Fixed power scope
- Thread starter J0RD4N
- Start date
The key point with any scope is the quality of the glass, not the gadgets attached. Fixed powers give you the chance to buy the best glass you can without paying for extra manufacturing steps or features you will rarely if ever use in the field. As a plus they also tend to be lighter.
point and shoot simplicity
vastly underated and now not very fashionable
with the access to reasonably priced variables of premium brands their demand has dropped off
8x56s however still command good money in used form
vastly underated and now not very fashionable
with the access to reasonably priced variables of premium brands their demand has dropped off
8x56s however still command good money in used form
I agree with all the positives previously mentioned. I have a Habicht Nova 4 power, a 6x42 S&B, and an 8x52 Pecar. All do a perfectly fine job, even the old Pecar on a 25-06 out to 250m without drama. If the shot is on at all, it's rarely lost when using a fixed mag scope, while I'm afraid I've seen many shots lost as the dials on the scope are furiously tweaked by a white hand and the buck sees the movement and all the poor soul sees through his superscope is a white bum disappearing into the cover again.
Obviously, this isn't the case all the time and some of the new scopes are undoubtedly technological marvels. However, I can help being suspicious that (much like our smart phones) we probably pay a LOT of money for extra bits and pieces on modern scopes that we don't really need.
Obviously, this isn't the case all the time and some of the new scopes are undoubtedly technological marvels. However, I can help being suspicious that (much like our smart phones) we probably pay a LOT of money for extra bits and pieces on modern scopes that we don't really need.
Sako75Hunter
Well-Known Member
I agree with a lot of this, but what I most like about variables is the ability to go down to a very low power (eg 1.5, 2.5x) - giving a wide fov for quick target acquisition if something unexpected appears nearby. It's better to make sure to set out with the scope on its lowest power: if it's a long shot you'll more than likely have time to increase the power, but NOT the other way round.
If possible, I always mount a fixed power scope on my rifles that are used for anything deer or larger. A fixed power, some sort of BDC, MOA or MIL, reticle and the knowledge of your reticle sub-tensions make a very useful combination.
The benefit is that you always know exactly what your sub-tensions are unless you want to spring for a FFP scope.
I stay away from the variable magnifications because I usually find the high end of the magnification too much. So when I dial the magnification in the middle, the sub-tensions are now all different than the scope's documentation and can cause alot of mental math errors.
Even without all the range estimation and bullet drop nonsense, I will often use a 6x fixed scope for deer. 4x if I am going to be in thicker stuff, or no magnification for really thick stuff. Simplicity is the best bet for me. I get all giddy like a 5 year old at Christmas when I spot a deer.
With that said, I'm always using a 12x magnification scope when I am going through load development testing. After the testing is done, I mount a fixed power scope on it and leave it be.
The benefit is that you always know exactly what your sub-tensions are unless you want to spring for a FFP scope.
I stay away from the variable magnifications because I usually find the high end of the magnification too much. So when I dial the magnification in the middle, the sub-tensions are now all different than the scope's documentation and can cause alot of mental math errors.
Even without all the range estimation and bullet drop nonsense, I will often use a 6x fixed scope for deer. 4x if I am going to be in thicker stuff, or no magnification for really thick stuff. Simplicity is the best bet for me. I get all giddy like a 5 year old at Christmas when I spot a deer.
With that said, I'm always using a 12x magnification scope when I am going through load development testing. After the testing is done, I mount a fixed power scope on it and leave it be.
I use 8x56 Swaro and an 8x50 illuminated Khales most of the time - both superb glass, uncomplicated and particularly light in weight even with 30mm tubes so do not unbalance the rifle. The weight saved over a fully tricked up variable becomes noticeable if carrying for any distance up and down hills. I also have a number of very good variable scopes (Swaro, Meopta etc one with first focal plane and another with second focal plane reticules) and for my type of stalking (local hilly farmland with some woodland and a couple of smallholdings growing mostly vegetables), I find that I tend to use the fixed power scopes more than the variables but of course this may be as the fixed power scopes happen to be on my most used rifles.
J0RD4N
Well-Known Member
It's mostly hill stalking that will be getting done.
But like a few of you said even with rimfires I've seen people lose rabbits and birds because there there turning there scope up and down. But my .22 with a bushmaster europa 8x42 I seem to have a bigger bag at the end of the day.
But like a few of you said even with rimfires I've seen people lose rabbits and birds because there there turning there scope up and down. But my .22 with a bushmaster europa 8x42 I seem to have a bigger bag at the end of the day.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Hear hear!
Another advantage of a fixed power scope is that your mind becomes accustomed to what things look like through it, just like an extension of your eye.
So you don't think about range, because you have learned that when a deer looks like "this" it is about right at your zero, so you aim dead on. When it looks like "that", you know to put the horizontal stadia along its back, or the tip of the lower vertical post when you want to strike.
And if you do get analytical, that becomes second nature, as well. The difference between this post and that crosshair is how big a red deer chest is at 250 yards, or a fox at 100 yards.
So you don't think about range, because you have learned that when a deer looks like "this" it is about right at your zero, so you aim dead on. When it looks like "that", you know to put the horizontal stadia along its back, or the tip of the lower vertical post when you want to strike.
And if you do get analytical, that becomes second nature, as well. The difference between this post and that crosshair is how big a red deer chest is at 250 yards, or a fox at 100 yards.
Meopta's 7x50 is a very good format hence when they come up for sale they don't generally hang around.
The deer man
Well-Known Member
Your right I just bought another one! Not sure what it's going on yet but couldn't let it pass.
Any of the Meopta's, Artemis 7x50, R1 7x56 or R2 8x56 even better.
Similar threads
