Wanted: Sturdy long range scope for mountain hunts

[Highseater]

Looking for a robustly built yet elegant long range scope to be used in places like Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Kazachstan etc… for distances up to 400m max. I’m a hunter, not a target shooter, so I’m not after Christmas tree reticles only people with a PhD in rocket science can understand.
I currently have a Swarovski Z8i 3,5x28x50 on my .300WM but, despite its capabilities, I find it rather fragile for rugged terrain, torrential rain, snow, etc…
Any suggestions re S&B PMII, Leica PRS, Steiner M7Xi and the likes? Any advice, preferably based on genuine experience, is much appreciated. Cheers, Filip

 

[Woodlander]

March F 3-24x42 FML -1 reticle in FFP and MILs
Light, low profile, great optics and very robust, perfect mountain scope, look no further.
Centre dot with hashes on the vertical and horizontal at 0.5 MIL intervals. Nice open sight picture.
£1125 inc postage.

 

[HonestJohn]

S&b 10x42 with ballistic turret for drop and mildot so you can hold off for wind?

 

[bowji john]

The two toughest models I’ve owned and used are S&B and Nightforce

Probably don’t require anything over 12 power for 400m

However I like 4 to 16

If weight an issue then perhaps a fixed mag

I personally wouldn’t have an objective less than 50 if poor light is an issue

I don’t care about an illuminated reticle but I do care about good repeatable clicks and zero stop on the turret

Don’t know if the above waffle helps

J

 

[FISH BOY]

3x12x56 Zeiss HT with ASV.

 

[Rory]

S&B 3-12x50 PMII with a P4FL reticle in FFP would be ideal.

 

[BE Precision]

3-20x50 PMii in classifieds. Just what you need and rugged as hell

 

[Utectok]

The toughest long range scope I’ve ever owned is a Schmidt and bender ultra bright. But most of the Schmidt and benders fit the bill tough and no nonsense. Mines pretty battered and still going strong

 

[MountMeru]

Always been a big fan of Leupold scopes for reliability in the toughest of conditions. Lifetime guarantee too

 

[Eric the Red]

Leupold Mark 5HD - used in MLE circles - robust - and very light. Decent reticle choices.

 

[Tazz]

Looking for a robustly built yet elegant long range scope to be used in places like Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Kazachstan etc… for distances up to 400m max. I’m a hunter, not a target shooter, so I’m not after Christmas tree reticles only people with a PhD in rocket science can understand.
I currently have a Swarovski Z8i 3,5x28x50 on my .300WM but, despite its capabilities, I find it rather fragile for rugged terrain, torrential rain, snow, etc…
Any suggestions re S&B PMII, Leica PRS, Steiner M7Xi and the likes? Any advice, preferably based on genuine experience, is much appreciated. Cheers, Filip

I have 3 Swarovski Z8’s and a Z6 I would not describe any of them as “ Fragile” I have hunted SA, Namibia, Turkey, Croatia and Scotland on multiple occasions and never had an issue.

 

[hunterscabin]

Optics & Scopes - The Hunters Cabin - Hunting & Shooting Supplier

Optics & Scopes for hunting, available from The Hunters Cabin. Click the link now to browse our products.

thehunterscabin.com

 

[1894]

Zeiss Diavari 2.5-10x50HT with elevation and windage ASVs.

I shot my Ibex at 125yds but my practice showed the 10x gave up little.
Below the practice target for the pretend ‘last day of the hunt, only opportunity, 500yd Ibex’
It had a few knocks on the guides back nearly penetrating the very thick neoprene cover but it held true

 

[Terrydeer]

There is a S&B PM11 5-20x50 ultrashort in classifieds, that would fit the bill

 

[Dave_45]

S&B exos 3-21

The pinnacle of long range hunting scopes and good rugged reliability

I also echo your sentiments about feeling like the Z6i is a little fragile.

 

[Highseater]

S&B exos 3-21

The pinnacle of long range hunting scopes and good rugged reliability

I also echo your sentiments about feeling like the Z6i is a little fragile.

Hi Dave, typical of the UK market is the fact that so many people are in favour of S&B. Here on the continent it’s mostly Zeiss, Swarovski, a bit of Leica, some Meopta. I’m a big fan of S&B myself though and I quite fancy the Exos. However, I’m shooting Blaser R8. These rifles don’t have Picatinny rails that allow you to move scopes forward. Therefore, I was just wondering whether, with the 2 side turrets on the Exos I would have sufficient eye relief. There is hardly any space to move the rings, at first sight…

 

[topscots1]

Hi Dave, typical of the UK market is the fact that so many people are in favour of S&B. Here on the continent it’s mostly Zeiss, Swarovski, a bit of Leica, some Meopta. I’m a big fan of S&B myself though and I quite fancy the Exos. However, I’m shooting Blaser R8. These rifles don’t have Picatinny rails that allow you to move scopes forward. Therefore, I was just wondering whether, with the 2 side turrets on the Exos I would have sufficient eye relief. There is hardly any space to move the rings, at first sight…

Leica Amplus 3-18 well built and good glass. Alternatively buy a fixed rail for the blaser and open up your mounting choices for the EXOS.

If you want to have truly robust have a look at the Nightforce NX8 2-20 nice compact scope FFP or SFP and built like a tank.

 

[tackb]

March F 3-24x42 FML -1 reticle in FFP and MILs
Light, low profile, great optics and very robust, perfect mountain scope, look no further.
Centre dot with hashes on the vertical and horizontal at 0.5 MIL intervals. Nice open sight picture.
£1125 inc postage.

this was also my solution , fantastic scopes !

took a big norfolk red with it and my creedmoor at 450m last year

 

[Highseater]

this was also my solution , fantastic scopes !

took a big norfolk red with it and my creedmoor at 450m last year

To be honest, I had never heard of them. Manufactured in Japan, I read somewhere? Why do you find them so good?

 

[tackb]

To be honest, I had never heard of them. Manufactured in Japan, I read somewhere? Why do you find them so good?

sturdy , all the features i like in a compact lightweight package