Hello, Giverguns.
For shooting to 400 yds from coyotes on up, I like 1 1/2 at the bottom, for that 60 ft plus field of view and good light gathering ability. You can often recover from recoil and see your strikes at the low power setting, even without a brake. This is a great assist with running shots.
The top power on this type of variable is 5 or 6 depending on brand.The best quality you can afford is where you should be, and Leopold is right up there at the top. I have a Bushnell 4200 1 1/2 to 6. If they produce one with the new firefly reticle, I may move up.
With your 7MM in settled areas, where you might like to avoid heavy bullets, friends have had very good success on deer and bear with the 120 grain Nosler at 3500. This has also worked well on lung shot elk, with no failures I know of, but one has to believe that a failure is likely with a less than perfect presentation, and a light X bullet or other premium large game bullet is in order.
For sure the heavy bullets in this caliber are very effective killers on elk. I have a number of friends who have shot many elk with the Hornady Interlocks in both boat tail and flat base with excellent success. I am sure the more expensive premium bullets would ensure that success from the worst possible angles.
The current iteration of the 120 G Nosler has a BC of .417 and I confess I don't know anyone who is using the new bullet.
Here is where I diverge from the norm, and will likely get a dissenting view. I zero for about 5 inches high at 100 yards, which results in a mid range rise of about 7 1/2 inches at 200, 3 at 300, and back to zero at 340 with my .270W. You could do even better with about the same mid range, but an honest zero of 400 yds with your 7MM with the 120g Nosler. Your bullet would probably not fall out of the chest cavity to the full 1/4 mile on a deer.
Before everyone jumps on me for this, I have had very good success on coyotes the last two deer seasons out to 265 yards, shooting 5 with 7 attempts. (no deer, waiting for a good one) The only thing I do is hold low on the body when it looks reasonable for distance. I also range objects to establish zones when time allows, but more often than not, they have been targets of opportunity.
My confidence with this procedure has grown considerably, I just point and shoot.
Where I hunt, you would have to pass on 2/3 of your shots if you could not shoot 400 yards on elk. This kind of a zero is a complete no brainer on elk or moose. The chest cavity is 24 inches or greater. Also, a big advantage with this sight setting is that if the animal is more than half a field away, it is too far. (a quarter section is 880 yards across, so half of that is 440 yds, which is a quarter mile.)
If you have a letter sized piece of paper handy, turn it on it's side, and that is the box your bullet will be travelling in to 400 yards (given a reasonably accurate rifle). Ask yourself if you can get comfortable with that. If you can, you will have good results. I believe this is the most practical setting for general purpose rough and ready hunting.
This is my second time down this road. I tried it with limited success years ago and gave up on it. The second time I looked at the piece of paper I was just discussing I said I can work with this. The big difference was confidence.
