Rifle Scopes Best Large Eye Box / Eye Relief Scope for Long Distance Shooting

[Norritt]

Hi All - long title but it is the question I am asking. What do you folks think is the best large eye box / eye relief scope for long distance shooting?

I recently got into long range shooting and purchased a Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 with SCR Mil reticle. It is a beautiful, well built marvel, but I was very surprise how unforgiving the eye box was. An old Nikon 14x40 in my garage was much easier to look through. Now, I am left eye dominant and got a astigmatism etc, which probably plays into it....but if there are some great glass out there with forgiving eye boxes would like to hear about them. First or second focal plane is fine.

Thank you in advance!

 

[gebhardt02]

Our ZC527 is extremely forgiving with the eyebox, and superb optical performance all the way around. These scopes are being used for ELR shooting with great feedback. www.zcompoptic.com

 

[Threadcutter308]

Our ZC527 is extremely forgiving with the eyebox, and superb optical performance all the way around. These scopes are being used for ELR shooting with great feedback. www.zcompoptic.com

I’ll second that, from personal experience. It’ll handle an F250 parked sideways, with room to spare.

 

[Zorrosdens]

Third on ZCO 527, you can even easily pick it up by hand unmounted easily see all mag ranges without losing the image and struggling to even GET a view out of it. NIGHT AND DAY from a NF BEAST I was trying to hand view thru...that was a struggle to find the view. I thought this is tough, you have to be right in that spot....ZCO was pure ease and pleasure. When I got the ZCO a quick out of box hand try was the easiest thing in the world. Disclaimer: limited experience overall on my end, but no sweat with that ZCO.

 

[rhsc]

ZCO by all accounts is a truly awesome scope. However, if that's beyond your budget, you might consider the Burris XTRIII. Finally got a chance to look thru their 5.5-30x56 recently and it was very easy to acquire the image; sharp and bright and had a wide field of view too. Optically, it's a huge improvement over the XTRII. As soon as they start shipping them with the regular SCR reticle I'll probably be getting one.

 

[Birddog6424]

I've compared the XTR3 to a LOT of the mainstream quality scopes on the market. Its as good or better an eyebox as just about anything out there.

A good friend of mine shoots for ZCO, (which I agree is a fantastic optic). He dumped off both his MK5HDs in favor of the 30x XTR3 for his trainer rifles. He says he likes them much better, and he's obviously accustomed to running a very nice optic.

I should add, it looks good on both ends, bringing one of the largest FOV in the industry. The only optic of its kind I've found so far that improves on it is a March at twice the price.

 

[A.Redd]

Hi All - long title but it is the question I am asking. What do you folks think is the best large eye box / eye relief scope for long distance shooting?

I recently got into long range shooting and purchased a Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 with SCR Mil reticle. It is a beautiful, well built marvel, but I was very surprise how unforgiving the eye box was. An old Nikon 14x40 in my garage was much easier to look through. Now, I am left eye dominant and got a astigmatism etc, which probably plays into it....but if there are some great glass out there with forgiving eye boxes would like to hear about them. First or second focal plane is fine.

Thank you in advance!

I prioritize the exact same thing, along with field of view. Kahles k6-24 is awesome in the regards. I think the Kahles is overlooked due to it being 6-24 but it fits your description. You should probably consider Swarovski x5i if 2nd focal is ok.

 

[Team RCBS & Bushnell]

DMR II is the most forgiving I've personally sat behind.

WM

 

[choktog]

I’ll second the zco 527 and if that’s a bit to expensive The vortex razor hd ii also works great.

 

[Willoughby1971]

Hensoldt is the most forgiving of mine and the Burris XTR3 isn’t far behind.

 

[Recon_Scout]

Hi All - long title but it is the question I am asking. What do you folks think is the best large eye box / eye relief scope for long distance shooting?

I recently got into long range shooting and purchased a Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 with SCR Mil reticle. It is a beautiful, well built marvel, but I was very surprise how unforgiving the eye box was. An old Nikon 14x40 in my garage was much easier to look through. Now, I am left eye dominant and got a astigmatism etc, which probably plays into it....but if there are some great glass out there with forgiving eye boxes would like to hear about them. First or second focal plane is fine.

Thank you in advance!

I found it surprising, I felt that T5xi has better eyebox than quite a range of scopes - I have compared it side by side with Kahles 624i, Leupold Mark 6, Vortex PST Gen 2 and by far it had a better eye box

 

[ratton]

Hensoldt: There is no substitute

 

[CSTactical]

Our ZC527 is extremely forgiving with the eyebox, and superb optical performance all the way around. These scopes are being used for ELR shooting with great feedback. www.zcompoptic.com

 

[carbonbased]

As someone that loves a scope that is easy to get behind, here's my report from my limited experience:

• Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27 > Leupold Mark 5 5-25

However, the Leupy wasn't bad, and I liked way the turrets worked better.

For reference, I've got pretty bad vision (-10 & -12, but correctable), wear glasses, and very very recently found out I have cataracts in both eyes. Ahhhh so great to be 50 yrs old and falling apart.

Unverified commentary
====================
That Burris XTRIII looks interesting, but I note that the eye relief on the 5.5-50 varies by .75" (3.25-4), which is a pet peeve of mine (I once owned a Leupold 6.5-20 VX3i Side Focus CDS Target with a similar eye relief range .80", bleah!). For example, S&B 5-45 specs state it has a 3.54" eye relief…but who knows if that's a constant? And I don't know how the S&B 5-45 eyebox compares.

People say the March 5-42x56mm is also easy to get behind, and I've read many places that Hensoldts are also pretty incredible in the eye box regard.

Some day I'll splurge on a super-high end optic; it'll probably be the S&B 5-45, as I like that GR2ID reticle. That is, if my retinas don't fall apart (like my dad's did!).

 

[wkelly]

There's have so many options out there for long-range shooting. Most modern scopes do not lose much if any eye relief at such a low magnification level. Just read this article before getting the best you can afford.
In my research, I found Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5 best as long shooting scopes.

 

[Glassaholic]

There's have so many options out there for long-range shooting. Most modern scopes do not lose much if any eye relief at such a low magnification level. Just read this article before getting the best you can afford.
In my research, I found Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5 best as long shooting scopes.

"Easy to get behind" or eyebox and "eye relief" are not always related. This is why there is no "spec" for eye box from any manufacturer, yet it's a very important feature especially for non bench rest shooters who don't always find themselves able to get in perfect alignment behind the scope. The Vortex Razor Gen II is certainly known as a scope with impressive eye box, but as for being the "best" that is up for debate (which we do very well on this forum).

 

[Birddog6424]

Unverified commentary
====================
That Burris XTRIII looks interesting, but I note that the eye relief on the 5.5-50 varies by .75" (3.25-4), which is a pet peeve of mine (I once owned a Leupold 6.5-20 VX3i Side Focus CDS Target with a similar eye relief range .80", bleah!). For example, S&B 5-45 specs state it has a 3.54" eye relief…but who knows if that's a constant?

That doesn't play out much in the real world. Certainly not that ive noticed in my XTR3s. I'm not adjusting from 5.5x to 30x. I'm adjusting from 12x to 20x or 16x to 25x. I never notice having to make any adjustments.

It really is a great eyebox in the Burris. And I also really like the Gen II Razor. Most of the LOW scopes are very similar to me. They are all pretty close to each other. With the exception of the Tract Toric, which is terrible. Im amazed more people don't dislike the eyebox of the ATACR. After becoming accustomed to my Burris, the NF seems very tunnelish to me now. It makes me suspect a lot of it is just what you become used to. I shot the Burris XTR2 in PRS for 5 years. Definitely a tight eyebox, but I was used to it.

 

[Glassaholic]

When I setup my scopes, I always mount at the highest magnification and align the scope so the sight picture is ideal for my natural hold, try not to pay too much attention to eye relief - it can be deceiving, when I setup this way I have few issues with eyebox especially since my typical magnification range is between 12-22x and most scopes only improve eyebox as you go down in magnification. The Burris XTR III 5.5-30 has a surprisingly forgiving eye box, certainly for a scope in the $1500 range.

 

[carbonbased]

That doesn't play out much in the real world. Certainly not that ive noticed in my XTR3s. I'm not adjusting from 5.5x to 30x. I'm adjusting from 12x to 20x or 16x to 25x. I never notice having to make any adjustments.

It really is a great eyebox in the Burris. And I also really like the Gen II Razor. Most of the LOW scopes are very similar to me. They are all pretty close to each other. With the exception of the Tract Toric, which is terrible. Im amazed more people don't dislike the eyebox of the ATACR. After becoming accustomed to my Burris, the NF seems very tunnelish to me now. It makes me suspect a lot of it is just what you become used to. I shot the Burris XTR2 in PRS for 5 years. Definitely a tight eyebox, but I was used to it.

Good to know about the Burris. Eye relief specs are always voodoo to me, and trying to determine eyebox without scope in hand even more so.

 

[Birddog6424]

When I setup my scopes, I always mount at the highest magnification and align the scope so the sight picture is ideal for my natural hold,

Great Pro Tip...

 

[DeadZeppelin]

If your biggest priority is a big eye box, 2nd focal plane scopes will inherently be better just because of the way they are built.

 

[NorthWesterner]

Both zco 420 and 527 have a very forgiving eyebox. I think the 420 is even more forgiving than any scope I have used. The kahles 624i also has a huge eyebox.