small world, I'm thinking about a scope for my 280AI this season myself. what load are you shooting? mine likes the factory 160 gr nosler partitions, but i might work up a load with the Barnes TTSX, i keep hearing the 140 gr is the sweet spot for the 280ai. I'm still on the fence about the scope I want to put on there. I'm hunting big whitetail and hopefully elk in the near future. I'm looking at more of a mid range scope, my shots are 200-600 yards, and low light is always a factor. I'll post a couple i've been thinking about below. As for Schmidt and Bender, I have a 1.5-8x42 on my 30.06 browning blr, and I like it, schmidt has some awesome glass, but things are kind of in flux for them right now from my perspective, so personally i'm going to wait and see what happens before i invest in another schmidt. to my eye, i like the zco better than the TT, but different strokes.
in no real order, I like to shoot moa scopes when i'm hunting and mil if i'm taking a class or if i get lucky and am able to shoot a match, I can use either system well enough to speak to it.
https://cstactical.com/swarovski-z8i-3-5-28x50-4w-i-68406/
I have a 3-18x50 z6i on my 300 win mag, and I feel it's a great all around rifle/scope, sure 300 wm is large for some applications, but I've become very proficient with it, and I have a custom ballistic turret so it's a no brainer when it comes to distance shots. I like the reticle, I had a tiny bit of input when it was being developed, and it matches the custom ballistic turret. I feel this is the next iteration of that scope, the weight is good and it has enough adjustment to do what i need to with it. only drawback is it's second focal, but I personally don't mind it for hunting applications. it's got a 30mm tube and is one of the lighter scopes of the one's I'm thinking about, which could become a larger factor to consider if I start hunting in tougher terrain and in mountains.
Optically this scope is top tier and i like everything about it. playing with one in low light I was very impressed. the 36mm tube is a little large, but the optical performance alone makes this a big contender for me. close range I feel you could get on target and i felt I could do well if i had to make a quick shot with the scope on low magnification. I like the way the turrets felt, the parallax, and viewing at distance was a no brainer
I shot an nxs 5.5-22x56 moar for a long time, really enjoyed it, shot it a lot and killed a few deer with it. this is a step way up from that scope, and gives better performance on the low end in case there is a close shot and better optical performance. I've always been impressed with these scopes, ever since I saw the first one years ago. could get a custom turret for it, I'm familiar and comfortable with these scopes, and I like the reticle having used it a good bit already.
I'm trying to get my hands on one of these, I had an older victory diavari 3-12x56 on a rifle I sold a few years ago out of necessity and I really like it, i'd be interested to see one of these new scopes in action and looking at specifications alone, seems like it could be a really interesting option.
for my purposes, i also looked at the lht https://cstactical.com/vortex-razor-lht-4-5-22x50-ffp-xlr-2-moa-rzr-42201/ I've got several buddies and customer's using the lht scopes, and I have one on a 270, I've been very pleased with mine. haven't killed anything with it yet, but that's my fault, not the rifles.
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