Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What optic?

Here in Louisiana we have a "Primitive Weapons Season" one week prior and one week after our regular firearms season. The reason I put it in quotations is because there is not very much that is primitive about it anymore. The firearms just have to meet the following conditions. It must be a single shot with an exposed hammer of 35 caliber and larger. So a few years ago I found a CVA Scout2 Compact in 35Remington. I've kept a Leupold 1-4x score on it but would like to move that scope to my Marlin 1895 in 45/70. That leaves me wondering what scope to put on my little compact 20" barreled rifle. It is an extremely compact rifle that needs only a small scope both dimensionally and in magnification. I really would be happy to put another 1-4 scope or a compact 3x-4x scope on it. I don't want it to be a "scope with a rifle attached to it."



What scopes do you have experience with that fit the parameters I'm looking for?

Well, a 2-7 power seems like a good fit.


https://www.sigsauer.com/whiskey3-2-7x32-mm.html

I'd try to find one of the older Japanese Weaver 1-3x Classics, or possibly even a simple fixed Leupold 4x.

Having a little light is never a bad thing in the southern woods.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1026441932?pid=402863

Sightmark Citadel 1-6x24 - CR1

Burris RT-6 1-6x24mm - Ballistic AR Illuminated

Steiner P4Xi 1-4x24

Leupold VX-3HD 1.5-5x20 CDS-ZL - Duplex only 9.71" & 9.7 oz

Keep your eyes open for a used Leupold or Redfield Revolution 2-7x32 set and forget scope. A 1-4, 1.5-5 or 3x would all work great too but seem to be a little harder to find. All of the new manufacturer low power scopes are clunky with tall turrets etc, a trend I do not care for personally

Thanks for the suggestions! They include some that I haven't considered...

I just put one of these Bushnell Elite 4500s on a .22 Mag AR. 30mm, but compact and it has long ER which can be hand on break-action guns.

https://www.bushnell.com/scopes/sho...24-riflescope-multi-x/BU-REL1424BS3.html

Don’t let that price bother you, they’re heavily discounted right now.

I agree with the 2x7 recommendations. I have a used compact 2x7 Leupold on my Marlin 35 Rem. Happy hunting

Get a Leupold freedom 2x7 Small , no dials and tough. Very good optically.

I've had a few 2-7 scopes and they are a sweet....agreed w above recommendations

Have you considered a non magnified red dot sight such as an AimPoint or Leupold Delta Point Pro?

Since coming to the realization that 99% of the shots I take deer hunting here in AR are 250 yards or less, these type optics are what I now mount on all my most used hunting rifles.

My favorite is a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel. I’ve attached an Aimpoint T2 micro to it and it is a very sweet shooting, quick handling rig.

I was in the same boat as you. I'm in Plaquemine, just south of Baton Rouge and I hunt hard woods that are thick of oaks. Just this summer, I picked up a CVA Scout 350 legend for the same damn reason. I'm 51 and have been still using the old 50 cal muzzleloader, but decided to make the swap. Picked one up from St. landry lumber in Opelousas. I originally had a burris FF E1 on it but given my hardwoods are so thick, it couldn't get me to legal shooting time. I have a SB polar 4-16x56, meopta's 3-18x56, trijicon accupoint 2.5-10x56, trijicon credo 3-15x50 on my other rifles but didn't want to spend that kind of money for basically 2 weeks out of the hunting season.

Bobby Tomek on the site was generous enough to let me try a newer Meopta scope, the MeoSport R 3-15x50 RD SFP with illuminated #4 dot reticle. So he shipped it to me and I brought it on a hunt that way I could get a real-world view through it. As soon as the sun set, I knew I had 30 min left. It was still in the box, so I pulled it out and was looking through it. Surprisingly the glass is very nice for the price point. Of course when i was looking through my Polar, it couldn't compare, but the Polar is about $2500 more that this meopta. The illumination is battery powered and does turn down low enough for great usage in low light situations. I just weighed the scope yesterday for a guy and it is 22.57 oz, so while not extremely light, it isn't heavy by any means either. I liked it so much that I bought it from Bobby. These can be picked up from sport optic in Hammond for $499 last I checked. I haven't mounted it yet because I need 30mm mounts and also, I don't need it now, been too busy hunting. But considering the DNZ mount. Thats the mount that seems to be on everyones CVA scout 350.

How thick is the center crosshairs on that meopta meo sport? I've been thinking about trying one of them on my 270. Also, where are they made?

Meopta

This is a link to the store i mentioned. The picture is a good indication of the reticle. I like it a lot, at least for my use in dark hardwoods.

I've been picking up Burris Droptine Rimfire 3-9x scopes for a little under $100 for my short range cartridge rifles.

I have a Weaver classic fixed 4x on my CVA 44mag and it's perfect. I think I have another one I'm not using. If you're interested, I can look.

I generally like the 2-7 Redfield Revolution or Leupold VxII/Vx2 here. Great little scopes with forgiving eyebox.

I actually went the other way with my Scout V2 350Legend for Primitive Weapons, as it seems that so many of our shots take place right at dawn/dusk during those seasons. I found a 3-9x50 Redfield Revolution on the used market and mounted it rather low. The taller comb of the Scout made head placement work well and the scope does gather a good bit of light after sunset.