General hunting scope

[Janno05]

I have been in a long process of thinning down the gun safe and upgrading the quality of the firearms I own. I finally got to my hunting rifle, and I need some optics advice. I picked up a left handed Winchester 70 ftw in 270 wsm and my McMillan game scout showed up yesterday. The plan is once I shoot out the factory barrel to rebarrel to either a 6.5 ss or 7mm ss and have this as my one gun hunting rig, everything from coyotes to elk (hopefully some day).

It is currently wearing a Bushnell lrts 4.5-18 off my 6 creed, but I am stuck on what power range to go for. Leaning towards either a 2-10 or a 3-18 of some sort. Also, it currently has an egw rail with medium rings and the comb is too low. There is plenty of room between the barrel and scope to drop or lower with rings if i stay with a 44x or lower, or I could get Talley's and loose the 20 moa.

I'll occasionally take this to the range to hit steel for practice, but I have a target rifle for that. I just want one really good hunting rifle to serve me for the rest of my life. Thank you for your time.

 

[Juano86]

Hey mate,
I just upgraded the scope on my Tikka 7mm rem mag to a leupold VX3i 4.5-14x40 30mm CDS. awesome bit of glass for the price and in a pretty compact package. Seems like it fits in between your magnification and size retirements. Cant fault it!

 

[WildBillG]

My thoughts would be a 3-18 of some sort. My reasoning is the is great in close and the 18 handy for target work. Any of the big names will give you great glass in that power range as well. If it were me I would look at a 50mm objective for light gathering and better field of view. Those are my thoughts.

 

[lancetkenyon]

3-15 or 3-18 high quality glass is my preference for a hunting rifle for any realistic hunting range. Good low end for still hunting or spot and stalk. Plenty of upper end magnification for out to 1500 for the shy coyotes.

I have a few 5-25s, but most are in this "moderate" range.
3-15 (×3-Premier, TT x2)
3-20 (×2-S&B)
3-24(×1-March)
5-20 (×1-S&B)
5-25 (×2-Premier, S&B) on long range rifles
I will take a top tier 3-15 over an $500-1000 5-25 all day long.

 

[Hand Skills]

@Janno05 do you want to stick with FFP, MIL/MIL? I certainly would - but it limits options quite a bit, and there isn't much available in the featherweight category.

What don't you like about the LRTS? I have a 3-12 LRHS that has been working out pretty well, sometimes I wish it was a 3-15, but I don't shoot beyond 1/2mi very often.

Currently saving for one of these;

http://marchoptics.com/shop/brand_march-optics/firstfocalplane/3-24x52mm-scope

Good sale on presently, too bad all that's left are MOA models.

 

[Janno05]

Thank you all for the replies and info. I love the glass on the lrts, but the reticle is really thin on low power for a hunting rig. The other thing that ****es me off about the scope is that it isn't lefty friendly at all. You must remove the power lever to cycle a Lefty bolt gun, which leaves a sharp edge that will skin your thumb if you are in a hurry.

I went to cabelas and looked through a Burris veracity and a leupold vx5hd, both have good glass and I like them both. As much as I would like to have tier one glass on this rifle it will be a long while before that happens.

 

[Hand Skills]

Ya, there are a lot of good options out there at the moment. The only things to watch out for on the Veracity are the irregular reticle subtensions, and the variable eye relief.

I've become a big fan of leupold's firedot. I think some guys have bought a VX5HD with the firedot and then sent it in for a windplex reticle upgrade. I had a VXR 3-9 featuring the firedot inside a Mil-Hash (TMR) reticle. It was a pretty versatile setup for someone who hunts close as well as far.

Don't discount the LRHS either (if you can find one) - the G2H reticle is a little different - the 'dohnut of death' shows up really well for me at 3x, and the magnification ring is smooth - if those are your only qualms.

Zeiss V4 is worth looking at as well.

I've found after getting comfortable with angular wind holds (FFP) going back to distance based holds relative to a target's size (SFP) to be a bit of a brain teaser.

FYI, Nikon has a new FFP FX1000 4-16 that's been getting good reviews

Athlon has a Midas TAC 4-16.

Of course there's the Vortex PST gen II 3-15,

Personally I haven't become brave enough to try a scope from the Phillipines yet, but I'm sure the day will come..!

