Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only scopes and recoil-Leupold?

I've had good results with the variable I had on my 378 for 20 years. I've switched to NF. After I saw my brother roll his quad a bunch of times down a ravine with his rifle mounted on it. The rifle barrel looked like a bannana and the trigger guard ripped off. The NF had a few scratches but he still uses it. Some folks complain about the weight of NF scopes at 16 oz but if you want an eggshell scope go for it but don't expect it to survive if you go ape on your rig.

378: I hear NF scopes are tough.....I have never had one.

I have a few and swear by them.

First of all, all scopes will shift their zero if impacted hard enough. Either that, or they'll simple break.
I haver some serious doubts that any system that locks the scope's zero really works. Why ? Because nobody but Burris uses it, and even they offer the same scopes w/o it. All the other good ideas in scopes have been copied by all the other makers. But not posi-lock.
Second, scope breakdown results from a cumulative effect. That's why the better scope makers that really test their scopes state not only how much they impact their scopes, but how often as well.
Leupold's impact testing for their scopes, except some of their Mark 4 scopes and their pistol scopes, is 750 g's for 5000 times. Their pistol and some of their Mk.4 scopes are tested at 1500 g's for 5000 times. Nobody else impact tests their scopes to this level. E

i've heard some of the MK4s were built to survive on heavy automatic weapons.

i wound up with one in 1.5-5X on a .375 AI, and i kinda like it.

rogn,

I put a Tasco 4-16X on a .340 Weatherby and a .375-.416 Rem Mag. Both scopes are still going years later.

I used a Leupold Vari X II 2-7 on my CZ 550 416 Rigby for years with no problems, and I did shoot it a lot more than most people will shoot their big bores. I used it for coyotes out my bedroom window or off my front porch from 1999 until I sold the gun two years ago.

Leoupold will stand up to normal wear and tear-no doubt about it.
Don,t drop your rifle 25 ft from a tree stand and expect it to survive. That,s the stuff I'm talking about.

1.5X5 on the 358 Norma,1000 rds so far so good'

1.5X5 on the 425 Express 300 rds so far so good!

The thing that Leupold has going for it is they are absolutely weatherproof!

We had a guy post here whose Leupold did survive dropped 25 ft.from a tree.
If Nightforce scopes are so tough, how come there is a very long wait to get one fixed ?
Tough scopes, BTW, aren't necessarily the same ones that hold up under recoil.
Some of Leupolds Mk.4's are built to survive 1500 G's, 5000 times. I understand Nightforce tests their's at 1000 G's and doesn't tell you how much of that they can take. E

Had one Nightforce and sold it. It was like mounting a baseball bat on top of my rifle.
Cumbersome and very heavy.

I love my leupies.

Nightforce tests their scopes (if memory serves to 1200 G's0 both positive and negative and come with a lifetime warrenty

I have onloy 2 words for my reply "Shimdt& Bender" THAT IS ALL

I have a three word reply -- Leupold fixed power


I don't like scopes that weigh more - or cost more - than my rifles

I've got one of the older model (not current custom shop) Leupold 3x on my Ruger #1 458 Lott. Sighted it in 2" high @ 100 with 400's @ 2200fps and have since been pounding the crap out of it with 350 TSX's @ 2650fps and 500's at 2200fps. Damn thing is as stubborn as a mule - it won't budge. Anytime I switch back to the 400's, the all lob right into a group 2" high @ 100.

I had a 1X4 Leupold on a Whitworth .375 for somewhere over 400 rounds mostly 300 gain. My mod 70 Classic .375 wares a 1.5X5 Leopold over 200 rounds. I had 2x7 Leupold's on 2 different .338WMs if that qualifies as a heavy kicker, I lost count of the 250 grain rounds likely over 1000 in the Ruger before I sold it. None have ever given a problem. --- Mel

PS. Glad to see the 3X Leupold holding up well (as if I had a dought)I mounted a like new older model on my Mod. 70. 458, but haven't gotten a chance to go to the range.

So much for Leupold's vaunted recoil testing..



Calvin's Custom Shop scope...

I'm with Phil (458Win) on this. Why in hell would I want to spend well over a thousand bucks on a scope, when I can buy a Leupold fixed-power for a few hundred and have it hold up just as well on a big-bore? Especially when there's no need for vast magnification on such rifles.

I have a pile of scopes, made by a bunch of different manufacturers, including Hensoldt, Zeiss, Swarovski, S&B and have owned a Nightforce. They're good scopes, but in my experience none are more reliable on a rifle chambered for hard-kicking cartridges from the .300 magnums on up to the .40+ elephant killers than a fixed Leupold. And some of the variables aren't as trustworthy as a fixed Leupold.

I don't like scope with a dim blurry view on my rifles. The 1 1/4X4 S&W that I picked up in the classifieds on 24 hour for 500 is a hell of a deal. A field of view that is incredible and a low light delight

I have the same scope on a .375 H&H that has seen ~400 rounds and so far no problem. I have a VXIII 2.5-8 on CZ550FS that has seen ~600 rounds and no problems. I had a VXII 3 - 9 on a Sako .375 that lasted ~100 rounds......

The FS is a 9.3X62