Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold 6X42 or 6X38 on 375 H&H?

My Sako has had a 3-9X40 Vari-X II with the German reticule on it for years. Recently sold it to a friend for his new custom 9.3X62.



Replaced it with and old 26 mm Nickel Supra 4X38 and it has been great..............until it took a dunking last Monday. The scope is now fogged and going to have to be serviced.



I am seriouisly considering trying one of my 6X Leupolds on this rifle this fall. I know, I know, 375s are supposed to carry low maginification, and I have always had that ability on all of mine, but am wondering if anyone here has used either one on a 375 H&H?



Especially interested in how they handled the recoil, and how it worked afield. Will be hunting moose and bear, both in the timber and on the tundra.



Thanks,

Ted

6X42 is the only way to go. Worth the extra $100 bucks or so. IMHO. You will never go back.

Have had them on a 375/375H&H AI quite a bit. Now that the 338Ultra is my "all arounder" and has largely replaced the 375's,it too wears a 6x42 and if I weren't tickled,it simply would have something else bolted to it.

Haven't puked one and nothing I've ever wanted has escaped,due to an optics issue. Actually plan on buying more,but you likely had that figured...................(grin)

I could not think of a worse choice of 6X for a .375 H&H. Unless it was an 8X as that would be worse.

This 6X Leu. fetish on this site is almost funny if it were not wrong most of the time.

My suggestion is that you buy a Leu. VX-1 2-7. Thats a scope with 66' field of view and not one with a tiny field of view like that 6X has.

Per Leupold's website the 2-7X has a 42' field of view, not 66'. Depending on the terrain, I'd give it a whirl. Being a fixed power it should hold up better than a variable.

I have several 6x42's on my hunting rifles. This weekend I am going moose hunting and the rifle will wear a 6x42. Even though i have several others to choose from, i just like the way you throw this puppy up and your eye finds it quickly.

Tried a 1.5x5, 1.75x6 and the 2-7. The failed to move me, so ebay moved them to a new owner. Funny i have yet to sell one of my fixed power scopes....

I'd go with the 6x38. I just bought another one a couple of weeks ago, and asked my gunsmith / dealer / local shop owner what the biggest difference was. After a discussion regarding the coatings he advised me that he really couldn't tell enough difference to justify the extra 100.00. So I added a fourth 6x38 to my battery.

Sorry to get you so riled up, Don! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have a couple of Vari-x II 2-7s, one with the #4 German reticule and one with Leupold's own heavy duplex, as well as a Vari-X II in 2.5-8, and an old M8 3X so not hurting for traditional scopes to put on a 375.

Was just inquiring to see if anyone had tried one. I was aactaully quite impressed with the Nickel Supra 4X38. It has a post and crosshair and points like a dream on the rifle, and was planning on using it, but will be gone for a while.

I have two of the 6X38s on rifles now and am quite satisfied with them. The 6X42 is great, but I really can't see a big difference, either.



Maybe one of these days when I am taking a shot into the sun, late in the evening, I will be glad I had the 42 on............or wish I had. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Indeed the FOV of a Leu 2-7 set at 2X is about 43' at 100 yds and a M8 6X is 17'. This is a big difference however for a dangeous game rifle and even 43' may be too small a field at very close range.

When you calculate the area of each scopes view then it's aparant that the square of the radius shows that the 43/17 ratio works out to four times the field in square feet!

I have a 6X M8 36mm on a .22 only because I got it cheap. My first scope was a quality 6X and it's a very useful power but that was before the variable was available in such quality and even a lower price in the Leu. line.

Don,



You gotta pretty good hard-on for the 6x42. What gives? My guess is that you is only happy when bein' the turd in the punchbowl and just like to stir the pot?



I have great difficulty believing that your hand/eye coordination precludes you from stabbing a mounted rifle's muzzle in close proximity to it's intended target and you require an inordinate number of "square feet" of resolution to coax the damned thing where you wish it? Am suprised iron sights aren't your favoritest,as they grant lotsa square feets!(grin) Maybe a -6x would be the Meeeoww,think of all them available square feets!



When things is right up close and personal,most go into a reflex mode of sorts and can handle a rifle in a shotgun-ish manner. "Most" based upon what comes natural to me and thoughts related by gents I know/respect,how was trying to get outta the bight.



I believe the closest poke I had on Game was comfortably under 10" and it were a Bear that a pard had abused prior with his 35Whelen to the tune of 3 pokes.



