kingsransomracing

Hi everyone,

This is my first post

I am new to hunting, but have been around guns and ranges my entire life.

The gun I recently purchased for my hunting firearm is a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 300 Win. Mag.

I would like to be able to go hunting for anything from Hog to Deer to Elk and am looking at what scope would be best suited for all of these.

A Hunter at Bass Pro Shop recommended the following:
Nikon Bushmaster in 3x9x50
Nikon Bushmaster in 4x12x50
Nikon Monarch in 4x16x50

Those seemed a little big to me, but like I said I am completely new to this.

I would like to get good quality glass while also minimizing parallex so lets go step by step and see what everyone would recommend:

So here are the questions:

1) Do most of you have compensation in the scope for distance, or do you "click" up / down for distance

2) Power
3x9
3x10
4x12
4x16

3) Objective Lense
40mm
50mm

4) Brand
Nikon
Leupold
Swarovski
Trijicon
Zeiss

5) Also I would need a recomendations for the best scope mounts as well.

6) What price range should I be expecting? Is there a price where you start to get higher quality thats worth the money?

I was thinking of the $200 to $400 range for scope (not including rings) but am willing to spend a little more if you think the quality outweighs the extra price.
These are just what I was looking at, if you have other options feel free to let me know.

Thanks.

Mike

JagMagMan

Welcome to the board! My hunting rifles carry Nikon Buckmasters and a Leupold Vari-X II. For my latest gun I wanted to upgrade to the Monarch or the Leupy VX-III and have been hearing a lot of good things about the Zeiss Conquest. When I finally got to compare them side by side, there was no comparison! The Zeiss is the clear winner! A little pricier than the others, but definitely worth it!

I also debated the 40 MM vs. 50 MM and power issues too. The 50 MM will allow a little more usable light through, but with it comes bulk and price. The 40 MM Conquest will easily do the job in any "legal" hunting light.

As for magnification, (I am not a long range expert by any means,) but on hunting guns at nominal ranges, 3 X 9 or up to 12X should be great.

The mil-dots or BDC type reticles are personal preference, (maybe some of the long range hunters could give better advice on that!)

As for mounts, you don't really have to break the bank on "hunting gun mounts!" I went with Leupold mounts but, there are many other good ones out there that you won't have to mortgage the house for!

Anyways, thats my .02, BTW, Optics Planet or SWFA are great places to buy online!
Good luck and again, welcome to the board!

rogerstv

I think a person should spend the same amount (within reason) of money on a scope that was spent on the gun. A $1,000 gun with a piece of sh!t scope is worthless. Personally, I would stay away from any scope priced in the $200 range unless it is topping a .22 or some other plinker

I agree that Zeiss gets a lot of great reviews. I have one. It is a good scope. You will find Carl Zeiss' name on almost everything with a lens from scopes, microscopes, cameras, etc. No doubt they know what they are doing.

I have a .22-250 in dire need of a scope. Once the funds are available, it is going to be a topped with Leupold VX-3 6.5 x 20. I feel that with scopes you get what you pay for and pay for what you get. Do it right the first time. It is not like you are going to take it on and off. And, every time you pull that gun out you want to be able to hit the center.

Power depends on your main hunting scenario. From a tree at a Whitetail within 50 yds, a 9x is overkill. You need to be able to see back and belly at the same time. A scope picture of nothing but brown hair doesn't help with shot placement. For 200 - 300 yard shots across the prairie, 9x will be appreciated. Variable power from 3x - 9x is probably the most popular.

Go to the SWFA website and look through the forums. You should find a thread regarding choosing a proper scope for any application. They seemed to err on the low power side.

