Leupold: Fixed? 2-7: Freedom? Relief? Hunting Plex?

[huntinlever]

Looking for a scope for a new .338 WM. I'm probably settling on a Leu, though I'm also looking at a Burris Fullfield, and Vortex. Touched on elsewhere, thought a dedicated thread might be useful to others as well. Western elk hunting and more open terrain generally. Have the 45-70 for 100+ yards.

1. The Burris fullfield came highly by a member on another thread. Certainly much, much less expensive than others I've seen. Opinions?
2. Considering a fixed 6X. Thoughts?
3. Considering a 2-7 x 33. Questions:
4. Is the Leu Freedom line of good quality - just missing some of the bells and whistles of the more expensive lines? Hold up to heavy recoil, good glass?
5. What would you need for a minimum eye relief (eye relief at maximum magnification)?
6. Have to say, from some of the Leu's, not a big fan of the "Hunting Plex." Just like a good wide reticle. How do you guys find the Hunting Plex, in the field?

[stubshaft]

I have a 1.5X4 Leupy Freedom on my Ruger 1 338WM and a Leupy 2X7 Vari-X on my SAKO 338 WM Mannlicher. The Freedom is crystal clear and has held up for over 400 shots.

[atr]

I have a Burris and really like it. good optics and adjustments.
I also have a Leupold 2x7 and like it also especially at the lower magnification it gives great field of view.
best
atr

[BLAHUT]

Try them in low light - then make your choice ?

[HWooldridge]

I have a fixed 6x Leupold with post reticle on a .30-06. Pretty easy to pick up in low light and accurate enough for my purposes.

[huntinlever]

Thanks for the input guys. I was predisposed to a fixed 6X, too, HWooldridge. I actually did some more digging here and found an old thread by Ithaca Gunner asking about the Leupold Freedom line. I pulled the trigger and went with the Leu Freedom 2-7 x 33.

[megasupermagnum]

I would rather run open sights than a fixed 6x scope for hunting. If a person already had one, I guess go ahead and use it. I certainly can't understand actually buying one and putting it on a good rifle for real hunting.

You will get mixed opinions, but the Leupold VX-Freedom really isn't any different than the VX-1 was. Glass is decent for the price, and they do well in low light. No they won't compete with $1000 scopes, but they are about as good as they come in the $300 range. I like them better than a lot of $500 scopes. 2-7x is a good option for hunting. I hunted this year with a Leupold VX-1 4-12x, and it was a mistake. It did not cost me any animals, but I shot a deer at about 40 yards set on 4X, and I got lucky he was moving slow enough. Very low field of view at that range. 12x is way more than I can imagine using for hunting big game. It's nice when target shooting steel out 400+ yards, but 7x is plenty for hunting big game out to 400 yards. I have a lot of 1-4x scopes, but I'm not sure they would be better on your rifle. 4x is fine out to about 250 yards. You can certainly take 300+ yard shots accurately, but I like a little more magnification. I love the 1x for a lot of things like slug guns, but on a rifle the 2x minimum is fine even at 25 yards. I don't care that much about reticle. Leupold used to offer something called the Turkey Plex which I kind of liked. It just offered some basic references I could use. The normal Duplex is fine. I don't think I'd fret the Hunt Plex if it were cheaper.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Leupold or Burris are good scopes. I suggest you find a good stocking dealer that has demo scopes and take a look for yourself. I have Europtics within an hour drive of me in Williamsport, PA. I own a lot of older Burris scopes and one new one. I don't see a difference in quality, but I still like the older Burris scopes better because of their design and dimensions, (my likes/dislikes don't matter so much on my new Burris scope, since it's a target model and it's size really doesn't matter).

Here's a fact about your kit, you're going to spend a lot of time with it, walk a lot of miles with it, fire a lot of shots with it. You'll caress it, you'll curse it, you'll question your sanity about it until the day you get your photograph taken with the game animal you've worked for. Make sure the kit you choose is the one you're gonna feel proud of posing with that elk, moose, bear... Little details mean a lot on an elk rifle, everything has to come together and work in harmony from your socks to your scope mounts and everything in between.

Take a good long look at Burris and Leupold, spend time on their web sites, read about them, take notes, and compare. Make a list of the features important to YOU. Make an informed intelligent choice.

[Texas by God]

I have used a fixed 6x on many rifles over the decades for hunting and it’s just fine. Enough magnification for 300 yard shots on little varmints and not too much for close range deer. Even on my 3x9 and 4x12 scopes- I keep them turned to 6x. Different opinion based on real life hunting experience in this part of the world.
My rifle that I will take on an expensive hunt?
My Tikka T3 30-06 with a Burris 6x Fullfield2.


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[HWooldridge]

I have used a fixed 6x on many rifles over the decades for hunting and it’s just fine. Enough magnification for 300 yard shots on little varmints and not too much for close range deer. Even on my 3x9 and 4x12 scopes- I keep them turned to 6x. Different opinion based on real life hunting experience in this part of the world.
My rifle that I will take on an expensive hunt?
My Tikka T3 30-06 with a Burris 6x Fullfield2.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed - I’ve got a fixed 8x too, but I keep it hidden in the closet and don’t talk about it…

[huntinlever]

I have used a fixed 6x on many rifles over the decades for hunting and it’s just fine. Enough magnification for 300 yard shots on little varmints and not too much for close range deer. Even on my 3x9 and 4x12 scopes- I keep them turned to 6x. Different opinion based on real life hunting experience in this part of the world.
My rifle that I will take on an expensive hunt?
My Tikka T3 30-06 with a Burris 6x Fullfield2.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That Burris is exactly what I was looking for. Shame they no longer produce them.

[huntinlever]

Leupold or Burris are good scopes. I suggest you find a good stocking dealer that has demo scopes and take a look for yourself. I have Europtics within an hour drive of me in Williamsport, PA. I own a lot of older Burris scopes and one new one. I don't see a difference in quality, but I still like the older Burris scopes better because of their design and dimensions, (my likes/dislikes don't matter so much on my new Burris scope, since it's a target model and it's size really doesn't matter).

Here's a fact about your kit, you're going to spend a lot of time with it, walk a lot of miles with it, fire a lot of shots with it. You'll caress it, you'll curse it, you'll question your sanity about it until the day you get your photograph taken with the game animal you've worked for. Make sure the kit you choose is the one you're gonna feel proud of posing with that elk, moose, bear... Little details mean a lot on an elk rifle, everything has to come together and work in harmony from your socks to your scope mounts and everything in between.

Take a good long look at Burris and Leupold, spend time on their web sites, read about them, take notes, and compare. Make a list of the features important to YOU. Make an informed intelligent choice.

Sage post. Thanks for that.