Does anyone use low powered scopes?

[Jaeger]

I had an old Leopold vari -x II 1-4 on my Rem 870 slug barrel and loved it.  Put it on my .375 h&h mag. a few years ago and it's a perfect match.  Can shoot sub 1" groups at 100 yds with it set a 4x and a good target.  It has over 200 rounds through it and it is one tough scope.

 

 

My favorite though, is the Leopold VX-6 1-6 I put on my 338 Fed.  Its a true 1 power at the low end and you can shoot with both eyes open and no difference in sight picture.  The 6x end is all I will ever need for this gun (a 20" bbl black bear sako).

 

The only issue I have is the 30mm scoped look too "fat" and "bulky" to me, they dont carry bad though.

[sailinghudson25]

I am hooked.  I really like the bushnell elite 3200 1.5-4.5x32 with the thick glow in the dark firefly recticle. 

 

I remove 3-9 scope and put these on my guns when I find a good deal.  Got one on a 450 marlin BLR lever gun, a 30-30, and a T/C omega inline muzzleloader. 

 

I think I am leaving a 3-9 on my 30-06.  I bought that gun for elk hunting out west.  Although I could easily take a 300 yard shot on an elk at 4.5 power.

 

First year I put it on, I lined up a shot on a doe during muzzle season.  At the edge of the scope before I pulled the trigger, I saw another deer.  Anice 8 pointer.  I would of hit the doe with a 3-9 scope. 

 

Lower power scopes collect more light, and seem brighter in low light. 

 

Also, high power makes you picky on a shot.  You take too long looking for the perfect alignment.  I shoot high power scopes worse than lower power ones for this fact. 

[maytom]

By the way, Born, I got a smokin' deal on a Leupy 1x4x24 a couple of years back. It is currently on my 11-87 cantilever turkey barrel

[maytom]

Same scope on my turkey gun Danno. Love it!!

[Doc]

For decades, I had a 2x Leupold topping my Ithaca 12 ga. I believe that I should have had more magnification, but still, I did amazingly well.

 

My .270 has a 3x-9x variable which gives me a much better magnification. It spends most of its time at 9x. That's real crappy for offhand shooting, but when rested on some part of my stand or on my Primos bi-pod, it is deadly.

[Uncle Nicky]

I have a 4X fixed on my Model 99. Shots are rarely more than 75 yards. I like the fixed scopes better myself, they don't seem to get knocked around as easily as the variable scopes do. I don't know about shots out past 200 yards, my eyes aren't that good, I'd have trouble picking up antlers.

[Pygmy]

I have hunted quite a bit with fixed 4X Leupolds on 3 different rifles, a .280, a .338 Win Mag and a 9.3x62.

I have shot caribou, mule deer,whitetails, pronghorns and moose at ranges of 300-400 yards with my 4 powers and have never felt handicapped by lack of magnification.

[moog5050]

I have hunted quite a bit with fixed 4X Leupolds on 3 different rifles, a .280, a .338 Win Mag and a 9.3x62.

I have shot caribou, mule deer,whitetails, pronghorns and moose at ranges of 300-400 yards with my 4 powers and have never felt handicapped by lack of magnification.

 

Pygmy, that what I love about you.  You don't view any of your admitted shortcomings as a handicap - even man boobs.  lol  May your New Year be filled with many more trophies taken with a fixed 4x.

[Jaeger]

I just got a custom mauser '98 in 7x57 and it came with an old fixed M8 4x on it.  My lop is fine but the scope is all the way back in the rings and it is still a neck reach to see the full field of view through it.  It is also a little foggy.

 

So, I don't want to cut the stock.  I'm thinking about the Leupold 3x fixed scope with the long tube (not any of the short tube scout scopes or rifleman scopes).

 

I can get it from SWFA or the custom shop with choice of reticle.  

 

I love low power scopes and you all seem to agree that even 2.5 is enough for less than 200yds.

 

Frankly, the only reason I even use the higher power on my 1-6 is to sight in and load development, then I turn it back down to some where between 1 and 3x depending on where i'm at.

 

What do you guys think about the 3x Leupold straight tube scope on my 7x57??

 

p.s., I'm sending the M8 4x back to the factory for refurbish, can't let a good scope go to waste!!

[ApexerER]

I have a Leupold Fixed 2.5x on my slug gun. Gun hasn't been out of the safe since we switched to rifle. I only purchased it because the scope was used at my local gun store and I got a heck of a deal. I wished it was a 4x but I never had trouble killing deer with it.....

[Pygmy]

The Leupy 3X will work fine on your mauser and will LOOK cool too ! Much handier and more attractive than some monstrosity of a variable with a bulbous objective.

My first deer rifle was a M95 Mauser in 7 x 57. I Bubba'd it with the help of my machinist Dad. He cut the 29" bbl down to 21" and re-crowned it, I cut the stock down and made it a full stock carbine with a Mahogany forend tip. Bought an S&K Instamount and mounted a 2.5X steel tube El Paso weaver scope on it. It shot good with Winchester 175 grain factory loads, and I killed my first few PA deer with it back in the 1970s.

Good call sending the M8 4X back to Leupold.. They will either fix it good as new or replace it, for no charge.

[wildcat junkie]

I'm thinking about a 1-4x24 for my 20 inch barreled .338 "brush" gun. Any pros or cons to this type of scope for shots under 400 yards?

 

I had a Leupold 1 1/2 - 4 1/2 heavy duplex on an 870. Just for $hits & giggles I tried it for trap once on the lowest setting. I did quite well. It was easy to judge lead.

 

Nothing beats a low power scope for quick target acquisition with a rifle.

 

400 yds would be a stretch at 4 x on a deer sized target though.