I was largely hanging on for my life,while scaling a very steep face and sorta slithering over a large duff log at the same time. As I crested it,I saw him,he seen me and the closing distance was shortened quick like. Am still uncertain of his intentions,as any damned fool would know it weren't me toting a Whelen(grin).



Regardless,he were getting closer and I confess to feeling a little more than threatened. I shot him one handed at point blank range(my other hand were busy,to preclude a rather nasty tumble back'erds) and my face were 2' away or so from the stock and a 36X BR glass woulda been just ducky in that encounter,regardless of reticle. I had zero trouble center punching him in the brisket,without the firm cheekweld and the untold comfort of the 3.5-10x's advantages in square footedness(grin).



The prick tumbled off a cliff stone cold dead and lit on my backpack that I'd left below,for the pending two handed climb. It's unique shape,serves as a reminder every time I bolt it on. I'll keep it forever,for that reason alone.



Point is,things is only as tough as you wanna make them. You seem bent on quoting inconsequential data,that's bearing ain't the whole enchilada. While I'll grant you Punchbowl Points for the grandiose misdirection,it isn't how the ball bounces in application.



I also feel somewhat compelled to weigh in on the other Leupie 6x's. To my eye,they is far more critical in nature. Especially in eye-relief and in discerning full field of view hastily. The 6x Compact has gotta be twice as hard to employ rapidly,though that is typical of all Compacts IMHO and seemingly their nature. I've yet to field a Compact I could call "fast" and I'm guilty of having more than a few.



I'm also guilty of having multiple fullsize optics to pick and choose from and that from the much applauded Leupie 2.5X Compact with heavy duplex(POS in my book,for rapid aquisition),all the way up to variables that have topped out to over 30x(yep,was guilty once of doing the Burris 8-32x thing and it too were a POS). With the ability to pick and choose outta them,so as to hedge a bet,I repeatedly find the 6x42mm a very tough act to follow. I've no built in bias towards that make/model,other than it helps me get the goody outta most every situation and on a wide range of rifle types,in a large spectrum of chamberings and diverse applications.



There is no thicker brush on the planet,than SE Alaska and that glass is my favorite for Calling Bucks outta their haunts and it is often up close and personal come crunch time. My oldest with only 6 Bucks under his belt,slapped his closest at under 20' and it were via 6x42 powered by a then 9yr old and in heavy cover. I believe that if you were to quiz him on the viability of a rematch on Bucks at that distance,he'd thank you kindly and keep tipping them over while wearing a grin. I mean really,where do the troubles lay?



He's got 4 of them(6x42's) on his rifles(223AI,25-284,7-08 and 7SAUM). Believe me,if he liked another glass better,or found something else easier to use,I'd bolt them to his rifles in a heartbeat as my sole intent is to stack the deck in his favor. Needless to say,I've mounted everything I've got,upon his 223AI(his first rifle),so as to give him an honest crack at something that were perhaps better suited to him. They ain't made it yet(grin).



If you really wanna bitch,it should be in the regards of his toting a Remington S/S Model Seven with a McMillan stock,chambered in 7-08,stoked with 140XLC's and wearing a 6x42 on top. Poor kid was forced to use Leica 8x20's to boot! In some States,that is likely child abuse.(grin)







I must be a twisted/abusive SOB to make my own tote such compromising rigging! Despite my mean streak,I'm thinking that if you were to quiz The Boy on the availability of another Monster Bear at 75yds,I'll go out on another thin limb and state that he'd again say "Thanks!" and have his way with him. I cain't do the squarely footed math,to cypher the available image to the poor lad,but he SURELY only saw hair in his glass!



Laffin' here,as it is a [bleep] wonder ANYTHING ever gets a bullet in it,with all of the compounded impossibilities!............................(grin)

Big Stick,

No fair posting pics of cute kids in debates!

Back when I was fourteen years old my old man got me a new Remington 722 with a 6X Lyman Wolvorine on it for all around use. We were hunting in Southern Vermont for deer and bear and I was up on this hillside and somehow I got in the middle of a deer drive. Guys were yelling and barking like dogs and I was scared a little not having been in that situation before.

All of a sudden a deer ran out of the woods towards me and I tried to scope it to see if it had the manditory 3" antler to be a legal buck. I never even got that deer's head in the field of view.

There was not a good choice of scopes back then and we used to make do with less anyway.

Stick
I would likely choose the larger field of view over the 6x42 if I was using my scope instead of binos...

Having been in two confrontations with annoyed bears up close I will second the lack of concern for specifications on glass... Loved that little story!
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