... opinions wanted for scope options to go on a .338WM for dangerous game hunting in AK. Obvious priorities being substantial FOV, eye box, relief, waterproof, quick target acquisition and glass clarity/quality to draw light in rainy/foggy/dreary conditions. Illuminated reticle may be beneficial in this application as well. Would like enough mag. to also utilize for moose, caribou and maybe a future Safari trip with son. Thanks for any opinion/advice -

I've used 3x12 Swarovski, 2.5x10 Leupold, and 1x6 VX6 Leupold for all my grizzly & brown bear hunting. If I could only pick 1 it would be the VX6 - 1x6.

Mid

Not saying these were the BEST but I used a 3x9 Leupold on my .375 brown bear (40) yards and a 6x42 with a heavy duplex on my grizzly .300. (150Yds) Plenty of rain with both.

Would use either again.


Lefty C

I hunt griz country in WY all the time, and alone I might add, and prefer fixed 3x or 4x, but a 1x4 up to 2.5x8 (could add 3x9) would be my second choice.

Used a 375 H&H on my sole AK hunt, fixed 4x on it worked fine.

I used a Leupold VarX-III 2.5x8. It was a baited grizzly hunt @ 100 yard-----shot was @ midnight. But in AK in June, that's twilight or maybe dusk. Rifle was a 375 Ruger Hawkeye. I took the same rile/scope to Africa for a cape buffalo hunt----worked great. Plan on using it again in AK for another grizzly in 2021. If I was going to buy another it would have the illuminated reticle.

Murkydismal ... which scopes have you used (make & model)? Thx -

I'd like to pick up another NX8 1-8x24 for my .375....I've been using one of the NX8's on an AR for a while now playing around and I really like it for what it is.

Illuminated (daylight visible as well), wide FOV on low power, up to 8 power and the zero stopped elevation dial could be nice on a .338 as well. Compact, tough little scope. For dangerous game I think it would be tough to beat.

My choice is the Zeiss V6 1-6. Illuminated #4 reticle. Just mounted that scope on my 9.3x62.

JCM & Steve - Sorry I didn’t specify but need to stay South of $1K.

I too have found that a variable w/ true 1x and a daylight visible reticle is ideal at close range and works well to 300 yards. I have a Trijicon Accupoint 1-4 on my AR and find it fast, easy to use w/both eyes open, outstanding in low light and very rugged.

This or a similar model would work well, 1-8 would be even better. If the bear gets close I would prefer a sight that is very easy to acquire and works well in any light.


mike r

Perfect scope with the deal of the year...
Call me today and I'll do a Meopta Meostar R2 1.7-10x42 in your choice of BDC-2 or BDC-3 or the Meostar R2 2-12x50 BDC-2
for only $999.99.

We are open till 8 tonight.

Those who know these scopes know how slammin' a deal this is and how great these scopes are

Up until 2018, I was hunting bear here in SC AK with a .300 WM topped with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40, or a .300 WSM with the same scope. My son used a .308 Win topped with a Burris FFII 3-9x42. I have since gotten a new Ruger 77 Hawkeye in .338 WM with a Leupold VX3i 2.5-10 on it. Honeslty, the .300WM with the VX2 on it was all I ever needed for bear, moose, or caribou here.

Leupold 3X !

If you need to magnify a bear more the 4x , you need to learn to stalk.

Leupold FXII 3x Big Bore, Leupold FXII 4x (use this most), and Leupold VX3 2.5x8. Also have used Leupold FXII 6x especially when hunting high country mule deer, and have no qualms about it even in timber.

In my opinion the whole FOV issue is overthought.

I have killed numerous animals in thickets/timber of AR-MO-CO-WY-AK with 4x and 6x scopes with no problems.

The key is familiarization and practice with your gun/scope until it just becomes second nature.

Staying south of $1K the Nightforce 3-10x42 SHV with illuminated Forceplex is a solid scope if you're ok with 3x on the low end.

While guiding that was the only scope I used. There are no flies on them.

I now have a 1-4x24 Vortex Viper on my 375AI and it has accounted for quite a few brown bears over the last number of years without issue. I do not plan to change it anytime soon.

The clear voice of experience...

Best advice?

Listen to the guys that do this for a living.

Some great wisdom.
I like my Leupold 1.5-5 x 20 Well, I think that's what it is. Getting old is okay sometime.

2-10 will cover all your hunting needs. Or 1.7-10 as Doug posted. Not much more you can ask for. My main hunting rigs have 3-9, 3-12 and 2.5-10.
2-12 is even better when you are at the range, especially if and when you try to stretch her out for the longer shots.
Someone needs to come out with 1-12x42

I completely agree Royce ... especially when hunting something that can hunt you.

