Fixed scope dilemma.
- Thread starter Karhumies
- Start date
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Personally, if someone gave me a 6x42 Schmidt bender and said ‘this is the only scope you can ever use’, I’d be ok. I’d probably shoot no more and no less deer or foxes either. When I was young my father bought me a Sako with a SB 6x42, and he said ‘this will be all you ever need’ - he was right. I of course have gone on and sold it (stupidly), and had probably close to 100 rifles since, but I have to say that I would have been as well off just keeping that Sako and 6x42. The only thing I am happy for in selling f that Sako, is that Mauser 98’s came into my life, which I fell in love with. A good Mauser 98 action with an Otterup / Schultz Larsen barrel and a good SB/Zeiss/Swaro in a walnut stock, bliss!!!
My favourite rifle and scope, which I’ve so stupidly sold, was a German Mauser 98 with a 6.x55 SL barrel with a Zeiss 4x32. Best rifle I ever had, used for roe and red from woods to hill, so simple and so effective - esp with the Norma 140g Vulkan or Nosler Partitions
My favourite rifle and scope, which I’ve so stupidly sold, was a German Mauser 98 with a 6.x55 SL barrel with a Zeiss 4x32. Best rifle I ever had, used for roe and red from woods to hill, so simple and so effective - esp with the Norma 140g Vulkan or Nosler Partitions
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illumination doest matter mutch with that fat T post i have, i zero so the target "stands" on top of the T. some other reticles are a different matter. The lpvo on my AK is useless without that red dot. I like a variable 1-6 only for identification on moose etc. i used to shoot irons with it but had a close call last year, called out a female when it was a young bull. If i hadnt had quota for both that would have been the end of my season. Otherwise a 6x42 serves me well at 30-100m and 8x56 with binoculars from 30 out to 300m on moonlight snowy nights. No i dont shoot that distance unless its pest control
the only downside i see to 8x56 is spotting.
maybe one day il grab a S&B polar, i hear thats the cream of the crop.
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
To throw a comment in, 56mm lenses do give extra time and light, but are a PITA I terms of size, weight and cheek weld,- I’d personally take a x42 any day
does my cz550 count? if so i love 98 actions as well, altho if i ever had a rifle built it would be on a 96 action with a more modern metalurgy. I am a sucker for cock on closing. I wonder if a CZ could be converted to one? i dont know mutch on smithlng besided making the tools around the house in my Forge.
pary of the lifestyle my family chose, away from civilisation.
thats what fixed shooting positions and cheek risers are for. Like i said, highly specialised setup.
rifle doesnt get the scope on it until i found a good log to rest on (pivotmount)
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
I have “Boris” on my study floor. He is large hairy wild boar shot at 3am in Germany about 8 years ago in the middle of December. I was in a high seat, fortunately well insulated with double glazed windows. I had spent the previous night sharing a small cabin on the ferry from new castle to Amsterdam with two fellow hunters and had got minimal sleep thanks to the snorting noises my two companions made from both ends.
I had a raised high seat that was warm. I had a good sleeping bag, it was ****ing down with wet snow. I elected to stay in the high seat and went fast asleep. At about 3am the rocking in wind and clattering of the snow subsided. I awoke to the sound of snorting and squeeling. I awoke, peered out of the window and two big black shapes against dark green of the wheat with bits of snow in the rows. I quietly opened the window. Looked through the 6x42 scope on my 7x65R double. Scope was made in 1974. I could clearly see that there were two big boars in the field. I bracketed the biggest with the two thick horizontal bars of reticle - one on the snout, one up the backside and the verticle one on his front leg, and squeezed the trigger. All hell let loose with an almighty angry squeel. Both boar charged off towards the edge of the field.
Got a call on my phone. Well done excellent hit, heard the thump of the bullet from the hunting hut - were the others all were. Stay where uou are till morning - far too dangerous to go and look.
First light went and had a look - huge trail of blood across the snow and found him dead just inside the wood at the base of large hazel bush. Perfect shot. He had gone perhaps 30 yards.
I have also shot numerous Roe and s couple of Sika with that same scope over the years.
I have never found it wanting for low light performance.
I had a raised high seat that was warm. I had a good sleeping bag, it was ****ing down with wet snow. I elected to stay in the high seat and went fast asleep. At about 3am the rocking in wind and clattering of the snow subsided. I awoke to the sound of snorting and squeeling. I awoke, peered out of the window and two big black shapes against dark green of the wheat with bits of snow in the rows. I quietly opened the window. Looked through the 6x42 scope on my 7x65R double. Scope was made in 1974. I could clearly see that there were two big boars in the field. I bracketed the biggest with the two thick horizontal bars of reticle - one on the snout, one up the backside and the verticle one on his front leg, and squeezed the trigger. All hell let loose with an almighty angry squeel. Both boar charged off towards the edge of the field.
Got a call on my phone. Well done excellent hit, heard the thump of the bullet from the hunting hut - were the others all were. Stay where uou are till morning - far too dangerous to go and look.
First light went and had a look - huge trail of blood across the snow and found him dead just inside the wood at the base of large hazel bush. Perfect shot. He had gone perhaps 30 yards.
I have also shot numerous Roe and s couple of Sika with that same scope over the years.
I have never found it wanting for low light performance.
The accepted position generally is that the human eye doesn't benefit from an exit pupil that is larger than 7mm, and as you get older even 7mm is beyond your own eyes capability. So a 7 x50, 8 x 56, 6 x 42 all fulfill that criteria. If you find that a 8mm exit pupil suits you I can't argue but some of this might just be in the mind or a bigger eye box that good scopes seem to give you anyway.
David.
David.
