I currently have a Simmons 3-9 on my Ruger American Predator in 308. I got that gun to be lightweight, mobile and handy in the thick stuff, but still be able to reach out with the 308 round if needed. My only gripe is the weight of the current scope I use. I only use the 9 power because it’s there, not because I need it. I’ve never killed anything father than 75 yards.

I’m looking at scopes like….
Mueller 1-4x24
Bresser Condor 1-4x24
Hawke Frontier 1-6x24
Leupold 1.5-5x20
Even considered dropping a big penny on a Trijicon

Feel free to suggest others. Lightweight, light transmission and durable are the requirements

I put a Mueller 1-4X24 Speed Shot on my buddy's Remington 700 Classic 350 rem mag. He's shooting Nosler 225 grain partitions full power. The scope eats it just fine.

Not a scout scope (basically handgun scope mounted in front of action on barrel of a rifle), but I have Nikon Monarch 1-4x20 that was once mounted on .375H&H and 9,3x62. Light, durable, with good optics. The only thing lacking is illuminated dot with intensity adjustment which would come in handy in brush/thicket or in shooting driven big game.

Bushnell banner 4x or 3-9 . I know a lot of people will go boo , but for the money and the range your talking , they are great .
Good in early or late light , put a 4x on a Ruger 300 black out and seems anything I shoot , hand loads , gets me 1-2 “ at 100 yds .
3-9 on a 340 savage and it produced 1-1.5” 100 yds . That’s dead deer all day .
I got scopes and rifles of higher quality , but sometimes you just got to question the sense of it when you got rifles and scopes that do it at half or third of the price .
It ain’t gonna cause heart attacks at the range , but for hunting , it gets it done .
Kenneth

In thick stuff and woods, 2.5X is plenty. Even 100 yards is no problem. I had a 2.5x Leupold Scout scope on an old K-98 Mauser in a no gunsmithing mount from 2007 until 2019. Loved it, and only took it off after getting some more guns & putting the K-98 back into original configuration. Don't recall the weight but the rifle never felt much different to me scoped or unscoped.

a lot of my levers wear Leupold 1.5-5x20. as for scout scopes, i use leupold 2.75x28 on bolt scout guns and my 94 timber carbine.

If you do not have to use a scout scope do not they are inferior in any hunting situation I can think of.

1.5-6 burris signature scopes are my favorite I prefer the older ones have them on everything from 22 long rifles to my muzzleloader.

That said Burris customer service seems to have taken a dive in the past couple of years so I might look elsewhere but a one point five - six is hard to beat.

Just put a Leupold Freedom 2-7x33 on it and have a nice life

Been using El Paso Weaver K2.5 and Leupy 2.5X compacts for a long, long time. They do fine, are reliable and cheap. Rebuild if needed with Iron Sight.

Sounds like you are not looking for a true scout or EER scope. But if I misread, I have a Burris 3X-12Xx32mm Handgun scope mounted forward of the receiver on a Springfield M1A and it is a nice setup- great parallax settings, nice field of view and a BDC type reticle. It is mounted in low rings and just clears the handguard. Nice smooth adjustments and good looking. $450 on Amazon.

Scout scope was definitely not the correct terminology for me to use in the question. Thank you guys for correcting that.

I haven' t used the specific scopes the OP mentions, but I have found scopes with a bottom end of 1.5x or 2 x to be near ideal for quick shots close in, provided they are properly mounted. I've even shot trap and any number of flushed birds using combination guns and my my drilling so equipped. These scopes can also wind up to a 5x or more, which is plenty for reaching out a good way on big game. Scopes I have and use in this range include a couple of Burris FFII (1.5-5 and 2 -7), Sightron S2 1.5 -6, a Bushnell Elite 2-7, and a Nickel 1.5 -6. I've had others too.

The other option, which I've also found works well, is a fixed 2.5 to 4 x. These have fewer lenses than a variable, so can be lighter and can pass more light, all else being equal, but you do give away the ability to wind a bit more on for shots way out across the paddock. Nevertheless I've found they do the job, and I have a couple - Leupold, Meopta and a couple of others.

Meopta and Hawke are really catching my eye…No one mentioned trijicon so maybe I’ll save the coin and take them off the list of potentials

A Swift 4x32 might work

I can recommend the Leupold. I've had one on my M1A Squad Scout Rifle for a few seasons now. It has always been easy to adjust between different loads, and is very tough. How do I know ? When I'm hunting the low desert and I loose my footing, something that happens at least once during each trip there, the scope didn't loose it's zero. I didn't fall with the rifle. I pitched it to the side, and let it land on the rocks. That way, I can use both hands to help me go down w/o significant injury. Testing the scope's zero afterward, showed no change in zero.
Nice and bright, and lots of eye box, too. E

I've been doing exactly what you are asking with a Weaver k2.5 on a Rem 600 for at least 30 years, and it still works fine. Capable to 350 yards on game & coyotes.

That said, I have not shopped to replace it so don't know what is available really. My last lpvo was for an AR, so I got one tailored for that.

The less complicated the better. I'd probably get a Leopold fire dot if I needed a replacement.

You asked about the Trijicon. I have a Trijicon Accupoint 1-4 with green triangle on post. on an AR and I love it. It is on its' 7th year of hard use w/out losing zero. It is very quick to acquire a sight picture and the FO/Tritium illumination is genius. It is easy to whack coyotes at 300 yards or a BG's face at 7 yards. Awesome scope and nearly indestructible. You will not regret the money spent.


mike r

I have a Burris 2.75x20 Scout on one of my rifles and it has been good in limited use.

Jeez. 9 power at 75 yards and you can count whiskers on his chin. 1 to 5 ish here and I walk about with 2.5.

Another guy with a bit of experience with the Trijicon here. Mine is on a boat paddle 308 and has been for ~2500 rounds now. It holds zero, tracks well, has a good eye box and eye relief. The illumination makes first/last segal shooting way the more easier. I highly recommend their product.

First or second focal plane and why?? I’m strictly a hunter

All fixed power scopes are FFP, so that is easy.

With low power variables there's not much in it really. I use both. With FFP both the reticle and the target image get larger and smaller as you change magnification. This means that the reticle subtension stays the same at any magnification, so if you rely on dots or hash marks or other features of the reticle for holdover or hold-off you can do it at any magnification. Some will say that the downside is that the reticle covers a lot of target at high magnification. or is hard to see at low magnification. In practice I haven't found this to be true, at least if you have a reticle like a German No 4 or a good duplex.

With SFP the target image gets larger as you increase magnification, but the reticle doesn't, so it covers less of the target as you wind the magnification on, and more of it at low magnification. If you want to use features in the reticle you need to do so at a particular magnification. You may also find that POI may drift a bit as you change magnification in an SFP scope, but with a good one it won't be by much. If you zero at maximum magnification and use magnification that for the long and difficult shots, you probably won't even notice.

For close range shooting it really will make bugger all difference though, either way. You'll tend to find that most low-medium priced scopes are SFP.