Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics anyone use a 56mm scope ??

For legal hour hunting in the US a quality 36-42 mm scope is all one needs. These 50-56 30mm scopes are made for hunting at night which is legal in most european countries. I might add a well designed reticle is just as important.

Yep. I have a 36mm 32mm Leupold with a heavy duplex that will get me just as far as a 50mm Swaro PH with a thinner reticle.

i have always wanted to put a #4 or a #1 on a 36mm leupold....would prolly be as multipurpose as i would ever need...

They're made for hog hunting in Europe at night. In my state of Mississippi it's legal to hunt hogs at night also, these scopes work just as well over here as they do over there.

Sorry, but I don't agree. I have that exact scope, a 1.75-6x32 leupold with a heavy duplex, sitting on top of my .375 H&H. It's a nice scope but it won't get you as far as a 50mm swaro PH. The PH is first focal plane, so by design even the thinnest Swarovski reticle is going to be thicker than the SFP leupold heavy duplex when the power is turned up. The #4 reticle is the one to have for low light hunting, the leupold heavy duplex is a poor substitute for a good #4.

I have a PH Swaro 4-16x50AO and it has a second focal plane fine duplex reticle. My 1.75-6x32 is a VX-III with a heavy duplex. Those are the two scopes I mentioned, and I've compared them side by side as the light failed. The 50mm lens and magic euroglass doesn't overcome the thin reticle.

#4 reticles don't thrill me that much. When I want a heavy reticle I want it heavy in the middle where I'm looking.

Well, since you have both scopes then I have to defer to your judgement between the two. I can tell you that my 1.75-6x32 heavy duplex isn't even in the same country compared to my PH 2.5-10x56 with the #4 reticle when it comes to low light. The middle of the reticle isn't the part that matters, it's the big heavy posts on the sides that allow you to bracket the animal that matter. When the light gets really low you're not going to see the intersection point of the crosshairs against a dark animal, no matter how thick the middle is.

How tight do the thick bars come in to the center of the FOV?

one of the reasons im considering selling my swaro z3 is the reticle just isnt quite bold enough i like that 4c red dot meostar reticle on the 3-12x56

I believe the thick parts of the Meostar reticles come in tight to the middle. That's useful.

I tried to find a picture online but couldn't find the right one. Imagine this reticle without the illuminated center part. The thick bars come pretty close to the center, in the 4A they're wider. This reticle is like mine on medium power (5-6X), when it's turned up to 10X the bars are a lot fatter.

crow hunter im from MS as well...is the reticle photo above from the meopta or is that something else?

The center in the 4 subtends around 24" IIRC and is definitely a better choice in the Swaro for low light than the 4a.

Gonna agree w/mathman here. Have compared the Lupy HDs to a lot of scopes and I had access to a lot of different Swaros. The Lupy HD always shows up in low light. I use an "old" 1.75-6x Vari-X III with a G4 as a threshold. The crosshair is heavy like the HD and it hangs right in there.

You may think I'm nuts and I suspected that I may have been prior to confirmation by someone who probably isn't nuts....the 6x36 Leupold with a heavy reticle can be downright embarrassing to the big three in a low light comparison.

All that said the view is extremely satisfying with excellent glass. The lit reticles are an asset to FFP with wider expanding center section.

FWIW, am allergic to batteries...my pick for low light detail with a bold #4 is the S&B fixed 6x or 8x with an A4 reticle. Been dinking with a new 6x42 thusly outfitted this spring and am impressed.

These folks were a pleasure to do business with--keep Google translator handy:

Pinter S&B

The comfort level is not as high as dealing with a dealer you know...:)

That's from a Swarovski, but the meopta is very similar. I have a 3-12x56 meopta meostar as well.

Where are you located in MS?

For point and shoot at moderate range an FX-3 6x42 with this reticle in it would be good as the light goes down:

I tried but just could not do it. Tried a 3.5-10 VX3 with one und a Leica. The Leica was a really nice scope, too.

I shoot high on moving targets and really had to focus on stationary--not conducive to whitetail pursuits.

It must be why Mom always said I wasn't trainable...

Do you shoot a number 1?

I've tried them out, but I don't own one yet.

have you considered a VX3 3.5-10x42?

I may know a guy...:)

My heavy duplex equipped VX-III has my point and shoot, thick reticle spot covered.