Deer Scope

Robb - As it'll be your first deer stalking rifle, I advise keeping it simple. Fixed mag either 6X42 or 7X50 being the ideal. Less to think about than variable & more reliable too (less to go wrong). A nice extra would be an illuminated reticle (dot or small centre cross) but it isn't essential.
I've been there with both variables & large diameter objectives -- Variables are great for playing with on the range - more hassle in the woods taking your attention from the hunting. 56mm objectives are heavy, unbalance the rifle & make stock fitting more difficult to ensure proper eye alignment & cheek to woodwork contact for the different shooting positions you will find yourself in.
Within your budget you will find top quality scopes second hand that are as good as new. If you buy one of the top makers - In descending preference (to me) Zeiss, Swarovski, Kahles, Nickel, S&B, Minox, Pecar, IOR or Meopta you should get a lifetime of use plus they can be serviced by the manufacturers or one of the specialist repairers that there around should it be necessary.
Of the newer brands to the marketplace one stands out - Vortex. They have a massive range to choose from & a lifetime no quibble warranty.

Ian
 
Sound advice here, in my mind the two best options for your budget are the Swaro 8x50 or the Zeiss 7x50. If you could run to £700 - £800, a Swaro PV in 2.5-10x42 is a really useful scope. I prefer the slightly smaller scopes to the 56mm options. I wouldn't entertain a 56mm scope, just my personal preference.
 
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Taff, that is only a few old timers on here, I have neither seen a fixed 4-8 mag at the 1000yd range nor hardly see any fixed scopes in our area anymore. Can't actually remember when I saw one last. In Germany it is very similar, I'd say 80-90% have moved away from fixed mag and rightly so. Many deer are shot at very close range where the 6-8 mag is just too much, I often neck/spine shoot deer at 200m and feel more comfortable with extra mag. Fixed mag is a bit like a car with one gear....
edi
I have to say on the range you might not see many fixed scopes, but you do see a lot of old timers without scopes at all, even out to 1000m, I shoot deer always under 200m and I often head shoot, I also shoot squirrel head shot and pigeon at various distances with a 22 with a fixed scope, so we can all give examples from both sides of the fence. But I thought the op was for woodland stalking, in which case you will not need a variable.
 
I've got a 10x42 Leupold with fine duplex reticle and although great for daytime long shots it's way too fine for twig blight or limping and unless shots are over 100m then it's too much mag. I used it mainly for long range bunnies on a golf course.

Ive now got a Zeiss 3-12x56 and usually stays on 8 but then I do change the mag often depending on the range I'm likely to be shooting plus can drop it right down in low light for a better image. If you want fixed I'd choose an 8x50/56 as it'll cover pretty much everything most of the time.
 
i will be buying s/hand so i thought £500-£600 Tops should see me right, i understand what people are saying about variables but i really want to get away from them and go fixed, i have nothing against them its just personal preference.
Judging by the comments it looks like 8x56 is a no go

I paid £250 for a 2nd hand S&B in 8X56. I shoot sika in commercial forestry and have shot deer from 20 yards to 250 yards. I've never needed another scope nor looked through anything else that would actually cause me to shoot more deer. I would guess that those using 6X42 will also say the same thing. I'd suggest that you look through a few and decide which suits you best rather than which one is current flavour of the month on the internet and also consider that the 56mm is quite a large scope but you are going to have a scope on the rifle either way and maybe it isn't that much larger than a 42mm to bother you, or maybe it would nark you right off. Get them in your hands and you make the decision.

If you buy good 2nd hand glass it will always be worth about what you paid for it and I think that S&B currently offer best value for money with most of the others costing a lot more to get into and offering no practical advantage. If you need the best glass then my testing (along with others I would shoot with) showed that Nickel and Zeiss came out tops with Swaro and S&B giving, as far as any of us could see, the same low light performance but the crucial point is that all of them were more than adequate for deer stalking, even last light sika in a dark commercial Sitka spruce plantation.
 
