Thread: Who loves magnification?

I have a 2-8X on my .308 and have never felt I needed more. But I don't shoot that far either.

Originally Posted by Tentman

A bloke I used to hunt with in Otago shot rabbits at 300+ yards with a 220 swift and a 2.5x scope - he seldom missed.

I knew someone was going to say something like that

The market seems to be swaying more towards high mag rifle scopes in conjunction with a whole lot more go fast/far pointy projectiles coming out (nx8,vx6,z6 etc). I reckon 15 power for a magnum and between 10-12 for smaller calibers but that's just me.. alot of more experienced guys with more years in the sport are capable with less mag.

Here a Q for you all
My neighbor who will be 80 this year and has shot a lot of Deer on his daughters Station next to Molesworth over many years and other parts of South Island
He says he always shoots with his scope on full magnification being 9x on most his scopes and maybe a 7x on one
He went form a 3006 to 223 and 243 in later years
Most if not all is open country shooting

What are your thoughts on that ??

Originally Posted by MB

I knew someone was going to say something like that

Someone will bring up deer cullers shooting 400 yards with open sights and a worn out barrel. While I don't deny there were some good shots out there is a bit different when you have 100 odd deer to shoot at in a day

I remember when I was a kid that my dad was looking at a car magazine he had bought that was listing all the cars manufacturers and models in the world in order for him to make a choice on his next hunting station wagon. While he was hesitating between a boring Peugeot or Citroen , I was already flicking the pages to the Lamborghinis and Ferraris to see what was the fastest. Practicality was not the issue for me :-)

I guess bigger and faster still has an appeal even in the gun world :-)

I use a 4.5x14 leupold on my 7mm08 for years now, for the hunting i do i love having the 14 power. Could not go back to a 3x9. BUT if i had a gun for %100 bush use only i would have a low power on that

Originally Posted by Sarvo

Here a Q for you all
My neighbor who will be 80 this year and has shot a lot of Deer on his daughters Station next to Molesworth over many years and other parts of South Island
He says he always shoots with his scope on full magnification being 9x on most his scopes and maybe a 7x on one
He went form a 3006 to 223 and 243 in later years
Most if not all is open country shooting

What are your thoughts on that ??

he stalks into within 300yards...probably more like 250yards,has a settled animal being private land and picks his shots....being long in tooth he wont be in a hurry and buck fever should be a distant memory...
you can bet he not a twiddler fiddler and probably doesnt own a rangefinder......which is probably answer to origonal question.....if you are into twiddling n fiddling and use a rangefinder and probably have a chronicgraph at home...you might well get some advantage from higher magnification as you will possibly be taking longer than 350-4000yards shots....... if like 80% of folks and you shoot 95% of your animals at sub 350 yards,a lower smaller lighter less fancy scope will do just fine.......if you stalking in the bush and a deer bolts past at 30 yards and you have a top of the line scope Kahles/Zeiss/burris eliminator etc with minimum power of 4 and its like looking through a drain pipe with piss poor field of view,well you are probably not going to get your knife out anytime soon.if that animal pauses at 50 yards for 2 seconds you probably wont find it in scope in time either....seen this first hand with Swedish mate...meanwhile my x39mm with low power scope allowed me to shoot the first on the run,and the second while mate was cursing as he couldnt find it....

I've chosen specific power range to suit my rifles intended use, e.g 3-18 on my 223 rabbit gun, 3-9 on my 6x45 walk about goat gun. If I had just 1 only rifle to use for all, I think it would be 3.5-10 range. As mentioned, parallax has to be considered and it's another adjustment needed before taking the shot.

I have a VX6 and a Z6i, both in 3-18, which is now my preference. I rarely go past 12 but it’s nice to know it’s there.

That said, I shot my first 300 or so deer (fallow, roe, red, muntjac in UK) with a Swarovski 8 x 56 fixed power scope. Still have that unmarked scope and and will never sell it. Shot deer as close as 6m with it, which was likely more luck than judgement. Might stick it on the .284 now that I think about it.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

I have a VX6 and a Z6i, both in 3-18, which is now my preference. I rarely go past 12 but it’s nice to know it’s there.

That said, I shot my first 300 or so deer (fallow, roe, red, muntjac in UK) with a Swarovski 8 x 56 fixed power scope. Still have that unmarked scope and and will never sell it. Shot deer as close as 6m with it, which was likely more luck than judgement. Might stick it on the .284 now that I think about it.

I think you make a good point there. It's there if I need it. Nothing worse than thinking wish I had a bit more. You don't always have to use it

3-12 min or 4-16max in scopes for me 42 to 44 max up front
but im a farm fringe game getter at best

I'm sure scope manufacturers and retailers love higher magnification scopes; more profit for them.

Some of the youngsters I've come across who have a huge, heavy, high magnification Hubble type scope on their lightweight 7mm/08 or .308 ruining the balance and handling of such a rifle. Of course they're going to shoot deer at 600m or more easy as pie because the guy in the shop who sold them the scope told them that's what they have to have to be successful deer hunters.

Originally Posted by bigbear

I use a 4.5x14 leupold on my 7mm08 for years now, for the hunting i do i love having the 14 power.

I have the same setup. In my humble opinion, it is a good all rounder. While it maybe master of none, it will cover most eventualities.

Originally Posted by MB

I have the same setup. In my humble opinion, it is a good all rounder. While it maybe master of none, it will cover most eventualities.

Agreed, run the same on mine but 30mm tube and side parallax, not the best up close though.