8x56 or 6x42

welshwarrior

Well-Known Member
Currently have an S&B 8x56 on my stalking rifle (also used for fox). I'm thinking about trying to lighten up my set up and thought of changing to a S&B 6x42.

So will I miss the extra magnification of the 8x56 or will I be content with a 6x42?
Really a man up or change question I suppose.
 
I have been considering something similar for some time. I have both a S&B 6x42 and a 8x56 and difference in magnification is really not that much when looking at normal stalking ranges. I probably wouldn't miss the change in magnification. Also the weight saving will be negligible.
 
Really depends on what your doing ? I have both the 8x on my 7 mm and the 6 x on .222 I love the 8 x for highseats work especially when after muntys at last light , to be honest I'd stick as you are , not that you'd be Dissapointed with a 6 x either
 
Why not compromise and get a 7x50 Meopta, I have one of those also and it's my favourite scope.
 
It would have to be secondhand, but I think the nicest scope I have ever looked through was a Zeiss Diatal 7 x 50. It seemed to have everthing.

David.
 
I currently use a zeiss diatal 7x50 on my stalking rifle which replaced the s&b 6x42 which is now on my foxing rifle, now I really like the 7x50 but to be honest the 6x42 can hold it's own with any of them especially in a close confrontation environment and its no slouch at longer ranges either, in the end its all down to your personal preference but I would be happy with the 6x42 it's a truly great scope...
 
nothing an 8x56 will do the 6x42 won't. started with 4-12x56, moved to 6x42's, then to 3-9x36. now shoot 4x32 zeiss and never been happier. this is for anything from woodland through to hill.

'do' consider a nice old zeiss in 6x36, they are just lovely
 
nothing an 8x56 will do the 6x42 won't. started with 4-12x56, moved to 6x42's, then to 3-9x36. now shoot 4x32 zeiss and never been happier. this is for anything from woodland through to hill.

'do' consider a nice old zeiss in 6x36, they are just lovely

Has your eyesight just been improving over time then? Actually, I've been thinking about this as I'm slowly putting my long-held ambition to buy a drilling into action and many of them come equipped with older 4x32 scopes, which isn't much magnification these days. But quite clearly they were just fine previously and there's no particular reason that stalkers would suddenly become incapable of shooting well with them. I suppose it makes a real difference at really low light.
 
I think the 6x42 is more versitile - more than enough magnification for 200+yard foxes, but also fine for the 30 yard shot in woodland -8x is a bit too much. My 243 now wears a 4-12x50 instead of a 6x42. I miss the latter, and new swaro 4-12 spends most of its time wound down to 4 or 5 power. Only time I use 12x is on the range to see where the bullet holes are.

my thinking has developed and by far the most versitile zoom for a hunting rifle is a 1.5-6x42.
 
Has your eyesight just been improving over time then? Actually, I've been thinking about this as I'm slowly putting my long-held ambition to buy a drilling into action and many of them come equipped with older 4x32 scopes, which isn't much magnification these days. But quite clearly they were just fine previously and there's no particular reason that stalkers would suddenly become incapable of shooting well with them. I suppose it makes a real difference at really low light.

HA! when you say 4x32 isn't much mag these days, well here's a story for you. when my brother in law took his danish hunting license about 10 years ago, the practical shooting test resulted in him being laughed at by the other students, as he at the time had borrowed my zeiss 4x32 on his tikka 6.5x55. the other guys were having a laugh and ridiculed him, they all had telescopes and wound them up to x25 or so for the 100m test.

well, he was the only one who A. was done with his test in a couple of minutes, and B. was the only one who passed first time. seems all the other students couldn't keep the crosshairs still enough on such high mag. on the 4x32, it was just point and shoot at the black dot. job done.

I got him on a buck this summer, over 250yds, borrowed my old mauser .243 with the 4x32, zero'd 1" high at 100, held high shoulder and landed squarely in the H/L...job done.

what more can you ask for?

oh, did I say it's beautiful, aesthetic, light, great for woodland :)
 
what more can you ask for?

oh, did I say it's beautiful, aesthetic, light, great for woodland :)

Oh I agree with you, as long as the scope's in good nick! Besides, I'd rather not go through the painful rigmarole of having a new scope fitted to an old Suhler Einhackmontage. Leave it with the thing it was designed to work with. It's true that I've only ever used the 12x magnification on my scope when shooting from a rock-solid rest, which essentially means from a bench at the range, and just once from the rail on a highseat.
 
Oh I agree with you, as long as the scope's in good nick! Besides, I'd rather not go through the painful rigmarole of having a new scope fitted to an old Suhler Einhackmontage. Leave it with the thing it was designed to work with. It's true that I've only ever used the 12x magnification on my scope when shooting from a rock-solid rest, which essentially means from a bench at the range, and just once from the rail on a highseat.

good old zeiss are actually easy to get with rails for the clawmounts. often go on ebay with the mounts fitted too. otherwise email Artur on here, he usually has a good selection he can email you pics/details of.

ATB

Peter
 
good old zeiss are actually easy to get with rails for the clawmounts. often go on ebay with the mounts fitted too. otherwise email Artur on here, he usually has a good selection he can email you pics/details of.

