Re: Scopes
Originally Posted by
BCBRAD
Weight and size are a factor depending on the terrain that it will be used. eg: a 50 mm objective lens 2 lb scope may not be ideal for a sheep rifle, alternatively a 1.5x5 Leupold may not suit the needs of a long range shooter.
Some people crow about the 'glass' it's all about the glass, euro branded glass being almost orgasmic. The 'glass' has to be good enough to clearly see the target, generally the VXII or Vortex PST, in other words, mid-range quality, and the ilk work fine. Will not cause any issues at twilight = legal shooting hours. However, a quality lens will give the user better detail and contrast. Just depends if your activity requires that.
A scope that does not employ an external system for compensation for the the bullets trajectory and the effects of wind, basically your regular old skool 3x9, will only be useful with in the kill zone of the animal hunted. This means if your 30-06 blue box 180gn Federals drops 9" at 300' with a 200 yard zero and the kill zone on a deer is ,lets say 10" then you are good for a bit more than 300' practical range for that cartridge/scope combination....so a reliable low-mid range scope would work just fine. Now if it was a 300 Weatherby that range could be extended to 400+ yards and may require a scope of more power than a 4X, but 4X is very doable.
For longer than 300 yards, external adjustment (turrets) are the way to go in conjunction with a range finder. Not all turrets function as they should, this being some will not be accurate or linear in the adjustment range. There are several that are very good ,others not so much ( paying more does not always assure the most precise). The user must check the calibration of the turrets by testing at the range.
A scope must hold zero, again this doesn't always happen. People spend a lot of time fiddling with loads, bullets , powders etc and can only achieve a 1.25" group, good enough for most hunting to be sure, some of the grouping issues are caused by the lack of a precise repeatable zero. If holding zero is an issue changing to a scope that works may half your groups.
There is more to it than throwing money at a brand name.
Very informative. Thank you.
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