This scope, LEUPOLD VX-5HD 2-10x42mm (30mm) Duplex Reticle, seems hard to beat for the money at $759. I've recently bought two and although I have not tested them outside the range, they seem like very good scopes for the under $1,000 price point.

Regardless of scope choice, make that rifle and scope combination fit you so it comes up like
a nice bird gun pointing where you're looking and a full view in the scope.

I don't like gadgets hanging off my rifle that hang up on brush and packs.

Scope covers should be simple and reliable.

Sightron SIII 1-6x50 4a/illuminated dot...

4x Conquest

Great ... I have now seen 29 different recommendations to consider! In all sincerity, thanks for all of the input guys ... sounds like a majority of the pro's prefer a low mag fixed optic, which holds a lot of logic considering real-world situations and the task at hand.

I used a Swaro 1.5-6x42 on brown bear, great low light scope. Went back a few years later on a black bear hunt, used a 1.75-6 Leupold on that hunt. Not bad but no comparison to the Swaro in the low light and dreary conditions we encountered.

Thx John, I completely understand the sentiment. I have several Zeiss, Meopta, Loppys, Burris, Bushnell (Elites, very underrated imo), Vortex, Nikon, Weaver ... but the few Swarovski’s I have are just ... different. Even the “value series” Z3’s I have are d@mn good scopes that simply deliver fantastic optics. The Meopta’s are nipping on their heels however -

I wish this scopes were still made. Or I had been far more knowledgeable on scopes when they were being clearances out.0

A variable power with a minimum power no greater than 3x, an illuminated reticle would be a plus. Make sure that the reticle is usable at the lowest power if the scope is a FFP, I prefer FFP for most applications and have not had a problem of seeing the reticle of any of my FFPs. Keep the power at its lowest value as you usually have time to increase the power of your scope there are many times that you might want to have the lowest power but have no time to dial it down. think of a Grizzly charge do you want to take time to turn the power down as the bear is approaching you rapidly? I don't hunt Grizzly bears, only black bears, but have spent a lot of time in Grizz and to a lesser extent Polar bear country.

I have always liked Meoptas so I think Doug's deal is a great deal.

A variable power with a minimum power no greater than 3x, an illuminated reticle would be a plus. Make sure that the reticle is usable at the lowest power if the scope is a FFP, I prefer FFP for most applications and have not had a problem of seeing the reticle of any of my FFPs. Keep the power at its lowest value as you usually have time to increase the power of your scope there are many times that you might want to have the lowest power but have no time to dial it down. think of a Grizzly charge do you want to take time to turn the power down as the bear is approaching you rapidly? I don't hunt Grizzly bears, only black bears, but have spent a lot of time in Grizz and to a lesser extent Polar bear country.

I have always liked Meoptas so I think Doug's deal is a great deal.

Always great to hear the advice from so many Campfire members who have never even seen a grizzly/brown bear--or perhaps have shot ONE.

The advice of people like 458Win is as good as it gets. He has probably killed more BIG bears than anybody on this forum--quite a few wounded by people who were over-gunned or over-scoped.

I shot a brown bear on September 7th, 1976 at 9:20 PM at a distance of about 30'. I was sitting on a tiny pond calling moose and the bear popped out of the brush. My scope was my old Leupold Vari X 2.5-8x36 with a Duplex reticle. When I fired my first shot I could see the bear and had a precise point of aim. No it was not lite up like a bright day, but it was good enough for that shot at that range.

The scope could focus on my license plate at bayoneted distance and it now sits on the old Springfield 338-06 I gifted my grandson. Seems like when I started hunting here in the mid 60's 4 power Weavers and a Post reticle were every where. Most .270 and 30-06 users had a 4 power scope and eventually the 3-9 variable took over. Now days, one can buy about any combination they can afford. My .338 now wears a 3-10 Nightforce HV. I used a Leupold 1.5-5x20 on my old Ruger .338 for 12 years and made a couple of 350 to 400 yard shots with it on moose, before we had antler restrictions.

Almost to the man every old time Alaskan guide I met up in the Slana River Country, Nabesna and Wrangel Mountains hunted all species of Alaskan big game. They all said the same thing, get with in 40 yards of a big brown bear if possible and do not shoot at them past 200 yards. But, it ain't hard to get on You Tube and see some one shooting brownies way past 200 yards. Now I get it, hunter pays a big chunk of change to a guide to get a big brown bear and if hunter has a clean decent shot at a big bear at 300 yards and the bear is on the flats and the tide is out, etc. BANG!

If I decide to go look for a big brown bear to kill the Nightforce 3-10x42 SHV with an illuminated Force Plex reticle will be ok. About any scope with a low end of 4 or less will work and the high end is a personal choice and there is nothing wrong with going over 4 power if it helps you to place your bullet better.

Reminds me of the old "E.F. Hutton" commercials." He don't say much, but.....

