Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Does the 4X scope still have a place in the modern hunters lineup?

I am with Varmint Guy...

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I have a number of 4x scopes. Several are on .22 rifles. I have one that is a dedicated travel backup scope for a couple of big bores; .375 and .416. I also have a 6x that is a travel backup for 6.5 and 7mm high velocity's. I have never had to use the backup scopes but they are there in case the need arises. Light, simple, and dependable.

YMMV

Sorry to ruffle feathers of the existing 4x crowd. I’ve certainly killed deer with iron sights & my variable set on 4 power or under so no doubt 4x works. But I do think as a new purchase they are still in the Tyrannosaurus category. They just have so few advantages vs a variable - even the Vari-XIII 1.75-6x previously on my 375H&H is handier on the starter 22 bolt action I use to start kids than a fixed 4x.

I don’t think the Hubble telescope on a hunting rifle makes much sense either particularly with a lower end higher than 4 power for quick close opportunities. Worked with a first time hunter this weekend he showed up with a 6-18 power Vortex on his new Mossberg 6.5 Creedmoor for a pig hunt on his bosses ranch. He did what guys not raised in hunting families do and asked friends & search the internet for reviews. Not everyone has 30+ years of fondness for the old TRex 4x.

I like all kinds of scopes as long as they have decent eye relief characteristics. What I don't get, barring eyesight problems, is the idea that it takes a lot of magnification to make good hits on deer sized game out to 300 yards or so.

One of the really important questions of modern hunting....

Sounds like your awareness level has been raised

MD, how do you really feel about 4X scopes?

I’ve actually been backing off 4x and mounting Leupold 2.5’s and Kill more game than many here combined on a regular basis. Granted most of my shots are within 125 yards, but the only thing that crosses my mind when I throw the scope up is putting that crosshair on the impact point. Magnification NEVER enters my mind.

The more I use a 2.5x the more I use a 2.5x.

Actually, the 3X Leupold is growing on me lately...with a heavy duplex reticle.
Bob

I have that too. The weirdest thing to me is how I only sight on paper at 25 yards on a dot I create with a sharpie and they hit the same hole, and how accurate the low power is on actual game animals at distance. My entrance wound is literally where I put the crosshairs each time. I can’t hardly see the same dot at 50 yards on paper With the 2,5x. I use a 1.5” MPBR on all of my rifles regardless of caliber and magnification.

They're all I currently use.

Someone said “you can’t hit what you can’t see”. I guess the 4X just ain’t enough for some.

I don’t consider a shot over forty yards actually hunting. Yes, I take longer shots but it just doesn’t jazz me up like a buck busting out of the brush at 5 yards.

90+% of my hunting is done with 2 rifles. 8x57is custom VZ-24 with a 4x32 Meopta Artemis(upgraded from 4x38 Weaver) and a 10/22 carbine with a 4x38 Weaver. I currently own 4x optics by Meopta, Weaver and Hawke.

I only own 2 variable optics, 1 USA made, GLOSS Burris FFII 3-9x40(wanted a gloss optic for my .300 Win Mag, and got a great deal on it) and 1 3-9x42 Meopta Meopro($70 in the Cabelas Bargain Cave) on a M70 Fwt 270(had this for a couple years now, still haven't fired it.)

I figure if I can't see and aim with a 4x, I shouldn't be shooting at it.

Is there any hunting situation where the 4X reigns supreme?


Yes. All.

No none at all

I have been hunting since about 1964. I have used MANY high powdered scopes and also about 6 or 7 Fixed power scopes. So to answer the question "Is there any hunting situation where the 4X reigns supreme?"
Between Dr Death and jwp475 above, DrDeath is more correct.
I don't say "All" because for paper competitions and for prairie dog shooting I find high magnification helpful or even vital on P.Dogs past about 300 yards.

But in my experience for ALL big game hunting in all countries and all states at all ethical ranges the fixed 4X is better and for about 1/3 of those a fixed 3X or maybe even a 2X would be better. And I have hundreds of kills with both higher powered scopes and also fixed power scopes of 4X and less. So I am not guessing here. Funny thing is that about 1/2 of the scoped rifles in my safe have 2X -7X or 3X-9X scopes on them but I don't think any of them have been taken off their lower settings in at least 8 years. I do have 2 rifles with 1X to 4X scopes on them and I leave them set at 3X And I have killed game with those rifles and scopes set at low power from Ranges of 1 yard all the way out past 450 MANY times. I shoot my 2X scout scoped 30-06 to 500 on targets quite often, and my 4X scope on one of my 270s I fire at 1200 yards several times a year and do very well with it too. I don't always hit my targets (12" gong) with the 270 at 800-1200, but I hit more then I miss. I do it with my 300 mag too, with it's 2X-7X, and I leave it on 4X. You see, making the target look larger doesn't actually make it larger. Magnifying the target doesn't make a bullet grow in diameter either.

Many if not most of those that say the variable is "better" are just guessing, and have not go the years and the kills behind them to have a valid opinion based on 1st hand knowledge.

How is the 4X better? I can set a variable on the most desirable power for the situation.

I've been hunting at least as long as you and I've yet to find a fixed power scooe more desirable than a variable.

As to King game I've killed a lot with irons and continue to fo so but they are not superior to a scope

Variables turn supreme

If you hunt forests where visibility is less than 100 yards and every deer is legal certainly 4x works. If you hunt mountains & open country where you might not be able to get within 300 yards of an animal and there are antler restrictions 4x doesn’t cut it for most people. When a 4th point or a 6” brow tine means 300 lbs of elk in the freezer & the lack of either means an expensive ticket. Certainly binoculars or spotting scope can tell but not nearly as quickly as - “it’s legal Bang.”

Hitting the target may not be the only challenge. I’ve shot elk from 11-550 yards and one fixed magnification isn’t perfect for either.

Wait a minute, are you admitting to using your scope rather than a binocular or spotting scope to verify something? Beware, there are those preparing the stake and stacking bundles of branches at its foot even now.