What magnification do you find most useful for 200 to 300 yard targets?
Getting old and the 3-9 just does not cut it anymore
What magnification do you find most useful for 200 to 300 yard targets?
Getting old and the 3-9 just does not cut it anymore
I'll reply by telling you about what worked for me when the ranges got longer & my eyes got older. I live & hunt in Texas & we are blessed with a lot of deer. My style of hunting has always been from high-rack trucks looking over South Texas scrub brush or from a ground or tower blind. I realized early on that I was doing a lot more deer "studying" than deer "shooting". Often I was hunting on ranches where I was allowed to only shoot older cull bucks (4.5+ yr old & oddball horns). I switched from the quintessential 4X on my .270 to a Leupold 6.5x-20x-40mm. That was a scope I had taken off my varmint rifle at the time. Best thing I ever did! My enjoyment of being able to carefully study the horns on a buck or watch a distant coyote prowl around went up a quantum! Not to mention, a 200 or 300 yd shot became a cake walk for the high powered scope. Before long others in my hunting group caught on & their rifles were wearing the same Leupold scope too. I might mention, binoculars or spotting scopes, besides being more to carry, are not nearly as convenient as looking through a good scope with a rifle under it to steady. We rarely ever take a running shot (I've learned the hard way that doesn't work for me) so the 6.5x low end has never been a problem. That is, except trying to shoot a rattler's head off at 20 ft (ask me how I know)!
To each his own & FWIW...
Good Hunting!
Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.
if you are just shooting paper, a useful 12-16x, which means an 18-20x scope of decent quality.
Hunting or strictly target shooting? Magnification can be a big plus or the loss of field of view can be a big problem depending on use. A lot of small bore position shooter routinely used 20X unertals for 50 ft matches. Benchrest shooters are in the 36-60X range for 100 and 200yd matches. For hunting these scopes offer a limited field of view and be hard to locate the target in them. On my BPCR rifles I use 6X scopes normally. NRA High power scopes are limited to 6x these both are used 100-600yds targets. Look at different scopes and see what works for you. ( Most shops have a "stock" set up to hold scopes for comparison. One way to compare is look for one of the displays across the room and look at the bar code on the package. use the same one with each scope to see the clarity difference).
For general field use something in the 1.5X-6X range can be very usefull. For varmint or target use 6X-18X or 24X. Another drawback to higher magnification is that mirage distortions are magnified also.
I don't like to swap around the scope on my rifles so I put enough magnification on them to do some small dot shooting , but still realistically be able to use that rifle for hunting , so on a hunting rifle I have a 4-12 or a 6.5-20 variable on my favorite 2 hunting rifles . I just checked. But keep in mind I hunt out of a tree stand over open fields with the scope set on 6 , with time to change it if a longer shot is my only shot . On rifles for paper shooting I like to be able to see the thumb tacks with the cross hairs , and I can't see very well . Every hunter / shooter will have a different need with optics think about what your needs and wants are before shopping . lots of choices out there now .
Depending on weather conditions, I find about 14 to 16 power to be the maximum usable power of My scopes. I have had 24 power scopes in the past, but did not really gain any advantages over the 16 power scopes I already had
For paper shooting, I use old Leopold 6.5x20 and 8x32 scopes. But, my eyes really suck and have for 25 years.
In my price range, I have been looking at the Weaver 4x16x44mm
I'm use to 12x for hunting out to 200 yards,, witch I'll hardly ever get.. Keep it on 4x can adjust as needed ; )
H/D
ive got 3x9x50 leupolds,3x9x50 Nikons 3.5x10 Nikons and a 6x24x50 Nikon and in my older age I really like the extra power but normally shoot between 12 and 16 power
If you are target shooting and are disciplined enough not to chase your last shot get whatever power you want, but if you are still chasing your last shot get just enough to see the target clearly but not see your bullet holes.
Wayne the Shrink
There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!
I've gotten older too. Have you had your eyes checked lately?
