Scope magnification?

[Orange90]

Is it REALLY necessary to have an optic that magnifies super high ei: 3x20, 4x16, 5x25000000? For most practical ranges wouldn't a scope that magnifies 3x9 be just as useful if not less complicated than these extremely high range optics?

Practical meaning hunting, paper punching, varmint hunting etc etc... (between 100 and 800 yards)

I'm just not convinced that having a scope that can identify the exact species of tick on a jack rabbit on the moon is really necessary. Just seems like another gimmick for "bigger is better".

What is your preferred variable magnification for your bolt gun for general use?

As always thanks!

 

[mljdeckard]

In a word, no.

I use higher magnification for smaller critters, like pot-guts out to a few hundred yards. Higher magnification doesn't make anyone a better shot. Most of my hunting rifles have a 3x9, I know a lot of hunters who use a 4x fixed for all big game hunting.

 

[redneck2]

IMO, depends on the size of your target, the range, and your expected level of precision. I have a 6.5x20x40 on several of my center fire rifles. One is my AR that will shoot sub dime sized groups. I have a 4x14x40 on my precision .22 that has shot .2's at 50 yards.

There's a reason bench rest shooters use 36x. How you gonna hit a dime at 100 yards if you can't see it??

Now, the very first stupid argument that will pop up is "what do you need 20x for?" Uhhh....I can always dial down, but you can't dial up past your max.

And, you need a GOOD scope to go higher magnification. Cheap scopes tend to blur or get hazy at high powers

To answer your question about preferred magnification, it would be my Leupold VX-3 4x14x40 for hunting. The 6.5x20 for varmint/target.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Not always necessary...but sometimes nice to have.

Makes counting antlers through the trees easier.

 

[Inebriated]

Necessary? No. Magnification doesn't help you shoot better, it helps you see better.

If you can't see a target clear enough to make effective hits, then you need magnification. How much depends on you.

 

[hipoint]

depends on what you're shooting and what you're shooting it with... Here on the farm, I use a .22 magnum most of the time for my depredation permits on deer. It really helps me to be able to pull it in just a little bit closer and put that little .22 slug right where I want it to go... notice I said, "it really helps ME"...

That said, when I'm not using the .22 mag, I prefer a .30 caliber hunting rifle and open sights as I'm not as concerned with pinpoint accuracy and an inch or two here or there isn't going to make a difference to me.

It's all about the shooter mainly though, there are plenty of stories about open sighted mausers making incredible shots with open sights... I'm not capable of that, but am impressed that some folks are.

I have a 4-16 on one of my .30-06 rifles, it is entirely overkill for the appalachian mountains where I live, but I find it cool, and while it may not help alot with the practical application of hunting, it does make a really nice spotting scope for looking at faraway things while passing time waiting on bambi... I had a remington 700 with an 8-32 on it, now that was ridiculous, I got rid of that scope. I nearly missed several deer at close ranges because I had to "hunt" in the scope for far too long to find them...

 

[bamajoey]

I use an 8-32x44 on a 22lr for target shooting at 50 yds. If a gnat lands on the paper I shoot him too.

 

[Sun Tzu warrior]

Kahles 1X6X44, 30mm tube for the .270, this for light gathering, and heavy reticle for low light shooting. Nikon 3X9 BDC for the 45/70, I never shoot a deer over 80 yards with this rifle, it is for thickets. Leupold VXIII 3.5X10 for the .223 while hunting. (iron sights for non-season) Centerpoint 6X24X50 mildot for the 10/22 magnum. (until I can lay my hands on a better scope)
IMHO magnification is not as important as good optics.
For me it's more about gathering light when most of the good hunting can be had around here.

 

[CaptHank]

Bamajoey..... That is slicker than snot on a door knob.

 

[Skylerbone]

100-800 yards is not what I would call "general use". 50-200 yards, a 2-7X or a 3-9X because there are far more options. I'm sometimes frustrated that guys post .1xx" groups when my hunting reticles blot out an inch of target. Still, for my purposes, 1/2-1" groups work fine.

 

[adelbridge]

What are your giving up with a 4-16 vs. a 3-9?
I prefer to have a little extra on the top end for hunting just in case.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

It really depends on the size and type of your intended target.

For varmiting or something with small targes, more magnification is useful to clearly see the target, especially if the target easily blends in with its surroundings. Trying to shoot a prarie dog at long distances is not something iron sights are good at because the target is simply going to blend in with the background.

OTOH, there are match shooters all over the country who will shoot MOA or less groups with nothing more than iron sights and a sling. Of course, they are shooting at a black bull on a white background so the target is easy to see.

I am naturally inclined towards iron sights and generally enjoy shooting them more than a scope. Possibly because of this, I really don't know what to do with more than 4 or 6x magnification. It's like shooting through a spotting scope.

 

[MistWolf]

Image sharpness is more important than magnification. A large blurry image is harder to make out than a smaller, sharp image. I've done a lot of shooting with a fixed 4x, a 2.5x7, 3x9 and a fixed 10x. I've had scopes with more magnification but only those that deliver a sharp image are still around

 

[Andrew Leigh]

Hi Orange90,

The higher the magnification goes the less eye relief, the smaller the exit pupil and therefore less light hits your retina. There is a trade off for everything. Perhaps the following image will put it into perspective from a hunters point of view.



