Hunting & Fishing long range hunting with low power scopes

[jackh]

im stil deciding on what scope to get for my rifle. its a 700 sps-v in .308, its my go to hunting rifle for deer, pigs and varmints. i want to start actually shooting long range, but dont see myself ever actually shooting 1000 yds with this gun. ive always thought something around 4-16 power range would suit me well. i have been looking at IORs 2.5-10x42 ffp mil/mil scope and im leaning towards it. i like everything about it, i just cant decide if its got enough power on the high end for long shots. a larger scope also means more weight and i would like to keep the rifle as skinny as possible. i feel like a 2.5-10x scope is great for the type of hunting i do right now, but might not be enough when i really want to reach out there.



does anyone hunt long range with 10x scopes? whats the longest yall have shot with those scopes, and did you feel that 10x was enough at that range? thanks

 

[villhelm]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

i think you would be fine i mean the ss10x HD's are only of course 10x magnification and people shoot far with those and of course the old unertl scopes snipers used on their m40a1's? Were only 10x so 16x would be plenty

 

[aaronraby1]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

i have shot out to 800 with my 10 power. its actually not bad at all.

 

[nhassey48]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

The marine corps m40a1 use to use a 10x fixed scope for years. I'm sure it will work just fine. Alot of the old 7.62 record kills were with low powered scopes.

 

[JWHITE]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

Aim small miss small stands true in the scope as well........10x will keep you on your toes at longer range and that's a good thing.

 

[h4everything]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

10X will be fine for the long shots. I would suggest SFP for a hunting rifle though. The crosshairs will be to small on the low end for the close running shots you might get and if it is a long ways off you will have time to dial up to full power.

my 2 cents anyways.

 

[Woodlanddude]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

A low power scope's largest disadvantage is in the innability to identify small openings in brush/cover to find a spot to shoot your game, and/or to identify what part of the animal you are looking at. Its not so much that you cant hit what you want with low power, but that you may not be able to see it. Go to too high of a power for hunting and you give up speed due to field of view, and add more wieght due to amount of glass and size of the optics.

 

[jackh]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

shot my buddies ar15 this weekend out to 400 with iron sights. really wasnt that bad with a spotter. he used to shoot with that gun in competitions out to 1k yds with iron sights. i was shooting my gun with a 3-9x40 nikon scope on it at 400 and it was ok. the BDC reticle was not that great imo but with a different reticle and better glass, i probably would have done better. we were on a telephone pole right away. i counted poles out to 1k yds in my 3-9x scope and i dont think i would have been comfortable shooting that far with that mag range. more power would have been better but i could have used the 3-9x out to 600 easily. i think leupolds 4.5-14x50 would work well. IORs 3-18x42 would work well also, but ive heard its pretty heavy. IORs 2.5-10x42 would work great for the type of hunting i currently do, i just feel like if i wanted to stretch my range out a little more, i might want some more power. do yall think the great glass in the IOR would provide the contrast to shoot a little further confidently than with other 10x scopes?

 

[Nostradumbass]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

I've been shooting distance with a 10X optic.......over 1000 yards with no problem at all. It's really not necessary to have a great amount of magnification. Well, that's IMHO, good luck!
Phillip

 

[bohem]

Re: long range hunting with low power scopes

I've found that my 2.5-10 NF is ample to see/engage targets at 1275, the scope will be pulling double duty on my AR and my 300 WSM. Shots in my AO are rarely in excess of 100yd so having 2.5x on the low end is important. Right now I've been hunting with a 4-12 for the past 10 years or so and find that 4x is borderline "too much" for the majority of shots.