Understanding Scopes for Newbie

[Saltydog235]

While I do own numerous Leupolds and the exact one you are talking about upgrading to, I'm serious when I say that the Bushnell Elite 4200 is a better scope. It costs less, is as clear or clearer and is well built. Add in that it has a 30mm tube and an Ill Reticle on certain models its something to take a look at. They are not the Bushnell product that you're accustomed to seeing at Wally World or on the bargain racks in plastic containers. Think Bausch & Lomb.

Just my .02 but I have been pleasantly suprised and pleased with mine. Nothing wrong with the Leupolds but the extra $300 or so for comperable glass.

[603Country]

Saltydog, I might just have a look at the Bushnell 4200. I don't mind trying new things, which is why I have the Burris. To upgrade to the Leupold will take about another $300, which adds up to double what I paid for the Burris. I sure hope the Burris passes the tests in the next couple of weeks. I like everything about it, but can't abide a wandering zero. I'll have to see what the Bushnell 4200 price is. Can't be worse than the Leupold price. If the Burris isn't dependable, it'll have to go.

[jimbob86]

I've found that field of view is more important than magnification, in my deer hunting. I'm usually down on 2X or 3X, particularly when walking/stalking.

+1.

When the quarry is so far out that you need to turn the magnification up to see it better, you will have time to do that ..... no problem. It IS a problem if you doze off on stand (particularly if you are sitting on the ground!) and a deer gets in really close...... such that you have to wait until his head goes behind a tree to bring the gun up..... and all you can see in the scope is hair, because you left the blasted thing turned all the way up...... BTDT, it's a problem.

One more thing about these scopes with really large objectives: the stocks on most rifles, particularly older guns sold with iron sights, were not designed for them..... to get a good sight picture, you have to raise your head up off the stock, making that "good cheek to stock weld" impossible. When the rifle recoils, the stock will slap you in the face....... not conducive to accuaracy and very conducive to flinching. Young folk today complain of the horrible recoil of cartridges like .270 WIN and 30-06, when the recoil pain they are experiencing is self-inflicted, because they put a "moonscope" requiring high mounts on their rifle that has a stock intended for iron sights......

..... there IS a solution, though, if you insist on putting a telescpoe more suited to astronomy than hunting on your older rifle:

http://www.beartooth-products.com/sh...sing-kits.html

Works wonders and makes getting on target faster, too.

[Saltydog235]

Natchez Shooters Supply has the 4200's on sale for about $399 marked down from about $600.00 or so dependant on model. The one that I have become so fond of is the 2.5X10X50 #4 Ill Reticle. The reticle is kind of thick and not going to win any bench rest contests but low light hunting situations it shows up very well without turning on the red dot.

Jimbo, maybe some people hav an issue with the "Moonscopes" but I cannot think of one time I've been slapped by my rifles in any caliber. You sound kind of like my dearly departed father who thought the only scope ever made was the Weaver K-4, that is until he got behind a better scope. Different strokes for different folks, not everyone hunts the plains or gets a lot of daylight to make their shots in. In other words not everything that works for you works for the rest of us.

I do know this though, the consensus of the entire thread is buy quality glass if you expect results and that within reason you get what you pay for. NCStar is not it.

[jimbob86]

I do know this though, the consensus of the entire thread is buy quality glass if you expect results and that within reason you get what you pay for. NCStar is not it

I disagree, to a point...... you can not buy accuracy, only equipment that facilitates it.

I have a very nice Leupold on my newest rifle...... very bright and clear...... but it does not make that rifle shoot any more accurately than a similar Burris I have that cost 1/2 as much. The Burris is not as bright as the Leupold, but both rifles would shoot to the same POI from a bench regardless what glass was on them (barring mechanical failure- virtually guaranteed if you buy a really cheap scope or mount a good one poorly and put it on a honest to goodness deer rifle).....

Expensive glass and giant objective lenses may extend shooting light in dense woods a few minutes..... that's pretty specialized equipment*.... and it detracts from the functionality of the rifle for the whole rest of the day: it is hard enough to hit a running animal with a rifle that handles well..... put a 1 1/2 pound scope centered nearly 2" above the reciever, blocking out 50% of your peripheral vision (I can see how folks "get lost in the scope") ..... that makes shots on running game nigh impossible, and snap shots at stationary game hard.

"Spend at least as much on your rifle scope as you do on your rifle." .......

