Thread: Scope Power Recommendations

Hi All,
Im contemplating a dial up scope for the 308, currently looking at the Vortex Viper range.
Thinking of Max range of 450-500m, but also use gun for a lot of bush hunting. Ive had a go on my mates 6-24 X 50 and liked it a lot for the long shots, but hard to find targets in bush at close range.
What are peoples thoughts 4-16 X 44 as a good do it all option?
Cheers

I think 2-10x is a good compromise for bush and longer range shots.

Yes, 2-10 or 2-12 or 3-12 or 3-15 by 40 - 44mm objective would be my pick. I find 4x a bit limiting in bush hunting.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Yes, 2-10 or 2-12 or 3-12 or 3-15 by 40 - 44mm objective would be my pick. I find 4x a bit limiting in bush hunting.

+1. Once you get over about 3x you FOV diminishes to a point where it makes it difficult at close range. I own a 3-15 and a 3.5-10 on my centrefires as as a compromise between magnification and size they fit in pretty well. 2-3x at the lower end and 12-15x at the top would be my preference.

All my hunting which is now mainly fallow in a mixture of scrub and farmland I go out with my scope set on 3X - 4X I have found is not as good for quick shots - so I agree with many on here who have said 3X -10X or 12X would be a good choice - if you can go 50 for front lens rather than 44 just that much bettter in dim light - and european 4a reticle for quick target aquisistion

Hey man, I was looking at purchasing a different scope recently and posted up here too. Got some awesome feedback from the lads. I was in the same boat as you, do mostly bush hunting but have been onto the tops recently and want something easy to dial. I would stay well clear of anything over 4X for the lower range, purely for the fact most of your hunting is bush. I would stick to 2-3X max with 9-12 upper however if you're going to want more than 9X I would recommend going for +40mm front lens.

I would personally recommend Leupold with CDS, find the right cartridge and get it custom dialed. Far easier for us who don't really get to push the limits all that well.

My opinion but hey, they're like ass holes. Everyone has one.

4-16 is a nice general purpose magnification range, what scope are you looking at and what is your budget?

The new element 2-16 might be worth a look

My Two main rifles wear a 1-6 and 1-10 vortex strike eagle with bdc reticle respectively (223 &308) They tick every box for me except perhaps low/last light performance

Originally Posted by Beetroot

4-16 is a nice general purpose magnification range, what scope are you looking at and what is your budget?

+1 had a 4-16 vortex viper HS with covered turrets on my saum for a long time. Never had an issue in the bush on 4x, it dialled well and 16x was plenty for longer shots(500-600yd). Good scope, quite liked it but some more money for a nicer scope burned a hole in my pocket.

Bottom end is important for Bush hunting.
Hunting at 10-40 meters is very different to hunting at 200-500mtr.
My Bush gun started with a 1-4x20, then stepped up to a 1.5-6x40 and now wears a 2-10x42.
I'm not that happy with the 2-10 just due to the size and weight but it sure can see in poor light and the FFp retical is growing on me.
(just got me my first sika at 40 mtr) I moved up from the 1-4 as the rifle was being asked to shoot in the 200-300 mtr range more often

My other rifle wears a 4-16x42 and 4x is too much for Bush work. At 200-250 I will often only have it at 8-10x and it's not till I get out to past 300 that I go to 16x, other wise its too hard to locate the target due to field of view restrictions. (the large >50mm objective's help but add cost, weight and size)
Back in the day 1960's the 2-3x fixed was the way it was. I've used an old 2.75x26 for a number of deer and it worked really well.

Then reticals as well, Bush hunting is about speed, need a coarse reticale that helps the eye centre, ie German 4a type or variants, I have used 4a and the Post and Rail style,
Some dot types can help. Currently l use a FFp with tapering rails coming in to a fine cross, the coarse tapper brings you eye in to the centre and at close range that's all you need when you spook a deer, id target, centre mass chest, aprox in centre of scope, then bang.
For longer range you need precision and don't want to cover your whole target with the reticale.
Z

Do you have a budget in mind,
4x is fine if your short range Bush hunting at 50mtrs but problematic if it's 10mtr.
2-10 is working for me but 10x may be less than ideal past 400mtr. (Like open sites at 40mtr, ok for deer, bad for rabbits.)
So If it's one gun for ever thing 3-15x may be your go to.

One last point, scope clarity / resolution trumps magnification every time.
Ie a 2-10 at the same price point as a 3-15 may be better at spotting detail.
Look though a selection and try to view fine details on a wall (in shadow ) some distance away. Check parallax and focus.
Z

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

I'm not that happy with the 2-10 just due to the size and weight

and that seems to be the trade off with high magnification range scopes.

Interesting thread this. Makes me wonder how we ever got by with our mostly 4x and occasional 3x Pecar, Kowa Prominar, Leupold etc fixed power scopes back in the day. Still like and use my 4x Leupolds. But seriously, these days I do use variable power scopes mainly because my eyes aren’t what they used to be. One is a Burris 2-7 mini which has all the magnification I need and a Niko Stirling 3-9 that came as a package deal. The NS will stay until it breaks if it does, and it gets used weekly and probably gets treated harder than most scopes on here. But back to magnification. Low power is good for bigger field of view but 4x is alright once you’re used to it. As for higher power, 9x is still enough out to 470m for me on goats. You don’t have to spend shitloads of money on a flash scope. Spend what you can afford certainly, but you don’t need to go overboard with magnification unless you’re shooting way out. Just my 2c.

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

Bottom end is important for Bush hunting.
Hunting at 10-40 meters is very different to hunting at 200-500mtr.
My Bush gun started with a 1-4x20, then stepped up to a 1.5-6x40 and now wears a 2-10x42.
I'm not that happy with the 2-10 just due to the size and weight but it sure can see in poor light and the FFp retical is growing on me.
(just got me my first sika at 40 mtr) I moved up from the 1-4 as the rifle was being asked to shoot in the 200-300 mtr range more often

My other rifle wears a 4-16x42 and 4x is too much for Bush work. At 200-250 I will often only have it at 8-10x and it's not till I get out to past 300 that I go to 16x, other wise its too hard to locate the target due to field of view restrictions. (the large >50mm objective's help but add cost, weight and size)
Back in the day 1960's the 2-3x fixed was the way it was. I've used an old 2.75x26 for a number of deer and it worked really well.

Then reticals as well, Bush hunting is about speed, need a coarse reticale that helps the eye centre, ie German 4a type or variants, I have used 4a and the Post and Rail style,
Some dot types can help. Currently l use a FFp with tapering rails coming in to a fine cross, the coarse tapper brings you eye in to the centre and at close range that's all you need when you spook a deer, id target, centre mass chest, aprox in centre of scope, then bang.
For longer range you need precision and don't want to cover your whole target with the reticale.
Z

What 2-10 FFP scope are you using?
There aren’t many FFP scopes in that mag range, and even few with reticle that are any good at low magnification.