Too much scope

whiterook

New Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Spokane, Washington
Hello LRH, I have a couple of questions. I've been looking around the board here and noticed people talking about the MOA of a scope.... Not the reticle perhaps but the MOA of the scope.
All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag.
Second Question: I purchased a Diamond Back 3X9X40 Is that enough scope to get the 308 out to 600 yrds. If not could you tell me a good scope for the 308. I don't believe the Vortex is over kill for the 300 win mag... or am I wrong on that one too.

Thank you for any help you can offer,
WhiteRook/ Ron.

OK one more question I have an 338 Savage 110. I had a chance to purchase one with a tactical body.......figuring I don't want to go to the range with all my weapons looking like I'm going to go off. Don't get me wrong I love the stock on it.. I fits well, and drops right in when I put it to my shoulder... My regret for not purchasing the tactical version is the butt. I need to put it on a sandbag or one of my range bags.
Question: how much would I spend dropping the rifle into a tactical body

Thank You for any help you can offer,
Sincerely, WhiteRook/Ron
 
Hello LRH, I have a couple of questions. I've been looking around the board here and noticed people talking about the MOA of a scope.... Not the reticle perhaps but the MOA of the scope.
All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag.
one too.
Why??

Is it not a long distance rifle & more a shorter distance purpose??


In regards to understanding the amount of travel or adjustment a scope has in either MOA or MILRADIAN well there is plenty of existing info out there on that & you just need to do some research & reading.
 
Hello LRH, I have a couple of questions. I've been looking around the board here and noticed people talking about the MOA of a scope.... Not the reticle perhaps but the MOA of the scope.
All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag.
Second Question: I purchased a Diamond Back 3X9X40 Is that enough scope to get the 308 out to 600 yrds. If not could you tell me a good scope for the 308. I don't believe the Vortex is over kill for the 300 win mag... or am I wrong on that one too.

Thank you for any help you can offer,
WhiteRook/ Ron.

OK one more question I have an 338 Savage 110. I had a chance to purchase one with a tactical body.......figuring I don't want to go to the range with all my weapons looking like I'm going to go off. Don't get me wrong I love the stock on it.. I fits well, and drops right in when I put it to my shoulder... My regret for not purchasing the tactical version is the butt. I need to put it on a sandbag or one of my range bags.
Question: how much would I spend dropping the rifle into a tactical body

Thank You for any help you can offer,
Sincerely, WhiteRook/Ron
I think you're talking about max travel of the scope 28 mils total scope travel or 120 moa total scope travel things like that.
 
All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag.

This boils down to personal preference and intended purpose. Because this is LRH, "I" would rather have it and don't need it.

Second Question: I purchased a Diamond Back 3X9X40 Is that enough scope to get the 308 out to 600 yrds. If not could you tell me a good scope for the 308.

"If" you can see your intended target and have enough elevation adjustment, yes it is enough scope.

OK one more question I have an 338 Savage 110. I had a chance to purchase one with a tactical body.......figuring I don't want to go to the range with all my weapons looking like I'm going to go off. Don't get me wrong I love the stock on it.. I fits well, and drops right in when I put it to my shoulder... My regret for not purchasing the tactical version is the butt. I need to put it on a sandbag or one of my range bags.
Question: how much would I spend dropping the rifle into a tactical body

That depends on your budget or what you are able and willing to spend to meet your personal satisfaction.
 
Being that this forum is focused on long range hunting I would think that the 5-25 Vortex is appropriate based not at all on your gun but more on the hunting conditions you are walking into with said gun. Are you hunting thick woods and timber? If yes, then yeah the 5-25 probably doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense and something more like a 2-7x would be a better fit. If you're hunting pretty open country or agricultural fields then the 5-25 is fine, appropriate even. The .308WIN will still kill deer at out to 450-500 yards (1,000 ft/lb energy threshold). That's a fair poke to most hunters. This forum by nature is a bit of a different demographic so to some here that is quite regular.

I don't think it will be out of place on either gun. Something else to consider is how far are you going to carry the rifle/optic combo. Lighter weight may be a consideration depending on the hunt you're going on and most 5-25 optics are not light relatively speaking. I tend to try and keep my hunting rifles on the lighter side.
 
IMHO, a big 5X25 scope is probably adding unnecessary weight to a 308 if you care about that. 10-15X max should do fine within the hunting range of a 308. BUT...if you don't care about the weight...there is no down side. You can always dial the scope down.

My target and hunting guns follow very different optic philosophies. My 600-1000 yard F-Class 284 wears an optic that goes to 60X, and is routinely used at 40-50X. My two long range rigs are a 338 Edge with a 5-25 and a 300WM with a 4-20. I've taken a number of long range (600-800 yard) shots with both rifles, and was never on max magnification.

I've shot the Edge to 2000 yards in competition. 25X was entirely sufficient. So it's not necessary for hunting at 308 ranges. My 400-600 yard guns wear smaller 4-16X scopes.
 
Personal preference and hunting parameters plays a key role in an individual's choice of scope. When I first started hunting long range, my max shooting distance was 500-600 yards using a 308. I found that a 4.5- 14x scope was more then sufficient for taking game. When I expanded my distance to 1000+ yards using cartridges with greater ballistic performance, I found scopes in the 5x20(or greater) range offered advantages.....Not so much in being able to more accurately place my bullet at the longer ranges, but being able to better discern brush, animals, and other potential interferences at those longer distances. IMO.
 
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Im a big fan of the 3-12, 3-15, 3-18 power scopes for 'all around' use. With my skills and equipment, I'm confident/competent out to about 1/2mi in good conditions. Generally I run around at about 6x, but it's nice to have the ability to dial magnification down and expand the field of view a bit. This is where it gets interesting - not all scopes have the same field of view at, say 6x magnification. Some of the better engineered optics have more FOV at 6x than another might have at 4.5x, so specifying a 'minimum' magnification can be sortof meaningless.