I use cheap import 6 to 18 power Mil Dot Scopes on several of my rifles. with 20MOA baes. Permanently set on 10X; allows me to use mil dots for shooting 100 yards to 500 yards with no scope adjustments. I have a reference table for each boolit weight and design I use (as well as my swaged .308's and .224's) allowing me to know what scope mil dot hold to use for each range in each rifle. Yes; results in some range time to work up the tables on each scope/rifle; but then again keeps me entertained in retirement.
Mustang
"In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.
I used to tell people that I really don't need glasses. The only thing I use them for is to see with.
My eyes have been changing much faster now that I am older. It is harder to keep up with the changes. Glasses are expensive.
My eyes no longer let me see through a peep sight correctly. Open sights are ok for relatively short range(under 100 yards) but I can't expect any real precision. Right now, all my rifles wear optics.
I try to get a range of magnification that will allow me the best use for the purpose of each rifle. For hunting rifles, I use 4 to whatever is available and set the magnification for the prevailing circumstances. For target, I use a top end of 24-36 and seldom use the bottom end at all. My bench rest rifle wears a Weaver T36 with the fine crosshairs and a 1/8 minute dot in the center.
For load development I like 14-16, when I hunt I set the scope on 3x for deer and elk, 4x for antelope. I found that even 6x makes TOO LONG shots tempting, 4x is plenty, even on antelope out to 300-400 yards. A 400 yard antelope looks like an antelope at 100 yards though a 4x scope, 400 yards is a long, long shot and requires regular practice. Beyond 400 yards, wind and animal recovery can become very difficult. Bullet flight time also becomes a factor allowing the animal to move before the bullet gets there, but I am hunting wild free ranging animals that are not raised/fed living on public lands. Hunting with an entourage calling range, sitting in a shoot house, watching the game and riding down shooting lanes in an ATV is different.
I do the same thing, I put a 10x or 12x on my hunting rifles to develope loads. Then I put 3x or 4x
on them. For the LV rifles I go with reciever sights. My deer hunting is done slowly moving through
thick cover and shoots are under 100yds. I recently got a 99 Sav in 250/3000, I put a K10 on it to test groups. Haven't decided on scope yet, but won't be bigger than 4x. I can't shoot anything bigger
than 6x off hand on any rifle. I know there are guys that can but a lot are fooling themselves when
they are shooting at a deer on 12x off hand. I have noticed on varible 3x9 that 9x setting doesn't
seem to be as powerful as a straight 8x. Might be my imagination.
I shoot a lot of deer at long range. Used to think I needed big power to do it. What I found is when you crank up a 12x or 14x scope eye relief gets very critical as does eye placement and the amplified shaking and breathing make you sometimes squeeze off when you shouldn't. . Today when I know im shooting under 400 yards all my scopes are set at 6x. Ive never seen where I needed anymore out to that range. Shorter then a 100 and less is better and maybe out at 5 or 600 yards a guy could take advantage of 9x but most aren't capable of ethicaly shooting that far anyway. I probably shoot an average of 30 or 40 deer a year out past 300 yard and never once thought to myself after the shot that I should have cranked up the power. Truth be told for long range shooting I could mount straight 6x scopes on all my rifles. Only down side is if I decide to take them into the woods come deer season where a scope set at 1-3 power works much better out to a 100 yards.
I use a straight 6X for hunting at that range.
Death to every foe and traitor and hurrah, my boys, for freedom !
You say your old 3 x 9 doesn't cut it anymore. Question: How old is your scope? The improvements in optics has been stunning over the last several years. Some of my old scopes are dark and difficult to use anymore. Even my Leupold's. They've aged. I've aged. I've noticed vast improvements with some new scopes like those made by Vortex. It hasn't been so much any increase in magnification, but improvement in light transmission. Overall I use a 2 x 7 for most hunting, until I get into a planned long distance environment. Then it's usually a 3.5 x 10. Most of my serious hunters have a Vortex 2 x 7. It's the clarity and modern reticles that work for me, even though I use tri-focals to eat breakfast.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |