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Rifle Scopes hunting scope wanted

P

pdd614

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Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 2, 2006
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dfw
I am looking for my perfect hunting scope, but so far have come up empty. Several scope makers have come close to what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for a very basic hunting scope, with only a few exceptions.
Mag range: 2-10, 3-12ish.
1 inch tube, 44ish objective
Capped knobs on both the windage and elevation.
.1 mil adjustments. 3 or 4 mils in a turn are fine by me.
UNDER 20 OUNCES.
Parallax is optional.
Reticle in the ffp. tree reticle with clearly defined whole and half mil markings. think g2h or ebr-2b.
No illumination needed.
Great glass.
Around 1k in price.
lifetime warranty.

Swarovski z3 with the brh reticle is close. Wish it was .1 mil adjusted and ffp.
Bushnell lrhs is close indeed. I don't need an exposed elevation knob,30mm tube, or the extra weight.
Kahles helia c 3-12 is about as close as it gets, but the 56mm objective and the plain jane mildot doesn't cut it.

Anyone out there have any suggestions that I may have overlooked?
 
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Easy...your scope doesn't exist. Searched this thoroughly...it doesn't exist. You need to start asking yourself which compromises you're willing to make.
 
Another "close" option might be the Meopta MeoStar R1 3-12x56 w/ McWhorter reticle. It's an FFP scope, weighs in at less than 22 oz, has capped turrets, and a holdover reticle. Not sure if the turret adjustments are MOA or Mil though.
 
I recently purchased one of the Nightforce NXS Compacts….the 2.5-10x32mm. Its going on my .270. Its an awesome hunting scope. I usually rock the Zeiss Conquests on my hunting guns, but this NXS Compact is pretty nice.
 
That's going to be a tough one! I was looking for the perfect hunting scope earlier this year. After a few recommendations here I went with a Leupold VX-6 2-12x42. Awesome scope. I wanted a duplex reticle and the illuminated fire dot.
 
I got a new Swarovski Z6 2.5-15x56 coming for my new hunting rifle build.............sold a new Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x50 to buy it. This rifle will be used in heavier timber & with shots that will most likely be 350 yds and under.

The Swarovski Z6 has exceptional glass!!!
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I want to look through the lrhs before I make my decision.
 
i was laying in bed last knight thinking about my hdmr with tremor2 reticle. and i though that reticle makes more sense in a 1 inch tube scope. if you are using the reticle as intended there is no need for the 34mm tube and extra travel. but i love the scope. i do not like ffp for hunting the reticle gets hard to find at low powder low light complicated back ground. for a simple no frills hunting scope i like my 2.5-10x42 nikon monarch with mildot reticle set for 10 power. but if i had the money i would get the nf mentioned or the uso 1.8-10x32 or leupold 2-8x32 m3 mark 4. they are all a compromise but good compromises.
 
Currently, I am using a trijicon 3-9 mildot. The scope is great for the 400 I paid for it new, circa 2009. But the reticle is the worst example of a mildot I have ever used. The lower portion of the reticle is so thick, that is almost completely covers the dots. It is however, very nice to use in low light, for obvious reasons. Also had several other plain jane non lite mildots, and they are terrible in low light. I can't imagine the brh or g2 reticle being much worse.
I want this hunting scope for my morning walks at the ranch. Simple scope with a great reticle, just in case.

 
pdd614 said:
I am looking for my perfect hunting scope, but so far have come up empty. Several scope makers have come close to what I'm looking for.

I'm looking for a very basic hunting scope, with only a few exceptions.
Mag range: 2-10, 3-12ish.
1 inch tube, 44ish objective
Capped knobs on both the windage and elevation.
.1 mil adjustments. 3 or 4 mils in a turn are fine by me.
UNDER 20 OUNCES.
Parallax is optional.
Reticle in the ffp. tree reticle with clearly defined whole and half mil markings. think g2h or ebr-2b.
No illumination needed.
Great glass.
Around 1k in price.
lifetime warranty.

Swarovski z3 with the brh reticle is close. Wish it was .1 mil adjusted and ffp.
Bushnell lrhs is close indeed. I don't need an exposed elevation knob,30mm tube, or the extra weight.
Kahles helia c 3-12 is about as close as it gets, but the 56mm objective and the plain jane mildot doesn't cut it.

Anyone out there have any suggestions that I may have overlooked?
Click to expand...

I've recently been using a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 with the Rapid Z 600 reticle. It does not meet all your criteria in that the adjustments are 1/4 moa and it is a 2nd focal plane reticle. The 2nd focal plane reticle does have an advantage in this configuration though. It allows you to adjust the magnification to change the reticle subtensions to closely match the load you are using. Seemed pretty simple. I went to the Zeiss website, entered 155gr Scenar (had to change BC in advanced settings. Zeiss was using the G7 as a G1 BC for the Scenar). Entered velocity, altitude, temp, height above bore. It gave me the magnification to set the scope on to have the yardages match up. At 2100 feet, 90 degrees, with my load it suggested 8x. I was surprised by how close the marks matched up at the recommended magnification. The 300 yard mark was actually 300, the 400 was 397, the 500 was 502 and the 600 was 605. Worked out that way on steel too. Easily hit well within the center of my plates (8" out to 500 and 12" at 600) out to 600, which is likely as far as I'll be shooting a .308 at critters.

