Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Fixed 6x on a dedicated deer gun

Was wondering of this half inch less tube length left enough fore/aft movement of the scope for proper eye relief.

Our group has been hunting the same general area for over 40 years. One of the guys was sitting on a drive this year, a buck came busting through the thick stuff right near him at warp speed in erratic leaps and bounds, not the "straight-line bolting" type of run. He carries a variable on his rifle, had it set around 3-4x at the time.

Said he never could get that buck centered in the scope with how close, erratic, and fast it came through with a short window of opportunity. I've never heard him say this, but he was mumbling, "I would've been better off with open sights on this one.....".

A 6x wouldve been even worse for that situation. Not dissing a 6x for deer hunting, but it all depends on where and how YOU hunt.

The nice thing about a trim 2-7x or 2.5-8x is they come with a 6x at no additional cost...

My suggestion is to get one of your rifles with a variable and set it to 6x and try it at the shortest ranges you expect to take a shot at. See if you can get the field of view you want and whether or not you can quickly pick up a target at that range, especially in brush. 6x is plenty of magnification for 300 yards but depending on your terrain it may be too much for 30 yards.

I picked up a nice little mannlicher stocked Husqvarna a few years ago and wanted to fit my Leupold 6x FX3 to it but decided that at short ranges I felt the field of view to be too little. Opted instead for a fixed 4x. Lately I've been thinking of a 2-7 instead.

I fitted the 6x to a .270 I use exclusively for stand hunting I Texas and where the shortest shot is 50 yards and there is no brush at that range. Love it in that situation.

They also come with 3 additional lenses. That means 6 additional lenses surfaces. To it's detriment.

...and you can tell in quality of sight picture and light transmission.



FX III 6X42 has all the bells and whistles. 42 /6 = 7mm exit eye pupil. Very forgiving.

Lot of scope for the money.

If you pull a rifle out of my safe with a variable on it, 9 times out of 10 it was put away on 6x. If that means anything.

And they're pretty!
Bob

Otter6 that's what I find myself also which is why I was kicking this around. I have a 3-9x40 on it now and it's fine but I just leave it at 6.

RGK that's a pretty setup all the way around!!

Light is lost on each surface, but lots of variables work well enough for me regarding brightness. The thing I like most about a fixed 6 is there is less to break. I like simple.

Most of my hunting is heavy wooded mountainsides. Even though ranges aren't long, I like at least 4x to help pick out limbs/twigs when threading the needle on a shot. At the same time, I don't care for more than 6x as things get to crowded. 6x is where I've settled for heavy woods with occasional open fields that offer longer shots.

Is there a scope in that picture?

Nice

The pupils of a typical adult over the age of 50 don't dilate much beyond 5mm on average, so that reality pretty much kicks your points down the road.

I recently had my yearly eye exam, and at age 56, have 20/20 vision (yeah I know that's not perfect, but it's damn good). Doc told me I have the best eyes of any of his patients in my age group. Also, my training is in the visual arts, which is to say, I'm pretty competent at discerning visual minutiae.

Said all that to say, last summer I had two new 6x's on hand... an FXII 6x36 LRD and a FX3 6x42 LRD. I tested them in a variety of lighting conditions, dawn, midday, dusk, including with the USAF optic's chart. I could see ZERO difference between them... that is, of course, because the 6x42's 7mm exit pupil is useless given my 56 year old eyes. The 6x42 went down the road.

Guys repeat the 6x42 mantra incessantly, but unless you just have a penchant for a heavier, larger, more expensive scope, there are no actual differences for older eyes. That's the reality.

And as to the argument of a fixed 6x having more elements than a 2.5-8x36 and therefore being brighter... I've got news, set on 6x, you won't see any real world the difference between the two (Leupold)

The best argument for the 6x is simplicity, strength, and light weight. Dat's it.

Location, location, location.

6X....No



6X...No



6X...No



1x4...Yes

Fixed 6 power is lighter, less to go wrong. It has been a while since I had one go south on me. I did keep a fixed 6 on a 300 WBY and hunted with it for over 10 years here in AK. Never failed but the recoil always got my attention.

Matt

6X...maybe



6X...Yeh !

I've used a few 6x scopes, including Weaver, Leupold, Meopta, Pecar, Kahles and Hensoldt. For some applications they are fine, but for my big game hunting I prefer a 4x or a variable, for the better field of view. I have shot game at longer ranges, but it is a rare thing for me to take a shot at 300 yards or more, and much more commonly I would be at 150 yards or less, and it is not unusual for me to be considerably closer and to take shots at animals which are on the move. For this sort of application I find 6x less than ideal. A 4x on the other hand, fits the bill nicely, as does a 1-5-6 or 2-7, and I don't find any of these a handicap on the odd shot out to 300 yards.

Others have different views, and may have different conditions, and ultimately the only real answer may be to give it a go and see if you like it. FWIW the last couple of 6x scopes I own are currently not mounted to a rifle, and may stay that way unless I sell them, but YMMV.

Roundoak, I’ve always loved the pictures of your farm!

Probably would have been okay with 6x on this little guy at this particular spot but I am thinking I would like my 2-7x set just under 3x the best. This particular stand is on a hardwood ridge, 50 yards would be a very long poke. most shots here will be under 30 yards.

That extra 2mm gives you a more forgiving sight picture when " the deer is running down the road"

or across the road. Quicker acquisition is what they call it.

As far as the number of lens surfaces (no matter what coatings they have ) and light transmission, it is all physics. I can see the difference. Enough to change out 5 variable scopes to the FXIII 6X42 . My Doc must be better than yours. He also doesn't blow smoke up people's ass.

All my S&B scopes are fixed power for the same reason. They are in a different class than the Leupolds. I can see the difference there too.

I notice the bigger exit pupil on the 42 mainly through how easy it is to get behind....or just more wiggle room. I like the 36 as well, just prefer the 42.

Nice pics roundoak. It's places like there were I prefer a 6x when picking holes and avoiding twigs. 4-6 power for me, but I'm not shooting running deer in there either. I'd rather shoot longer distance with a lower power than in thick stuff like that with less than 4. Just my preference.