Reply With QuoteWay back when, I hunted(deer) with a 6x scope and never had any problems. Never felt the 6x was too much at close range.
I ordered another scope to use while I send my current scope out for repair. I have been doing a lot of reading on fixed power scopes. I ordered a Leupold FXII 6x36. Scope weighs only 10 oz and from what I have read tends to be brighter because there is less glass that the light has to travel through.
I am curious about other's experiences.
Way back when, I hunted(deer) with a 6x scope and never had any problems. Never felt the 6x was too much at close range.
Number of lenses vary by maker and model. From some rather old info Leupy used to publish, that scope type likely has 6-8 lenses. It is true that each surface will block a certain amount of light, which is where coatings come in to play. Fixed power scopes don't neccessarily have more or less lenses, that I know of; back to design. The weight is due to less parts and pieces for adjustment, or also perhaps lenses.
Assuming the same coatings, lens quality, ocular and objective diameter, tube size; the difference in apparent brightness likely won't bee seen by the naked eye. So a good scope will pass 95 - 98% of the available light. If is passed 98% through 8 lenses, that means 2% loss across 8 lenses; or 0.25% less light per lens. Can you reliably detect 0.25% more or less? If you had 1 less lens, can you detect 0.5% difference in light?
I run a Leupold fixed 6 on a 30-06. Works well for most areas.
With my Strikers and XP-100's, I've been all over the place with scopes. With my Contenders, I had the best luck with Burris 2 X 6 handgun scope for deer and 'yotes, open country and light woods, and a fixed power 2X for hogs and other swamp critters. In big open fields the 2-6 X was king, but too small a field of view, at the higher powers, to quickly acquire targets in the low light and 'specially out of a bouncing buggy/jeep. My S&W 629, open sites, still gets the nod fall and winter. (low light, early dark)
Just a case of best tool for the job at hand.
I'm currently chasing a Burris 4-12 X 32 LER for open field long distance and perhaps a doubler lens, for those AT&T shots. (reach out and touch 'em)
Have an old Pentax GameSeeker II 6x42mm and a Leupold FX-III 6x42mm. The 3-9x's I have on hunting rifles are left at 6x most of the time as well.
"Life' is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." ~ John Wayne
“Under certain circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” —Mark Twain
On two of the rifles my grandpa gave me, he has Leopold fixed 12 power scopes. I can not remember the exact models, but I will say they are very clear and very sharp. I do not know how old they are, but I know they have been on those rifles for as long as I can remember. (I'm 35) One is on a rem 700 in .17 rem. The other is on a win model 70 in 6mm-284. I know he wore out a barrel on both rifles and they are both on their 2nd barrels. So I suppose they have been holding up very good. He used them to hunt groundhogs.
In IL we dont get the luxury of hunting deer with a rifle so i bought a H&R ultra slug hunter a few years back and put a vortex 3-9 on it. Used that for a season or two and switched to a fixed power 2.5 by 20mm and never looked back. The 2.5x is just right to the max range of a slug gun 175-200yds in my opinion. Its a light and simple scope and has worked great the past 4 years.
for a true deer hunting gun I don't think verbal powers really needed in my neck of the woods even on a rifle a 4 power will get me out past 300 yards and i dont see to be taking shots longer than that as I spot n stalk deer and can normally get within a hundred and fifty yards fairly easily.
My rifles have 4-12x or 2-7x on them for coyote/critter hunting and range fun. But if i could use a rifle on deer i would have a compact 18" bbl 243 or maybe 7-08 with a fixed 4x
i use a pentex 4x on my 1187 no problems out to 100 yards
I like Verbal Powers. I sometimes call it Oratory Prowess
Many, many years ago I had a .222 Rem with a 6X Leupold scope. It produced the smallest 100 yard group I have ever produced (a dime covered all the paper damage).
My last deer (Nov'17) with a firearm was a 4X Weaver K4 that would get snores or laughs from most "modern" shooters. The buck was more than impressed.
Even with a 3-9x I leave it set at 3x and that is where it stays when I take the shot. Usually that's either a deer in cover or a fox/coyote in the chicken yard and I need a fast, offhand shot. My proudest was my wife dropped the rifle down to me off the deck outside the kitchen and I shot a running coyote 150 yards away with a chicken in it's jaws. The chicken lived (the coyote did not). Mostly luck . . . or practice.
On the occasions I have time to set up an ambush the variable is welcome.
And then there are iron "service" sights. ;-)
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
Now be nice, lolOriginally Posted by Robinhood
Anyway i think theres little doubt straight power is clearer than variable power set at the same power.
That's especially true with spotting scope eyepieces. Unfortunatly today almost all scope builders are only offering that type.
I still have and use a couple straight 12x Leupolds including one that i bought in the late 60s.
I also have a straight 10x Bushnell on a 223, i use mainly for PDs.
Most variables i have never get moved from whatever power there set on, and some are on a low setting.
The only real advantage a variable has for me at least, is being able to increase the field of view at a lower power in order to find the target, and then increase to whatever power suits for the shot. If i were a walking the woods type hunter, i doubt id be changing power on a variable.
Fixed 36 power for bench shooting. I want to see the holes in the target out past 100+ yards. Even out past 440 yards, I can still see the holes.
Even with the variable like 6 X 24 or 8 X 32, crank it up all the way and leave it there.
Oz never gave nothing to the Tin Man, that he didn't already have.
And when a deer runs past at 60 yards?
He is asking about hunting. I can see the hole because it is spraying blood. ;-)
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." Last words of Gen. Sedgwik
I used a 10X SWFA on a pig hunt with my tactic .308 once, it was my competition rifle and all I had with me at the time, but I have found variable power to be extremely useful while hunting since I typically find spots up on a hill and shoot prone after scanning with binos and/or spotting scope. I find variable power lets me check antlers and check for cubs when bear hunting since often I hunt alpine areas where the deer and bears hide in the small patches of thick brush. Plus if I am bear hunting it's typically with my .300 win mag that's far to big to stalk close with thus I am waiting to get an optimal shoot and very often leaves me time to scan the area for quite a while and adjustable allows me to go zone by zone while I ID where I should wait for the bear to go.
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