I know the trend is more, more, more. But if you’re only shooting out to 300 yards with most shots 150 or less, do you ever really need more than a 3-9x40 scope?

Nope, but it's amazing how many years it took me to figure out that all the folks on here saying exactly that weren't crazy.

Nope, 3-9x is just fine. The much younger me thought different, but the older me sees telescopes on rifles as being unattractive

I’m tending to agree as I’ve gotten older, even though I sometimes catch myself.

There is something to be said for field of view and clarity.

3-9 is fine for that distance. I tend to set mine at 6 and leave it there. Up close to 300 and I’m good.

Give me a 3-9 and I feel claustrophobic. I tend to favor a 1.5-6x40 for most of my coyote hunting out to 300 yards, I do have 1-4x20's on combo guns that are comfortable out to 300 yards and my open country coyote rig wears a 2-12x40 and can go to 500 with that if needed. At 1.5x there is twice the FOV as there is at 3x.

My scopes stay on the lowest power/largest FOV, when you need the FOV(close in, hard charger, fast target acquisition) there is never enough time to turn the scope down, when you need the X's the critter is out there a ways and there is plenty of time to turn the scope up.

The higher the power the more you wobble....

The more you see the wobble.

IME no. If you're looking to kill a deer at those ranges 4x works fine. If you want a better idea of what kind of rack it's got or if there's the possibility of bullet deflection 3-9x40 should be enough. YMMV.

I'd say 9X is plenty, for 150 yard hunting I prefer a 2-7X.

Somehow for many years we killed a lot of game with a fixed 4. Remember a fixed 4 at 300 gives you the equivalent of irons at 75 which almost anyone would consider a doable shot.

Some people wobble way more than others too..

It's hard to beat a good 3-9x for hunting at ranges under 300 yards. You can leave it on 3x and dial the magnification up when needed. Works well in both the thick stuff and in more open country.

1-4x, 4x, 6x, 2.5-8, 3x9, 2-10. Pick your poison. They will all work just fine. My preference would be the 2-10 for an all rounder.

High ends of 8, 9, and 10 are handy at the range and for occasional use on chucks, etc, but I don’t remember ever shooting a deer at over 4x. The longest poke I ever took was only something over 200, and I can’t even remember what scope was on the old M70, but it was no more than a 4 because that’s as much as I ever had at that time.

I did crank up the FFII on my ML last season to 9, trying to find a hole to shoot through at a doe, but couldn’t find one. After about an hour, somebody else bumped her, so no cigar. That’s one reason for more Xs here in the Wild East.

I'm 49 now but have always liked the magnification side of it since I started about 8 years old. In south Louisiana we hunt box stands or ladder stands with shooting rails so a steady shot is 95% of the time. I was always brought up aim small, miss small. 90% of my shots, the deer is either standing still browsing or just a simple walk at 150yrds and it. I currently have a 4x16-56 S&B Polar that I'm running on my Tikka 308 and I'll zoom in on an occasional doe to make a clean head shot to preserve the meat if the shot allows it. Now, especially in hardwoods, you can have too much zoom and the animal can get lost in the background. I think its personal preference.

I have 3.5x10’s and 4.5x14’s. I think the 3.5x10’s are just as good, maybe better.

Need and want are 2 different things. You only need a Prius to drive across country, but wouldn't a luxury car be better? You only need a spear to hunt game, but wouldn't your rifle be better. Be thankful there is still a choice.... for now.

3-9 is plenty. We had fun shooting a 223 with a fixed 4x awhile back at 300yards, I finally realized more magnification is just not needed for hunting purposes. My first 5 shot group at 300 with the 4x on an ar was about 5inches. I can live with that.

The longest shot I've ever made on a deer was with a K4 Weaver on a .30/06, hardly today's choice, but it worked just fine back then. The deer didn't care. I DID practice a lot before that shot, like we all should, all the time.

For 300 yards and less, the 4x scope used to be the standard.

That was before deer and elk shrank to the size of chihuahuas, necessitating varmint rifle scopes. At least 18x and a 60 mm objective are minimum requirements.

LOL!

Thank you for asking to scope for a certain size critter & particular distance.

So many ask to scope a cartridge. Hard answer those questions without asking more questions.

A nice 2-7 is very versatile. Or the 2.5-8x36 is extremely popular for your intended purpose.

The first Whitetail I killed was with a 2-7 @ 40 yards. The first Mule deer I killed with a rifle was with same 2-7 @ 180

For 300 yards and less, the 4x scope used to be the standard.

