Flynt
Member
Swap Scopes?
I have a 7mm/08 Sako Hunter 75 with a 4.5-14 x 50 Leupold scope. The scope is a monster -30 mm. tube -- and I like it a lot. I use the rig for Texas whitetail or mule deer.
I recently purchased a Remington 700 XCR .338 Win Mag. This will hopefully, someday, be my elk gun. (First I have to find place to hunt elk that doesn’t bankrupt me, but that’s another story.) At the same time, I bought a Nikon Monarch 3-10 x 56, also a 30 mm. Had Cabelas bore site it for me when I bought the rifle.
I’ve been comparing both scopes, and of course the Nikon is brighter in dim light. It occurred to me: Should I switch scopes? The Leupold goes to a noticeably higher magnification – 14x vs. 10x, but the Nikon is brighter. I’ve never hunted elk, but in my imagination I think I’m more likely to take long shots for elk, compared to deer in Texas. Therefore, it might make more sense to have the more powerful Leupold mounted on the elk rifle – unless the tradeoff isn’t worth losing the Nikon’s brightness.
I’m debating this with myself because I don’t want to swap out the scopes and then decide I’ve made a mistake. I don’t want to have to re-zero in both rifles all the time.
What do you guys think? Thanks.
I have a 7mm/08 Sako Hunter 75 with a 4.5-14 x 50 Leupold scope. The scope is a monster -30 mm. tube -- and I like it a lot. I use the rig for Texas whitetail or mule deer.
I recently purchased a Remington 700 XCR .338 Win Mag. This will hopefully, someday, be my elk gun. (First I have to find place to hunt elk that doesn’t bankrupt me, but that’s another story.) At the same time, I bought a Nikon Monarch 3-10 x 56, also a 30 mm. Had Cabelas bore site it for me when I bought the rifle.
I’ve been comparing both scopes, and of course the Nikon is brighter in dim light. It occurred to me: Should I switch scopes? The Leupold goes to a noticeably higher magnification – 14x vs. 10x, but the Nikon is brighter. I’ve never hunted elk, but in my imagination I think I’m more likely to take long shots for elk, compared to deer in Texas. Therefore, it might make more sense to have the more powerful Leupold mounted on the elk rifle – unless the tradeoff isn’t worth losing the Nikon’s brightness.
I’m debating this with myself because I don’t want to swap out the scopes and then decide I’ve made a mistake. I don’t want to have to re-zero in both rifles all the time.
What do you guys think? Thanks.