I honestly dont know what it is, meopta wouldnt go for ab advertised 8x pupil on a meostar r1 without some reason tho, i never knew them to be a gimmick brand. And the 7x56 my friend has is better than his meostar r2 3-12x56 set to 8 at night
It definitely has a nicer eyebox than my zeiss, and i feel like it gives me less eye fatigue. So i had assumed that the larger exit pupil allows your own pupil to relax a little?
I honestly know nothing technical about scopes or really even rifles. point and shoot. Never dialed in the field either. Wich is probably where my distrust of variables comes from, i did use a variable for a while, 3-15x56 for pest shooting.
set it so 12, 10, 15 wathever, at over 160m those 222 rounds where impacting way low.
I determined that i had intuitively judged my target to be way closer based on the reticle. and automatically started reducing holdover as i dialed up. muscle memory from looking at that fat 8x T post for years.
That said, i am thinking i may actually add a diavari T* at some point. I really like that T* coating (i think)
To my eye meopta coatings look a little oversaturated with yellow light. gives a a golden hue to things. The Zeiss MC coating looks good during The day but also seems a bit unnatural. The T* coating has a relaxing soft blue hue to it, its pretty mediocre in daytime but at night it really makes the white tails on the hare pop out.
Polar Lynx
Well-Known Member
@karhu, surely you hunt in Finland and then most often snow in landscape. On clear moonlight nights you can rather easily shoot racones and foxes with glas scpoes, at least out on the fields. Fixed magnification and illuminated small red dot is the way to go. But you need to know what is moving so a short range thermal spotter is if not necessary, but nearly.
A 7x56 has a wider FOW than a 8x56. Helps a lot and 7 or 8X makes no hitting difference.
Have a stand by Meopta 7x56 ill and used it a lot before 2018 when NV/Thermal became free to use here (Swe/boar). In fact often even cloudy winter nights were ok when hunting near towns and such due to street lightning etc.
A 7x56 is not expensive at all. Several brands. Free from excessive coatings and all that so raw light rays just enters scope. Coatings helps with sun glare and such but no problems in a nordic winter night. Excessive coatings ends up with a darker scope
Of course, a thermal scope is superior in every aspect.
A 7x56 has a wider FOW than a 8x56. Helps a lot and 7 or 8X makes no hitting difference.
Have a stand by Meopta 7x56 ill and used it a lot before 2018 when NV/Thermal became free to use here (Swe/boar). In fact often even cloudy winter nights were ok when hunting near towns and such due to street lightning etc.
A 7x56 is not expensive at all. Several brands. Free from excessive coatings and all that so raw light rays just enters scope. Coatings helps with sun glare and such but no problems in a nordic winter night. Excessive coatings ends up with a darker scope
Of course, a thermal scope is superior in every aspect.
Might explain why i like the T* costing over the MC coating (twilight/multi)
I could use thermal on the racoondog legally but financially i would have to collect over 100 bounties to make it worth it when i cant use it for other species.
a pair of good binoculars is definitely a standard piece of kit for me!.
As for the snow, i hunt year round, my meat hunting is done in snow usually but the rest of the year i hunt roe deer in early summer, racoon, mink and beaver in spring
racoondog is all year round, they have no piece time. And ofcourse shooting rats and sometimes rabbit/hare with an exemption permit when larger farms request it.
ASl sniper.177
Well-Known Member
A modern variable scope has all the light transmission of any older scope that's been mentioned,but with the benefit of increased magnification for longer shots if needed. As the old saying goes,better to have it and not need it,than need and not have it!
ASl sniper.177
Well-Known Member
There are a lot of thing's to consider when buying a scope for deer stalking. The first is,what range are you likely to shoot most of you're deer at. Second is field of view,not all scopes are created equal at the same magnification range. The top end scopes are around 93% for light transmission. If you don't shoot much beyond 150 yards,then stick with a 6x42 or an 8x56. I'll stick with a variable scope that can cover all the bases I'm likely to come across when stalking,so,between 5x magnification and upto 50x.
i take shots between 20 and 400 meters but i usually do know what to expect when i set out. 60-200m would be a normal shot for me in winter (snow+moon) but with the 8x56 i have taken hare out to 300 and racoondog out to 400 in the early evening. So far 8x56 has done everything for me. But i am warming up to a variable a bit if it will be at least as good at the same magnification as my 8x56.
ASl sniper.177
Well-Known Member
Check out the Delta titanium 2.5-15x56. It has a light transmission factor of 92% with glass that's way beyond it's price point. I own two Delta scopes,one is a Delta titanium 4-24x50,and the other is a Delta stryker 5-50x56. Both are absolutely fantastic at their price point.
if i can find one i should have a look. I am quite particular about my scopes. My friends meopta r1 and r2 variables for instance dont tickle me right. Something unnatural about the colours at night. Zeiss has been a win for me, The old one at least and i do like the one variable i do own (vixen 1-6x24 on my AK) altho that one lags behind the fixed zeiss a little. 2.5-15 sounds like a lot of glass to loose imagine quality on tho? was thinking along the lines of 3-9 or maybe 4-12
One setup that might benefit alot from a variable i suppose is my drilling in .243. Been playing with the idea of putting an illuminated 1-4x24 on it exept i would feel sick to my stomache seeing a modern lpvo on my rather rare drilling.... not to mention getting claws on one that fit my drillings bases without a competent gunsmith. Indeed, i do not have a gunsmith competent in working on drillings or fitting claws.
6x42 , 7x50 and 8 x56 hold the equal light gathering if in a top brand . Too fine a reticule means it disappears so you can see the beast but are not sure of the exact aim point . An Alpex or similar simply washes all we have learned but i find them awkward and a PITA to zero and set up really well but you can see things clearly when you could not see a deer 30 ft in front of you its so dark ( in Black and white )
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