JagMagMan

With the exception of the "within reason" part, I'll have to respectfully disagree. 30 years ago someone spoke your exact words to me, I disagreed then for the reason of being "frugal," I disagree now for another reason.
Back then, being "frugal" I did not see the wisdom of "quality glass!" After the failure of a "Trasco" and a Simmons, I learned to stay away from the low-end scopes!
Now however, I disagree with this because today, most decent gun companies are producing rifles in the 400$ range that are far better than the average shooter is capable of! Some, that shoot on-par with high $$$ rifles.
On the other hand, scopes in the 3-600 $$$ range, are "quality" buys. (By this I mean that your "guns" capability will not be limited by the 3-600$$$ scope! No matter if the gun cost 400$$$ on up!)
Beyond this range, I feel that the "bang for your $$$," falls off sharply!

Sheridan

If it were me (from your lists);

Zeiss

4X-16X

40MM

BDC reticle Like this;

http://www.burrisoptics.com/reticles.html

For "mounts", I use Burris Zee rings with weaver "style" bases.

http://www.burrisoptics.com/sigrings1.html#2


A lot of guyz on here tout these;

http://www.dnzproducts.com/game-reaper-mounts

kingsransomracing

Thanks for all the replies guys!! I will run down to bass pro by my house and take a look at the three (leupold vx-3, zeiss conquest, nikon monarch). Optics planet has the zeiss conquest 3x9x40 on sale for 399.99 which I think is a really good deal. That would go along nice with my deal I got on the rifle at bass pro shops $548.99 for a Winchester model 70 featherweight in 300 win mag with the walnut stock. I spent 45 minutes with them trying to tell them the ad stated all model 70s are 25% off and finally got them to agree. Lol

Thanks again. Keep the comments coming though I am always willing to look at other options as well.

kingsransomracing

I was looking at the mounts. What should I get? They have standard, low medium and high? What are the advantages / disadvantages of these different options?

Mojotex

Here's one more chunk of input. I admit I have been called an "optics snob", because I always have and always will recommend that if at all possible buy the high end scope. I hunt a bunch. And have for about 45 years now. Deer mostly. I came to this conslusion after having a "cheap" scope fail on me, including missing a chance at a truly monster of a white tail. The "guts" of my $75 scope broke sometime along the way (mounted on a 30.06 Spr.) and I did not know it until I missed that buck 3 times .... at about 125 yards. So I "upgraded" a tad, going to a different brand and dropping another $175 or so more. Now I had spent $250, and that fall found myself sitting there late one afternoon watching a great 10 pt. work the edge of a pasture about 200 yards away.... that scope was essentially a "black screen" in that low light. So I decided "no mas".

I have never regretted doing what I did ... I saved all that I could muster for 2 solid years and dropped what I deemdd an insane amount of cash on a Leupold Vari-X III ... about $500. So now I had invested $750 and had one scope. What I got in return? So far about 20 seasons of beng able to count on a scope that has performed extraordinarily well. I hit 50. My wife bought me a top end rifle and put the best Swarovski on it that was available in 1998. I was shocked at the gift for sure and stunned at the performance of the scope. I have never compromised on optics since.

Is it necessary to spend this kind of $$$$? Not truthfully ... not in my opinion. For I have come across scopes that are in the $350-$400 range that do just fine .... and consider these to be excellent values. In fact I have recommended these to others.

Will I ever put a "cheaply" made scope on any hunting rifle of mine? Not unless I absolutely must. And there are many, many of these "Chinese Junks" out there now. I say avoid them all like you would the plague.

For what it is worth, I consider that the Zeiss Conquest that you metioned to be an excellent value.

kingsransomracing

Mojotex...

Thanks for the info. I decided on the zeiss conquest. It was definitely better clarity wise than the vxiii and the monarch. Plus the scope is parallax free at 100 yards. So I think it is an excellent scope to start with if anything. As far as mount I ordered the dnz products low mount. Should I be concerned at all about heat from the barrell affecting the scope?

JagMagMan

Great choice King! Side by side there is no comparison between the Conquest , Leupy vx-111 and the Nikon! The Conquest wins hand down! Good luck!