Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What's the draw for a 6x fixed power

I think the question was, what's the draw of a 6X scope.

Not, does the 6X work for your specific conditions.

There have been several who said they hadn't found a 6x lacking in any hunting situation from 10 yards to 500. I merely pointed out that it's not the best choice in all situations.

I have a Burris Signature 6x scope on a Weatherby Vanguard 270 Winchester. I hunt deer in the thick Maine woods. I still hunt or just post up ( find a spot and wait).

The "draw" ? To me is that it is the max magnification for strong sight picture, with controllable steadiness/wiggle. Also, I just like to try something different to find how the "pros vs cons" list wind up. It's called experimenting and playing.

It (6x) has enough effective/ usable field of view for short range, enough magnification to pick a spot through an opening between trees, and is able to be held steady in a sitting slinged position. I don't shoot at running deer. 6x is effective, bright, and gives no handicap for my hunting style. I like it.

I also have other fixed power scopes that are used: Weaver K1.5x and 2.5x, 3x, Lyman AA 2.75x, Leupold 3x and 4x. All work fine.

I have fixed 8x and 10x scopes too. While they WOULD work, I feel 8x pushes against the "woods range usefulness" magnification level and is more than I need or want. 6x is nice, and works fine for woods hunting.-but I do PREFER 3 - 4x fixed power scopes for that hunting (less wiggle).

Yes, I do use binocs for target ID. (Doctor Optics 8x30 porro prism.)

Exactly.......familiarity.

I assume you do understand that your rifle "wiggles" just as much when you are shooting with a 2X scope as it does when you shoulder a rifle with a 14X scope. The difference is only that you can see the "wiggle" easier at higher magnification.

Oh my gosh. I am rolling on the floor here.

You would not believe how many blue grouse I have killed with that aforementioned 30-06 and Weaver V7. It might as well have been a straight 7 because it never got turned down. Put the crosshair on the neck and pull the trigger.

I'm talking ruffed grouse on the wing idiot. Now I'll roll on the floor for awhile. You should put down the bong and get rid of that can of paint chips.

It always amazes me how many people do not understand that a higher power scope only allows them to see what their rifle actually does all the time. I have had some extended conversations with some on just this matter. The previous post was not really intended for one who does understand the concept.

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My choice of a 6x is made easier in that I don't take running shots.

I did participate in hunting driven deer for several years in Forest County, PA. The drivers marched through the woods shouting, yelling and banging on pans. You don't need to do that to drive deer. If you just move through the woods without fireworks and light shows, you will drive deer. The deer that these guys drove just shifted into warp speed. You just saw dark shapes running full bore through the woods. You could not tell which were bucks, if any, and which bucks were legal. The choice of scope did not matter as I just cradled my rifle and watched the pretty deer charge by at light speed. I tried a red dot one year but it was no good with detail in low light and shade.

I made a closer acquaintance with one of these driven deer. I was on a stand in a valley when I heard this extremely loud thrashing and snapping on the other side of the hill. I thought to myself ,"Is there an elephant loose in Forest county? It must be a very large deer, maybe a good buck" I positioned myself for a shot if it came down the hill towards me. Then the source appeared and came running down the hill. It was a button buck, scared out of its wits, whatever wits button bucks have, with its head down, eyes wide, tongue lolling-heading right for me in terror. It stopped right behind me within arms reach, head cocked and ears up. I turned my head and said, "hi, there" Off it went again, panic-stricken.

It took me longer than it should have to find a different place to hunt.

I've killed dozens of deer on the run. It's really not terribly difficult. Actually not much harder to me than killing rabbits on the run with a shotgun and easier than running rabbits with a .22. A 6x scope is a hindrance on fast moving targets at close range. Particularly if there's intervening brush and trees they're weaving through. If 6x scopes were really the bee's knee's for close range shots at moving targets, every military/police entry team would have them on their SBR's. We've never done the noisy, hoot and holler drives. Nor do we march through the woods at high speed banging on trees and kicking brush. We use the wind to take the drivers scent to the deer and keep it from our standers as much as possible. Our drivers still hunt toward the standers and many times kill deer themselves. None of that matters when the deer realize they're being pinched by multiple hunters and go into panic mode. Then if you want to kill them you need to be able to take them on the run. I once rolled three running flat out, crossing right to left, in what was probably less than two seconds with a Remington 760 carbine .30-06 topped with a Weaver K-1.5 with post and crosshair.

Every scope is a trade off on something. Fixed vs variable, ffp vs sfp, parallax, thick/thin reticle, exit pupil, weight.....you can point out pro's and con's on all of them. Weight your options and make your choice.....in the end (assuming mechanical and optical reliability is there) the user's preference on the details is the biggest draw to any scope. Like the 6x?....then use the 6x. Don't like the 6x?....then don't use the 6x.

The optics forum....where a preference/opinion on something only the user has to be pleased with is turned into a Democratic primary debate.....

Amazing isn't it? A few years back the sun rose and set on Leupold 6x42's on the campfire. Some of the commentary from the usual culprits is just laughable.

Now see here! There'll BE no reasoned discourse on this forum! I'm gonna PM SYSOP right now, and get you banned!

And just to say the unsaid... could it be that our eyes are evolving as we... um... become ever more, "seasoned" shooters/hunters? Perhaps all the scopes we've loved over the years, might not work the same for us now, as they did back in the day. Heaven forbid we ever have to admit to changing what's working for us in the present.

I'll be the first to admit that, while I still many not crave higher X's in a scope, I do appreciate larger target dots when at the range these days...

FC

The center of the center is the center.

There is the possibility of more visual feedback increasing the amplitude of the wiggle.

That's obvious. And when you have an animal in the crosshairs and you perceive that the crosshairs are moving all over the place, it's more difficult to settle down and pull the trigger, that's all.

Your grouse gun for wing shooting is a scoped rifle?

You are correct, but unlikely any will.

I really like the Leopold 3x, but do find the 6x42 to be a better all round choice. Most certainly early and late.

As mentioned a couple times, used one to shoot a bedded Buck at around three big steps with no problem. Also used a 1.5-5 on 5x to shoot a Doe at barrel sticking distance that chose my point on the compass to run to. Had a 6x42 on when I happened to have a Black Bear walk by and do the same. Could have touched him with the barrel. If I would have had to shoot, I wouldn’t have shouldered the rifle, nor would have less xxxxx’s made any difference. Someone killed him when the season came in and he made 550 plus a little.

Kinda felt sorry for the big guy. One of the local farmers was keeping him in easy food, with the intent of shooting him later, and maybe he had come to think humans were OK.

Addition: However, he got tagged a couple miles away.


Less xxxx’s could be an advantage in certain situations, but if one is familiar with pointing a rifle they will be few, and they can get close enough that neither matters.

By mistake, I once sent two punkin balls after one. Didn’t work out, and I’m kinda certain a scope wouldn’t have helped.