Meh.... past the really cheap stuff, you are really getting diminishing returns on your investment...... I seriously doubt very many folks here would shoot any better with a $2000 scope as they would with a $400 scope.......

I do think folks should spend more on their binoculars than they do on their scope, having had some jacktard point his rifle at me and my kids one opening morning, from 75 yards away, and then holler, "Sorry, I was jes' tryin' t'see whatcha was!" .....



*.... and for hog hunting, why stop there? No sense in spending $2,000 for a spendy "moonscope" to extend your hunt 5 minutes at dawn and dusk when you could just buy a night vision scope and hunt all night? They have converters to put in front of your existing scope for $2000 (Generation I) to $4000 (Gen III) ..... I like bacon, but not that much.

[rickyrick]

I am so glad that I can spotlight hogs where I live......79$ scope and a modified varmint light clipped to that.

Hogs are not sneaky so I know when they show up by sound alone.
Then you look in the general direction of pig sounds.
Preliminary Identification is then made by the tell-tale gait of a pig and general size and shape.
Get ready with rifle, turn on red light and take as much time necessary for the shot, positively identifying the animal, ensuring that no non-target animals are in the area ect...

Shoot the pig and then,Two scenarios could be possible,
1. It was a solitary pig...in this case you may go collect your prize.
2. It was a large sounder of pigs ( my personal Favorite )... Instantly put rifle on safe and enjoy the comedic spectacle that you created. Few things are as entertaining as squealing pigs of all sizes running in in random directions.

[Saltydog235]

that makes shots on running game nigh impossible, and snap shots at stationary game hard.

Again it all boils down to where and how you hunt. If you're shooting at running game in my area, then you better have a shotgun and buckshot because you aren't going to get a chance with a rifle in 95% of those situations. Then again, if the game is running, there's a good probability that a pack of Walkers' are not far behind it.

Unless we are driving, then stand hunting is king. Most of our stands are located in thick cover because it offers the game a sense of security that open clear cuts do not. The exception is agricultural land like bean and peanut feilds where long shots can and are common but most of us do not have access to many of those conditions.

Also, I've would never claim that an optic makes up for the accuracy of the rifle. That would be assinine to make an assumption like that. There are simply guns that shoot and those that do not, just like the person behind it, some can some can't especially when presented with a living breathing animal. Quality glass, within reason, does however help to a great degree.

I agree 100% on quality binos and have been in the same situation with being viewed through a scope by someone "just checking you out".

Hog hunting? Kill every one you see is my rule. If I had the time and money to buy a nightscope for that, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Dang things are the worst vermin we have around here, sucks that they get real smart real quick too. Ours have gone almost completely nocturnal and will devastate a food plot, corn pile or feeder station in one night. I put out 8olbs of cobb corn last Saturday on a stand I was going to hunt Sunday evening, went in an not one kernel was left.

[603Country]

I'm a believer in having good binocs. That's what gets used constantly by me. But...having good binocs will quickly point out the problem in having a less than decent scope, which won't let you see what your binocs let you see. Like I said earlier, that's what moved me to buy good scopes. Those last 5 minutes of hunting time have often been the best hunting for me, and I want glass that'll let me hunt. And let me address that statement made a couple of posts ago where it was said that a scope can't add accuracy to a rifle. Well, that might be true in an absolute sense, but a cheap scope can certainly make you less accurate. And if you don't trust your scope to be dead on, you'll have no confidence you can make that difficult shot. As for running shots with those big old clunky high magnification scopes being next to impossible, some folks can do it and some can't. The pig I blasted about 3 days ago was at a trot. I had to hurry, but silly me had forgotten to put the 6.5X20 Leupold (high mounted, on a 220 Swift) on the low end of the range. I shot the pig on the slow run with the scope on 20 power. I got him, but my mistake cost me the other pig I had selected to shoot. The next evening I had the 260's scope on 8 power and got Pig #1 at a fast trot and pig #2 at supersonic velocity. I did fine at 8 power, though I'd have preferred about 6 power. Every scope I have is a good one and I selected the magnification range for the intended use of each rifle. My Weaver 4 powers are boxed up somewhere. My Leupold 2X7's are on lever action rimfires. I sold the 3X9's. My lowest mag ranges start now at 4 power and none of them are mounted on low mounts, and I'm doing just fine at dawn, dusk, and with game on the run. In summary, I say you should buy only good scopes and get plenty of practice with your shooting equipment.