 

[FIGJAM]

Thank you all for the replies and info. I love the glass on the lrts, but the reticle is really thin on low power for a hunting rig. The other thing that ----es me off about the scope is that it isn't lefty friendly at all. You must remove the power lever to cycle a Lefty bolt gun, which leaves a sharp edge that will skin your thumb if you are in a hurry.

I went to cabelas and looked through a Burris veracity and a leupold vx5hd, both have good glass and I like them both. As much as I would like to have tier one glass on this rifle it will be a long while before that happens.

I have a couple of the VX5HD 3-15x56 on some hunting rifles (6 creed for coyotes and 270 wsm) and they have been awesome. Glass is clear, mechanically mine track perfect. I just have the firedot duplex, but I have started to prefer a simple reticle for hunting instead of busy tactical reticles. I have some other rifles for rangework that are FFP and have moa christmas tree reticles. I personally can't stand FFP on a hunting rifle...

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

What's your budget? Red hawk rifles has a demo sale going on right now. You can pick up the Zeiss v4 4-16x50 for $879 or step up to the v6 3-18x50 for $1399. I've got three v6's and they are great scopes for the money. I don't have any experience with the v4, but they seem to get a lot of good reviews.

 

[Greyfox]

General hunting scope for me means "any" conditions or setting I'm likely to encounter. I would have to go with my March 2.5x25x52, SFP. Superb glass and mechanicals, in a compact size and light weight.

 

[Moki]

My rifles chambered in cartridges that reach out like 25-06, 270 Wby, 300 magnums, 375RUM get Leupold VX2 4-12x40mm or VX3 4.5-14x40mm scopes.

Shorter distance rifles get Leupold 1-4x, 1.5-5x and 2-7x scopes.

 

[ronstone09]

3-15 or 3-18 high quality glass is my preference for a hunting rifle for any realistic hunting range. Good low end for still hunting or spot and stalk. Plenty of upper end magnification for out to 1500 for the shy coyotes.

I have a few 5-25s, but most are in this "moderate" range.
3-15 (×3-Premier, TT x2)
3-20 (×2-S&B)
3-24(×1-March)
5-20 (×1-S&B)
5-25 (×2-Premier, S&B) on long range rifles
I will take a top tier 3-15 over an $500-1000 5-25 all day long.

look at zeiss and their conquest 5x25 great glass and moderately priced

 

[skipglo]

I have been in a long process of thinning down the gun safe and upgrading the quality of the firearms I own. I finally got to my hunting rifle, and I need some optics advice. I picked up a left handed Winchester 70 ftw in 270 wsm and my McMillan game scout showed up yesterday. The plan is once I shoot out the factory barrel to rebarrel to either a 6.5 ss or 7mm ss and have this as my one gun hunting rig, everything from coyotes to elk (hopefully some day).

It is currently wearing a Bushnell lrts 4.5-18 off my 6 creed, but I am stuck on what power range to go for. Leaning towards either a 2-10 or a 3-18 of some sort. Also, it currently has an egw rail with medium rings and the comb is too low. There is plenty of room between the barrel and scope to drop or lower with rings if i stay with a 44x or lower, or I could get Talley's and loose the 20 moa.

I'll occasionally take this to the range to hit steel for practice, but I have a target rifle for that. I just want one really good hunting rifle to serve me for the rest of my life. Thank you for your time.

I believe I have said this once before and it's only one man's opinion....as I got older I put nothing less than 6 x 24 or 5 x 25 's on all my hunting rifles. When you need it you have the extra power. I have always preferred to use my gun when checking game to decide if it's something I will shoot. That way I'm on target and ready. Not shuffling between binos and gun. So the 24 power comes in real handy. You can quickly dial down anytime....but you can't dial up past what you don't have.....a one time final scope..you might appreciate the extra power in 10 more years and not have to go purchase another later.

 

[DavidleeCole]

You may try and look at Valdada they have great glass and make a whole line for hunting. The glass is made at Schott Zeiss no complaints on the glass the construction of the scope is pure European engineering and built to last. The internal erector assembly is too notch with 100% repeatable accuracy. I have an 3.5-18x56 34 mm tube FFP Tactical scope and have taken many deer with it. My rings came free with the scope.