Have more scopes than rifles. My Kimber Montana 308 currently rides with a zeiss conquest 3-9x40, plex reticle. But I also have a Meopta meostar #4 reticle 3-10x50. Meostar is just a bit heavier. Could also choose from a leupold vxL 3-10x50. Which would you choose? In a lease where we are selective on the bucks we take and they often don’t show up till last light.

Although I'm a big fan of many #4 reticles the Z-plex is no slouch when it comes to low light. I think I'd stick with the smaller Zeiss scope on that rifle unless to your eyes the Meostar seems a lot brighter.

Man I’m just the opposite. More rifles than glass!


Roy

Since your goal is extend your shooting time as late into the evening as possible choose which one does that for you at a magnification that is suitable for the ranges you shoot or are likely to shoot on your lease. On those options you provide its going to be all about what you think.
I hunt in the southeast and have the same issue with bucks showing up right at dusk. I find with my scope turning down to 7 power gets me a few more minutes on all my Leupolds and swaros. My ranges are generally 100-150 yards.

Out of everything you have the Meostar will be the most effective at last light. Have owned all those 3 scopes BTW and hunted them all in Alabama .

Good suggestion there. Those Conquest 3-9x40 rifle scopes are great. Very hard to beat. I would not expect the Meopta to be much better in any regard.

It is better in lowlight especially under the conditions he is hunting.

I just picked up a Steyr THB in 308 with 20" barrel, topping it off with a 3-9x40 Conquest.

I've yet to see my first Zeiss or MeOpta hold zero,track or repeat...though they are chockfull of Fluff,that swoons them who don't shoot. Hint................

Yeah, it's because you're special.

Actually shooting,tends to skew things and you "get" to read about. Hint.

You Do NOTHING Clueless Fhuqktards are a hoot and couldn't begin to "critique" a bottle of water by yourselves. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!............

I have a meostar and conquest. Between the two the Meostar is brighter and better. It keeps up with my Zeiss Victory. But both scope will do the job. I would be worried about the balance of the rifle with a 50mm objective.
I have been thinking of selling my scopes and going with illuminated reticles. But with either scope, I'm already past shooting times. Open fields in the morning are really dangerous. I would suggest a good pair of binoculars if you really need to make positive ID.

You got it right the first time. It ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have used all three scopes at low light. To my eyes the Meopta wins. All three of these scopes have capped turrets and did not try them for tracking although they were easy to sight in so tracking seems fine.

Zero retention has not been a problem with any of them.

Stick has no concept of how we hunt and how well these scopes work in our part of the world.

From among the choices given I'd choose the one with the reticle I like the best.

If you`re limited by time, 30 mins. before and 30 mins after, and you adhear to the time, the scopes you mention will work.

Otherwise, a strong spotlite is the ticket.

Crazy thought. Take all three scopes out in field or field- like conditions and see for your own self.

You don’t have a bad or wrong option, just a personal preference. So make one.

How do you know, DO you live where the OP lives and hunt where the OP hunts? I can tell you that I had a 50mm Leica scope give out 5 minutes before last shooting light in a bottom I hunted last year. It got that dark.

I think meopta made that conquest for zeiss and was spec'd similar to the meopro. The meostar is a big upgrade over the meopro.

I agree. Still have 2 Conquests and 2 Meostar R1's. The Meostar is a superior low light scope.

Then dark is dark, isn`t it?? If you can`t be positive of your target, why are you shooting?

When I can't see I don't shoot. I am talking last light that starts at 25 minutes after sunset. The Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 manufactured by Meopta will not get me there. Are you going to tell me what I can and cannot see ? My scopes work way past legal light with one exception last year.

You evidently didn`t read what I first wrote, that the scopes mentioned by the OP, IME, would all work within the legal lite time frame.
Your post here seems to prove it. All but one?

My Zeiss Conquest will.

,

I have owned a bunch of Zeiss conquest 3-9x40,3.5-10x44 and a 4.5-14x44 and 4.5-14x50 and the 50 was the only one that would work well where I hunt(southern alabama) I don't own any of those scopes anymore, I wanted something better.

There is a small amount of uninformed hunters here that think if a scope works out west 1/2 after sunset then it will work anywhere else. That southern hunters just make stuff up.

See what ruraldoc wrote , he has hunted that part of the country more than I have . We don't buy expensive optics just for the fun of it.

This pretty much sums it up Oldelkhunter.

