Thread: Going ‘old school’

@Steve123.
Mate; not remembering what those circles are for is the next stage. When you get there you'll be a sitter for parliament

Interesting thread. I have a 308 with a vx5 3-15 on it but I feel like that’s more than I need very often. I was thinking about getting a 1” lower power and lighter scope for bush hunting etc. Any recommendations? VX 3i 2.5-8 is clearly one. What about swaro z3 3-9 x 36?

Originally Posted by WillB

Interesting thread. I have a 308 with a vx5 3-15 on it but I feel like that’s more than I need very often. I was thinking about getting a 1” lower power and lighter scope for bush hunting etc. Any recommendations? VX 3i 2.5-8 is clearly one. What about swaro z3 3-9 x 36?

Either of those two would be excellent scopes. Have no first hand experience with the swaro, but have a mate who likes his. I recall that the Duleys used one of these on their "bush pig" series a few years ago. Also great is the Nikon monarch 2-8X32, I have one on my .308, a little cheaper for those on a budget.

The thing for me is that I don't consider these "old school", just sensible sized scopes for general NZ hunting. But then I have no interest in shooting over 300m or so. So perhaps I'm old school after all.....

Originally Posted by Dama dama

The thing for me is that I don't consider these "old school", just sensible sized scopes for general NZ hunting. But then I have no interest in shooting over 300m or so. So perhaps I'm old school after all.....

Yep very nicely put. And I like the 2x rule. Haven’t heard that one before. There is something about keeping it simple (well relatively simple a lot still goes into it).

Originally Posted by WillB

Interesting thread. I have a 308 with a vx5 3-15 on it but I feel like that’s more than I need very often. I was thinking about getting a 1” lower power and lighter scope for bush hunting etc. Any recommendations? VX 3i 2.5-8 is clearly one. What about swaro z3 3-9 x 36?

I just put a 2.5-8 on my ‘new to me’ 308, and at 8x I shot groups equal to and better than the groups I shot with the 4-20 I had on the heavyweight 5R .308. The new rifle was harder to shoot as its 3.5 lbs lighter, and the 5lb trigger wasn’t helping, but when my technique was good I could have shot deer just as far out as the 5R.
However, I’m acknowledging that I don’t need or want to shoot that far anyway, but it gives you a measure of confidence that the system (the rifle plus shooter) can make it count within the distance I have determined is ok. For me that is the point where the bullet still retains 1500ftlbs energy. Yes, I know that the experts say 1000ftlbs is the minimum, but I want to make sure I can retrieve that deer in the scrubby areas I hunt. With the .308 that works out to be around 300yds, and that’s more than enough for this guy.
In terms of scope magnification, I have heard that you need 1x for every 100yds when shooting at deer size targets. My observation is that this is correct for a reasonably well practiced rifleman. Be conservative and make it 2x per 100yds and I think you can’t go wrong

I've got an 'old' 1-3X x 20 on my Parker Hale 308.
Looking to get it out soon and confirm that I can shoot the old thing with a plastic butt plate.
Else I'll be looking for a Limb Saver.
Good to see that others have worked out that big mag scopes don't make you a better shooter.
Learned that also from shooting F/TR from 300-1000yds with an 18lb rifle off a bipod.

there are some great slip on recoil pads out now that dont cost the earth......

I've used 2 1/2 or 3 x scopes for years, shot plenty of animals all the way out to 350. We tend to forget that the human eye is an amazing thing, and what it is capable of. Even with variable scopes I usually shoot on the lowest power, simply because I cant be arsed changing it up, and know that the rifle scope combination I am using at the time is perfectly ok out to 300 - 350 if I do my part. At a gong shoot last year I gave my 222 and a box of 20 reloads to an 11 year old shooter to have a play. Six or 7 minutes later she had emptied the box at the small 300 gong, 20 shots, 20 hits, and with a 2 1/2X scope. Some times its so much more fun just to keep it simple.

yip the redfield bearcub 2 3/4x scope was great untill it fogged up. the m8 4x scopes are my favourites on bush rifle and Ive seen them in 3x just never had the $$$$ when they were up for sale. trying to shoot that at 350-400 with less than 6x is a challenge.....just as well I dont hunt thar often. wallaby are often shot on the run at 5-175 yards if they sit still scope screwed up to 6 or 9 is nice but not essential. Im trying hard to hit something with basic crude open sights but so far no cigar.

Years ago I figure out I really like 2.5 power in the bush. So regardless of how low my scope goes (I use to have a bushnell that started at 1.75X), I always set it at 2.5. I do turn it up for longer shots if I remember too.