Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics How far would you shoot game with a Leupold 3X?

All: Thanks for the additional replies.

I agree with the idea that a scope is an aiming device, not a telescope, and have never felt the need for huge magnification for my limit of 300 yards or so. I see lots of responses here from folks who shoot lower powers.

I shoot a lot of rifles at longer ranges, both at targets and on hunts. I've just never shot this 375 H&H with this scope past 100 yds. But I have shot groups of less than an inch with the set-up. I will shoot it longer just to confirm my comfort.

The reticle may be a concern, but I've shot very small groups with it at 100, and don't have any small animals on my list. My primary goal is to share this hunt with my sons, alternating going out with them. I'll probably shoot two or three animals myself, but nothing smaller than a Red Haartebeest. I shot the smaller animals that I wanted (Impala, Springbok, Bushbuck, Mountain Reedbuck, Warthog) last time.

That's what I call the ultimate field position. Shooting a Deer at 250 with a 3x, while on a Buck. I gotta lot of practice to do.

Back in the day I killed a couple of groundhogs with my old k3 weaver One was about 200 and the other about 300 yards. Also blasted a lot of rocks at a old strip mine site out to probably 300 yds. I would expect a newer Leupold would provide similar performance with brighter sharper images. The one caveat might be if you have a really heavy reticule but on big game you should be well equipped. Never been but it's my impression that guides in Africa generally tend to hunt a bit closer than we do on Internet forums. My friends that have been to Africe tend to talk about shots at 50 yds to 150 yds.

There goes John again bragging about shooting game at 300 yards+ w/open sights. Hell I have trouble killing them at 100 w/a scope. powdr

Battue once again i am reminded...you can't get sloppy with sentence structure and how you say things on here. My bad and I got called.....

+1

Absolutely. I've shot scores of deer with a 3x Leupold some at ranges well over 300 yards. I no longer have that scope but I rarely use any variable scope I own over 4x.

WoodsyAl, I would be comfortable out to 400 yards with a flat shooting round like a .270 Winchester and a bit less with something like the .375 that you are using.

About ten years ago I shot a deer with a .270 that had a Leupold 3.5-10 with a duplex reticle. I shot from a ranged distance of 381 yards and at the shot the deer didn't fall so I fired again and it dropped immediately. Both shots were well placed. The funny thing is that in my excitement it never occurred to me to dial the scope up from 3.5x. As Mule Deer points out, the 3x Leupold is actually a 3.4 so it is a really interesting comparison in my mind.

Thanks! The more I think about it, I just cant see how an actual magnification of 3.4X isn't plenty for deer-sized game to the distances I would shoot in Africa.

pretty easy. however far you are capable with it.

No more no less.

I like a lot of X at times, but I"ve killed out past 500 with irons easily too....

You are definitely challenged or incredibly blind.

My stable currently has two 3X scopes, El Paso Weaver and M8 Leupold. I do not see the power as a limiting factor, so long as target visibility is OK. Both are duplex. One is on a .30-30, the other is slated for a 9,3x62. Target size, velocity, and trajectory is important to distance. I like low power scopes. They frequently keep me from trying things that the cartridge was not designed to do. I have a bunch of 4X scopes as well.

jack

I certainly wouldn't burden myself with a larger variable as either model 3x is about perfect for big game IMO with the ruggedness to withstand some knocks. It's my go to scope for big game.

I have several M8s with one on a Talkeetna 375 and a CZ 9.3 as well as the new model on another CZ 9.2x62. I thought the German reticle to be a view hog but easily took a large bull moose at 380 yards last fall. Having said that, my longest shot was on a crippled moose with peep sights.

I have hunted with younger hunters that insisted on having a Hubble scope on their rifle and they took forever to get a shot off........were they trying to weasel the reticle in between hairs?.......I suspect their high magnification was making it difficult to get a good eye relief for a full sight picture.

I have several Leupold 3x scopes, they're one of my favorites. I've never felt handicapped by low power scopes. The last caribou I killed was at 250 yards with a 2.5 Weaver post and crosshair. The shot went where I intended it and the caribou dropped.

I think too many people get hung up on the telescope aspect of a rifle scope and forget that it's primary function is a sight, not a spotting scope or binocular. At the ranges most game is killed a 3x scope is no handicap.

250-300 yards if I had a very steady rest.

Second.

I feel very comfortable at that magnification even in low light in this range with 55 year old though still 20/20 eyes. Zeiss Conquest at 15 mins either side of sunrise or sunset, not so much outside of that.

My second deer (1962) was across a canyon with a 2.5 Weaver with a lee dot on a 300 Savage. I estimated about 275 yards. Must have been close to that as the bullet wrecked the top heart and lungs.

What did I learn? The rig was appropriate, and never shoot anything other than a trophy across a canyon. Recovery was challenging without horses.

jack

The first F'in thing I'd do with the 3X scope (or any other scope) would be to clamp it in a gun vise ( with the bolt out), and lock in on a target 300 yards or so away. (The 300 yards doesn't have to be measured with a micrometer- anything about that distance is fine).
Then, I'd move my head slowly from side to side, and see how much parallax the scope has. I'd do this because I've seen some scopes, including Leupold that have LOTS of parallax at 300 yards, and some that have almost none. If the scope doesn't have a lot of parallax, the 3X will take you a long way out. I have killed antelope past 400 yards with a 4x, and woodchucks past 200 with an old Weaver 2 1/2.
As far as the heavy duplex being a hindrance, unless African game animals come with one inch bulls eyes and grid squares painted on their sides, the heavy duplex will be much more of a help than a hinderance in the field.
When you are sighting in the 3X Leupold, if you use black or blue tape vertically and horizontally "outline" the reticle at whatever range you are shooting, you'll be surprised at how precisely you can aim.
Good luck.

I've killed deer at 250-275 with a Weaver K2.5 before. I'd stretch a 3x Leupold at least that far on deer.

....And they sit so light on top of the rifle. They work past the average range most shoot big game, carry easier for a walk around hunter and in most cases will often improve balance.

Fixed 3, 4 and 6x offer much, but most refuse to go there.