ATB

Peter

Thanks for the tip, I shall make a note of it if I need it!
 
This is probably going to be considered heresy but I took my 3-12x50 S&B off my main rifle and sent it off for a service and in the meantime popped on my boar scope (Kahles 1-6x24) just to cover the period of time that I'd be without my 'proper stalking scope'. Well, I got my scope back and it's still in the cabinet as I'm loving the Kahles. The one thing that is so great is the field of view. How often have you seen a single beast and then on the sidelines something else sneaks in ? The field of view is just ace. I've not really noticed too much drop off in marginal light either.

This 'act of necessity' to still have a scoped rifle has really served to shake a few deeply held prejudices about scopes, light and real need.

FN

FN
 
The human eye pupil only dilates to 7mm. Older eyes don't open as much, so let in less light.
8x56, 7x50, and 6x42 all have a 7mm exit beam to the eye, delivering all the eye can use, but no more.
The 50mm objective lense receives about 1/3 more light than the 42mm, and the 56mm even more.

But clarity, resolution, etc count for a lot, too, in what the eye can see. Glass is dense and heavy. Bigger lenses weigh more.

My best 6x42, a Kahles ZF military scope, is over 25 years old now. I can see the hair on a boar or coyote in the woods, at night, with half a moon. A top 4x scope, like a Hensoldt for the HK G3, will let you range and shoot a 12 inch target at 600 meters. The IOR Valdada 4x24 is like that, too.

I put less expensive 6x42 scopes on a .22, a .223, and .30-06, for familiarity of practicing.

I once owned a Mannlicher in 6.5x54 with a Zeiss 4x32, all that rifle could ever need in its 250 yard range. Small, light, sharp, no fiddling.

Recently, I put a Hawke 4x32 Mil Dot on a .22 LR, and another on a Marlin .30-30 full rifle, perhaps temporarily, to test loads in it. With the .22, I am shooting things at 100 and 150 yards. What fun.

I regret selling a Swarovski 3-9x36 to a friend. What a nice scope! The closest thing to it I have found is the Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35, and it costs a lot less. It is ideal for something like a light Tikka T3 in 7mm-08. I have 1.25-4.75 Burris on a 7mm-08 carbine and love it. When I sold a .375 H&H, the scope was sitting around, so I put it on a never-scoped .30-06. It is 1.25-4.75x with 30mm tube and German #1 pointed post. Gosh, it is fast, and the post is sharp enough to make precise shots at 400 yards. The field of view on a group of animals, on moving game, being able to shoot with both eyes open, is a great advantage to me. I think a good 1.5-6c42 would be about ideal for a variety of hunting.
 
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HA! when you say 4x32 isn't much mag these days, well here's a story for you. when my brother in law took his danish hunting license about 10 years ago, the practical shooting test resulted in him being laughed at by the other students, as he at the time had borrowed my zeiss 4x32 on his tikka 6.5x55. the other guys were having a laugh and ridiculed him, they all had telescopes and wound them up to x25 or so for the 100m test.

well, he was the only one who A. was done with his test in a couple of minutes, and B. was the only one who passed first time. seems all the other students couldn't keep the crosshairs still enough on such high mag. on the 4x32, it was just point and shoot at the black dot. job done.

I got him on a buck this summer, over 250yds, borrowed my old mauser .243 with the 4x32, zero'd 1" high at 100, held high shoulder and landed squarely in the H/L...job done.

what more can you ask for?

oh, did I say it's beautiful, aesthetic, light, great for woodland :)

Shouldn't that be in the long distance shot thread pkl ? :).

Re 4 x 32... I looked at a nice stutzen rifle fitted with a Zeiss 4x32 in Dickson's recently.
The view through the scope was amazing and I am used to a 3-12 x 50 S&B.
The proportion of 'scope to rifle was perfect too,I can see the attractions of combo's like that.
Get thee behind me credit card :)
 
Massive light gathering in the 56mm, if you're into dawn and dusk stalking make sure you have no regrets by choosing a smaller objective lens. I have two S&B scopes, a Klassik and a Zenith, both with large objectives and when it came to weight concerns I got a composite stock rifle and a titanium mod.
If you can't see the deer, you can't shoot it.
 
When trying to make out what size, sex or where to place the shot on a deer at absolute last light I prefer higher magnification combined with a 50-56mm scope. The higher mag might make the picture a bit darker however one can see details much better. Also under the lamp, fox or cat?? I prefer higher mag to make sure.
Best thing is to have a few rifles set up for each purpose. A 1.5-6x42 is missing in my setup I'd like one to replace the red dot sight which is useless at over 100yds.
edi
 
I think and from my own experience the subject of shooting in low light the 6x42 is IMOH as good as anything else out there, and when its comes that time when you cannot see clearly with it.... it's time to pack up anyway, the chances of losing an animal being already increased especially in areas near thick cover just my tuppence worth.
 
I run a 6x42 on two of my rifles, a swaro and a m8 Leopold , never felt the need for anything else as most of my shots would be under 150mtrs.
 
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