Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 4X choices, what happened?

I cant think of a single use for a fixed 4x scope. Evidently I am not alone.

I have several Kaps scopes, and like them very much. Comparable to the best European scopes to my eyes. One is a fixed 4x on my .375 H&H. It is a very good match to that rifle, and has been completely reliable. I also have a 1-4x ( first focal plane ) on another .375, and a 2.5-10x ( also ffp) on a .308. No worries.

9.3x62

Eastern US hunting

358 Winchester or any other caliber you might use in woods, dark timber or at medium range. I know, you can dial most variable scopes down to a 4x but some of us don't want to fiddle with dialing in the magnification....just point and shoot regardless of situation, and you are on target. Even my old eyes have no problem shooting out to 250 to 300 yards with a fixed 4x scope.

I have one for a 9.3x74R double, and have found it ideal for big game from very close to about as far as I have wanted to shoot with that rifle. It is very light and, having fewer lenses than a variable, passes plenty of light.

I also have found a 4x ideal on a .22 LR for rabbits and such.

I had one on a .45/70 too, where again it suited the use I had for that rifle. The magnification was ideal, with no need to fiddle with it, and it had the added bonus of a small eyepiece diameter, so it could be mounted good and low without obstructing access to the hammer.

Plenty of reasons to like them.

Funny, I cannot think of one use for a variable, and I hunt maybe four days per week year round when I’m healthy or not fishing.

Exactly, but I was surprised to find out that a buddy of mine that recently traded me a used FX-II 6x36 with the standard duplex actually prefers the wide one. He's the only person I've met that does. Otherwise he is a sensible guy.

I expect that I'm done buying scopes at this point in my life, but I'm disappointed in the recent discontinuation of so many good fixed scopes. I've got more scopes than I can use now, but don't like not having the choice of a good fixed scope. Most of mine are fixed 6X or 4X, but I use some variables. At the first of 2019 IOR/Valdada discontinued their 4X. Just before that I'd bought a used one, and wanted to get a new one, but waited too long.

Only fixed power scope I'd like to have is an ultralight 2.5x20 for a yet to be obtained bugout/backpack/canoe/survival rifle.
Would actually like to have three rifles that I could swap it from one to another depending on mood, game, or locale. A RAR compact 22 mag for the swamp, a hopped up 13xx carbine for birds/small game in the mountains or river banks, and a youth handi-rifle with superlight switch barrels in 223, 30-30, and 20 gauge for the Ouachitas, Ozarks, and some shotgun only national forest.

I like my 1-4, 2-7, and 3-9 on most hunting rifles even though I often keep them near the lowest setting.

I got a drawer full of 4x scopes. Have thought about mounting the old Redfield Widefield on something...sometime...maybe. Would be excellent mounted super low on a Marlin 60.

Actually I do have a tiny 4x32 scope mounted low on my Daisy 131 and it fits perfect and works quite well on that rifle.

Just looked at my hunting notes for the past several decades, and found that I've taken around 30% of my big game with 4x scopes. They included 24 species, ranging in size from pronghorns and springbok around 100+ pounds, to those weighing well over 1000, such as Alaskan moose and African eland. The ranges, uh, ranged from 10 to 450 yards, and the cartridges from the .243 Winchester to .375 H&H.

Now, admittedly, I've used 4x scopes a lot partly because when I started hunting that was the most common hunting magnification. But apparently they do work for more than a "single use."

I think many folk just don’t understand the fixed 2.5, 4, or 6 concept, maybe based on shooting paper targets where they enjoy more magnification.

The more you actually kill with them, the better they are.

I have two 4x Leupold m8 s with CPC reticles I will sell.

The glass is great, the tubes are scuffed.

Look in classifieds.

One guy bought one on impulse I guess and wants to return it. So possibally he could ship directly to you. It's the top one made suffix T.

Thanks.

Agreed!

I just happened to stumble into a Leupold 4x33 and a CZ American 9.3x62 today. Actually, I had to look pretty hard for the Leupold but I think the NIB CZ was the better find. I wouldn't mind another 4x and a 6x36 for stocked away for later.

If anyone is looking for 4x scopes I posted a Monarch 4x40 and a Conquest 4x32 in the classifieds:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...est-4x32-nikon-monarch-4x40#Post14578903

I have several fixed-power scopes and plan on acquiring a few more.

1: 4X Nikon Prostaff Rimfire on a Marlin Model 25/22 LR

2: 4X Leupold Rimfire on Browning BL-22

3: 4X Leupold Rimfire on Remington 580

4: 4X Simmons on Remington 510 ( 34 year old scope)

5: 6X Leupold on 788/222 Remington

6: 4X Leupold on Knight MK-85 muzzleloader

7: 10X Weaver AO (K10) on 22-250

8: 4X Leupold on Rock River AR

9: 4X Redfield on 44 mag. Handi-Rifle

My favorite is the 4X Redfield I picked up on trade for cheap. I needed a scope in a pinch and threw it on the Handi-Rifle and I fell in love with it. The reticle is a crosshair with a circle where the crosshairs intersect. At 100 yards a 3 inch shoot-n-see target completely fills the circle making it easy to shoot groups with for a four power. It is great for shooting game. I believe it is called a crosshair/peep.
I have several variables but the fixed powers seem to fill my needs perfectly. Simple and all have been 100% reliable for me.

I'm down to a couple 4x scopes This one is a hard to find M8 matte version. Not sure what it's going on yet but I couldn't let it pass. The other is a Scopechief.

JohnnyLoco: I come from an era when about the only scope people used was a "fixed" 4 power scope.
They worked.
But they "work" NOWHERE near as well as a modern variable power scope!
The question that puzzles me is WHY on earth would anyone want to limit themselves to a fixed 4 power scope when there is literally a myriad of wonderful, reliable and WAY more useful variable power scopes out there to choose from?
IF.... you really want a fixed 4 power scope I say get yourself to a gunshow (I have attended 6 of them in the last month and a half!) and they are often offered there (used) for sale.
I highly advise against limiting yourself with a fixed 4 power but if that is what you want give a gunshow a try.
I saw one fellow at the Whitehall, Montana gunshow yesterday (Sunday) that had several fixed 4 power scopes in a cardboard box for sale cheap - and at that it did not appear that he had sold any - since I was the first one through the door when that gunshow opened Friday afternoon!
In other words peoples interests are elsewhere, for the most part, it seems.
MAYBE that is why fewer and fewer factory folks are offering fixed 4 power scopes?
Good luck.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

4x scopes suck.
Proly end up w a queer president and a first lady that pees standing up.

Optics......scopes and politics.

Yay progress