Buy the best glass quality you can. In low light the scope should be the expense priority over the rifle. You can't shoot what you can't see. The scope helps you see better. A PH once told me that the scope should cost twice as much as the hunting rifle itself. That extra ten minutes you get with good glass is worth the extra cost to some of us.

Southern Alabama...

Yes

I don`t hunt in south Alabama, I hunt further north, and we do have Cedar swamps, that do get dark "early", even with snow on the ground. But if I`m sitting in a hole, I should know that.

Should I get an extra 10 minutes "lite" from my very expensive glass, I`m past legal shooting hours.

Buy what you want. Yes the extra 10 minutes is worth it to me but since you don[t think so use your conquest. I have needed great glass hunting north or west, I don't just hunt so Alabama. I hunt Alabama in January exclusively with the occasional early February dates. You should try it sometime and see it with your own eyes since you think you know more than people that do it a lot.

The Meostar is going to be a bit brighter. We have same issue here in SC. Our legal time is 1 hour after sunset. The dialing reticles will not get you there. The #4 is great for it. Illuminated is as well.
In the pines it gets dark quickly. We do not have the benefit of snow as it does not snow here during deer season. Add in the length of our season and deer learn quickly to move later in the evening.

GreggH

One reason I asked about the "legal" shoot times. Early in my hunting years, I had several experiences with pushing the time..it was expensive. I don`t do that anymore, so the glass asked about gets me to the 30 min. mark easly.

YMMV

This. Focus both scopes in good light to make sure they are set up for the user. Set the power as you would for the use. Side by side (or over/under), in a good rest, set up so you can view through each clearly and without strain at the object/range you wish to test at. I try to set it up well before low light. I usually try to find an object in the shadows of a wooded area with some limbs that can be seen in the view...being able to see a target is one thing, being able to see items that may deflect a bullet is another. Being setup steady, to switch between each easily, makes it much easier to compare them.

30 min (or an hour) past sunset in an ag field is very different from the same time and sun/cloud conditions on the east side of a mountain in woods. "x" time past sunset ain't the same. To see which is best, check them under the worst conditions.

I'm not very trusting in scopes and mounts...some I have more faith in than others but I'm always double checking.

If Southern hunters don’t “make stuff up” I’ll gladly buy you a drink - they have the most colorful stories going. My good friend from Mississippi is as experienced as they come & hunts with a 56mm S&B in his woods on the Pearl river. He laughs at hunters in his area who go to flat shooting magnums to make 125 yard shots.

The Southerners I’ve met in the mountains hunting elk are generally quite nice & love their expensive equipment, some use it quite well despite not having long shots at home. The first time elk hunters do have a distance adjustment in the sage & oak brush canyons but they do usually have nice optics to help.

I’ve had lots of Conquests and a Meopta that were good to dusk for me but I got a conquest 4-16x 50 last year with the lighted reticle & it’s so nice at dusk in the west river bottoms in the South wouldn’t worry me.

I have Leupolds on mine. I know they ain’t worth a cshit, but I can see fine before and after legal shooting hours.

A lot of hunters make stuff up all over the country in case you haven't noticed. If you read my post I had a conquest 4-16x50 and it worked fine even an hour after sunset( was not strictly enforced and pretty much was as long as you can see it ) . I ended up selling it and bought 30mm 50-56MM scopes which were much better to my eyes. They then changed the law to 30 minutes after but there are very demanding lowlight situations you will not find out west. Those that question that should try hunting Alabama in January in a river bottom with heavy timber all around. 50% of the time there is even a ground fog that starts up right before prime hunting time.

Look, the guy has three scopes- asked which one. Don't know why it devolved....but often happens.

The idea a scope needs to cost twice as much as rifle is what some PH says? Maybe back in 1990 when things like fully multicoated lenses were at a premium. Today any $150 scope will have that, likely some scratch resistance and even click turrets and see past legal times. Use the best scope you have, - sure, and I think agreement is Meostar out of the bunch. I agree with GreggH about the #4 and his other comment.

If I need a 56mm scope (which was not in the question) to hunt deer I probably ain't pulling the trigger to bag an Alabama deer past dark that I then need to pray to locate in some pitch black river bottom. I also happen to think legal is legal and illegal is illegal enforced or not. Just me.

Let me highlight what I said previously because you obviously mis read it.

Are you implying that I am hunting illegally? If you read what I said you would know otherwise. The previous sunset rule was worded loosely and pretty much said if you could see the animal you could shoot it. They changed that law the last few years and it is now 1/2 hour after sunset. There were times in the past where I would be back at the house after dark and still hear people shooting .

