Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 4 or 6 x on a hunting rifle?

for all practical purposes, what is better 4 or 6 power? For me I will say 4 power is better for moving and up close shots, then it will do just as well as the 6 on longer shots. I know the old timers like Jack O'Conner thought it was fine for long range. JMO

I have decided 1.5-6x42 is best for deer hunting for me. It does everything I need it to with plenty left over if I need it.

Slamo dunk for me and where and how I hunt I'd take the 6 over the 4 everyday!

Dober

^ Me, too.

Most of my hunting (for whitetails) is med to short range, so the 4x would be a better choice, if forced to slum a fixed power.

4 or 6 if that was the only choice?

Location dependant. In the Rocky Mountain West, where I live and hunt, I would take a fixed 6 if forced to choose.

I forgot those western whitetails pick-up bad habits from hanging with mule deer..................

I tend to use 6x on most of my big game rifles until the cartridge gets up to around .33 caliber. Then I go to 4x or lower, depending on the rifle. Do have 3x scopes on a couple of "woods" rifle, however.

Well, I mostly use 4x because of ease of use. I made my longest game shot with a 4x.

However, if I could always hunt the way I prefer (spot and stalk, slow sneak, no jump shooting), I'd use a 6x.

This year, I will be using a Weaver Grand Slam 4.75x. It sure looks like a winner to me.

It doesn't matter and it's a matter of taste not logic. Jim Carmichael suggested a long long time ago in effect and as I recall that for folks moving from iron sights - O'Connor, Koller and other such - then a lower power as 4X was an easier adjustment and further that for folks who have always used a scope the adjustment had long since been made and so 6X would do just fine and give no problems of adjustment.

All this as I recall it but certainly something like this makes good sense to me.

That said I have a fixed 2.5 on a double rifle and a couple of Steye Scout style (.308 Scout and .376 Dragoon) also with low power but I shoot varmints with a 16X. Some others between and beyond. None of this is by logic or rule or any purely mythical best choice it's just my choice. YMMV

It's not the only choice.

I could live with 4x but I would rather have 6x on the top end. I hunt in Minnesota where shots can come in pretty dark conditions and at close range when and where the "clear" shot might be presented only for a second. A fixed 4x is too slow for that for me. A FFP scope with a duplex is like a shotgun to me down at 1.5x.

Like JB's answer, b/c if you are toting a 33 or larger bore, odds are you have LARGE game on the menu and that is best done with good FOV, esp. in brush.

I'd shoot deer at 15 yds w/6x all day long, but would not want one if a Grizz jumped up at the same distance

Now if one could get a 5x35 in an FX3 or Conquest....just sayin'

DakotaDeer,

I'll be interested in how you like that Weaver 4.75x. I had one for a while and did quite a bit of hunting with it.

Might comment than I've shot some moving game at close range with a 6x, including a whitetail 25 yards and a feral pig at 10 yards, and didn't have any problems.

Why would you limit yourself to a fixed 4x or 6x when a 1.5x6x42mm would give you everything either one of the fixed scopes would and a whole lot more.

I hunt coyotes and get hard chargers in very close(three under 10'this year) and some that hang up way out there. With the low power varialble they are all covered. With the 1.5x 70" FOV I can keep the dogs in the scope and still pick opennings in the sage ahead of the them for a shot or spot second coyotes that are coming in also.

A lot of folks, here at the 'Fire especially, seem to really like fixed power scopes.

Their charm is lost on me.

I for one am very happy that a fixed 4x or 6x isn't the only choice.

The "charm" of fixed-power scopes to a lot of us is the fact that we've seen too many variables fall apart. And we haven't had any trouble killing big game from coyotes to Cape buffalo with various fixed powers, without a scope failure.

I'm not arguing, just stating our experiences.

I've got a standard cross hair K4 on my .22 lr hunting rifle, but I have 2 fixed-6x on centerfire rifles... a K6 on my 6-250 and a Burris FFII 6x w/ BP on my mountain-weight '06.

I really like 6x scopes for all-around hunting use.

I've never had a variable fall apart, but like the simplicity of getting to know one FOV and the attendant holds.

I wonder if the trend toward variable scopes coincided with the trend toward tree-stand and truck hunting. The magnification ring gives you something to dink with while waiting for a deer to wander by or when you're out of radio reception.

I like fixed power scopes; Leupold 4x's or 6x's depending on the caliber, with 3x's getting the nod for some rifles where I like the scope mounted as low as possible.

I understand that their simplicity is their charm but the only scope I've ever had fall apart on me was a fixed power Vortex.