What's your preferred scope magnification for mid to long range shooting?

[JFrank]

While you do need to be cautious buying anything from private parties, I've bought several high end scopes (S&B - Kahles) off other forum member's on Sniper's Hide, Accurate Shooter's, and Long Range Hunting forum's over the years.
Some people just have to have the latest & greatest scopes to hit the market, and you can buy some great scopes for some great deals if you look around.

Optics Planet is the last place I'd spend my money.

You won’t get ripped off from optic planet but many guys have lost their money buying from strangers, it’s your money but I’ll take this opportunity to warn others.
https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/guys-need-your-help-to-fight-scammers.4079336/

 

[JFrank]

Something worth noting - as it is common for unwitting new shooters to fall into this particular trap - is the influence of exit pupil on apparent brightness in these extreme magnification scopes. These scopes are designed for the specific task of benchrest competition, which has the luxury of regularly scheduled match start times, so light availability is a bit more reliable than other field shooting might demand.

When we’re talking about 60x50 or 80x56, the exit pupil at those magnifications is less than 1mm, and they will appear extremely dark. I generally notice a darkening in scopes for anything below 2mm exit pupil, so getting down around or below 1mm exit pupil is far too much of a good thing for the ways I shoot. For their purpose, these extreme magnification scopes are fantastic, for almost anything else, eh, typically not so much.

Exit pupil is a thing at high magnification, i can find myself fidgeting at times to get set up. the average guy doesn’t need anything close to 80x

 

[12Bravo20]

Yes the higher the magnification is the smaller the field of view is which does make one's view darker. It is the nature of things. With a 2-7, 3-9, 4-12 it isn't a problem. Once you get to 24X and above is when it will be more noticeable. Glass quality will have some effect too.

I have 3 6-24 scopes and they all get darker at the higher magnifications compared to my 3-9 and 4-16 scopes. My 6-24 scopes are: Bushnell Elite 4500 6-24 MIL-DOT SFP, Arken SH4 6-24 FFP, and a Swampfox Patriot 6-24 FFP. The view tends to get darker on all of them from about 16X to 18X and above when compared to a 3-9 or 4-16 scope. The Arken is the darkest (but still very usable) and the Bushnell Elite is the brightest. Again this shows the difference in quality of lenses.

 

[Varminterror]

Magnification alone isn’t the enemy. For example, a 7-35x56 will typically look just as bright (or just as dark) at 35x as a 6-24x40mm at 24x - why? Because the exit pupils are both 1.6mm, even though one is zoomed almost 50% greater magnification.

Functionally, we have the same intensity of light reaching the lens, no matter what our objective size - no matter what our Field of View. The intensity of the light coming from a target to the scope doesn’t change with changing field of view. Guys talk about “larger objectives let in more light - but they don’t - they let in more IMAGE. The intensity of light coming from each respective aspect of an image doesn’t change. But how that light is presented to the eye matters. When the exit pupil is smaller than the minimum dilation of the human eye, stuff starts getting really dark, really quickly.

 

[JFrank]

I recall my 10-50x60 Sightron a being good glass not great, mechanically sound and bright.
My Vortex Golden Eagle is sound but the glass isnt the best above 40 x and the darn thing gets really dark.
I’m looking forward to my new Nightforce competition with ED glass

 

[Varminterror]

I recall my 10-50x60 Sightron a being good glass not great, mechanically sound and bright.
My Vortex Golden Eagle is sound but the glass isnt the best above 40 x and the darn thing gets really dark.
I’m looking forward to my new Nightforce competition with ED glass

So you did order the Nightforce? Awesome. I’m certain you’ll enjoy it.

 

[JFrank]

Yes, I went through optic planet and got a great price with free shipping and no tax.

These are definitely top tier optics.
https://www.opticsplanet.com/nightforce-competition-15-55x52mm-125-moa-riflescope.html

 

[taliv]

So I'm settled on getting a NightForce ATACR scope for mid to long range shooting. Now that that is settled, I need to determine what my best bet would be for magnification. I was originally thinking that a 5-25X56 would be the best option. But I've been reading that the 7-35x56 can be more beneficial for longer range shooting. These would be F1 models with Mil-XT reticles. I'd mostly be using them for bench rest shooting on a 6.5 CM bolt action rifle with a little PRS mixed in at ranges from 100-1000+ yards.

What do you prefer?

i currently use the 7-35 atacr on my 6.5x47L and an old S&B pmii 5-25x on my 6dasher and an even older US Optics 5-25x TPAL on my 300NM.
like others have said, almost all my match shots are taken in the 12-18x range.
The >25xmagnification is useful for trying to see the paint you knocked off of a steel target when practicing, or target ID etc, but honestly it's rarely needed if your targets are 1/2 MOA or bigger. I will dial up when i'm trying to shoot something like a 3" triangle or 2" ruler at 500 yards but I never dial my FOV so small that I can't catch trace at the peak of the trajectory. Because that is higher on longer shots I typically actually reduce the mag a little for really long shots past 1000. and then if i'm shooting something stupid like a mile, I'll dial back up because i can't see trace out there anyway and i've got a better chance of seeing a miss in the dirt. of course, mirage plays a factor too.

I'd recommend the 7-35 as it's more versatile. but, rumor has it the vortex gen 3 6-36x is pretty decent too and quite a bit less expensive.

 

[kmw1954]

Shooting 100/300yards on targets that are usually around 1/2MOA size in an informal rifle league. Guns I am using are 2 Savage 223. One is a model 10 that has an Athlon Argos 8-34X56, the second is a Model 11 that has an Athlon Helos 6-24X56. I like them both though I like the reticle in the Argos more than the Helos.

 

[LoonWulf]

My "long range" rifles ware a 6-24x50 and a 5-25x50. My general purpose hunting rifles wares a 6-20x50.

On 1moa or so targets out to 1k I'm happy enough with 20-25x, but my dad's 50x is nicer still. Our shooting conditions generally allow for maximum magnification to be used.

 

[Walkalong]

The scope on my true Benchrest gun is a straight 36X, many use more power now, and high power is great for shooting tiny, but there were times the mirage washed out the target, not often, but it happened.

PRS? I'll start as low as 8X (more often 10X) sometimes for the FOV, turning it up when I'm on target or the targets are easier to move to/from, rarely go over 18X, but do sometimes. The highest power you can use for the conditions is best for shooting small, but loses FOV, and most times isn't really needed when targets are generous.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

I do fixed 10X with an MOA reticle.

No need to choose between first focal plane or second focal plane.

No shifting of eye relief when cranking the power ring. The fixed power allows me to keep a consistent cheek weld.

My shooting club has a 600 yd range. If I want to shoot farther than that then I have to go to the east side of the Cascades.