This pre 64 .308 FWT has worked for me since early 1970 s and still does. Plain old Leupold M8 4 power - first and only scope on the rifle..


Recent 230 yard shot was the longest ever on Pronghorn - closest was less than 15 yards.

I started back in the 1960s with a 4x while I killed game with it once I got my hands on a Weaver V 4.5 (1.5-4.5) you could never get me back in a fixed 4x. The low power vairiable is just so more useful. The top end is the same as the 4x but the bottom end adds so much more in FOV and target acquisition..

No ..... I use one 3-9, three 2.5-8s, one 2-7, one 1.5-5 and one 4x fixed on my BG rifles. Nothing bigger..

Yep...

Using 12X makes me shaky as all hell. I'm steady as a rock at 4X.

Can someone explain the physical dynamics of this phenomenon?

62 Years ago I shot my first deer and antelope with a K2.5 on top of my Savage 99 243. The deer was running at 100 yards from right to left...rolled it. The antelope was standing at 330 paces...dropped it.

At 12 Y/O I convinced myself I needed much higher power scopes, and I changed out the K2.5 for a K4.

Now my favorite scopes are 2-7 and 2.5-8, plenty for any hunter.

Several years back I shot a 2.5-10×56mm Schmitt and Bender on my 7mag bean field gun I can't recall ever turning it up past 6 power for any shot.
On a lighter weight woods gun I like a smaller scope...a 1.5-5 ,or a 1.5'-6.
Either can easily take you to 300 yards and beyond on a deer.

Ask yourself are you looking for a scope to make the shot....or study the animal and make the shot.

I use binoculars to study something. Years ago I had a guy put his scope on me at 150 yards...he later claimed he thought I was a stump sitting on the side of the hill....thank goodness he didn't decide to target practice.

Scopes are made for shooting binoculars are made for looking.

4x16 variables are the best of all worlds.

Deer rifles are often used as varmint rifles.

I have sold all those lower powered variables I have ever owned, but still have one Leupold 3.5-10 AO, 3x12 Burris signature, and a nice 3x9 Bushnell 3200 with rain guard.

I like to be able to examine the rack on a buck to see if he has broken brow tines.

To each his own.

LIKE the photos!!

Hey , what kind of ring mounts are you using for the Polar?

That is a big consideration as well.

That's why the 3-9 was made. Very versatile use of magnification. Again, it's more about shooters preference. As you can see here, you got old dudes loving see through mounts and 4x scopes. Others prefer more magnification. I'm one that prefers more magnification than that. That's where the 3-9x40, 4-12x40, 4.5-14x42, 4-16, 6-18 all come into play.. There's not really a wrong answer..

Hauling our old azzesses up some damned big mountains covered with thick mahogany and manzanita is a consideration.


I've gone in my lifetime from K2.5/K4 scopes to 3-9, 4.5-12, and back to compact 2-7 and 3-9 scopes, and from light compact rifles like my vintage 99 FW 243 to magnums to standard rounds (50% of my hunting with a 1936 vintage Mdl 70 '06), to now Kimber Montanas in 325 WSM and 257 Roberts with 2-7s on them.

I never hunted antlers, but I've shot some gi-normous bucks and some dinks. In my lifetime I've never found an acceptable recipe for antler stew.

As bsa said, there is No wrong answer. I'd hate to be fed a plate of few choices.

4X is sufficient. I actually prefer a 6X40, but they are darned hard to find. I have one, and wish they all were - but at my age the investment doesn't make sense, swapping out the variables up to 3.5-10.

Fixed power has several advantages, and as far as I can see, no disadvantage over variables to the ranges I shoot (500 max),. Getting harder and harder to find straight fixed scopes, any power. Market is not there, apparently.

That said, the longest shot I ever made (well in excess of 500 yards, actual range unknown - pre rangefinder days) was with a steel tubed Weaver 3-9, set on 3X (by mistake). I saw where the first bullet kicked up snow, applied Kentucky windage, and centered the cow caribou through both shoulder blades with the second shot from the 25-06.

I do have an old Leupold 3X scope I have to put on something, but first I need to talk to leupold about it- it was on a 30-30 - I want to be sure it will withstand whatever I put it on- maybe a .243?

Anyone know something about this scope?

Longest shot I ever attempted (and made) was with a B&L 4000 2.5 - 10 x 42... plenty of scope to see the elk and sight just fine. 300 is a chip shot relatively speaking and a 3-9 or thereabouts should be more than enough to get the job done if you are doing your part and have a good rest.

