Ultimate do all hunting scope

tyler6.8

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2023
Messages
284
Location
michigan
I seem to be on a never ending journey of finding the perfect do all rifle scope. I'm talking 10-600 yards from the spot and stalk dark Timbers of whitetail country in the NE to the laying prone wide open plains of the West and everything in between. I try to keep things as simple as possible and own one hunting rifle for all of my hunting needs and trying to find the scope to live on top has been challenging. I need something that has a good mag range for the above yardages, enough low light performance to handle the dark woods, a good usable reticle at all levels of magnification, optical quality on the highest power and most importantly durable! Since this is my one and only rifle it travels a lot and as careful as I can be out in the wilderness it will see it's fair share of bumps. I'm not partial to FFP vs SFP but if it is FFP the reticle has to be usable on the lowest power for the close up moving deer shots.

Anyone have any suggestions on something that would check all my boxes?
 
Do your self a favor don't take @lancetkenyon or @Huntnful advice they will give you the best of the best you will buy it and become addicted. Trust me I'm now an alpha level glass addict and can't stand looking behind any other other than that. In all seriousness those two I mentioned earlier are as knowledgeable as they come and won't steer you wrong. Thanks to them I own a March and s&b. I sold three scope to buy my last one because the glass and features were 10 times what my previous scope were. A lot comes down to budget and how much you shoot and what parts of the optical triangle you're willing to Compromise one. My list for budget scopes would be bushnell drm 2 or lrhs/lrti/ other than that the Schmidt and bender pm2 is top followed by my March.
 
If you're seriously considering 10 yards in dark timber, and don't want to run illumination the whole time, you better get a SFP scope. That's not the scenario for a FFP scope. And 600 yards is relatively close honestly. So easy wind holds also. Any decently clear optic would be fine at that yardage. It just needs to be durable and have good low light image. So a durable, SFP scope, with a 50mm objective for adequate low light.

The best of the best are probably unnecessary in your circumstance and they only come in FFP anyways.

Probably a 3-18X50 trijicon tenmile would be my first suggestion. Also a very decently priced scope. Then a 2.5-20 or 4-32 NX8 or a March 3-24X52 in SFP sounds pretty good to me.
 
I got to check out a friends tangent 3-15 LRH recently and it was the best 10-600 reticle setup I've seen yet for ffp.
I'd look hard at that. I'm super reticle picky and I was impressed.

I'm playing with a 2.5-15 trijicon right now and it's a neat little scope, need more time on it though
 
March FX 1.5-15×42 Dual would be tough to beat for your criteria.

NF NX8 2.5-20×50 would be pretty good. I actually just picked one up for myself (I am slumming) used for cheap. Couldn't pass that up. And if I don't like it, would sell extremely fast. Might be a tough fit on a LA though.

But if you want best of the best, TT315M or TT315H. 3-15×50. And fairly lightweight @ 28oz.

ZCO 420 4-20×50 is another absolute top tier choice. A bit heavier.

S&B PMII 3-20×50 Ultra Short would be awesome, but really hard to fit on a LA.
The 3-21×50 Exos is awesome for a SFP too.
 
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A reasonable scope that checks all the boxes is a Leupold VX6HD 2-12x42. I have one on a rifle used in the same manor. It fits the bill and is relatively light.
The brightest scope I've looked through is a Schmidt and Bender 3-21 SFP. Unreal clarity and crispness. Downside it is fairly large and wouldn't be a great match on a really light rifle.
That SB is better than Swarovski and Zeiss that I've used.
 
I just got an EXOS 3-21x50 for my 338 RUM build. Zero experience with it, but yes, it sure seems like good glass. It is quite big and heavy. So like others have mentioned maybe an NX8 or a March. I have both and like them. Love the March turrets and zero stop.
 
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