Putting together an 1895 for hunting river bottoms in KY. Furthest shot is 125 yards, mostly 80 or less. Looking for something great in lowlight and preferably illuminated. I threw a 3.5-10x40 vx3i on it for the time being but the 3.5x is a little strong for my liking. Any recommendations? 2-10x42 vx5hd seems to be what I keep coming back to but it's alot more scope than I need. Thanks

I have a lot of bushnell 1.5 to 4.5 banner scopes on a lot of different rifles less than 90 bucks aint had no problem with one on a 45/70 with loads for marlin rifles

Probably looking for something a little better than that. Budget is around $800. I need something that excels in lowlight and can aquire a target quickly but isn't huge.

Fixed power at 4x or lower; variable is the 1.5-5x or 2-7x range. Even those with a straight tube are good at gathering light for the power. I think a 2-7 with 32 mm bell is as big as you need. Pick your manufacturer and price point.

I’ve never used a post reticle but it is supposed to be fast

Not many companies make a low power scope with a huge objective which is what you need to gather more light. Few states allow you to hunt before sunrise or after sunset in the USA. Most low power scopes are used on shotguns, pistols, lever guns and tactical AR setup's so again a big objective is not what they need. IR does nothing to help with use in low light conditions since ability to see the reticle is seldom the problem with low power hunting scopes. At the ranges you are talking iron sights would be much faster and the fewer lenes you go through the less light is lost. Maybe a red dot scope with no magnification at all.

Do you smoke or have a non-alcoholic fatty liver, obese, diabetic??? Those things are knowing to reduce night vision!

Leupold 2.5-8x36 would be a good choice or maybe the Burris 3-9x40 E1 illuminated #4.
All my Marlins (.30-30, .35 Rem. & .444) have Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 Shotgun with Heavy Duplex on them. My Ruger 96 has a Leupold 1.75-6x32 "shorty" with Std. Duplex.
My Savage 99 has a Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 with Post and Duplex reticle on it. My BLR .358 has a Kahles AH 2-7x36 with Std. Duplex which imo may be the best 2-7 ever made.

I just put a Burris m tac on a 336. WOW! Illuminated. I will do a light gathering comparison with the vxr series and let you know.

Thanks for the help. Ended up buying a 3-9x40 vxr but probably won't stick with it. 2-7x33 is what I believe I'll end up with.

I would recommend this,Hawke Endurance 1.5-6×44 30/30 #HK6406. I have this on a1895M and it works great. It has held up to the recoil and eye relief is great.
I have other Hawke scopes for air rifles to center fire long range shooting and all have preformed perfectly with no failures.

You don't need a big front objective unless you are using a lot of X's. A 1-4X20 scope lets in EXACTLY the same amount of light when set on 4X as the 3-9X40 scope you bought when it is set on 8X. Move the 3-9X40 up to 9X and it lets in LESS light than a 1-4X20 on 4X or less. The advantage of larger front objectives is that it gives you the ability to use more magnification in low light. On a rifle meant for ranges inside 200 yards a 1-4X20 is more than enough scope.