I would be more concerned about making sure my scope gathered as much light as possible. Shooting at dawn and dusk with some scopes is a dicey situation if your scope won't pull in as much light as possible- which means in most cases modern scopes with modern coatings...

Bob

No. However ... I'm a Leupold fan and I like their B&C or VH crosshair setups. I don't believe those are available from the factory anymore in anything "below" a 4.5-14X. You might find 'em on a used 2.5-8X, 3-9X, or 4-12X, but not a new scope.

I have a 2.5-8X B&C on my Kimber .308. The drop didn't track with Leupold's sight in suggestions but when I put the main crosshair dead on at 100 yards, the first crossbar at 8X hits dead on at 200 and the second crossbar is dead on at 300. I prefer that to twisting knobs.

Tom

My favorite scopes are in the 2.5 to 9 power range. I have many others with higher magnification. I guess it just comes down to whatever trips my trigger on any given day. I too grew up in the era of "well the fixed 4 power or the 3-9 power worked for us for years". However, I just don't seem to remember having the options in the 70s and 80s that we do today. I speculate that if we did, we would have had the same distribution of different magnification ranges and objective sizes among hunters and shooters that we do today.

To answer the question posited by the OP in his op, "no, however, some do".

I may turn it up to check the shot. The deers rack or obstructions. Nearly always I'll turn it down because I don't need to see a hair to hit him in the bread basket. I want that field of view for follow up shots.

Vortex precision 34's, was looking for Seekins but was sold out. They are basically the same rings.

Nope...any good 3x9 with dotz will do the job. I like Burris FFII Ballistic Plex, good, durable, priced right.

For long range targets a big variable gets the nod.

For hunting I've used a 6x in various brands since 1985 .

2.5-10.
Turn it down in the woods. Turn it up at the range. Best of both worlds

Hard to go wrong with this one

Thanks

If you ever hunt deep dark woods on a cloudy evening and that 3-9X40 will take you to last shooting light, then it's the right scope.

Mostly I have 3.5- 10s or 2.5-8s. The 3.5-10s pretty much stay on 6 or 7. So not sure I would miss the 8-10 power. I would be hard pressed to have an opportunity to shoot out to 300. Mostly out to 160-180 at the furthest where I hunt in AL. In Southern Ohio its just about hand to hand combat in the big timber.

Agreed, that's a good deal. I bought my first Burris Ballistic Plex II last year. Good glass, tracks as it should and holds zero. Granted it's not on a hard kicker but so far it's been a set it and forget it scope.

I use a vortex viper 4-16x50. If they ar 300 yards it’s nice to zoom in. But it’s nice to have the 4 power for closer range

My 300 yd or less rifle is a Remington 660 in 308 with a Weaver 2.5x fixed. Works great!

You won't need much magnification for 300 yards. Most people are way over scoped when hunting! Higher magnification is necessary the shooting for precision, but not needed for game hunting. I have made 1000 yards hits on torso sized targets with a 10x scope. In my training classes, we consistently (with a steady rest) stay on 10" steel at 200 yards with red dot sights. Within 300 yds, a good 1-5, 1.5-5, 2-7 would be good. Plus you would have the low end for FOV at close distance. Just my 2 cents.

Yesterday I set a 200 yard zero for one of my deer rifles. I moved over to 300 and put the scope on 6x to shoot the drop so I'd know how to hold. As always it was plenty of magnification.

Have killed quite a bit of big game with "iron" sights out to 250, and even one bull caribou (about the size of a big mule deer) at 350, using a pre-'64 Model 70 .270 with a Lyman aperture rear and the factory front bead. Have also used 2-1/2x and 3x scopes out to 300+.

The big advantage I've found in more magnification is (as others have observed) seeing antlers in dimmer light, whether just to discern if the deer's legal, or whatever. Around 35 years ago I hunted a lot with a K3 Weaver, which was old enough to have single-coated lenses, or no coatings at all. Was also more addicted to "trophy" hunting than I am now, and one morning a small herd of whitetails wandered within 200 yards of where I sat along a creekbottom fenceline. Through my fine Bausch & Lomb binoculars I could see two were bucks, a young one and one with much larger antlers. But when I aimed with the K3, I couldn't see antlers on any of 'em!

It took some fast switching between binocular and scope to make sure exactly which deer was the mature buck, and I made the shot. But wasn't really sure I'd shot the "right" deer until walking up to where he lay.

