|
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217 |
Hey all.
Have a moose hunt coming up this fall and bought a new 300 win mag for a all around hunting gun. I have three scope laying around and am curious what everyone things would be best for all around gun.
1. Leupold VX3 3.5-10x50 30mm 2. Zeiss Conquest HD5 2.5-10x42 1” 3. Meopta Meostar R1 3-12x56 30mm.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 15,262
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 15,262 |
The Zeiss would be my choice out of the three. Pretty decent set it and leave it alone option.
Semper Fi
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591 |
Moose are plenty big enough as targets, anything works within reason. I have probably killed more with a fixed 3x Leupold than any other scope. Looking at your list and based mostly on tube and objective sizes would rank them Zeiss, Leupold, and Meopta. Extra weight while sloshing through tundra is of zero advantage...
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591 |
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217 |
I’m in Maine but would take the rifle out west as well.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591 |
I added up the rifles I have used to kill moose and remember an even dozen and they have worn a bunch of different scopes. My first was a small bull at about 40 feet and a 22lr at the base of the ear was adequate. Irons...
About six years ago I started in on a 30-06 and have not looked back since. It has a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x44 on it though it has had several other scopes during the time.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,418
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,418 |
Moose are plenty big enough as targets, anything works within reason. I have probably killed more with a fixed 3x Leupold than any other scope. Looking at your list and based mostly on tube and objective sizes would rank them Zeiss, Leupold, and Meopta. Extra weight while sloshing through tundra is of zero advantage... Hi Art, I love those old fixed Leopold M8-3X scopes. I have two of them. One currently sits atop my M700 in 35 Whelen and the other is on a M94 AE 30-30. I agree with going with the Zeiss of the three mentioned.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 629
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 629 |
I lived in Maine for 3 years and hunted the woods a lot. I would opt for the MeoStar R1 3-12x56 all day long. It will have the brightest glass of all the optic's you mentioned and the widest field of view. Being able to drop down to 3X will be important if your hunting is like mine was. Good luck and try to find one near a road!
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 688
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 688 |
Hey all.
Have a moose hunt coming up this fall and bought a new 300 win mag for a all around hunting gun. I have three scope laying around and am curious what everyone things would be best for all around gun.
1. Leupold VX3 3.5-10x50 30mm 2. Zeiss Conquest HD5 2.5-10x42 1” 3. Meopta Meostar R1 3-12x56 30mm. Shouldn't the Zeiss be a 2-10X42? If so, I have one and it works great for the thick Adirondack woods as well as long shots in open country. It has the largest field of view at low power, 52' compared to the Meopta, 33" and the Leupold, 29.8". It is also only 17.5 oz while the Meopta is 23.3 oz. The Leupold is the lightest at 14.7 oz but in my opinion that is outweighed by the quality, magnification range and FOV of the Zeiss. My vote is for the Zeiss.
Lee F.
"Life's tough......It's even tougher if you're stupid"
-John Wayne
Calling an illegal alien an 'undocumented immigrant' is like calling a drug dealer an 'unlicensed pharmacist'
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,418
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,418 |
I lived in Maine for 3 years and hunted the woods a lot. I would opt for the MeoStar R1 3-12x56 all day long. It will have the brightest glass of all the optic's you mentioned and the widest field of view. Being able to drop down to 3X will be important if your hunting is like mine was. Good luck and try to find one near a road! I checked the specs. The Zeiss at 2.5X has a 100yd FOV of 43'. The Meopta at 3X has a FOV of 33'. So the Zeiss has the widest FOV. As for brightness, both the Zeiss and the Meopta have an exit pupil at their lowest magnification well in excess of what the human eye is capable utilizing. The human eye pupil opens to a max diameter of around 5-7mm. The Zeiss at 2.5X has an exit pupil of 16.8mm and the Meopta has an exit pupil of 18mm. Both give more than the maximum light that the eye can handle. At the upper magnifications however there is a slight difference. The Zeiss will have an exit pupil of 4.2 mm and the Meopta of 4.6.mm. However, if one needs to crank up a scope to see the vital area of a Moose to 10 or 12 power, I'm thinking you are a little too far away and - - - you're not likely to see that Moose far away at first or last light where brightness comes in the most handy. The other advantages to the Zeiss is that it will be lighter in weight and can be mounted lower. ps AdkHunter, we were both working on this at the same time. Ha! The Zeiss did have a Conquest model of 2.5-10X. It has been discontinued but I was able to find the specs online.
