Scopes for Novices

[Heym SR20]

So I have a good friend who took up stalking a couple of years ago. He bought a decent Sako but with quite a complex scope with dialable turrets and parallex adjustment.

And he has been struggling to shoot well. He has watched endless shite on youTube and has constantly been bemoaning ammunition/ rifle etc cos he has never got decent groups. He has constantly struggled with high magnification and wobble. And he has never understood the concept of parallex adjustments. Worse - the turrets are exposed so they get knocked.

He has shot quite a few deer now, but these are red and sika in woods and all within 150 yds.

If you are a novice thinking about buying your first scope please just save your cash and a decent Schmidt & Bender or Swarovski fixed power 6x42 and learn to shoot well before progressing to anything else.

Such a scope will remove all the variables and allow you to concentrate on placing a good shot everytime.

Once you have the experience, then progress to a bigger fancier scope.

 

[Millerich]

So I have a good friend who took up stalking a couple of years ago. He bought a decent Sako but with quite a complex scope with dialable turrets and parallex adjustment.

And he has been struggling to shoot well. He has watched endless shite on youTube and has constantly been bemoaning ammunition/ rifle etc cos he has never got decent groups. He has constantly struggled with high magnification and wobble. And he has never understood the concept of parallex adjustments. Worse - the turrets are exposed so they get knocked.

He has shot quite a few deer now, but these are red and sika in woods and all within 150 yds.

If you are a novice thinking about buying your first scope please just save your cash and a decent Schmidt & Bender or Swarovski fixed power 6x42 and learn to shoot well before progressing to anything else.

Such a scope will remove all the variables and allow you to concentrate on placing a good shot everytime.

Once you have the experience, then progress to a bigger fancier scope.

This mirrors what I was told some years ago. I’ve still got 6x42 and 8x56 for my .243 and .308. One of each for each rifle on QRW rings. All four together with the mounts cost less than £1000.

 

[TobyF]

Until the last few days, I have always used a fixed 8x56 Swaro. It beens faultless, but does need a service and is heading back to Austria for a refresh. I have got myself a Hawke Vantage as a interim. Variable zoom, Paralax, IR, Dialable turrets...etc Not a fan. Looking forward to receiving my Swaro back.

 

[Will the chippy]

Keep it simple. Nowt to mess with. Get it zeroed and leave it the f alone. If it's over 250 yards just aim a metric smidge higher. If it's fixed mag then the sight picture is always the same, helping him get a better handle on range estimation.
I had a scope with an illuminated reticule, even that bothered me, is it on, have I left it on, too high illumination, too low. No problem now.

 

[Stalker62]

... does need a service and is heading back to Austria for a refresh.

My Swarovski binos. have been back to Austria twice (in about twenty years) - it is always money well spent.


SWAROVSKI OPTIK Vertriebs GmbH
Daniel-Swarovski-Straße 70
6067 Absam
Austria

 

[oystercatcher87]

Very sound advice indeed

 

[TobyF]

In my world of smart phones, smart TV, smart door bell, electric car, laptop, GPS data management systems....etc. When i go out shooting I like the simplicity.

 

[Dalua]

Once you have the experience, then progress to a bigger fancier scope.

Or, depending on what that experience has been, you might find the 6x42 (or perhaps 8x56) is in fact all you need!

 

[Bavarianbrit]

Cunning these Germans.
If a roe is broadside like in pic 1 then it is 100m distance.
If a roe is broadside like in pic 2 then it is 200m distance

 

[webley701]

Cunning these Germans.
If a roe is broadside like in pic 1 then it is 100m distance.
If a roe is broadside like in pic 2 then it is 200m distance

They certainly are cunning - amazingly diligent as well.

Just think of the time & dedication needed to breed a strain of Roe to fit a No.1 reticle at 100/200m

 

[VSS]

The first scope I bought when I started stalking had all kinds of twiddly knobs, adjustable bits, complex "range finding" Christmas tree reticle, various degrees of illumination in two colours, large diameter adjustable objective, high magnification, etc etc, because I thought these things were necessary.
I didn't shoot many deer.

I've subsequently "upgraded" to fixed parallax, 50mm objective, 3-9 mag, a simple fine duplex reticle and no illumination.
I now shoot quite a lot of deer.

 

[WalkedUp]

I received a Schmidt and Bender 8x56 Klassik scope free of charge when I bought my SAKO 85 for £400… however it is proving a very expensive gift as I now want to swap out all my zoomable, adjustable, dialable Hawke etc scopes for S&Bs…

 

[Koenig]

S & B fixed scopes are very good for most UK stalking scenarios. Good in low light and built like brick outhouse. For those looking for old school German glass you could do a lot worse than a Lisenfeld. Cheap as dirt and 20 odd years old. I have one that was pre-fitted to a second hand rifle and it’s really very (very) good. The secret is now out….

 

[Bavarianbrit]

S & B fixed scopes are very good for most UK stalking scenarios. Good in low light and built like brick outhouse. For those looking for old school German glass you could do a lot worse than a Lisenfeld. Cheap as dirt and 20 odd years old. I have one that was pre-fitted to a second hand rifle and it’s really very (very) good. The secret is now out….

My Lisenfeld was sh1t.

 

[Koenig]

Mine isn’t.

 

[HonestJohn]

Mine isn’t.

There were good and bad ones

 

[nun_hunter]

I think that should have been

"If you're the sort of person who doesn't like learning their kit and making use of all the features then buy an old fashioned scope. If however you want to practice plenty and enjoy setting your kit up to get the best from it then do your research and buy whatever ticks those boxes".

Otherwise it's suggesting everyone should buy an automatic car but not adjust the seat or mirrors and leave it in 'Auto' rather than make use of all the features such as sports mode, 4X4 etc because one old codger got confused one time and didn't enjoy the drive after accidentally pressing a button or knocking the gear lever.

 

[Mungo]

I still think the ultimate UK stalking scope would be 6-12x50 with a S&B style no.4 reticule and diallable turrets.

 

[HonestJohn]

Having spent around 30 years stalking in the U.K. with 6x42 and mostly 4x32 scopes, I’d say this is pretty sound advice. I’ve never not been able to take a shot, or even wished for more or less magnification to take an ethical shot,,and that includes red deer out to 350m

 

[cooksey]

Most people think you need something fancy cause the magazines show a 8k set up to shoot deer I have regularly taken deer with a £350 set up. You don't need to spend alot to shoot alot!