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Old August 29, 2017, 03:58 PM   #26
Deaf Smith
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Scope with 4x works fine. Binoculars, on the other hand, need to be much higher power. Use the binoculars to find the game, identify if they are legal, and anything else out there, then the 4x to get the critter.

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Old August 30, 2017, 10:55 AM   #27
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And then there was the guy on Okinawa who took out a Japanese Machine gun crew at 1200 yards using the M1903A4 with the M73 2.5X Scope.
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Old August 30, 2017, 12:18 PM   #28
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I have shot, and made hits on steel at 1000 yards with a 3.5 power PU scope on a Mosin Nagant Sniper rifle.
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Old August 30, 2017, 01:52 PM   #29
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Distance has nothing to do with the magnification.
1903A4's and M1 C's and D's used a 2.5X scope. The USMC used a Lyman 5A 5x scope. And later the 8X Unertl.
"...a scope with less power..." Less magnification is good with shotguns and heavy recoiling rifles like .458 Win.
Higher magnification comes with a big handicap in the form of a smaller field of view. And not being able to take close range hunting shots due to the blurring. Variables come with the handicap of weight(a Bushnell 3-12 x 40 scope weighs 21.3 ounces.) and a smaller field of view. Most hunters with variables put the thing on about 4x or so and leave it there. You do not have time to fiddle with a scope when hunting deer sized game.
"...An old rule of thumb is..." Not true. Carlos Hathcock put a 10X Unertl on an M2 BMG, but used a regular 8x on his M70.
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Old August 30, 2017, 02:31 PM   #30
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You do not have time to fiddle with a scope when hunting deer sized game.
Depends upon the situation.... I keep my 3x9 on 3x most of the time, in case a deer comes up out of the creek next to the blind- then time is critical ..... but when an animal wanders out on the hay field hundreds of yards distant and I decide to take it , I have plenty of time to turn the power up, take several range readings, adjust the sticks, check wind, get a perfect sight picture, get settled, control my breathing, note the rise and fall of the crosshairs from my pulse, disengage the safety, reach natural pause between breaths and squeeeeeeeeeeeze.......
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Old August 30, 2017, 03:39 PM   #31
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Depends upon the situation.... I keep my 3x9 on 3x most of the time, in case a deer comes up out of the creek next to the blind- then time is critical ..... but when an animal wanders out on the hay field hundreds of yards distant and I decide to take it , I have plenty of time to turn the power up, take several range readings, adjust the sticks, check wind, get a perfect sight picture, get settled, control my breathing, note the rise and fall of the crosshairs from my pulse, disengage the safety, reach natural pause between breaths and squeeeeeeeeeeeze.......
You forgot "squirrel starts chirping" between breaths and squeeeeeeze.
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Old August 30, 2017, 03:52 PM   #32
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Carlos Hathcock put a 10X Unertl on an M2 BMG, but used a regular 8x on his M70.
I'm wondering if he would have used a 4x on his M70 in Vietnam if he could.
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Old August 30, 2017, 05:02 PM   #33
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You forgot "squirrel starts chirping" between breaths and squeeeeeeze.
Back before I started using the ground blind, squirrels used the raise hell when they saw us..... deer out on the hay field would sometimes stop and look our way when that happened ..... Never had one chirp when I had a deer close in, that I recall .... of course there could be a flock of lovesick peacocks going off ....if a deer was in close, I'd not notice them.....

.... but since I started using the ground blind, we've been pretty invisible to the squirrels, crows, nuthatches, woodpeckers and chickadees ..... even had a flock of turkeys wander by ....
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Old August 30, 2017, 05:37 PM   #34
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What is the general range for a fixed 4X power scope in terms of yards to yards?
Well, when I first started shooting ground squirrels in CA back in 1978, I mounted a Weaver K4 on my 22-250 and shot them all the way out to 450-ish yards. So, a few things to remember are
* get a scope with fine crosshairs, not a heavy duplex reticle
* get a scope that focuses sharp, not kinda sorta.
* learn the trajectory of your rifle by shooting at specific yardages, then on animals at random ranges
* shoot the same bullet and load for everything.
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Old September 5, 2017, 05:18 PM   #35
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Great thread.

I recently picked up a BAS - Big A$$ Scope - https://www.natchezss.com/nikon-mona...anced-bdc.html

This new-addition-scope is for my precision 223 bolt action rifle. Varminting is a bit different than big game. I like to know what eyelash I'm shooting. One of the perks of this scope is the on-line Spot On ballistics calculator. For every scope Nikon makes the ballistics calculator will tell you holdover for the reticle you have.

I discovered Nikon has an ~ equivalent model scope for every different manufacture scope I have on my hunting rifles that can be run through the Nikon ballistic calculator. You need to know a bit about the specific load you are shooting but the calculator can be applied to most any scope.

Quality scopes I have on several different center-fire rifles include - Fixed 6X, 2.5-8 variable, 3-10 variable, 4.5-14 variable, 2-7 variable, and the 5-25 variable. Some have ballistic drop compensating reticles, others do not. The Fixed does not so the only reference besides the cross is the top of the post on the vertical crosshair. Still, it can be correlated to a Nikon scope of similar features. Range trips with this information have been quite telling.

Years ago I gave my Son-In-Law a Marlin Lever Action with a fixed 4X scope. Don't miss the gun but sure miss the scope as I thought it about the perfect complement for a hunting rifle.

Also of note is the fact any big game I shoot at in the field is a lot larger than the 3" Shoot-N-See range target. High magnification at the range, low magnification in the field. Not much difference in the sight picture.
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