Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope for 375 Ruger

I have a new 375 Ruger coming and I have decided that I want a fixed power for reliability and simplicity. So I am considering a couple of scopes that I do not have any experience with and want to see if anyone has experience with either.

Front runner is the IOR Valdata 6x42

http://www.valdada.com/product/997e0103-67ee-4854-821c-e21185432784.aspx




























it has a large field of view which I really like

Or the same scope in the Tactical version

http://www.valdada.com/product/d231d026-9e06-42d8-a27b-0de60f51c636.aspx
























which is heavier and has a smaller field of view but has the turrets and the MP-8 reticle.

The other choice would be the Meopta

http://www.meopta.com/index.php?id=225






















which has a smaller field of view but is cheaper.

I just don't have any experience with IOR or Meopta. Does anyone have any feedback on either of these 2 scopes?

I've run an IOR before, and the glass was simply stunning; by far the best glass I've used yet.

But, it was HEAVY, and the eye relief was quite short.

For the money, the Leupold 6x42 FX-III or the Sightron SIIB 6x42 are simply damned tough to beat.

get a zeiss conquest in a lower power variable like 1.5-6 or 2.5-8 the conquest will have plenty of eyerelief and you need the low power for getting off a quick shot, IMO 6x is too much power for most use of a 375 heck even my coyote gun normally stays on 3x

Hey Va, thanks for the tip. The Leupolds have such a narrow FOV at 17.3' and the Leupold glass usually leaves a lot to be desired although the eye relief is better at 4.75". Same with the Sightron with a FOV of 17' and an eye relief of 3.9". By comparison the IOR has a FOV of 29' and better glass. Sure it's a couple of hundred bucks more but I'm only going to buy it once.

The eye relief for the IOR is listed at 4". The weight is listed at 16 oz which is not too bad.

How about the Meopta?

cc, yeah the 6x does concern me a little, but I'm thinking the extra wide FOV will give a good sight picture. The main reason higher powers are not as suitable for quick target acquisition is the narrower FOV but the IOR seems to have an extra wide one.

Heavy kickers are known to cause problems for variable scopes so that is the reasoning behind the fixed power. The Zeiss 1.8x5.5x38 only has a FOV of 18' at the 5.5 power, but you could crank it down to a higher FOV at a lower power. It is a couple of ounces heavier than the IOR also.

Haven't run the Meopta.

As for the FOV, I run FX-IIIs and SIIBs on a bunch of rifles, and have had no problems shooting stuff up close and personal, nor running, nor in the thick crud.

Can't say as I saw the glass on the IOR to be THAT much better than the FX-III or SIIB; better, yes, but nothing earth-shatteringly so. Either the FX-III or the SIIB will give you all the glass you can take advantage of, and then some, in just about any light you can expect to hunt in.

My Ruger .375 African carries a Leupold FX-II 4X with a German #1 reticle. I used the scope on my Ruger Hawkeye .338 RCM for pig hunting in Texas before putting it on the .375, and I think it is nearly perfect for its intended .375 use. One shot at 250 +/- yards was dead simple, as were the ones at 30 and 80 yards.

I would not put anyone's 6X scope on a .375 of anyone's breed, but that's just my experience. I also will not put anything but a Leupold on any hunting rifle, but that's just because I like scopes that work all the time and don't break or go bad in rank weather, salt water, cold weather, days of saddle scabbard carrying, and on and on. I've only been using them since 1982, so I could be wrong...but I doubt it.

Starting with something else is just a handicap, not an advantage, IMO.

YMMV...

Dennis

The VX-III 2.5-8x36 seems to be the perfect fit on mine!

Agree here with MD on this one.....A straight 6X on a 375 limits your optic versatility and if your 375 Ruger is ever to be used for dangerous game, a fixed 6X scope for a close encounter or in heavy terrain of the potentially dangerous kind, wouldn`t be my first choice.

If you`re going with a fixed scope, better to stay with a 4X imo. A 4X with preferably as wide a FOV as possible.

MD's 375 also wore a 1.75-6x Leupold before I sold it to him.

As far as that goes, it wore a 3X until I bought the #1 German Reticle 4X for it. Had Leupold been back in the business of making FX II 3X's, it would be wearing a new 3X.

Anything I can't hit with a 3X or 4X on a rifle like a .375 just doesn't need to be shot, IMO.

Dennis

I was thinking the 2.5x Luepold in Heavy duplex.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23_27&products_id=77

As I recall, old JB said it performed just about exactly the same as the vaunted 3x.

BMT

For him, I believe that's true. We have talked about that a fair amount, in fact. I bought a Leupold 2.5X when they came out, to begin replacing my 3X's. I found it much less useful, let alone better, so I sold it and bought more 3X's.

One of the truths I have learned is that the same scope does not work the same for every hunter...

Dennis

A couple of things. First of all, what more FOV does for you is give you more leeway as you point the rifle. But with a short eye relief and the small eye box that goes with it, your big problem will be acquiring the image easily. At 20 yds., with 17-18 ft of FOV, you have enough FOV to see the whole lenth of a deer. Those of us that use 6X scopes up close and personal can tell you that they work fine if they have plenty of eye box. Better, faster, for instance, than a 4X with a small eye box. I have and have hunted both.
The longer the eye relief, the easier it is to see around the scope. A slimmer ocular helps too.
I'm suspicious that any 6X has 29 feet of FOV at 100 yds. Even the 4X scopes only have 24 feet.
Leupold's latest 6X42, their FX3, has the same Diamond Coat Coatings and Extended Twilight characteristics as the new VX3's and the VX7. They transmit more light than anything else out there based on the test data I've seen posted here.
Frankly, I'd select a good 4X, not a 6X, for that rifle. But a Leupold 6X would be my second choice.
The last thing is that all Leupolds are tested at a minimum of 750 g's for 5000 times. Roughly, a 375's recoil X 5000. That means you select any Leupold you want for that rifle. While I do use and prefer fixed magnification scopes myself, I wouldn't select one for that rifle simply because I was afraid a variable wouldn't hold up under recoil. Lots of people post here who have put 1000's of rounds on the little 1.5-5X20, the 2-7X33 and the 1.75-6X32 in such rifles.
Makers like Burris and some others also make variable scopes which will take a .375's recoil. E

Hard to beat that choice.

BMT

I ordered an IOR 6x42, received it and promptly compared it to my M8 6x42 AO.

To my surprise, I didn't see enough difference b/w the two to justify the extra weight. So, the IOR went back to the retailer. Your eyes however, may disagree with mine.