Cheers

PS: Set your browser to 200% to see better, image not great will try get a better one. It is a Whitetail at 252yds at 3X, 4X, 9X and 12X magnification.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

Thsi one is a pdf and may work better.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Most hunters will use a 3-9X40 or 3-9X50 scope as I did for many years. When my eyes got old (not me, just my eyes) I went to a 4-12X40 scope instead. That's really all most hunter will need for most hunting situations.

If I were shooting out past 600 yards (which I usually don't) I would opt for a 16X or possibly a 24X scope. (old eyes again) Young military distance shooters have been known to shoot well over 1000 yards using nothing more than a fixed 10X power scope.

IMHO use as much magnification as you "need" and don't worry about the numbers.

 

[Dean1818]

On my Bison Armory 6.8 AR15
The 1x4 is perfect for quick shots on deer and pig

 

[jmr40]

FYI. When refering to optics a variable power scope should be written as 4-16X, not 4X16. This makes it confusing to people reading your posts. When you write, 4X16 you are refering to a fixed power 4X scope with a 16mm front objective. A variable power scope is always listed as 4-16X. A fixed power scope would simply be 4X. If you also include the scopes objective size it should come after the X, such as 4-16X40 ,or 4X40 for a fixed 4X scope with a 40mm objective.

With most optics, most people can figure out what you are trying to say, but many times it is very confusing. They make variable power optics that are 8-32X. They also make fixed power optics that are 8X32.

To answer your question, I see no reason for general use, having a scope larger than 3-9X40. That is the most common size, and you get the most scope for the dollar in that range. I rarely take mine off 3X. I like the 2-7X scopes and have that size on my 22's. A 1-4X20 has become one of my favorite scopes for close to medium range shooting. At 1X it is faster than irons, and I feel 4X is more than adequate for shots out to at least 200-300 yards.

The greater magnification scopes have a place. When shooting small critters at long range for example. Long range target shooters need them as well. But for typical big game hunting a 3-9X, 2-7X, or 1-4X are fine.

There are a lot who would argue in favor of a fixed power 4X scope. I won't strongly disagree, just say that I find 4X to be too much magnification for the majority of my shooting. I prefer a variable that can be set on something with less magification and can be moved up for those rare cases when needed.

 

[itsa pain]

it doesn't matter how much you spend for a scope when a 6x20x40 scope at 20 power will have only an exit pupil of 2 when to see a clear view you need 4-5. that is why 7x35 binos were standard with exit pupil of 5. eye relief is horrible on anything past 15x anyway.on a cold day with gloves and a hat on takes to long to get picture

 

[Outlaw Man]

Your biggest drawbacks to high magnification on even extremely high quality optics are eye relief (as Andrew mentioned), mirage (caused by extreme temperature differences and a beast to look through at high magnification, and being able to track a moving target. Switch to a more budget minded scope and several issues are exacerbated, such as limited light transmission, even with an objective so big you can't get a cheekweld. And forget looking through mirage.

If you're shooting steel or paper, you can get away with a lot more.

 

[DM~]

I'm a hunter not a sniper, so a 3x9 is more than enough scope for me on my big game rifles. I do have a 3.5 x 10 on my .240 Wby., because it's also used for coyotes and other varmits and are much smaller than a deer.

Now, target guns get more scope power, but not my hunting rifles, and i only went up to 9x after my eyes got older and it was obvious 4 or 6x just wasn't enough any longer in dim light at 200 yards...

DM

 

[LebbenB]

In addition to losing eye relief, higher magnification levels "exaggerate" any sort of movement you make - even your heartbeat - as you look through the scope and increasing your scope wobble.

The reticle and the focal plane on which it resides also become critical at higher magnification levels as well.

 

[Orange90]

This is really good info guys! I have a Winchester Model 70 with a 6x fixed on top of it and is really all I've ever needed until I bought my new savage 308...now I need something more versatile (hence why I said 800 as a practical range, you don't have to shoot coyotes cleanly to get the message across). My father in law uses a 3-9x40 and swears up and down that you don't need anymore magnification than that. Sort of proving a point here... Thanks for the input

 

[oldpapps]

Orange,

Lets start with what the numbers are.
'3x20, 4x16, 5x25000000'
The first set of numbers is the approximate amount of magnification, ie. 3X, 4X, 5X.
The second set of number, those past the 'X', is the size of the bell, the lens on the far end of the scope. The larger the bell, the more light that can be magnified. This would make a difference on a dark rainy day and also at greater magnification.

So how much magnification do you need? As stated above, depend on what you are shooting (target), what you are shooting (weapon) and how far the target is or may be.

One of my rifles is a 308 Winchester. I have it set up for very fast target acquisition. I have a '0' magnification 'Red Dot' scope on it. My eye sight isn't what it used to be and that wasn't that great anyway. So that's NO magnification. In the area I hunt, a hundred and fifty yards in the trees and brush would be a long shot. This set up works very well. At one time I have a T-16 , 16 X, scope mounted on another .308. I got to the point that I couldn't hold steady enough to make use of the scope. That's 16 times magnification.
My other rifles with scopes run with 3-10 variables. Old eyes.

Hope this helped some.

 

[HexHead]

I have 4-12x40s on both my .308 and .223. I'm finding that I'm generally using them in the 6-8 range when shooting out to 200 yards and getting better groups than when using them at 12x. Less movement of the reticle I start trying to correct for.

But I do like being able to zoom in to 12x to check my targets.