I had some concerns about the windage marks being usable, but they worked quite well. Had a 10 - 13 mph wind from 4:30 to 5:00. Looked at my little chart which gave approximately between a 5 and 8 mph value. I held between the 5 and 10 marks and hit every time. I could see a potential problem with values > 10mph. The windage references max out at 10 mph… This setup is not as precise as dialing, but for hunting, is quicker and definitely minute of vitals. Definitely worth considering...

John
 
Hondo

How does that reticle perform as it get 20-30 min after sunset?
 
The Christmas tree portion of the Rapid Z is easier to see in low light than the hold off marks on my Bushnell LRHS. I believe I could use the reticle effectively at sunset + 25 and maybe even at sunset +30 in the terrain I am hunting in. At sunset +45 the post part of the LRHS is more visible and the image is a bit better for up close low light stuff.

John
 
Sorry for not responding sooner. Hondo, I didn't even consider the zeiss before. Have you had to deal with warranty issues on Zeiss scopes?

On another note, I did a real quick comparison between a Swaro z3 3-10 and a Leupold vx-3 3-10. 20 minutes past sun down and I was making out a lot more detail with the leupold. I really thought the Swaro had better glass, needless to say I was shocked. I also got a chance to look through the LRHS, but it was mid day. From what I saw, the bushnell looked quite nice. I just don't want to deal with the 30mm tube and the extra weight.

In the meantime, another sow was down for the count. 328 yards with the 6.5x47 and 123 amax.
 
I was looking for something similar not too long ago. Burris MTAC was as close as I got. I settled for fixed magnification.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
athhud, what kind of fixed power scope did you settle on? If I could find a 6x42 that met my requirements, I would be all over it.
 
I ended up settling for a SWFA SS 6x with the Mil Quad reticle..... Which is not remotely close to what you want. Lol

I decided that the turrets probably wouldn't accidentally move enough to make a difference in most hunting range shots. The mil reticle/covered mil turrets combo seems to be the limiting factor in finding the perfect hunting scope. Other than the MTAC, everything I found was some stupid ballistic reticle, MOA elevation/windage, or exposed turrets. However, I was looking for 30mm tubes with a $750 budget, so there may be something perfect in the 1" $1000 range.

If SWFA made a 6x with covered turrets, that would be my go to hunting optic and I would gladly pay a lot extra for a stupid simple feature.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
hunting scope wanted

If exposed turrets end up being a problem for me, I just might zero the reticle, yank off the knobs, and tape the shit out of the turret tubes with vinyl tape to keep the water out. That should do the trick :D
 
Last edited:
NightForce C522 SHV 4-14x56 - .25MOA - MOAR
cstactical
[/img]http://www.cstactical.com/images/stories/virtuemart/product/nightforce-shv-scope.jpg[/img]

Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 BRH
cstactical
http://www.cstactical.com/images/stories/virtuemart/product/swarovski_z3_3_1_4d55c17014829%20copy.jpg[/img]

Kahels Hunting line are very nice also.
cstactical
kahles%20105047.jpg


Mike @ CSTACTICAL
 
I just went through this process, and I bought a Leica 2.5-10x42 ER with mil-based ballistic reticle.

Initially, I thought I'd use my USO 1.8-10x44 or Hensoldt 3-12x56 that are currently not mounted. After giving everything a lot of thought, I determined:

1. My precision long-range scopes are almost 2 lbs each (Hensoldt, Schmidt, USO). I wanted something with less weight, preferably about 16 oz.

2. My shots with this rifle will be mostly 300 yards and less, and max 500 - 600 yards. With a .300 WM, I do not need or want to dial elevation for this range. Thus, my initial requirement for exposed mrad turrets disappeared. Covered turrets, either mrad or moa became my requirment.

3. Since I would like elevation compensation for the occasional longer shot, a reticle with mil-based elevation became a requirement. Zero the turrets and use only the reticle for holds when needed.

4. I wanted excellent glass and light transmission. However, I did not want a 34mm tube, big turrets and 50mm or 56mm objectives that create weight in point (1). My requirement became objective size around 40mm and 30mm tube.

5. I wanted long eye relief and forgiving eye box.

6. FFP ceased to be important, since I'll only use the ballistic reticle on longer shots at 10X, at which point it's marked at .5 mils, and I'm used to working with mrad holds.

This got me looking at scopes I'd not previously considered. I ended up boiling it down to Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 BRH and Leica ER 2.5-10x42 BR. I chose the Leica because of 1) good reviews by owners and 2) they're priced under $1000 at Euro Optics because the ER line has been replaced by the ERi line.
 
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