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New To Scopes!!! Need some info please!
- Thread starter xlilvi3tx
- Start date
and field dressing and butchering. LOL
Bear44 has all the basics laid out for you already. I can't speak to compitition shooting or long range shooting. I can speak as an older guy who never owned a rifle till I was 30 and didn't put a scope on one till I was almost 35 and have only been hunting medium sized game five years. Here is my two cents...
1) Don't get hung up on long shots unless you seriously hunt in open areas. Unless you shoot a lot or are just a natural and don't get any buck fever at all I'd say much over 300 yards just isn't going to happen. If it does you better get good at tracking.
2) I've learned tha setting up a scope for "point blank" range works 90% of the time and the rest of the time I should let the shot go any ways. Point blank is the yardage down range where your bullet never goes above 3 inches high or 3 inches low so on medium sized game you simply put the crosshairs on the vitals and squeze off the shot. No hold over to deal with just wind and making sure you actually know your range. With a 308 and a 150g bullet shooting 2800fps point blank is 275 yards with the bullet being 3 inches high at 150 yards. See: http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm Try grouping 5 shots in 6 inches at 275 yards and you'll see it just isn't that easy even off a bench better yet out of a tree for most hunters.
3) Figure out your price range. I've seen plenty of hunters use $100-$150 scopes and fill the freezer every year. There are a lot of good scopes that can be had for $200-$300. I can't speak to $300+ scopes because I can't afford them. If you hunt in heavy woods that stay dark longer then you'll want to be at least in the mid-range priced scopes (probably $300-$600 range) or you'll be frustrated when you can see a deer but not find them in your scope.
4) YES YES YES, don't go crazy with overly powerful scopes. My son got a 700SPS because it was tacticool and put a 6-24 power scope up top. Found out the hard way when a deer shows up 50 yards in front of him that ALL FUR is not a good target to aim at. I thick woods I like a 2-7. A 3-9 is going to be your best bet for price. I found that on my 300 win mag that I use the upper range of my 4-12x mostly as an on gun spotting scope but take the shot usually at lower powers.
5) Lastly talk to hunters for hunting scopes...looking through scopes during the day at the store is about the worse way to compare scopes! I did that once at Cabellas and to be honest a Simons cheapo wasn't that different than a high end Ziess (DURING THE DAY IN THE STORE) Put the same two in heavy woods then you'll know why the Ziess is $1200 and the Simons is $120.
Hope this helps, I think I kind of rambled a bit much.
1) Don't get hung up on long shots unless you seriously hunt in open areas. Unless you shoot a lot or are just a natural and don't get any buck fever at all I'd say much over 300 yards just isn't going to happen. If it does you better get good at tracking.
2) I've learned tha setting up a scope for "point blank" range works 90% of the time and the rest of the time I should let the shot go any ways. Point blank is the yardage down range where your bullet never goes above 3 inches high or 3 inches low so on medium sized game you simply put the crosshairs on the vitals and squeze off the shot. No hold over to deal with just wind and making sure you actually know your range. With a 308 and a 150g bullet shooting 2800fps point blank is 275 yards with the bullet being 3 inches high at 150 yards. See: http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm Try grouping 5 shots in 6 inches at 275 yards and you'll see it just isn't that easy even off a bench better yet out of a tree for most hunters.
3) Figure out your price range. I've seen plenty of hunters use $100-$150 scopes and fill the freezer every year. There are a lot of good scopes that can be had for $200-$300. I can't speak to $300+ scopes because I can't afford them. If you hunt in heavy woods that stay dark longer then you'll want to be at least in the mid-range priced scopes (probably $300-$600 range) or you'll be frustrated when you can see a deer but not find them in your scope.
4) YES YES YES, don't go crazy with overly powerful scopes. My son got a 700SPS because it was tacticool and put a 6-24 power scope up top. Found out the hard way when a deer shows up 50 yards in front of him that ALL FUR is not a good target to aim at. I thick woods I like a 2-7. A 3-9 is going to be your best bet for price. I found that on my 300 win mag that I use the upper range of my 4-12x mostly as an on gun spotting scope but take the shot usually at lower powers.
5) Lastly talk to hunters for hunting scopes...looking through scopes during the day at the store is about the worse way to compare scopes! I did that once at Cabellas and to be honest a Simons cheapo wasn't that different than a high end Ziess (DURING THE DAY IN THE STORE) Put the same two in heavy woods then you'll know why the Ziess is $1200 and the Simons is $120.
Hope this helps, I think I kind of rambled a bit much.
The 3x9 or 1.5x5 you are referring to is actually 3-9 or 1.5-5 . The last number in 3-9x40 (the 40) is the objective lense diameter in millimeters. This is the range of maginification the scope has. For instance 3x will make the object you are looking at appear to be 3x larger than it would with unaided eye. Clarity is...well...the clarity of the glass. Glass has many impurities in it from the manufacturing process, and there are many methods for removing them. The most expensive methods typically do the best job. Leica for instance lets their glass cool in fractions of a degree over what takes more than 2 years to reach room temp. This lets many impurities settle out, and reducings the liklihood of airbubbles forming. The number and quality of coatings also play a large role in the glasses ability to transmit light. Glass has to be coated since it naturally wants to reflect light. Again, the most effective means to increase light transmission, also tend to be the most expensive. There really are no bargains when it comes to optics, but if I had to choose a brand that offered a lot for the money, I would go with Nikon.
You mentioned shots from 1-400 yards, if you are using the scope for hunting I recommend a lower power scope. I grew up in the prairie of Nebraska, and while I did take a few 400+ yard shots, most were under 100 yards. I would expect the same or closer in Georgia, depending on where you hunt.
Best of Luck.
You mentioned shots from 1-400 yards, if you are using the scope for hunting I recommend a lower power scope. I grew up in the prairie of Nebraska, and while I did take a few 400+ yard shots, most were under 100 yards. I would expect the same or closer in Georgia, depending on where you hunt.
Best of Luck.
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What many fail to take into account is the scope mounting platform. Buy a thousand+ scope and use cheap rings & base with poor mounting and alignment then wonder why you can't hit the barn side.... As they say you can't hit what you can't see. I love one piece solid mounts look at Dednutz system...
Bear did most of the work here. The only thing I would add is I prefer the reticle and the adjustments to be of the same type - this makes calculations for adjustments much easier. With that said - go w/ MOA/MOA. Mildots require a lot of knowledge and/or math that most can't do in their head on the fly. It is also easier to range w/ a MOA reticle.
Good thoughts with one little problem. Typically it's not safe to use a mounted scope as a spotting scope. Let's say you are checking out a ridge for deer, but instead you spot another hunter. You are now aiming a high powered rifle at them. A good pair of binoculars are easier to use for this anyway.
what he said
