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Joined: Aug 2009
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 20,824 |
Good thread.
This is a topic that interest me. I grew up reading that you will miss opportunity's to get shots at game if you failed to dial your variable down.
That didn't jive with my experience.
Then I read scenarshooters testimony to the effectiveness of his Schmidt& Bender 10x42.
I think in the old days stocks were designed for open sights, scope eye box's were finicky etc...
Seems to me amateurs have problems finding things in their scopes F.O.V., experienced rifle men seem to do fine.
With todays stocks and scopes, I think something like a 10xS.S. or Pat's S&B are very usable in open country and in a pinch usable if a close opportunity presents itself. Wouldn't be my first choice for close range hunting, that would be a 6x!
Originally Posted by Judman
PS, if you think Trump is “good” you’re way stupider than I thought! Haha
Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,159
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 12,159 |
I am lost on this place. The fixed 6 is Godsend, the fixed 4, well about as good, the 3-9 is too much and the fixed 10 is great... The optics bunch are the looniest of them all.  Isn't that the truth?! It baffles me also how a 3x9 or 2.5x10 is considered way too much scope magnification by some but a fixed 6x is great, never mind that the two variables go to half or less the magnification than the other. If I had to use a fixed power scope (thankfully I don't) then I'd prefer a 10X over a 6X, I like magnification. A 10X with a properly sized objective and good glass is not going to be dim at last light, but a 10x40 isn't going to cut it. More magnification helps immensely with shot placement when light fades but most guys here don't want the big objectives that it takes to keep a good image at high magnification as the light fades. The reticle is more important and the thin ranging reticles are going to be lost quickly at last light, a good heavy reticle like a #4 will hang in there. Then again I hunt in the south where 90% of our deer activity is at last light, a western hunter who sees most of their game in broad daylight will feel differently about scope choice. I've got a good friend who uses a S&B 2.5-10 & it hasn't been turned off of 10X since he put it on the rifle 15 years ago. He shoots deer from 10-400 yds with it, running or not. He shoots a lot, knows how to mount his rifle correctly and doesn't have a problem with acquisition.
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,538
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 2,538 |
I am lost on this place. The fixed 6 is Godsend, the fixed 4, well about as good, the 3-9 is too much and the fixed 10 is great... The optics bunch are the looniest of them all. Isn't that the truth?! It baffles me also how a 3x9 or 2.5x10 is considered way too much scope magnification by some but a fixed 6x is great, never mind that the two variables go to half or less the magnification than the other. If I had to use a fixed power scope (thankfully I don't) then I'd prefer a 10X over a 6X, I like magnification. A 10X with a properly sized objective and good glass is not going to be dim at last light, but a 10x40 isn't going to cut it. More magnification helps immensely with shot placement when light fades but most guys here don't want the big objectives that it takes to keep a good image at high magnification as the light fades. The reticle is more important and the thin ranging reticles are going to be lost quickly at last light, a good heavy reticle like a #4 will hang in there. Then again I hunt in the south where 90% of our deer activity is at last light, a western hunter who sees most of their game in broad daylight will feel differently about scope choice. I've got a good friend who uses a S&B 2.5-10 & it hasn't been turned off of 10X since he put it on the rifle 15 years ago. He shoots deer from 10-400 yds with it, running or not. He shoots a lot, knows how to mount his rifle correctly and doesn't have a problem with acquisition. Deer and antelope hunting here on the prairie is a sunglasses affair, if there is snow on the ground even more so... Light gathering is about fourth or fifth on my requirements for a scope. I use a straight 20x SWFA on my antelope gun....... just as a side comparison of hunting styles.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 35,900
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 35,900 |
Compared to some of the variables people use for hunting today, a fixed 10X seems kind of retro and tame...  Bob, I am lost on this place. The fixed 6 is Godsend, the fixed 4, well about as good, the 3-9 is too much and the fixed 10 is great... The optics bunch are the looniest of them all. Well that and the 23" barrel gang... Ed: It's the optics forum...
The 280 Remington is overbore.
The 7 Rem Mag is over bore.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 22,884
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 22,884 |
Weaver makes an 8x56 at an affordable price. Steelhead had one--don't know if he liked it or not.
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 708
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 708 |
Thanks for all your input. I have a variable on a 223 that is always on 10X, it has an EBR reticle and sfp (thin cross hairs) seems to work well on moa targets out to ~600yds. Also, I have a 10X Bushnell on a CZ Silhouette .22, it also works well. I look at 10X scopes manufactured by US Optics and S&B, they are about twice the price of a 2.5x10 good quality scope. Is it worth going that route? I also shoot steel at 1000++ yards.
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 3,605 Likes: 2
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 3,605 Likes: 2 |
I love my 2.5-10. During hunt its always on 2.5 just because I don't know what will run out in front of me. Its easy to dial up to 10 if I see a game hundreds yards out.
to each his own.
All of them do something better than the 30-06, but none of them do everything as well.
