Scope Selection Advise

I'm looking for quality general purpose scope for my Tikka T3 308 to suit every thing from Bunny's to deer out to 500 yards. I have a budget of $1500 max & want something with great glass & dialable turrets that are repeatable. Ultimately would love a Nightforce 2.5-10 with exposed turrets but won't find a second hand one in my budget range so were thinking Leupold VX6 2-12 CDS, Vortex PST 2.5-10x32, Leupold VX3 3-9x40 CDS. Saw a neat wee Leupold MK4 2.5-8x36 but think 8 power at the top end might be a too little. Suggestions?

bunnys to deer out to 500 yards.... your going to need two scopes...
a bunny at 500 yards your going to want 24 power, but that deer at 20 yards in the bush will be too close with the 6 power that normaly comes with the 24 power.

so two scopes. maybe 3x9 for deer in close range out to 300 odd.
maybe 6x24 for small critters a long way out.(including deer)

don't forget to check out sightron, big sky s2, or s3

What about a 3-18 or a 4-24 VX6? Perfect all round combos from what I've heard. Heard good things about a Bushnell's Elite range too.

I've only ever used a high magnification scope once, and found the FOV when it was zoomed in to be a right pain in the arse. Alright for paper shooting but finding moving rabbits at long range in scrubby country it was not much fun. Everyone's different but it put me right off them, so 14x is my max on any of my rifles and it seems ample for my shooting.

Shooting hares over 500 with a 14x scope is quite possible, a friend has been doing it a fair bit lately. I think over 700 yards was his last one, he's aiming for a 1000 yard hare when we last talked about it. He uses a Mk4 4.5-14.

What about VX6 3-18x? Bit more expensive. I wanted the exact same criteria as you (although 500yds on deer/pigs maybe not on small stuff). That's what I settled on for my 308 as a 1 scope 1 gun kinda setup. It was a hard choice between that and the 2-12x but the 3x was still nice for in close and a big difference with 6 more at the top end.

There only seems to be a couple of scopes that start at 2x or 3x and go up to 12x or more. Bushnell's and Leupold's. Apart from those two you start getting real expensive like March, etc.

The Leopold 3-18 would be excellent for your purpose, but a quality 4-16 should do fine too.
You can get a Vortex Viper PST for $1000-1500 NZ including shipping and tax from the US.

The Leopold 3-18 would be excellent for your purpose, but a quality 4-16 should do fine too.
You can get a Vortex Viper PST for $1000-1500 NZ including shipping and tax from the US.

Vx3 4.5 x 14x40 CDS all you need and change left over.

Sent from my HUAWEI Y210-0100 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Neckshot

Vx3 4.5 x 14x40 CDS all you need and change left over.

Sent from my HUAWEI Y210-0100 using Tapatalk 2

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What the man said. Enough magnification, Good glass , Repeatable dialling and a lifetime warranty. And you will have change over

bushnell 2.5-16x42?

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Originally Posted by scoped

bushnell 2.5-16x42?

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Hmmm I just wondered about one of those. Seems to tick all the boxes...how repeatable are one of these & anything that people don't like about theirs?

Zero-stop not a requirement? ;)

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Originally Posted by lost

Zero-stop not a requirement? ;)

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Lol cheeky shit :o Nothing a nylon spacer won't fix :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by LJP

Hmmm I just wondered about one of those. Seems to tick all the boxes...how repeatable are one of these & anything that people don't like about theirs?

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Highly underrated scope imo. I have had one since they came out. Glass is ok and everything else works exactly as it should.

Heard good things about the 2.5-16x as well.

zeiss 5x25 with turrets.
A mates got one and i rate it
and under $1500

How do the 4x and 5x lowends go when up real close? That was the thing that worried me.

For repeatability, toughness ,good glass and excellent turrets go leupold MK4 4.5-14 m1 ,heard of to many vx6's going back with issues.

More deer would have been axed in close up with a 4x power than any other scope power in NZ I reckon. I bush hunt with a Leupold M8 4x with no issues but hey a wider field of view can't hurt

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Originally Posted by MattyP

How do the 4x and 5x lowends go when up real close? That was the thing that worried me.

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I prefer a lower power up close in the bush. You canshoot them with 4x but a 2x or 3x makes it easier to find them in the field of view. I use a 2 -16 x 42 bushnell. It is great but the clicks on mine are more like 0.3MOA rather than 0.25MOA.

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Originally Posted by stug

I prefer a lower power up close in the bush. You canshoot them with 4x but a 2x or 3x makes it easier to find them in the field of view. I use a 2 -16 x 42 bushnell. It is great but the clicks on mine are more like 0.3MOA rather than 0.25MOA.

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That's a perfect power range for typical NZ hunting imo

Agreed. The main reason it was such a hard decision for me between 2-12x and 3-18x is because I love 2x for anything within about 70m. On my 22 with a 2-7x scope I am on 2x almost all the time. However, 3x is also good after I tested it. But i'd be worried about going any more than that for really close stuff.

Well I pulled the trigger on a Vortex PST 4-16.....getting pretty good reviews & look like fantastic value for money. Now for the waiting game till it arrives :thumbsup:

Can you let us know how much it is all up once it gets here?

Congrats - where'd you buy from?

Plenty of advice above but I really think you need to narrow your range (bunnies to deer). A jack of all (scopes) makes you (it) a master of none.
However - if you stick to your original question, there have been some good suggestions above. You might want to check out a Zeiss Rapid-Z 600. Zero at 200 yards and let the reticle do the rest ... 300, 400, 500, 600 yardage. Do some swot on whatever you choose. I think my Rapid-Z is a 6-24 vari-power but I have it on my .204 for varminting.
If you are North Island (mainly bush) shooting with a .308 (like I do) then a simple reticle with no christmas tree clutter with 3-9, 4.5-10 or a 4-12 is perfect. I don't have a paralax on my deer guns as it would just be a pain as 95% of my deer are shot between 75-250 yards. ATB!
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