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

I've been hunting almost as long as you, and have been fortunate enough to hunt in many places for many types of game. I'll take the variable every time, and like many others here, have the kills and experience to not be guessing. I can turn my variable up if I feel the need, which I’ve done on many occasions. There’s not much that can’t be done with a 4x, but there’s not much that can’t be done better with a variable, IMO.

I didn’t start hunting until 1969 so behind some here but I’ve hunted primarily in the local mountains & those in Colorado & Utah. Not many whitetail woods & even the thick stuff has cross canyon openings. So longer distance shots are common. My grandfather hunted deer with a semi-auto 30-06 & variable scope for fast follow up & ability to reach out if needed.

If you hunt extremely game rich areas with long seasons you don’t need to maximize your opportunities. Hunting public land elk in NW Colorado isn’t shy of animals but opportunities may be few & far between. I’m not willing to waste one with an underpowered scope & rifle combination. If 60 yards is your ballpark by all means low power is adequate. Of course my variable scopes for hunting start mostly at 3 power so that range is covered too.

To answer what I consider a ligament question "How is the 4X better? " So I'll answer in full respect and with my set of fact that leads be to this conclusion.

How's it better? In a few ways. Not any being universal but all just as ligament as the question asked.

#1 Is that field of view and light gathering are better from a fixed low powered scope then they are from a higher magnification. For game hunting I have found clarity and field of view beat larger images every time if any quickness is needed for a shot.
So the counter would be that "a variable can be set at lower power". Very true and that's exactly what I do, and what I said I do in the post above. But being that I shoot them every time on the lower power for hunting (including my longer shots-- because I can see better due to the scope allowance of more light at lower power) it makes me ask the question why I would spend a lot more money on a feature I have found to be close to useless over the last 50+ years? So for real world use they are better due to cost

#2 I own variables and I set them more/less permanently on the lower powers making them bulkier and/or heavier then a fixed power of the same magnification. So better in their size and weight.

#3 in all my years as a shooter, hunter, guide and firearms instructor I have never had to return a well made fixed power scope in for service due to it breaking something inside. I have had to have 5 of my own scoped repaired in my life and all of them were variables. These include 2 Leupolds, one Schmidt and Bender, one Burris and one Pentax. As a gun professional (gunsmith) I have also done it a few dozen times for customers and i know of at least as many that the owners did themselves and again ALL of the were variables. So I think I am safe to say for the top tier of reliability the fixed scope beats the variables. Better for reliability.

Now as I said I still own several rifles with variables on them, so I am not "against them" but if I were able to "write my own script" I would have 1 to 5X on 2 of my semi-autos and 100% of the rest of my guns for hunting big game would have good quality fixed scopes on them At this point of my life I wish every single rifle I had except my 6.8 SPC AR15 and my 5.56 AR 15 would have fixed scopes. My 2 ARs would have 1X to 5X scopes on them.

So "4X" is not as much an issue as the difference between a variable and a fixed, be it 2X 3X 4X or 6X.

To close I would point out that in a 1/4 mile run, if all runners were to cross the finish line in the span of 6 seconds the one that crossed last is "the slowest" and the one who crosses 1st is the fastest..... but the winner didn't make the losers slow. Same with fixed vs variable in my book. I am not someone that would refuse use and own a variable, but if I could, I would have nearly all fixed scopes. As it turned out many of my scopes are variables, but using them along with using fixed ones for over 1/2 a century is the REASON I am convinced the fixed scopes are indeed better for 99% of the real world shooting and hunting.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better? No. Just consistently a bit better for my uses anyway.

I kind of felt that the question was tendon.

Fixed scopes above the rim fire junk category are more reliable based on fewer points of failure. A 2000’s Crown Victoria is about as reliable a passenger vehicle produced - that doesn’t mean that I want to drive that particular Car or that it is the best tool for the job based on its limitations of poor fuel economy & Lack of off road capabilities. It does keep on going as police car’s & taxis so hard to complain but limited.

What exactly do you mean by light gathering being better for a fixed low power scope? Same for "the scope allowance of more light at low power"?

In theory, light transmission is better for a fixed power, at the same power level, but the reality is, there isn't much difference. In fact, the high dollar variables might get better coatings and do even better. Every scope I have lets me see better, in low light conditions, than I can with the naked eye so I don't worry much about this.
I feel confident that I can hit what I want, out to 400 yds, with a 4X scope. If I see good ram at 500, I'll either get closer or I won't get that ram today.
I have to say, that Model 70 with the Lyman All-American, shown earlier in the thread; what a nice looking outfit. That is one reason I like the classic 4 powers, they are nice looking scopes. Scopes which a big and bulky, with prominent adjustment turrets and accented graphics, leave me cold. As I said before, I'm not a modern hunter. GD

Fixed power scopes aren't popular

^
^
^

No argument there.





But neither is truth these days.

Always had a thing for the classic ‘look’ of a fixed power scope.

I have a few fixed 4x scopes one on my .30-30 and one on my ar.. While I respect szihn's experience, my main hunting rifles have scopes from 2- 14 power.. Some special longer range rifles go up to 20.. But for my main one I have them set on the highest power .. I leave it there unless I know I am getting a close moving shot.. My cousin told me 60 years ago, if I bought a 2.5-8 B & L scope for my .30-06, I would use it on 8x most of the time.. He was right.. I remember a deer shot in the thick brush in Pa. when I was about 20.. I was putting on a drive the last day for friends, when we jumped a group of deer in a crab apple thicket.. My pal had a 94 32 spl.. I had the old 06 with the scope at 8x.. He could see the deer flicking thorough the brush, but by the time he got thing lined up, they were gone.. As they headed my way I jumped up on a little stump.. As the first one crossed the opening in front of me , maybe 50 yards I got on that spot.. When the next one hit it I fired and broke its neck.. My pals had venison due to the scope...

Years later I went to Africa, and took my .375 H & H with a 6x because I didn't have the 4x or 3x everyone said was perfect.. I killed one waterbuck with it and then used my .300 with the 4-12.. Ranges weren't long, but the 12 x let me find a hole to shoot through in the heavy brush.. My .375 has a 3-9 on it today.. Now some folks set their scopes at 4 x and never change.. That is fine, but how do they know what can be done with a higher power scope if they never use it... I will take a variable every time...

I have some variables from back when I thought I needed one for here in Pa, or bought for a good price....then I found out I didn’t....Then there are some highly respected hunters that post on here that say they find them more than adequate for most situations...so my answer is yes....

A fixed power scope has a classic look

Sundial or Seiko?

I'll take the sundial!

g

If you need more than 4x you are sniping not “hunting”.

I just put a Leupold 4x on my pre 64 338 win mag. Mounted nice and low, fits perfectly.

Plan on using it this year for whitetail.

I have only ten scoped rifles. Three each are variable, 4X, and 6X, and one is 3X. Of the three I actually use for hunting the is one 3-9 x 40, one 6x42, one 4x33. In my hunting I don't really notice a difference between 4X and 6X, so claiming a 4X reigns supreme isn't something I'm going to do. The 4X I used for hunting is just a good scope regardless of power.

More customer to be had at least.

Sad, but true.

That's the chief advantage in my mind. One less thing to think about.