Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 8 x 56, the Cats Meow low light scope

A 6x42 has the same exit pupil, is noticably smaller and there are more options. I have an S&B 8x56 that is getting dusty in the basement because of size and weight with the steel body. I would get a Meopta 6x42 over it every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I’d take am 8 power over a 6 power any and every day.

I agree. When the light is really low, magnification is your friend. I almost never take a shot in low light or moonlight at anything below 8x, and more often than not, I'll have the magnification cranked up to 10x or more. .

Micky-You don't want that scope to get dusty. Send it to me LOL...I'll give it a good home!

Exactly. I use 10X most of the time.

Even a 6X FF is pretty damn bright and not lacking after legal hunting hours.

This here.

For those of you who keep mentioning "6x being bright enough," you're simply not grasping what low-light performance is about and what it requires. Not every animal appears at 50 yards. Take that 6x out on a night when there is diffused moonlight and tell me if that 150 yard hog is perfectly broadside or quartering. Chances are, you won't be able to.

Low-light or moonlight shooting is another game entirely, and unless you've actually gone out and done it, you have no idea. A simple 2x or 3x scope in broad daylight will suffice for just about any shot and out to extended ranges. But in moonlight, that 3x scope will render nothing but an unidentifiable blob when the target appears at 150-175 yards.

Correct, my experience in never having a problem is completely wrong. I'll also admit to no experience shooting critters over a pile of corn at midnight.

I have killed more than a few coyotes at night, albeit the longest was 125 yards or so and no feeders were involved. I'd imagine things are darker in Texas.


I know how dark and eerie those vast forests in west Texas and the Hill country can be. I have no doubt that Texas dark is darker than anyplace else in the world.

You know what they say about those who assume, right Steelhead? For one, I don't shoot anything over a pile of corn. My preferred hunting method was spot and stalk, but I am now disabled and can't get out and do that anymore, so my opportunities are extremely limited. I want to make the most of them, so I have chosen to use an optic that won't let me down. We do live in a remote area, and there are times I am able to snipe a coyote or hog from near the house, but it's usually in poor light or well into the night. I've tried just about every good low-light scope out there and have spent significant time with them. I know what works and what doesn't from personal experience and won't venture an opinion otherwise just to drive my post count up or feed a narcissistic ego.

Nonetheless, you continue to be stuck on "brightness"of a scope and hurling stereotypical schoolyard insults. So be it. But again, I'll say that most modern scopes above the $300 range are amply "bright." But that doesn't mean squat when a scope doesn't have the resolution to render fine detail in twilight, the contrast to allow an adequate separation of tonal ranges, the magnification needed to allow proper target identification or isn't fitted with a reticle suitable for the task.

For my eyes looking into the tree line at 120 yards with my 1.5 x 6 x 42 Swaro or S&B, 6 power is not quite enough for my eyes after dusk to feel comfortable to make a shot at that distance. My gut is telling me the extra 2 power, combined with the clarity from less lenses in the fixed power, may be just the ticket for reaching further back into the woods for deer at that critical time and popping hogs when they come out.

I have night vision dedicated rifles, they are just a PITA to walk in two rifles to the stand and I would rather hunt through optics any day of the week versus a fuzzy night vision monitor screen.

Those are my findings and experiences as well...

Yep it will definately make a difference

Hawke Endurance 8×56 LR DOT #16240 only $189.99, reduced from $249.99 - Down to the last one

No hype. I have one (SB 8x56) And, it is NOT for sale.

I'm super interested in this one, not for night hunting. Need to replace quite a few scopes in the near future.

Done

In dim light/moonlight higher magnification rules. Though a fixed power scope has less lens/more light if the dif is 90-92.5 you cannot tell the difference as you need 3% to notice a change. A recent variable w/IR dot, latest coatings offers wide FOV for general panning and ability to quickly zero in magnification.

The last of two models that started the Sightron Stac line 2014, 2.5-17.5x56 IR dot was discontinued this yr. In 2015 it was offered w/4A IR red dot. Except for the rest of what's left being at least half of the price I couldn't understand its demise.

I have a 8x56 bin from the 70's. Night Owl whose hook line was, "How to see a black cat at night". Not real bad for very limited ocular/objective coating, non-phase coated roof prism w/really narrow FOV. They were MIJ mail order that sold primarily out of outdoor style magazines. If the mag had 110 pgs this ad could be found right around 106.

They definately were never the cat's meow, but they aren't novelty bins.

Thanks for everyone's input, pulled the trigger on the S&B 8 x 56. I'll report back with a side by side comparison to other alpha scopes and others and determine if this really is the ultimate optic for low light other than night vision.

Hopefully have it by Christmas.

I feel so cheap.....

Found 1 more in the warehouse. So don't fret if you thought you missed out. 1 left