Nice rig for a lot of hunting scenarios. I was always a fan of the 600's and 660's panache. Wish they had offered them wrong handed, but such is the life of a lefty.

12 or so years ago I foolishly sold off a gloss finish Japan
Weaver V3 that came on a used 308 model 88 that I bought. IIRC, I didn't ask much for it, either. At that time, and for not particularly good reasons, I was brand loyal to something other than Weaver. Since that time I've gained an appreciated for the ruggedness and overall value of the Japan Weavers and Bushies. I like wood and blued levers, so I'm pretty much always on the look out for straight tubed gloss scopes to put on them.

I think that would be plenty of scope to complete the job.
I personally run a 4-12 on my two main hunting rifles for the sub-300 yard shots.
I have a 257 that I take to shoot out to 450ish and it wears a 5-25
My long range turret rigs all wears 25x.

I don’t use the scopes at max very often but it’s nice to be able to see details at distance if I choose to.

It is humorous to hear all these people talk about there opinions as the only one.

I believe there are many options for different setups and each should make their own “this is right for me”

Just bought one from your link you posted. $137 bucks free shipping can’t beat that. Sportsmans selling them for $189 now. I’m a leupold guy but ph uck used prices are insane these days.

Those are good scopes John. You'll like it..

Correction it was $134.99.

That's a hell of a good deal man. I've bought a few from that guy. He's good to deal with..

I have 4 of these scopes, great scopes. Went to Sportsmans last night to get one they were selling for $149 couple months ago. Like I mentioned earlier they are priced at $189 now.

3x9's and 3.5x10's are what most of my rifles wear. Have a couple that go to the mid teens but sure aren't needed for most hunting . Have banged steel at 1000 with my hunting scopes what ever that's worth.

Am liking the 2-7x range of scope more and more.
Had a 3-9x back in the 70s and moved up to 4-12x.
For dual usage ( varmints and deer ) id proly go w an AO w max of 10 to 14x.

Bag or bipod gun only, like for PD....could go higher.

Deer? A 2-7x w a bit longer tube would fit a variety of rifles w ease and do all i need.

But everybody these days wants shorter length, and higher mag.

Ridiculous.

All my bolt-action centerfires wear 2.5-8, 3-9, 3.5-10, or 3-12 scopes, and nearly all of them get shot at 300 and/or 400yd steel. Many people think they need a 20x scope for those ranges until they shoot my life-size pig silhouette at 300yds with a typical 3-9 scope. It's no thing to wear out the headshot area with a reasonably accurate rifle and decent drop dope or a BDC-style reticle. If using a load that's sub 2,900fps, it's simple to dial down 10-20% from the top magnification and have your BDC dope jive with the slower load with most 2nd focal plane hunting scopes. I've seen 7mm-08/.308 carbines run great with a 3-9 BDC like Leupold's when dialing down from a 9-10x max to a 6 or 7x setting. Even though you give up a bit of magnification, you have a more precise aiming point for 300yds than trying to estimate 7-9" of drop from a 200yd zero, but you can always just hold the drop dope with the crosshair if you like.

I like smaller scopes for big game rifles so anything with a 32 mm or smaller objective is my pick. Usually this will be a 2x7 scope these days. It used to be (before the turn of the century) that some 3x9 scopes had smaller objective lenses. Now 2x7 is the most magnification offered in this size. Maybe this niche will come back into fashion. I hope so but guys like me don't need to buy many more scopes in our lifetime.

I have 2-7x scopes on most of my rifles along with a couple of fixed power scopes. One of my favorite scopes is a Weaver 1-3x20 on that is mounted on my 7mm-08 BLR. They are no longer made and I wish that I would have bought another at that time. I only shot the 1-3x out to 200 yards and I think it would a bit harder to use out to 300, but doable.

I've hunt multiple times with a Shot gun scope on top a 260 or 243....Bushnell 1.5 x 4s. with that Circle X reticle...

wasn't handicapped at all at 250 to 300 yds with them...

in fact several times when I made the shot, the magnification was setting on 2.5 power...never knew the difference until after the fact.

+1 on that

A quality scope that can be set between 4x and 6x is perfectly adequate for 300 yard hunting. Higher power settings are fine for the range. 2.5-10x and 3-12x Kahles, Leica, and Burris are my choices that I own. However, there are so many scopes on the market now to choose from and 3-9x40 is never a bad choice.

4 AND 6 Power Scopes are all Most Guys Need