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

I've run a truck load of rounds thru my M70/375Wby with a 3-10 Leo on top. Never a hiccup, I don't use it much for chucks/yotes like I used to so if going with a new scope for it I'd go with a 6x36 Leo w/dotz.

Dober

I have the Leupold VX-III, 1.75x6 on my .375. Only about 50 rounds so far, but no problems.

Respect your opinion and knowledge on such things but why would I buy a Ferrari and drive it a shopping cart speeds. A 378 bee has 3000 ft lbs hitting energy at 500 yds shooting 270 grain SP bullets-with a 3 ft drop why would I install a fixed unit on it and possibly miss my target. Same goes for my 338/378 kinda dumb to go fixed on rifles like that????

Fixed power scope were used successfully by our military snipers until very recently. A good shot doesn't need as much power as most folks think. I have made first round hits on game out past 500 yards with "only" 2 1/2 X scopes. Plus 2 1/2 Leupold compacts are incredibly tough, this one has spent twenty -eight years on my 458 with absolutely no babying and still going strong

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378Canuck,

I don't know how your eyesight is, but I've never had any trouble hitting small targets at longer ranges with a fixed-power scope.

But now you've got me curious: How much magnification do you think is required to hit big game animals in the right place at the 500 yards mentioned in your post?

I use variables for a different reason. Lots of field of view up close and I can shoot smaller groups when sighting in, which gives me more confidence. Notice I did not say ability

Also, Variables oft have a larger objective lens than a low X fixed power scope so at lower or medium of the dial powers really good exit pupils.

That said, I will defer to JB and Phil, My experience pales in comparison.

My favorie, though no longer made, is the Colorado built Burris Signature Safari 1.75-5 Posi Lock with thick post and crosshiar reticle. Love those scopes on the big boys.

JB: I don't know about 378 Canuck but,after 40+ years of using 4X scopes I have advanced to an age level where, in open country,and ideally , I like a 6X...despite the fact that I still have 4X scopes and use them quite a bit.

I don't know why this is,as my eyes check out pretty good for someone my age and the doctors tell me I have eyes like a 45 year old...but it is what it is and I think the buguboo for me is deer hunting,watching open areas,as the damn things are looking smaller to me these days and more magnification helps quite a bit,especially on the far side of 250-300 yards....i do love that S&B Summit as the optics are just top notch and I think it helps a good bit...

Now on bigger animals like elk I have had no problems with a good 4X clear to 500, as far as I have killed them...and ditto to 500 yards on large deer,but i think the 6X just works better for me now.

The other thing I am noticing now (I didn't before) is that I really need to refocus the scope, going from wearing "no eyeglasses",to wearing glasses which are prescription.Some scopes that looks like dog doodoo with my galsses on, are just great when I take them off....it seems to be a focusing issue.

I do love the high end glass as I think it resolves better for me as I age. I have noticed a distinct improvement in Leupold glass now as compared to years back, but the old M8 Leupolds are so rugged and reliable that I am leary as hell about yanking them off my rifles.They stay in zero for years on end.

I think the issue fr me is not the scope, but my aging eyeballs.

Does a 6x leupold have enough eye relief for a medium or large bore rifle?

i have one on a .375 Ultra and haven't been hit with it.

idahoguy,

Yes.

BobinNH,
Just sneak in closer and those 4 and 6 powers will all be ok!

Phil, John, and anyone elsel...

Would you care to comment about using a fixed 6x on a 375 H&H? I'm got a Remington 798 Safari at home. With a Leupold 6x42 being mailed to me. How would that match up?

My CZ550 Lux came with a Bushnell Elite 4200 1.5-6x mounted and I haven't changed to a fixed power. That 9.3x62mm is called 80% of the power of the 375.

idahoguy101

I guess I qualify as "anyone else" so here's my two cents worth:

I had a older Leupold M8-6x36mm on a custom 350 Rem Mag that weighed ~6.5 lbs total with the scope. The actual eye relief on that particular scope measures just over 4 inches (using a Maglight flashlight and ruler). I never had a problem with not enough eye relief (defined as scope touches to the brow), even with my full power loads. By full power I mean 250s at 2525 fps, and 225s at 2700 fps with both loads chronographed < 12" from the muzzle. That 6x Leupy survived just fine on that hard kicking, black timber elk rifle for all the years (maybe 8-10) I owned that particular 350. It also got used on another 350 Rem Mag and a 35 Whelen with no issues.

FWIW, I own several Leupold 6x36 and 6x42 scopes, and none of them have given any problems. Their actual measured eye relief is all around 4 inches, and they're plenty bright enough to use well before/past legal shooting time here in Montana.

I can't imagine the 6x42 not working fine on a 375 H&H. Yeah, 375s have more ft-lbs of recoil than the 350 RM/35 Whelens but the rifles they're chambered in are usually weigh 9+ lbs, so it's probably a wash.

I have had one on one of my 30-06's for many years and really like it, so have been toying with the idea of sticking one on a 375. guess the only way to try is to do it.

I like 6x scopes. They seem right on a hunting rifle. I can use them with both eyes open so peripheral vision isn't an issue.

Now if I was an African PH or an Alaskan Guide in close cover... then an accurate sturdy open sight would be better.

bigwhoop: I generally do just that when I can!My last mule deer was shot at 80 yards or so....but last years whitetail had to be taken at over 300 yards or not at all.The four biggest mule deer bucks I have seen the last few years have been encountered at 30 feet,50 yards,340,and 80.It is easy to kill them with a 4X or 6X at those distances.

I can see why whitetail hunters from some parts of the country, like the south,who sit big fields and cutovers, need bigger scopes, nicer optics, for those deer.....the damn things simply are not "big"...and rutting bucks mostly provide those "take it or leave it" opportunities in bad light.

I have never seen a 4X or 6X seriously challenged in any western hunting I have done,but then I am not a real "long range" hunter either.I like a little mor power than a 4X these days, but not a lot more.

SOunds like you have given up on your S&B

Of course not! I have more than one rifle...that is a scope that stays.It has been just great.i am seriously considering a 4X Schmidt.

Hitting game is no problem-but you have to shoot legal game so you have to be able to count horns here in Canada before you pull the trigger. If it has 3 points (3x3)it may be legal but the points have to be a certain length before qualifying. Trophy are 6 point, so if your not able to count them, you can't shoot. I know they are easier to count when the animal is dead and right in front of you on the ground, but fish cops frown on this method of counting horns.

Phil,

I was thinking of doing it your way with optics on my 458WM Mark X. What height rings are you using? I was gonna go Warne's for the bases and uses QD rings. Also which reticle, Heavy Duplex or Wide Duplex?

Thanks,

Hizzie