Any suggestions for a great low light scope for 200 yards and under?

Budget $500

Leupold FX3 6X42 heavy duplex.

What I would do.

Bushnell 4200 Elite

Bushnell Dusk & Dawn model featuring 1.5 - 4.5X settings. I mounted this scope on my Ruger 44 MAG carbine and love it. Optics are crisp and bright! Cost is less than $100. which is a genuine bargain for this quality product.

Sherwood

yep!

Toss up between the Bushnell Elite and Leupold VX3i

I'd lean towards the Bushnell Elites based on my last two VX3i's. The glass was decent but adjustments were mushy and hard to keep track of.

Look for a Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x50 with illuminated reticle, if you can't find one of those the plain version(4200 or 4500) will be almost as good.

The Bushnell 4200 comes with the hydro-phobic coating. You can't go wrong.

Mule Deer has written extensively on the subject of scopes, a topic that he has researched extensively. Before you spend your money, spend a couple of hours reading what he has said about the topic.

Personally, I have had excellent experiences with Swarovski optics in low light situations (primarily hunting leopard).

You might be able to find a good, used Swaro AV or Z3 ~ $500. I would also give the Meopta line a close look (no pun intended).

Got a link ?

Schimdt and Bender 8x56 if you can find an old one but it would have to be almost an antique to go for that price. But the few times that a Leupold would not cut it it was already well past legal shooting hours so I feel like that is a nice perk. One of these occasions I was near a road and the Buck knew something was up and didn't come in till dark 30. Unknown to me the whole scenario was being watched by a game warden who later said good thing I didn't shoot that buck.

You should look at Meoptas meopro series. I have heard mostly good things about em!

Hard to beat the Zeiss Conquest

Absolutely! The Zeiss Conquest of a few years ago was a great scope. Believe they may have been made by Meopta, but am not sure. $400-500 new.

I've got a MeoPro 4-12x50 M-Plex NIB I'd let go in your price range. PM if interested.

I have a Leupold VXR 3-9x50 that I use for hogs in low light. I have no complaints. The illuminated dot on the lowest setting is perfect for hogs at night. It should be right in your price range.

I forgot about that scope, they are very nice in lowlight

IMO that the reticle is very important as I'v ehad moose come out up against dark and could find the moose in
the scope but the reticle was very difficult to find on the dark animal.

I think thats about what I got me discontinues Zeiss Duralyt 1.5-5x36 for not as good as my VX6 1-6 in clarity and contrast in low light, but it is easier to get behind and also cost half as much.

Low light? I'm probably not up yet, or already in bed.... These 18-20 hour daylight days are tough on a guy!

Just kidding - I carry flashlights to help find camp.

The first moose I ever shot was with Marlin .30-30. It was so dark that I had to sight against the sky first, then drop it down to the moose some 50-70 yards away. Three times I did this, until I was sure of my aim point/bullet placement.

It had open sights.... I doubt a scope would have worked.

scope would have worked better than irons for sure on that shot.

Under 200 yards it's awfully hard to beat a Weaver Classic K4....unless of course you feel the need to spend more, then a Leupold FX-II 4x33(Personally I think the K4 is equally good and has a good plex reticle).

Maybe. Probably, now I think of it. It was pretty danged dark out there!

I once spotted a dark lump under the bow of the boat during a driving rain storm, from my bedroom window, in not as dark conditions as the moose. Could not make it out, but with the binocs, I could barely tell it was a young brown bear taking a nap out of the rain. So yeah.

What has worked for me in this situation is to keep both eyes open and stare intently at the aiming point with the off eye sort of like shooting a stick bow you will the bullet to fly it's course. Zen night hunting grass hopper.

Swarovski 6x42 has been the best low light scope for me, there was one for sale on the forum not long ago. I have two and they have replaced scopes of much higher magnification and larger objectives. For my eyes there is nothing better

It depends on what kind of rifle you’re going to mount your scope on. If it’s a lightweight woods rifle or carbine, you may not want a Hubble telescope for low light situations.

Leupold Vari-X III 1.75-6X (AKA: Leupold “Shorty”)

This is a fairly rare and hard to find Leupold, but well within your price range. Perfect for short-action rifles where a smaller scope is preferred. This model Leupold was discontinued long ago however carries a strong following of aficionados partial to its compact size and superior optics. Magnification ranges from 1.75X to 6X.



The picture above is for size comparison. The bottom scope is the Leupold "Shorty".

Listed from top to bottom:
Leupold 2.5X20mm
Leupold 1-4X20mm Matte
Leupold 1-4X20mm Gloss
Leupold 3X20mm
Leupold 1.75-6X32mm

Known as the Leupold "Shorty", (9.8" long), they're difficult to find as they were discontinued sometime in the 90's. They allow more light transmission than the 20 & 24mm tubes such as the 2.5X, 1-4X, & 1.5-5X, but are just about as lightweight & small.

