Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Low light scope

After a 8 year hiatus ive begun hunting in South Carolina again, SC law is 1 hour before sunrise and 1 hour after sunset so low light is obvious a huge factor. At 62 years old I don’t ever see myself shooting over 300 yards. With $1000 being my max and hopefully under what scope would you guys suggest. I’m thinking 10 on high side or 15 at most. Some of the guys I hunt with seem to think Nikon Monarch 7 is the absolute best. Just need some suggestions from those that have been there. I’m shooting a .308

I wouldn't go any higher than 10x , more power equals less light transmitted.
You can buy a good Swarovski for under $1000.

buy a Nightforce scope from Midway USA it will be under a $1000.00

Meopta R2 can run with anything made.

A fixed 6x42, 7x50 or 8x56 is worth a look if you're keeping shots to that distance. Had no idea SC gave an hour on either side of daylight, how generous

Yea, SC is very generous in the hunting hours. Want a variable but can certainly live with a 10X on the high side

Whatever Bobby Tomek recommends.

I use Zeiss here in SC, however, the next scope will be Meopta. Give Doug at Cameraland a call and he will give you the best price and service of anyone around
GreggH

My meopta meopro gives my leupold vx3i a run for its money and a fair number of people seem to think the vx3i is a good low light option.

Meopta 3-12x56. $999 at cameraland

RICKMELEAR,

For low light performance I would get a Leupold VX-5 3-15X56. I compared one side by side on deer antlers 131 yards away
with a Swarovski z5 5-25X52, Bushnell 6500 4 1/2-30X50, and a Leupold VX6 4-24X52. All were set on 15X. The VX-5 lasted
six minutes longer than the others; which all went down at the same time.

If you could afford a Swarovski V8i 2.7-18X56, it lasted another fourteen minutes longer than the VX-5.

By the way once the VX-5 could no longer show the antlers all I had to do was turn up the magnification on any of the other three
and could see for a few more minutes.

+1

I would say a Meopta or a Swarovski. I am in today till Rachael calls asking "When the heck are you coming home?" so give me a call and we can discuss what would be best for you.

Merry Christmas

A Nightforce SHV with illuminated reticle would work well.

I’d like to know more about the MeoStar R2 1.7-10x42 RD. I wasn’t even aware of it until just now.

Hard to beat that Schmidt Bender 2.5-10x56 with illuminated L3 in low light

I just purchased two Meopta Meopros from Doug this year and I would say they are above average for a medium priced scope.
I would rate them better than my Leupold VX 3i so those would be an option also.

I'm not sure a Meostar or Schmidt Bender would fall in your budget.

The Swarovski Z3 looks to be a great scope but never tried one.

We have a 30 min pre/post sunset rule. In my experience, both shooting and just looking through various scopes, the reticle is a lot more important than the particular make/model/power of scope.

It depends on how good your eyes are, and how "bright" the conditions are. In general, I've found that if I need to target anything after the last half of an hour after sunset, or the first hour before the sun comes up, most of the time I need at least a 7mm exit pupil.
That means whatever you choose is limited in magnification to that level. For instance, my favorite is the 6X with a 42mm objective. That allows me to see six times further under low light conditions than I can w/o a scope. The maximum practical would be a scope with a 56mm objective with 8x magnification.
These are general guidelines. I have, for instance, had optics that worked at night with a 4mm objective, IF the sky was clear, we had a full moon and I was in open country. But I've also had conditions where I was in tall trees, with no moon and full could cover. Them my 6X42 couldn't see much over 30 yds. E

I agree. I’ve spent a lot of time looking through a variety of scopes in the $250-$750 range during the first and last 30 min, and the glass on just about any new scope will work fine. The reticle separates them more than the glass in that range of scopes. Maybe the higher end is different, don’t know.

Glass, power, exit pupil, and reticle....it all matters. The hunting conditions play a big part. Clear skies and a full moon over an open field it doesn't take much. Overcast, drizzling rain, in the woods with a broken background and things get a lot tougher. Distance matters, how steady your view through the scope is matters......a lot of things matter. 30 mins pre/30 mins post ain't always the same.