 500. That would have been with either a 3-9 or my old K10. Back in m groundhog days that's all I could afford. I will admit that I missed more than I killed but it wasn't because i couldn't see them. Doing that I came to appreciate the fact that a sudden puff of wind or just a slight miss calculation of distance would cause a miss. Also I was using a rifle that had enough power that even a marginal hit (gut shot) was fatal to a groundhog. I was also shooting at the same place where I pretty much had the yardages worked out as in the fence line is 250 yes, the old collapsed shed is 375 and so on to the tree line which was about 540 yes from our favorite spot.there fore the hold overs for drop were more or less known. The same is case when I shot bp cartridge matches at known distances . All of those situations were at known ranges and situations where I had the sight adjustments worked out and had fired spotter rounds.
That experience is also why I would never take a shot like that at a big game animal while hunting because I haven't fired a half of box of shells getting my sight adjusted for the known range I don't have wind flags ever 50 yds. And so on. A wind gust doesn't cost me a x ring or steel ram but it instead means a gut shot animal and I'm not hunting deer with a 500 gr bullet at 3500 fps mv which would be proportional to shooting a ground hog with a 22-250 and Thus providing enough energy to probably kill it with a poor hit. So you can probably ascertain my attitude on shooting at big game animals at long ranges and thus why I see no need to hump around a big scope on the off chance I have to shoot an animal at 400-500 ads through a hat sized opening in the trees. I would be interested in how many posters have actually done that. Ymmv

A $350 VX-2 in 3-9X40 with dots is as much as I need. I've not shot game at 600, but have shot that far at targets. I'm not good enough to be shooting at game past 400 and a better scope won't change that. I do believe that if I were more skilled, that I have enough scope for 600.

Haven't shot any life sized targets at 600, but plenty of clays at 500 with a 6x. Still twice as far as I'll ever need.

I live and hunt in very open country and most days there's plenty of "shooting light" well past legal shooting hours. Light isn't much of a concern and neither is finding the crosshair. As such I mostly hunt with either 4-12 or 4.5-14 Leupolds. I carry them on the bottom power and typically only turn them up for a longer shot at an unaware stationary animal.

I do have a Kimber MT 7-08 w/6x42 that I have no trouble keeping on a 12x20 plate @ 750yds.

3-9x40 is plenty for big game hunting on my rifles. Since that size is so common, it's also where you'll usually find the best deals on hunting scopes.

I have a Zeiss HD5 2-10, and I really like it, but I'm not sure that it really provides any hunting capability that a decent 3-9 wouldn't for about half the price.

I'm with bangeye in wishing for some scopes with longer tubes. I bought a 4x fx Leupold and had a heck of a time finding a rifle it would fit on. I had purcheased it with the intent to mount it on my Ruger No.1 (home made base with Talley rings) but it was just no good on that rifle. It works OK on a Mauser. The Ruger now wears a mid-80's Scopechief 4x or a Leupold M8 3x. The old K-4 Weavers fit well too. The point is, I think scope manufacturers are doing a fine job of making scopes to fit short-actioned rifles but little else.
In shooting at the 500 meter silohuette rams, all of the four powers work fine, the Leupold 3 and weaver K-3's are also OK. An old Weaver K-2.5 is beyond it's usable range at 500 but I can shoot the 300m pigs with no problems.
I have only one variable scope on a hunting rifle; a 3-9 Bushnell. I don't care for variables and prefer fixed powers from 3x to 6x and feel they cover me for any hunting situation I am likely to encounter. I confine mylong range shooting to the range and am unlikely to take a shot at big game beyond 400. GD

Greydog. I have one of those 4x scopechiefs. They are pretty decent scopes. Mine is sitting on a LA savage110. For a #1 I have a old Burris 4x from the 80s . They have a different (unusual) turret spacing that allows you to pull it back further than say a leupold or weaver. They too are pretty good scopes and you can pick them off eBay for a pretty reasonable price.

I was hunting sheep in Wyoming and the 4x scope I was using cost me a shot at a great ram.
I have tried 6x but found them lacking.
I would like a scope that has two available settings, either 3 or 9. I don't need the middle ground. I carry mine at 3 and crank it to 9 when I want more.
If it hasn't been hit, I don't shoot beyond a 1/4 mile.

Some of us Tennessee boys still use 'em.

6x

I could live with a straight 6x on everything, myself.

As far as magnification 2-7's are my favorites. Lately a 1.5-8 is my preferred magnification range. I prefer low power 1.5-2 power on the bottom. A lower low side on a variable is more important to me than a higher high side.

I don't understand the recent popularity of 5-25 power hunting scopes. I think maybe it's influenced by younger kids think they are going to be 1000 yard snipers.

Price wise,I would feel comfortable with a scope of about $300 and up for big game hunting. I do like higher end optics though. If possible,I would rather hunt with scope that cost as much or more than my rifle.

I have more scopes in the 2-7X range than any other, but do have a few larger ones. Some to see what the fuss is all about and to learn something new.

I do like variables though but keep them on the lowest setting. If time allows I put them on the highest setting to make a shot on a deer 200 yards are better away. Not always needed, but it does help me place the shot more precisely.

This year I shot a buck that was trotting r-l at` 150 yards with my .300 H&H. It has a 3.5-10 on it. 3.5x was plenty for the purpose and gave a nice, wide field of view on the moving deer.

Personal preference for personal reasons is never wrong. My need based on my personal preferences puts the upper end, on big game scopes, in the 6x range. My need, based on my personal preference and desires for varmints, is somewhere around 12 to 16 x, maybe more, given the day. Predators is a combination or use of either of the above; however, most of the time the 6x is more than enough. If I'm feeling froggy and depending on recent coyote behavior and responses, I may want more Xs based on my then current needs.

300mags are popular to kill game at distances that .308win can do, some people apply the same approach
to the magnification of their scopes.

I like the size and power ranges of 2.5-8x and 4.5 -14x Leuplds.
I would also settle for a NF 2.5-10x

Depends on what you are using them for. I haven't used anything over 10X. I have two 3.5- 10 X scopes. Several 3X9, a 2X7, and two fixed powers - a 6 and an antique Leupold 3, and have owned straight 4's. I like 6's!

Have you noticed how hard it is getting to find fixed power scopes? I'd like to get a couple more 6's, one of my favorites. I hardly ever use more than that anyway, unless open country (sheep, caribou).

The farthest I have ever killed an animal was a caribou well in excess of 500 yards, and the 3X9 steel Weaver ( now needs cross hair repair) was inadvertently set on 3, after helping slaughter 9 others earlier, bolting out of a ravine at 30 yards. We had room on the sleds for one more, and she was standing broadside on a hillside. The .25-06 was zeroed 5 inches high at 100- have no idea what range that would be- probably 350 or so. And I needed over 2 feet hold-over above that.

Took two shots- I saw where the bullet kicked up snow on the hillside below her, and applied the appropriate Kentucky windage, high and into the slight wind. Took her through both shoulder blades. Only then did I realize the scope was still set down.

So I guess 3X is enough...... . But my eyes were decades younger then.

I have a 3.5 X 10 on my heavy barreled Mauser 30-06 for caribou hunting. Most of my shots are 300 yards and out (self limit 500- the gun is likely good to 1,000), and I carry it on 10X, tho that's more than enough. The 2-7 (on 7) did just fine on the .260 when I was using that before I rebarreled the Mauser.