Last edited by cooper57m; 06/27/20.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 1,644
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 1,644 |
I lived in Maine for 3 years and hunted the woods a lot. I would opt for the MeoStar R1 3-12x56 all day long. It will have the brightest glass of all the optic's you mentioned and the widest field of view. Being able to drop down to 3X will be important if your hunting is like mine was. Good luck and try to find one near a road! Weird. I never recall you saying a word about Meopta scopes just a few years ago. Oh, that's right, you were pimping Nikon at the time.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217
Campfire Regular
|
OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,217 |
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591 |
Moose are plenty big enough as targets, anything works within reason. I have probably killed more with a fixed 3x Leupold than any other scope. Looking at your list and based mostly on tube and objective sizes would rank them Zeiss, Leupold, and Meopta. Extra weight while sloshing through tundra is of zero advantage... Hi Art, I love those old fixed Leopold M8-3X scopes. I have two of them. One currently sits atop my M700 in 35 Whelen and the other is on a M94 AE 30-30. I agree with going with the Zeiss of the three mentioned. I have them on a couple 10-22s, and several special purpose rifles... especially some for kids shooting over bear baits... and loaner back-up rifles.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,341
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,341 |
Out of those listed I would opt for the Zeiss.
I would probably sell a couple and get something with a lower bottom end and great class quality. A 1.7-10 Meopta R2 or one of the various Meopta, Swaro, Leupold, etc 1-6s would work well too.
What zone did you draw? Congrats on the tag.
-Matt
"The proof of the whisky is in the drinking, the proof of the rifle is in the shooting."
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189 |
Moose hunt scope? Is this a joke? 20 feet distance will keep the powder burns off the hide. Go ahead and keep your eyes open, but you don't have to shoulder the rifle for a good enough shot.
You're welcome.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611
Campfire Tracker
|
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 5,611 |
Ditto to the Zeiss. I like the 2 power. My reason is that with moose my problem has been too close for my scope to focus a couple of times, one of those at 2 power, one at 3. Things happen fast and in the moment of surprise, instead of simply pointing the rifle as a hand held pistol (albeit with a long barrel) I mounted it to shoulder. Habit and muscle memory is tough to overcome in a surprised second or two, though it is a no brainer for me sitting here at the keyboard. Slow brainer here.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591 |
Out of those listed I would opt for the Zeiss.
I would probably sell a couple and get something with a lower bottom end and great class quality. A 1.7-10 Meopta R2 or one of the various Meopta, Swaro, Leupold, etc 1-6s would work well too.
What zone did you draw? Congrats on the tag. A lower power than 2x? Better glass than the Zeiss? Sorry, laughing.
Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,882
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,882 |
About any reliable scope in the 2-10 range with a 36 to 42 mm objective. Moose are big animals and most of mine shot in the last 55 years were shot with a old Leupold Vari X 2.5-8x36 and a Duplex reticle. Last year I switched to a Nightforce 3-10x42 SHV with their version of a duplex called the Force Plex reticle. It also has the illuminated dot feature, which me old eyes appreciate in late evening hunts.
I keep the scope zeroed for 100 yards, which was about the distance to the moose I shot last year. I have a strip of the ballistic tape offered by Kenton Industries on the elevation turret that is matched to my load and it is easy to dial out past 500 yards. I think my longest poke at a critter has been a moose at about 450 yards long ago. With today's antler restrictions shooting a moose far away is risky business.
Calling moose in is always and exciting time, just some thing about their grunting and antler raking and immense size. Getting close to the moose only makes every thing better. That and the fall colors are one of my life's greatest joys.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 36,822
Campfire 'Bwana
|
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 36,822 |
Never been moose hunting. If I was to go, I'd probably take this Ed Brown Damara 300 WM with Zeiss Victory 2.5-10x50. Great low light glass, DF
|
|
|
650 members (1badf350, 09wingates, 2003and2013, 007FJ, 160user, 71 invisible),
2,665
guests, and
1,183
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,187,603
Posts18,398,309
Members73,817
|
Most Online11,491 Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|