It's also my experience that a really good scope can resolve more at 15x than a lesser scope at 20x, so the maximum magnification can be a bit misleading too, in a way.

Generally, it seems like most hunters prefer SFP. FFP has gained a lot of traction in the tactical community, and some hunters do prefer FFP for the obvious reason that the reticle remains correct at any magnification.

I hunt with both FFP and SFP these days and for me the reticle design itself is more of a deciding factor than the focal plane.
 

All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag
.

Why??
Is it not a long distance rifle & more a shorter distance purpose??
Are we talking about the 308, or the 300 mag?
I was going to take the 5x25 off the 308 and put it on a 300 win mag. Wouldn't that make more sense?
Isn't the 300 win mag a 1000 yrd weapon, while the 308 is more in the 600 yrd range?

For those of you totally unclear what is happening Hand Skills answered a question I posted and then I tried to format the post to separate my question to Aushunter1

The question was about the use of a FFP as opposed to an SFP. I purchased the scope I was going to put on my 308 without thinking about it I purchased a SFP. I'm used to using a FFP and thought I should take it back to get a FFP.... But after looking at Hand Skills post I'm wondering if I should just keep it. And get familiar to using a SFP.

I thank you all for your help.... It's nice to find a place that will guide you and not berate your lack of knowledge.... Everyone needs to start someplace. and LRH seems to be that place.

Thank you all once again,
WR/Ron
 
To me, this decision usually comes down to weight and magnification vs purpose. On a walk my butt off rifle, I'll give up some kit weight to ease sling carry. I know I'm limited to maybe 400-600 yards like that. That rifle will have a #3 or #4 contour barrel and a 30oz or less scope. To get better optical performance at a price, I may go to a lower max power and sfp.

For example, my Ohio deer rifle. It is a factory Win 350 Legend. It wears a 1-8x sfp. Balance is good, weight is good and 0-300 yd shots are no problem.

My MT deer rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye 6.5x55. A little more rifle weight and I run a 4-16 SFP BDC on it. Weight, balance ok....A little more magnification to reach out. About 9.5 lbs.

My bigger mountain rifle is a custom Win 70 300 Sherman. When rifle and scope arrive, I think the Meopta ffp 3-18x will be a nice fit to the base rifle and should weigh 10lbs.
 
The question was about the use of a FFP as opposed to an SFP. I purchased the scope I was going to put on my 308 without thinking about it I purchased a SFP. I'm used to using a FFP and thought I should take it back to get a FFP.... But after looking at Hand Skills post I'm wondering if I should just keep it. And get familiar to using a SFP.

I thank you all for your help.... It's nice to find a place that will guide you and not berate your lack of knowledge.... Everyone needs to start someplace. and LRH seems to be that place.

Thank you all once again,
WR/Ron

In my opinion, this is the best place on the net for shooting/reloading related discussion. Welcome! I have learned a lot here, and am happy to be able.to give back a little when I can.

If I were in your position, I would return the 5-25 SFP for a 3-15 FFP. For me, that EBR reticle works pretty well in FFP, and that 3-15 is a really well designed scope - great FOV at any magnification.

The biggest complaint, it seems, with FFP is guys who can't see the reticle at low power. I have found some FFP reticles are serviceable at 50yd in twilight at 3x, but not all of them. That vortex EBR reticle, especially with the illuminated chevron is pretty good in this regard.

The main advantage of SFP is that reticles CAN be a little finer. This CAN help defining a more precise point of aim so SOME shooters, especially target and varmint shooters prefer that.

Personally, I have found with FFP I tend to use lower magnification than I would with a SFP scope. Less magnification means bigger FOV, which makes it easier to spot my impacts, and I have a little better situational awareness. This can be helpful when hunting herd animals.

I can tell you what works for me, but it's really up to you to decide;

What kind of targets and at what distances will you be shooting?

Cheers, and food luck in your decision
 
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Hello LRH, I have a couple of questions. I've been looking around the board here and noticed people talking about the MOA of a scope.... Not the reticle perhaps but the MOA of the scope.
All that being said I purchased a .308 and mounted a Vortex 5X25X50. I now realize that is probably over kill on the glass. So I'm going to take it off the 308 and put it on a 300 Win Mag.
Second Question: I purchased a Diamond Back 3X9X40 Is that enough scope to get the 308 out to 600 yrds. If not could you tell me a good scope for the 308. I don't believe the Vortex is over kill for the 300 win mag... or am I wrong on that one too.

Thank you for any help you can offer,
WhiteRook/ Ron.

OK one more question I have an 338 Savage 110. I had a chance to purchase one with a tactical body.......figuring I don't want to go to the range with all my weapons looking like I'm going to go off. Don't get me wrong I love the stock on it.. I fits well, and drops right in when I put it to my shoulder... My regret for not purchasing the tactical version is the butt. I need to put it on a sandbag or one of my range bags.
Question: how much would I spend dropping the rifle into a tactical body

Thank You for any help you can offer,
Sincerely, WhiteRook/Ron
Vertical adjustment in relation to the range and caliber ballistics is probably your point. Greater effective vertical adjustment can be had with an inclined rail or rings. Usually the scope is clearest with maximum resolution at the center of the lens. Adjusting to the extreme of scope travel puts sight through lens edge. Pre-angling the scope at sightin with rail/rings so the scope in the edge range of the lens, allows looking through more the center of the lens with adjustment for elevation needed for the actual shooting range. You will typically give up some clarity/resolution (yeah, high end scopes not as much...) at the edges. Better to have that loss at 100yds sight in than at your maximum shooting range.
 
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