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,512
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,512 |
JB - I've dumped deer at 15 yards with a 6x42. So I don't have a problem w a 10x and used both an M8 and 3200 in the past - the latter on 2 bucks at dusk in a field both about 200 yds. However I think you would agree if one lives in the south or east a 6-8x fixed might well be a better all around scope. Not seeing many 10x fixed in Elk Timber. In the open I've much rather the Leupy 12x over the 10x on small varmints though I dumped a yote running broadside wide open about 250 - 275 yds in a cotton field with a 243 Mohawk using either a Redfield 10 or 12x with thin crosshair. Guess I got lucky - 1st shot drilled the neck I would surmise a MK 4 10x or S&B would be the the best of 10x Fixed on big game - yet see them best put to use in open country. As you know since many hunt mixed terrain - it is all the more reason why variables to 9-14x top end are so popular.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 14,807
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Sep 2003
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I use fixed 6X on my hunting rifles and variables on target rifles. just wondering if anyone is using a fixed 10X and how are you liking it, is there more positives than negatives? The key mantra for some on this forum is the word "Fixed". Some seem obsessed with it. Many riflemen can use variable magnification scopes well and in fact find them best for most purposes. When at the eye doctor he asks us to look through the various lenses and we select what we see best with.
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,182 Likes: 6
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,182 Likes: 6 |
Compared to some of the variables people use for hunting today, a fixed 10X seems kind of retro and tame... Bob, I am lost on this place. The fixed 6 is Godsend, the fixed 4, well about as good, the 3-9 is too much and the fixed 10 is great... The optics bunch are the looniest of them all. Well that and the 23" barrel gang... Careful there, Ed. You're about to kill a great thread with logic...  DF
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 46,152 Likes: 7
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 46,152 Likes: 7 |
Have you ever made a contribution to a thread here?
A wise man is frequently humbled.
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 708
Campfire Regular
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OP
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 708 |
The 'key' feature of a fixed power scope is the sight picture is always the same and generally more forgiving eye box than a comparable variable. With a duplex , LR, better yet a mil-dot reticle ranging becomes easy and almost involuntary. With a variable, ranging is impossible to do accurately at all power settings as most hunting scopes are SFP so you have to pick one setting to range with confidence. For hunting I don't want to be fiddling with power settings. I have reverted to all fixed power scopes for hunting after decades of variables stuck on 6X. Anyway the 10X looks interesting.
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,182 Likes: 6
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,182 Likes: 6 |
Have you ever made a contribution to a thread here? Plenty of posts, no contribution that I can remember. DF
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 15,905 Likes: 12
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 15,905 Likes: 12 |
..SNIP....
I would surmise a MK 4 10x or S&B would be the the best of 10x Fixed on big game ...SNIP... I have a bunch of time behind the Leupold MKIV 10x. In my observations/experience, it is far from best. USO blows it away, as does IOR. Repeatability of turrets (tracking), and glass quality being the main factors. That is opinion based on experience, and others that have used them may have a different view.
THE CHAIR IS AGAINST THE WALL. The Tikka T3 in .308 Winchester is the Glock 19 of the rifle world. The website is up and running!www.lostriverammocompany.com
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,512
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,512 |
Never said a good variable does not work fine. Used many myself.
Re: eye doctors - they seek to bring vision into sharp focus. Not magnify.
Mackay - seems JB spoke good things on the durability of the MK IV. No doubt glass would be less than an S&B optically. I was never impressed with the M8 10x but it worked reliably - the FX 12x was an improvement over the M8 version
But with the higher price tag I would hope the MKIV was better than FX glass. Not compared SxS.
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,891 |
Used a k 10 on my groundhog rifle back in the day. It did a fine job but you had to about die to hold it steady. Once I thought my hunting partner was walking around causing a tremor when I realized it was my pulse. Off a bench or bipod they are fine but too much shake for general hunting IMHO.
Last edited by bangeye; 05/17/15.
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,668
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Posts: 1,668 |
Leupold appears to be headed in the direction of up grading all of their Mk4 scopes to their Diamond Coat2 lenses. Which are not only have very sharp images, but will retain them alot longer than scopes with conventional coatings simply because they don't erode from alot of cleaning.
Frankly, I wish Leupold made a scope like S&B's 10X PM. It has no parallax adjustment. That means it's depth of focus is going to be alot longer than a scope with a side focus/parallax adjustment. Since their are fewer lenses present, it would tend to work better during low light conditions.
We would also have a choice of reticles for those of us that need one that is heavier than the Mil-Dot in the S&B.
I've seen "bright," nights with full moons in the open desert where optics with only a 4mm exit pupil will work. But I've also seen the Mil-Dot reticle disappear long before the end of legal shooting hours when my old VariXIII was set on 10X. So it depends on the light conditons where one does his hunting. E
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 29,663 Likes: 5
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 29,663 Likes: 5 |
Have you ever made a contribution to a thread here? How could he interact in a meaningful way; he has everybody on ignore  !!
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,180 Likes: 20
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,180 Likes: 20 |
To be fair, once in a while Savage 99 posts a photo of a nice rifle.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Joined: Jul 2013
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189 |
So since I have all you guys here....is the consensus on the SWFA 10X that it is a good and fine and worthwhile scope, and not just a good scope for $300? Low-light resolution matters to me, but for my purposes, a scope that accurately tracks matters a bit more. Opinions?
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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