Oldelkhunter, no offense meant.

When you included :

" If you read my post I had a conquest 4-16x50 and it worked fine even an hour after sunset( was not strictly enforced and pretty much was as long as you can see it )"

The part where you said " it was not strictly enforced " led me to believe you were speaking from personal experience. Glad to hear otherwise.

Hope the OP just checks his stuff and makes up his own mind.

Yeah it was not strictly enforced , in fact the Game Warden was good friends with the Landowner and knew about everything going on in the area. We were within the law as it was worded and the Landowner never picked us up until a good 15-20 minutes had passed an hour after sunset. There Were people still shooting at that time and later. I could not understand why then but I do now , they were using really good optics.

In my case, the question of legal shooting hours is not so much the issue but there are some legal low light shots I would not have been able to make with lesser glass.

My need for low light glass is Hogs at night. I like to hunt hogs over pastures (in Texas you can hunt them 24/7) on moonlit evenings and using a $150-$200 scope is not an option, they simply do not perform in this environment. For my use in this setting, the 8x56 S&B Klassik is the winner.

In your case I think 'Thermal' is the winner.

The only direct comparisons I have made were comparing vortex viper, leupold Vari X-III 3-5-10x50, and a conquest 3-9x40. Put them all on 9 power looking at a 3D deer target in the shadows/wood well after dark with just a hint of street light in the distance.
Bottom line, image was similar with all 3 scopes. My old eyes couldn’t tell much of a difference.
However, seeing the reticle was significantly different. The zeiss conquest reticle was much sharper than either the the leupold duplex or the viper “duplex”. Both the leupold and the viper melted into the darkness. It was on that day I realized, glass is good, but “seeing the reticle” is a difference maker.

I’d line them up at dusk side by side and have your eyes tell you.
East button right there

I have #4 reticles on both zeiss conquest and meopros.

The zeiss crosshairs are thicker, while the meopro is too fine for late hunting. Glass is adequate on each, but the meopro crosshairs disappear at some point.

Now my meostar R1 8x56 illuminated dot is the titts meow, worst thing to ever happen to the deer in my area.

Either scope the OP mentioned will work. personal preference in my opinion. If you really want to take advantage of those last few minutes of shooting light, get either scope in a lit reticle. That solves all problems those last few minutes when the big boys often show up.

I like the illuminated reticle option as a solution to all "see to shoot" issues. Where I hunt, we have such a hog problem that one needs to be a be able to see after shooting hours for your health. I've killed a couple on my walk out after dark. As far as the discussion, both scopes are good enough for hunting past shooting time, but I think the Meopta will go a few minutes longer for what that is worth.

I like the illuminated reticle option as a solution to all "see to shoot" issues. Where I hunt, we have such a hog problem that one needs to be a be able to see after shooting hours for your health. I've killed a couple on my walk out after dark when the hogs were on my trail. As far as the discussion, both scopes are good enough for hunting past shooting time, but I think the MeoStar will go a few minutes longer for what that is worth.

yesterday i sighted in my new to me Winchester model 70 that i put a new Nightforce scope on that hopefully will be going to Africa next year in May. best scope out there and worth every penny too. Pete53

Meopta for the win...

My 3-9 conquest bounced around in the back of a landcruiser for 14 days last year in Namibia.

Just for kicks...before I left I shot the rifle again. Shot looked like part of the original 3 shot group.

That's good enough for this do nothing couch sitter.

Yes that's all well and good but you didn't throw it onto a creek, did you?

Haha

Kudos for the Sweet “Satisfactions” that are your’s,for taking a rifle on a car trip. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!…………

That truly is the ultimate test. 🤦‍♂️

The Do NOTHING Gang never ceases to amaze,by simply doing their best. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!……………

🤦‍♂️

Fortunately for you,Imagination,Pretend and Emoji’s are free,so even YOU can”afford” to “contribute”. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!…………..

Every hunting rifle needs a Made in China ‘ware’ on top.

Every Window Licker needs something to Whine about…you “lucky” kchunt. Hint. Congratulations?!?

Fhuqking LAUGHING!………….

Sorry Ladies,today was (5) airports and an IFR Crab Walk to The Finish Line. Hint.




At least you Crying CLUELESS Kchunts don't have to fret anything getting wet,on your Car Ride. Hint.




A wee bit of perspective,for you Window Licking Do NOTHING Kchunts. Hint.








Bless your poor poor(literally) hearts,for trying.

I might start carving some Mail open this evening. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!.............