Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Brightest Low light scope

Not to Hi jack your post but I also am wondering the exact same question as Moses.
I have a Lipseys limited run Ruger 77 RSI stainless 7mm-08
that has been sitting in my Gun Case for a while now.
I got it for my Daughter to hunt with but she did not like it at all.I have been debating selling,trading it for awhile now but
IF I keep it what scope that I have now would be best?
VX III 1.5-5x20 Heavy Duplex that I bought here from the classisfieds
VX III 1.75-6x32 Heavy Duplex that I traded for here also.
I hunt near MT CHEAHA in Alabama,THICK SWAMPS,Thick pines,Hills and Hollows,with a lot of twigs ,limbs that can and will deflect shots fired.
I also suffer from Night Blindness that gets worse every year.
At 51 now I want to set up my rifles one last time and be done with it and just go hunt with what I have in the gun case.
A WBY ultra lt wt. 30-06 bought here from Wes7x57
The Little RSI 7mm-08 if I keep it.
WBY Custom shop stainless 270 wby mag with a Zeiss Conquest 2.5-8x32 #20 Ret.
Which scope should I put on the RSI,WBY LT WT,?
AMRA

Kahles CL 3-9x42

http://www.opticstalk.com/swfa-riflescope-rating-scale_topic8185.html

John-

Of the scopes you have tested that were 7 or 8 what ones had wire reticles? I see you say all but what brands?

Thanks

Rob

if I'm not mistaken, out of all the scopes JM has tested to date the Minox 3x9 Z3 is a 7+ on his scale.

not bad for $400......

I own one and it quite the scope for the $$ optically

I just changed out a Zeiss 2.5-8X32 on a Ruger Hawkeye 308 short action. Change was mainly for function and aesthetics. I had the Zeiss mounted about as far forward as possible and still felt like I needed to push the gun forward when mounted, it's a long scope for a short action.. I changed to a Leupold VX2 2-7X33 LRD. Looks better, less weight, and I don't feel that I have given up anything in the switch. JMHO

Get a Hensoldt 6-24x72. It'll look ridiculous, but you'll have the "brightest" scope in the forest. You'd need a Night-Vision scope to top it.

Yeah; how much is that puppy?

I have been using a Burris 2X-7X35mm German #4. Looks right; somewhat bright, eye relief could be better. For an inexpensive scope it is not bad.Would like more "Pop".

Magnumdood,



Didn't anyone ever tell you all those rifles with those funny looking little scopes are the ones which look ridiculous? I think we need a re-education program around here!

That is the truth. I have one on my TRG and there's nothing brighter in low light. The Nightforce 56mm objectives do very well also but the glass isn't as good. I do quite a bit of night hunting here. With any moonlight, you can see a snowshoe hare at 200 yards against the snow. Probably not appropriate for a light weight rifle at close range though.

and what will that give you relative to an FX2 6 x 36? A minute longer to shoot at most? At some point all day optics cash in their chips and go home.

Perhaps that is why alot of people here question your findings Rich. Exit pupil and magnification (and there relationship to each other) are the most important factors in low light scope performance.

Finally! I found someone else who owns that Hubble! Welcome friend!

But...the image is unparalleled and it leads the pack in passive NV.

Just a quick explanation of Mule Deer's comment that a higher magnification scope looks brighter (assuming an adequate exit pupil and comparable light transmission). Take a 2x scope with a 7 mm exit pupil, this means the light entering the scope is coming in through a 14 mm entrance. Now take an 8x scope with the same exit pupil. For this scope the light is entering through a 56 mm entrance. So comparing an 8x scope to a 2x scope with the same exit pupil, the entrance diameter is 4x bigger (56mm vs 14mm) and the entrance area is 4x4 = 16 times bigger. So there is 16x more light coming out of that 8x scope compared to the 2x scope. It looks brighter because there is a lot more light coming through the same exit pupil.

Hey Roy, I can put that scope on 10x and have a 7.2 exit pupil.

Perhaps you are right. Perhaps a lot of those people here do there comparing with there computer keypad and have not compared different optics side by side in fading light and learned empirically like I have with results I can post. Facts are not often accepted by theorists.

Actually, that's not true. The percentage of light transmission is the same given two scopes of the same manufacturer and lense quality. The only difference there would be the amount of image magnification.

I can't speak for others Rich and I am only saying that if exit pupil makes no difference in your actual side by side testing, that will be confusing to folks who don't have vision issues like the ones you have claimed to have (your night vision issues that is).

We have flogged this dead horse before. My son-in-law can see in the dark without a flashlight. He has participated in some of the side by side comparisons.

So what do we have? One guy who can see in the dark and one who can not and two guys who can see in the day perfectly who come to about the same conclusions.

Run some comparisons and let us know your results.

There is also the issue of image clarity, a direct result of the quality of the glass and coatings. I have taken my "Hubble" and another scope, a good one, but not an Alpha scope and compared them at dusk, and after, set for the same exit pupil. My Hubble just blew it away.

So it's not all about exit pupil; there is also the question of image clarity. I can look through a Night Force now and see with my own eyes that it is not equal in image clarity, being able to discern small details, that my Hensoldt can. So, exit pupil is one of three things to consider.

Along with image clarity you must also consider magnification. My Hubble set at 10x will be able to discern more detail than another Hensoldt also set for a 7mm exit pupil. This is a detail that E hammers home, and he's correct, as he got the information from John. If you can "get closer" by increasing magnification and still maintain a 7mm exit pupil, you will be able to make out more details of your target.