My new deer slayer is getting close

Look into the Leupold VXR 3-9 and a one piece mount/ring combo . That kind of mounting system solves many problems on rifles that do not have iron sights.

Very nice rifle. I'm a fan of the .308, by the way.

Like that rifle & love the 308.

When I first saw the thread title I wondered why this was in the "Rifles" section and not in "Shotguns", as I was thinking of a model 37 Ithaca pump shotgun variant known as the "Deerslayer". They're nice guns and just seeing "deer" and "slayer" together got my feeble mind sidetracked.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I like that rifle as I lean towards plain and simple, rifle looking. Enjoy it!

Ron

Don’t knock the .308, it’s still good enough for squirrels, turtles in a small pond and such...

Chipmunks. It’s good for chipmunks.

Don't forget toads. 308 makes a dang fine toad cartridge...

Nature Boy said:

Now I need to decide on a scope

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Most of my hunting rifles these days wear Leupold VX5-HD 2x-10x optics.

I just put a Leupold VX-R 4-12x40 with a CDS dial and Fire Dot Duplex on my "new" deer rifle. Mounted it in Talley lightweight rings with 20 MOA cant. My sporter barrel is too light weight for a lot of fast string shooting, but I too plan to shoot fairly frequently at the range. I thought about a scope with some sort of ranging reticle, but decided against it in favor of a scope with a good elevation turret. I don't plan to install a custom turret; the stock MOA turret is just fine for my purposes. I just want the option of dialing in for shots beyond 300 yards. And to me, a 30mm tube was more important than a 50mm objective.

Nature Boy said:

I know there will be many that argue against this, but I’m looking at options in the 2-12 to 3-18 magnification range

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I got a VX-6 2-12x40 (something about 40, maybe 42) with Firedot for my new 7 mag.

I had a VX-R Firedot on my .358 WSSM deer rifle. Awesome.

If I had it to do over I’d consider getting a 3x18 simply for the parallax adjustment particularly if I were gonna target shoot. You only give up 2x to 3x on the bottom end and the internet pundits seem to think a straight 4x is great for deer

adcoch1 said:

Don't forget toads. 308 makes a dang fine toad cartridge...

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So a 308 will be totally worthless in MI as its illegal to shoot amphibians with a firearm? Dang, I was going to go with a new 308. Guess I just stick to the 30-06.

ontarget said:

So a 308 will be totally worthless in MI as its illegal to shoot amphibians with a firearm? Dang, I was going to go with a new 308. Guess I just stick to the 30-06.

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That is unfortunate.... 30-06 is better than 308 in my opinion anyway though, so you should be fine...

adcoch1 said:

Don't forget toads. 308 makes a dang fine toad cartridge...

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Agreed, the .30-06 is a bit much for toads at 30yds....
For real.....

Nature Boy said:

Re: scope

I know there will be many that argue against this, but I’m looking at options in the 2-12 to 3-18 magnification range and 50mm objective. I will shoot this rifle a good bit at the range during the off season.

Another note. I used the same chamber reamer that was used on my .308 target rifle. That means that the custom Widden sizing die I got for it a few months ago should work for this rifle as well.

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I LOVE the idea of the Leupold 2-12, I’d already have one on my big game rifle if it wasn’t so expensive.

Got to ask though, why do you feel the need for a 50mm objective?

That rifle looks awesome!

Peakbagger46 said:

I LOVE the idea of the Leupold 2-12, I’d already have one on my big game rifle if it wasn’t so expensive.

Got to ask though, why do you feel the need for a 50mm objective?

That rifle looks awesome!

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Field of view and light gathering are better with a 50mm objective.
I thought the same thing till I tried one.

illinoisburt said:

Best not set that thing down to cross a fence row. Never find it again in the grass and leaves LOL.

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Someone will find it in a hundred years like that Winchester in the NV desert

I purchased one 50 mm objective in my life; it was a Leupold. It was (for all the obvious reasons) bulkier and heavier than the standard 40 mm BUT, I thought that I had a “light gathering” advantage with the larger objective. As I continued to learn about rifle scopes, I had noted that “exit pupil” (the light that makes it to your eye) was the scope factor that measured the light transfer to the eye. When I checked the exit pupil number for the 40 mm and 50 mm objective, it turned out that the exit pupil factor for both objective sizes was exactly the same inferring no advantage with the larger objective. Is my perspective/ understanding incorrect?

If I understand correctly, exit pupil is calculated as objective diameter divided by magnification. So for a 50 mm scope to have the same exit pupil as a 40 mm, it must be at a higher magnification. Example: a 10X50 will have the same exit pupil as an 8X40 (5 mm), but a larger exit pupil than a 10X40 (4 mm). So assuming the quality of the glass is equal, a 50 mm objective will gather more light than a 40 mm lens at the same magnification.

The OP said he's looking for something in the 2-12X range--excellent for hunting, but hardly high magnification by today's standards. The difference in exit pupil between a 12X50 and a 12X40 at highest magnification will be 0.83 mm. Significant? I don't know. Is there an "optimal" exit pupil? How much light can my eyes effectively use, anyway? I doubt my 60-year-old eyes could tell the difference except maybe in very low light conditions.

My further understanding is that the tube diameter has no bearing on light transmission. It does, however, allow for more internal adjustment in the scope, which is important to a rifle in a cartridge capable out beyond 600 yards. And it is the diameter of the objective lens, not the diameter of the scope tube, that determines how close (low) you can mount the line-of-sight to the bore. So I, personally, am content with a 40 mm objective and a 30 mm tube.

And poor quality glass is poor quality glass regardless of objective size or magnification.

^^ the above line about simple and budget got a good chuckle out of me nature boy

Enjoy the hell out of that new deer rig
You will soon forget the cost but you will always remember each and every time you use that rifle to hunt!