Scope for my 300 Ultra

[sunshinegirl]

I watch one of those TV hunting shows today, and watched the host get clobbered twice with a 300 Ultra giving him one real nice crescent between his eyes. I have a 300 Ultra, used an old Leupold 6.5X20 on it for a dozen rounds at the range. I kept moving my head to one side to avoid getting creamed when it recoiled. I am big for a woman, over 6ft., and can handle it's energy. Now what scope can I top it off with to save my old brain from a concussion?? I want something like a 3.5X10 power. I was even thinking of a shotgun scope. I want a mid-price scope, don't want to pick up parts after a few rounds.

 

[clhman]

My advise first of all is a brake. My RUM is a thousand times more pleasant to shoot after I had the brake put on. (Wild West Guns, by the way.) I handload really hot and I have no fear of getting scoped. (My groups shrunk, by the way - just felt more confident.)

As far as scopes, I have a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 with an NPR-2 reticle. It is huge, heavy and expensive, but once you look through it, and shoot at 500+ yards, you will never want to look through anything else again. It is unbelieveable.

 

[KRP]

Will the scope actually hit you or are you just flinching because you saw someone else get hit? I would think that Leupold has enough eye relief if the rifle fits you well and the scope is mounted correctly.​

 

[lerch]

definantly get a brake, it will make the rifle a joy to shoot and allow you to shoot it enough to really appreciate the ballistic advantage the Rum gives you. make sure you are able to make a positive cheek weld on the stock. if your cheek is off the stock or even just very lightly touching it upon recoil your head will stay static and not follow your body back with the recoil, thus giving you a nice smile on your eye brow.

when looking for a scope check the specs in each companies yearly flyer, it will tell you the eye relief of each scope.

+1 on the NF, they have great eye relief and the optics are second two none!!!

steve

 

[linksmechanic]

Theres more than one scope choice out there and you don't need to spend over a thousand dollars to have a nice scope especially if you don't dial. With a 300 rum you I would want at least a 10x because of the rifles extended range. Some good choices would be leupold, zeiss, the higher end nikons and if you want to lay down the doe: mark 4, nxs, s&B, uso.

 

[sunshinegirl]

I want to stay away from brakes. I have limited hearing now, and wear ear protection when I shoot any gun. I want to get the most eye relief I can. Wondering what you guys had used, and have been checking out the manufactures web sites on eye relief. I see Leupold has about the most, 3.5 to 4.5 inches, other than a shotgun scope. I got conked once when my Winchester model 100 double fired, and I still remember that. I am intending to make my 700 a switch barrel gun with .338 Ultra being the second barrel.

 

[Bravo 4]

Not to be rude, but...
It sounds like you either need to get a brake or drop down in recoil, not go up! If you are moving your head during the shot, then you need to drop down to something like a .308 because you are doing nothing but creating bad habits.

 

[338 bruce]

My 338 RUM sendero with brake will get me in the eye at 3.5" prone every time, at 3.75" sometimes and at 4" never.

 

[sunshinegirl]

I just want to fire the gun to see how it reacted. The bench really didn't fit my height, I had no iron sights, and it was my only scope to mount. I have a .458 win mag, and let plenty of 500 gr. bullets out of it, so I know recoil, no squishy pad either, solid butt plate. I moved my head to avoid getting hit, as the eye relief was too short for the beast. Only want to see what the guys are using on the rifle....... I wanted, and got a rifle that can reach out. I have no intention of using reduced loads in it. I have several less potent shooters in my stable I can use. I know lots of the guys are using this caliber, and did the homework already. I know the good brands, but which work best is my goal.

 

[Jon A]

More eye relief will sure help, but even more important I have found is scope placement. My 300 RUM kicks like a mule, but I guarantee you the scope won't hit you, even with a scope that only has 2.5" of usable eye relief. I mount every scope on this rifle with the ocular in the same location--far enough forward it can't hit me.

The only difference eye relief makes is where I place my head. Wherever that is for a particular scope, you practice it, get used to it and it works just fine.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

At a mere 145lbs I have never been recoil sensitive but I did join the "half moon" club once. Yup, it was with a 300RUM shooting heavy bullets. I had a Leupold 6.5x20 scope on hand when the rifle arrived so I mounted it up and started to develop loads.

Using the scope on 20x made it quite easy to see the 1" orange dot @ 200 yards but it also put that ocular lens a wee bit too close to my brow. After about a dozen rounds or so the inevitable happened. WHACK!

I continued to use the same scope for awhile but I turned the power down to 12x which gave just enough extra eye relief to avoid contact under recoil.

I might add that most, if not all, Leupold scopes have a thin metallic rim on their ocular lens which is all but designed to open up your head. You'd think by this stage of the game that Leupold would have redesigned this rim or put a soft rubber ring over it. A little prevention would go a long way into preventing additional injuries.

If a scope even comes close to you brow while shooting from the bench it is much more likely to hit you when firing under the unpredictable conditions presented in the field.

I never really found the answer to your question. Most scopes with high enough magnification to maximize the potential of the RUM cartridges have moderate eye relief, at best. At least that has been my finding. I'm currently using a Zeiss 4.5x14x50 on the 300RUM but the eye relief really isn't any better.

 

[rdm]

I think the Leupold has about the best eye relief your gonna find. Like Bravo said you may look into a brake or lighter recoiling cartridge. When I prepare to shoot I put the butt of the rifle firmly in the crease between my shoulder and chest and get a good, firm cheek weld were I can see the target and crosshairs clearly. When I fire, I concentrate on focusing on the target and crosshairs, squeeze the trigger, follow through. Recoil and breathing are both afterthoughts. This is absolutely the only way I can deal with recoil and still shoot any kind of group inside MOB (minute of barn) accuracy. Really I think a good cheekweld with the rifle butt firmly against your shoulder and strict concentration the target is the best way to keep from being K.O.'d by a scope.

 

[happylilcuss]

Lets not beat a horse to death here.
My suggestions would be to try looking through the bushnell elite 4200 6-24x50 i have heard its a good scope fwiw

 

[CS T]

I love Nightforce but for a mid price scope I would reommend the Leupold like a VXL or a VXIII.

Mike @ CSGW