Additional features:
Multicoat 4 lenses
Field of View = 47� @ 100yds on 1.75X / 18� @ 100 yds on 6X
Eye relief 4.8� low power / 3.7� on high power
Weight 11 0z
Outside Diameter of the eye piece 1.6�
Leupold Lifetime Warranty

As per Trent Smith of Leupold, the Leupold "Shorty" model numbers are:
Regular duplex / Matte finish is: 47193.
With a Heavy Duplex reticle it would be model number 47194.
Gloss with a regular duplex is a Model number 46404.
Gloss with a Heavy duplex would be a Model number 47192.

(But good luck Googling any of these model numbers.) Watch out for the Model number 66385 as this is the longer "E-Model "1.75-6X32mm� that's still in production today, (11.2� long, and heavier). Everything the "E-Model " does the Leupold 2.5-8X36mm does better.

PHOTO: 44 Mag, Super 16, Carbine w/Leupold "Shorty":



PHOTO: Rem 600 Carbine w/Leupold "Shorty":





DMc : )


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Sightron SII Big Sky
Bushnell Elite 4200
Weaver Grand Slam
Nikon Monarch UCC (Japan models)

If you want a GREAT low light scope, It ain't going to be easy at a $500 cap budget. I have a number of them, Some I bought for $500 and less, but those were used.

For "normal" variable scopes the 1.5-6x42 European alphas are hard to beat. You may be able to find a Meopta Artemis in 1.5-6x42 for $300-$400 but it may take a lot of time. I bought a couple Zeiss Victory 1.5-6x42s for right on $500. I got a Swaro for $400 and a S&B for $600. Those are GREAT low light scopes.

All of the above have reticles purpose designed for very low light work. You cannot overstate the importan[b][/b]ce of a good reticle when it comes to low light work.

I have a VX3 1-4x20 heavy duplex that's worthless in low light. All 20mm objective scopes will be that way, but that isn't what a scope like that is for! Do not expect one to get you to the end of legal shooting hours in heavy shadow or under heavy canopy. The can't do it.

Absolutely!

That's what I did. Once the sights dropped below the horizon, they were no longer visible. Raising them above the horizon once more made them visible, and I did it 3 times to make sure they were staying aligned.

And a moose is a big target! Perfectly double-lunged him.

Well done. Have had the same problem with Black Hogs and Bear. If it doesn't feel right I hold fire. And I sure don't like following up either if I don't know where I hit them especially in the dark.

Several years ago I had a deer present a shot about 5 min before the end of legal shooting. The weather was pretty overcast so it was really getting pretty dark. Never the less I could make out the deer fairly well thru the scope. Having read about all of the nimrods shooting deer in the dark I thought why not. I squeezed off the shot and the effect was somewhat like staring intently at a camera flash about a foot away. The muzzle flash from my 243 was quite intense and I was immediately rendered night blind and I had to sit there for close to 30-40 minutes before climbing out of my tree stand. Obviously I was blinded to the deers reaction to the shot. I heard it move off to my left but there was no hope of seeing it . On getting down I went to where the deer had been standing . I looked around for the deer and a blood trail but really I couldn't see anything but white spots so I finally packed it in and decided to go back the next morning. It rained in the night so the next day there was no sign. The end I don't know if I even hit the deer and if so it made it over the ridge to the next farm. The whole experience was quite negative , I didn't get the deer, I saw spots for2-3 days following and I vowed to never shoot at another deer in low light again. So frankly my 30 year old vari x-ii was more than enough to see the deer in the light low enough to cause the issues I experienced I.e. it was too dark to shoot. So I don't see the need for a scope that would allow you to seen even lower light. Ymmv but for me never again. I would suggest if you are interested to take your existing scopes to the range late one evening and touch off a few.

It's hard to beat a leupold VX-R for your budget. I am slowly replacing my old scopes with VX-R's. I will say I am not a fan of the 2-7 with Ballistic Firedot. The reticle was to big in my opinion and covered a lot of the target. I have bought 3 on eBay and have from $300-360 all new and in the box.

Is that why you are known as Bangeye? I've shot several in low light and bunches of varmints at night with my deer rifle without any ill effects. Go figure?

Naw that came from a collision between a scope and my eyebrow in the presence of my friends. You know it's sort of interesting that I seem to be the only one that ever experienced this as I never see it mentioned in all the discussions about low light shooting. My rifle was nothing unusual as in a short barrel or anything just a 243 vanguard actually with a 24" barrel. It was bad enough though that after 2-3 days of seeing spots I was really beginning to think I might have damaged my vision. I decided I just don't need a deer that bad.

I've got several Swarovski's that I love but they are pricey. I bought a GPO (German Precision Optic) 4x12x40 several months ago for a 22-250 I bought here on the forum. The rifle still has not arrived yet so I put it on an old .270 just to get some range time out to 200yards in low light conditions. Glass was very clear late in the evening. Impressive and I'll certainly buy another as the price is very reasonable (about 350 ). OBTW I purchased the scope from cameraland!

Ive heard this more than once from serious hunters on a budget.. You don't always need bug money to get a good product.