I appreciate that message Mr 1Akshooter ... very much enjoyed the story and your insight. I (along with many more, I’m sure) truly treasure the chance to hear from some of you guys with decades of experience hunting big game in the Bush up there in the Big Country. Thanks Again -

A quality 1 X 5 or 1 X 6 makes an excellent choice. I have used a Leupold and a Kahles for bears and dangerous game and both have worked well, The Kahles is the better scope in my opinion.

JB, curious. What scope[if any] did Phil Shoemaker have on "Old Ugly"? Thank you.

From looking at the pictures it looks to be a Leupold 2.5x as it appears to be to short in length to be a 3x.

Thanks erich. I just couldn't remember if it was scoped or not. That would be an ideal scope for his purposes.

There's no "Best" scope for brown/grizzly hunting anymore than any other. There are, however, better suited scopes than others for said purpose. I like plenty of eye relief and a low power on the bottom. On top of that, a scope that is reliable since you will probably be in wet, remote conditions. Find a good 1-4X or 1-6X, Good ones can be had from $450 on up to $2000. The advantage to the higher end is usually only enjoyed at the range when working up a load or selecting suitable factory ammo. I went through 3 scopes on my 458 Lott before I found one a Really liked. I ended up with a Hawke 1-4 with the L4A reticle. It is a thick post reticle with a single illuminated dot in the center. Has been the most likeable scope I have ever used on a heavy recoiling rifle. I took the same scope to Nebraska last year coyote hunting on a AR-15, between me and a buddy we killed 28 in 2 1/2 days. Never was lacking in the scope department!

The unicorn?

My gun safe has several unicorns!

The rifle I use for bear hunting has a leupold 2.5-8x36. It’s served
Me well and keeps my rifle fairly light.

Ed Stevenson, long time master guide in the Talkeetnas and Chugach Ranges in Alaska, once told me something for brown bear scopes, that I still think is hogwash.
"You need a big objective lense, 40 mm al least, so you can keep it clean in the field."

Now - acknowledging the more often than not rainy (to say the least) conditions up in AK, I have in my five seasons guiding not found this particular aspect to be a problem.

What actually has been a problem were variable scopes set at to high magnifications - so my answer for the best optic for Grizzly/Brown B. hunting:

Any proven reliable riflescope with 2-2,5x at the minimum range of magnification, with hydrophobic lens coatings like Bushnell Rainguard, and a bold reticle, mounted in quick detachable rings on a reliable, stainless steel bolt action of adequate caliber with good open sights.

Scope - set to low magnification as a default.

Bushnell 3200 2-7x32 with FireFly reticle in Warne Ruger QD Rings on a stainless Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger with 270 TSX bullets - I might be tempted to suggest for hunting them.

Maybe even turn the scope 90 counter clockwise, per Mr. Shoemakers suggestion, for easier access to the loading port.

I’ve built this gun a million times in my head and a few times in real life in hopes that I make it there some day.

A Trijicon 1-6 currently sits on my would be big bear gun for now.

The Trijicon seems a bit big and clunky and will likely end up on something else. May try the 1-4 version. I’d love a 3x Leupold but haven’t come across one as of yet....that and I’ve had more than one Leupold in recent years be bad right out of the box or be tits up in 20 rounds and my confidence has waned. Murphy rides my ass 24/7.

The closest I’ve ever come to DG hunting was a crazed thought to be rabid cow that I thumped with a 7wsm as she was heading for the hood of the truck to try and take me off the roof. Had a 2.5-8 Leupold that day and that worked just fine. I was certainly wishing for a 416 model 70 that day but the 7 stopped her fairly quick.

Leupold 2.5 Compact
Tough and easy to see around it.

I have a big bunch of unicorns, too! Happy to say almost all of my 10-22s wear one, just in case I need to use them to kill a brown bear!

Never hunted bears, but I have done dangerous African game. A Trijicon 1x4 Accupoint in QD rings would be my choice. I have the 1.25x4 on a .375 and could not be happier with it. The multi-illuminated post is outstanding

mrfudd,

Took my one grizzly with a 1.25-4x Trijicon AccuPoint--which worked fine. First shot was about 65 yards, the bear angling slightly away, and the bullet took out both lungs, exiting in the little angle behind the far shoulder. He decided not to drop, but whirled around and ran back in the direction he'd walked from, though angling closer to me and my guide. We each shot as he crossed in front of us, but at that instant the bear turned and bit at the entrance wound, so we shot in front of him. The bear then started angling away, and I put a bullet in the right ribs, which ended up under the neck hide in front of the left shoulder. At that point the bear sank into the tall grass, but would have been dead from the first shot. Elapsed time from first to last shot was maybe 5 seconds.

Believe I had the scope set on 4x, but wouldn't swear to it.

I really like that scope with the post and green triangle reticle