Hello all, I just bought a 6.5 Gibbs on a tuned mauser 98 and now I need a scope for it. This gun won't be a pampered gun that rides to the range once a week in a hard case, it will bounce around the country in a pickup and possible (but hopefully not) get knocked over or dropped a few times. The rifle should be capable out to 1000 or 1200 yards so I want good quality optics but hunting running coyotes you sometimes need low magnification so it needs to be adjustable, preferably form around 4-20. I would like good usable turrets with a zero stop and some kind of mildot or moa reticle. I will use it occasionally in low light and I have a friend that told me that the biggest limiting factor in low light use is the tube size, basically you can have the biggest objective lens they make but if it can't get through the tube, it's pointless. Is that correct? If so that would limit me to a 30mm or bigger tube. My price limit is $1000 so that throws another kink in things. I have looked at minox, vortex, nightforce, ior and more but just need some help to come to a conclusion. The minox only has a 1" tube so, according to my friend, it's not good for low light plus there is little good info on them, the vortex seems good but i'm skeptical of a new company that I have heard very little about, the nightforce is too pricey and so is the ior.
any and all opinions and suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.
Objective lens diameter and glass/coatings quality is what determines light transmission, not tube diameter.
The biggest advantage with the 30-34mm tubes is the fact they give you much more compensation for drop in that you can actually see the bullett strike at 1000yds without mounting your scope with the rear elevated and/or a zero set beyond 500yds at the intersection of the cross hairs. You also typically get more room to adjust your elevation and windage if you are doping and clicking for those shots.
For most shooters though the wider field of view with the 50mm or larger objectives is what makes the biggest difference.
Best bang for the buck for what you are looking for would probably be the Leupold 4-12 or 14.5-14 with either the varmint or mil dot reticle.
Remember you can set your 100yds zero above center line by using one of the mil dots above as your 100yds zero point which will allow you much more room at the bottom for long range shots.
If you intend to be set up where you can dope all your information and make elevation and windage changes on the scope the reticle is somewhat less important than if you intend on just using simple math in your head and adjusting your point of aim.
The Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14 and 6-20 x 50's will also fit the bill for you with the rapid z reticles, but they get right up around your maximum price range as well.
BTW on running coyotes if you just set your range on the parallax adjustment at 400yds as your standard carry it'll work well enough for those quick shots especially if you keep your scope down to around 8-10x for normal carry as well.
I shoot about a hundred or so from the truck every year with a .204 Ruger with the conquest 3.5-10x44 at ranges out to about six hundred and use the 4.5-14x44 on my current long range gun. I'm in the process of putting together an LR-260 and will be putting the conquest 6-20x50 on it to start but I may end up switching it to the 7mm STW and put the 4.5-14x44 on the 260 since I plan to shoot it quite a bit more but we'll see.
If you check the classifides on here, and also watch Ebay and you don't get in too big of a hurry you can find yourself a very reasonable deal on any of the above.