One point to consider is whether or not you plan to reload? I shot quite happily with a Swarovski 8 x 50 for about 10 years until I started reloading. I then moved on to variable scopes.

Regards

JCS
 
One point to consider is whether or not you plan to reload? I shot quite happily with a Swarovski 8 x 50 for about 10 years until I started reloading. I then moved on to variable scopes.

Regards

JCS


I can guess why, but perhaps you'd care to elaborate....
 
One point to consider is whether or not you plan to reload? I shot quite happily with a Swarovski 8 x 50 for about 10 years until I started reloading. I then moved on to variable scopes.

Regards

JCS

I can guess why, but perhaps you'd care to elaborate....

I crank the magnification up when I'm load testing to x20 or higher depending on the conditions and I like to put the whole load test on one sheet of A4. At 200 yds I didn't see a lot through my 8 x 50 scope and the reticle wasn't particularly fine.

Regards

JCS
 
6x42 Schmidt and Bender or the 8x50 Swarovski. The 7x50 Schmidt and Bender is also a nice scope. I think any would work well for you.
 
Robb - As it'll be your first deer stalking rifle, I advise keeping it simple. Fixed mag either 6X42 or 7X50 being the ideal. Less to think about than variable & more reliable too (less to go wrong). A nice extra would be an illuminated reticle (dot or small centre cross) but it isn't essential.
I've been there with both variables & large diameter objectives -- Variables are great for playing with on the range - more hassle in the woods taking your attention from the hunting. 56mm objectives are heavy, unbalance the rifle & make stock fitting more difficult to ensure proper eye alignment & cheek to woodwork contact for the different shooting positions you will find yourself in.
Within your budget you will find top quality scopes second hand that are as good as new. If you buy one of the top makers - In descending preference (to me) Zeiss, Swarovski, Kahles, Nickel, S&B, Minox, Pecar, IOR or Meopta you should get a lifetime of use plus they can be serviced by the manufacturers or one of the specialist repairers that there around should it be necessary.
Of the newer brands to the marketplace one stands out - Vortex. They have a massive range to choose from & a lifetime no quibble warranty.

Ian

I have variables on my other rifles bar the 222 which wears a Swaro 6x42 and i find i spend too much time messing around zooming in and out and trying to get the "perfect picture" in the scope rather than just getting down and taking the shot, i missed a fox a few weeks back which was only 40 yards away, when i say missed i mean i didnt get a shot at it as i couldnt find it in the scope due to it being wound up to full mag after i had been messing round on some long range stuff, by the time i sorted things out it was long gone, total error on my part but it pretty much made my mind up to go fixed.
Looks like 42mm/50mm is more than adequate in the objective department so i'll have a look at a few 7/8 x Mag scopes of the ones quoted and take it from there.
On another note is there a great difference in reticles across the range of German/European scopes, i have a 4a on my Swaro and wondered if this was comparable with say a Schmidt etc.
Thanks for all the advice and input from all the posts, Very helpful.
 
Really, is that responsible hunting? Can you precisely determine where the spine is when covered by fur and flesh? Probably using a 243 eh?

Let's all move over to 30cal or larger & just aim centre-mass then, shall we? Personally, with my 22-250 I can (with one eye shut, in a blizzard, in the dark and off the hip) hit a running deer at 600 yards & choose whichever ear I want to put the bullet in whilst rolling a fag. Honest
 
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Let's all move over to 30cal or larger & just aim centre-mass then, shall we? Personally, with my 22-250 I can (with one eye shut, in a blizzard, in the dark and off the hip) hit a running deer at 600 yards & choose whichever ear I want to put the bullet in whilst rolling a fag. Honest


Well then, you may as well move down a notch to the 22 Hornet.

SS
 
Really, is that responsible hunting? Can you precisely determine where the spine is when covered by fur and flesh? Probably using a 243 eh?

SS

yes, however I would have problems with the wrong scope though. I do prefer a 30cal and soft bullet. We have small deer and high grass, head-neck is often the only possibility. One needs to adjust the gear. Good old betsy might not cut it...no matter what the cal.
edi
 
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