Any new players in ultralight scope world?

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I couldn't disagree with that more strongly. You'd see irons dominating in run and gun hose-fests stages if that were true (3 gun, USPSA PCC, etc). Also with assaulters who can run whatever they want. Irons don't compete. I humbly suggest there's a bigger world and experience pool out there to get familiarized with. And yes, I've spent a fair bit of time with military marksmanship training and competition (including CQB), competitive shooting, and with some of the top name trainers (Frank Proctor, Larry Vickers, Mike Pannone) out there.

Kyle Defoor ran this experiment pretty hard some years back. He found that yes, with a lot of practice, irons can just about hang for speed with a Aimpoint: assuming ideal lighting, and without introducing alternate and compromised firing positions, or moving shooters and moving targets. Introduce any of those real world problems, and the red dot rules. But that took consistent practice.

Without a lot of practice, forget it. There are benefits to training with irons....you develop a great index from having to present the gun so precisely. But in the real world application of speed...its a red dot world, and the LPVOs are getting close.

Good for you bud
Keep rocking what works for you
I'll stick to iron on my AR
My bolt guns wear real scopes

 

[WRM]

A warranty doesn't do much when your 8 oz leupold loses zero.
Ask around you'll hear horror stories from a pile of hunters.
I have a personal friend who missed a really nice bull at 100 yards when his vx2 shit the bed on him.
He went home and shot a nice 4' group with it, hey but he got it fixed for free

I'm not familiar with the "vx2" model, but if it had the CDS system then that is an issue also discussed. I suggested the fixed power precisely because there is little to nothing to actually "go wrong" with it. If you want a dial up scope, then buy a Nightforce or similar. The efforts by many (probably all) of the scope manufacturers (including Leupold) to produce a "bargain" dial n shoot system are going to produce heartache and failure. I've never had an issue with a fixed power scope--but that's not to say you can't.

 

[fightthenoise]

I don’t care how in shape you are, heavy equipment is going to slow you down and wear you out. Especially when you are hiking with people who are faster then you and you become a drag to everybody else.

plenty of lightweight mountain rifle builds out there that can get the job done reliably. I’ve never had optic issues. I think some hunters are like some AK and glock owners who are convinced that nothing else will hold up.

the fact that you have a 30 lb load out, tells me you never experienced the benefits of going lightweight or even ultralight. Nothing wrong with that, but this topic probably isn’t for you. It’s for those where ounces matter for a more pleasurable hunt.

Post your lighterpack link then. This is hilarious and at this point it’s just mental masturbation about an obsession with pack weight. At this point it has zero practical effect on the outcome of your hunt. Except when your Leupold breaks. Nobody is getting bogged down and dragging the group down because of 10 oz.

 

[eaglemountainman]

A warranty doesn't do much when your 8 oz leupold loses zero.
Ask around you'll hear horror stories from a pile of hunters.
I have a personal friend who missed a really nice bull at 100 yards when his vx2 shit the bed on him.
He went home and shot a nice 4' group with it, hey but he got it fixed for free

I guess stories like that can happen with any manufacturer. Especially with so much product in the field, the odds are sooner or later, there will be a problem. Sorry to hear about your friend.

My personal experience is that I own roughly 40 Leupolds acquired over the last 40 years or so. I've never had a single issue with any of them. They're all Vari X2's and 3's or VX2's and 3's.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Big thank you to everyone for your wisdom
. A lot of good information been provide it. I stopped on HD LH 1.5-8 since it would fit perfectly on tiny rifle. Now it’s waiting time to get my rifle from Oregun. I’ll post pictures after I get my hands on rifle.

I like everything about that G4 BDC reticle. I wish Leupold offered it.

 

[Newtosavage]

How do you guys define light weight

for me it’s 9 ounces or lighter and those type of scopes are hard to find

My lightweight mountain rifles have 10 oz. scopes on them. One is a Leupy 6x36 and the other a Weaver 6x38. I'd be hard pressed to say which I like more, but the Weaver is going on my primary rifle and the Leupy on my backup if that means anything. I think the SWFA Ultralight was also 10 oz. To me, that's as light as I am willing to go because below that you have to sacrifice light gathering, durability, FOV, eye relief or something.

 

[Blue72]

Post your lighterpack link then. This is hilarious and at this point it’s just mental masturbation about an obsession with pack weight. At this point it has zero practical effect on the outcome of your hunt. Except when your Leupold breaks. Nobody is getting bogged down and dragging the group down because of 10 oz lmao. You’re right; maybe it isn’t for me, I’ll delete my account and turn my tags in.

it’s clear you don’t understand the philosophy of going ultralight. its not 10 ounces that’s slowing you down it’s your unnecessary 30 pound pack that will. Especially when the miles start pouring on through the mountains. To get your overall weight down dramatically, every piece of gear needs to be evaluated. Because shaving ounces on every item starts to turn to pounds eliminated. Unnecessary pounds adds to pain To some people that’s a more important goal to enjoying a great hunt

like I said, if it’s not for you, fine. But this topic hits home for those who are done carrying dead unnecessary weight into the field

 

[madcalfe]

hmm i hunt stones and mountain goats every year up here in bc and have a 32oz scope... id much rather prefer a scope that i know will dial reliably every time and holds zero than save 20oz.. buy a down sleeping bag. get a lighter tent, hell I've even just slept under a tarp for a couple nights, refine your food weight, stop taking useless items that you never use. absolutely plenty of ways to save weight but your scope shouldn't be a area to cheap out on.

 

[Blue72]

hmm i hunt stones and mountain goats every year up here in bc and have a 32oz scope... id much rather prefer a scope that i know will dial reliably every time and holds zero than save 20oz.. buy a down sleeping bag. get a lighter tent, hell I've even just slept under a tarp for a couple nights, refine your food weight, stop taking useless items that you never use. absolutely plenty of ways to save weight but your scope shouldn't be a area to cheap out on.

You don’t have to cheap out. You can get rugged trijicons that only weigh 1 ounce that are more durable then many scopes out there

granted, you might not use them on goats. But, like many said, they don’t need a lot of magnification for the hunting they do

Plus 32 ounces is a lot. I’m sure there are plenty of other durable options avaible to save a few ounces. Heck, my Nikon ed50 spotting scope is a full pound lighter then your rifle scope

 

[madcalfe]

the only thing trijicon is known for is their acog and RMR. hunting optics not so much.
and 30-34oz is about what most alpha glass reliable dialing scopes with about a 15x mag weigh at.
minus the mark 5HD at 26oz but well that's been proven to not be reliable

 

[madcalfe]

lol and ps i dont think id be taking a nikon ed50 on a sheep hunt either.... pretty sure my leica eyepiece alone almost weighs as much at your spotter.... people that don't dial or can only shoot within a couple hundred yards then get whatever floats your boat i guess. Lightweight comes at the price of durability....

 

[Blue72]

the only thing trijicon is known for is their acog and RMR. hunting optics not so much.
and 30-34oz is about what most alpha glass reliable dialing scopes with about a 15x mag weigh at.
minus the mark 5HD at 26oz but well that's been proven to not be reliable

the RMR is 1 ounce and is popular with safari hunters with big recoiling guns

 

[Blue72]

lol and ps i dont think id be taking a nikon ed50 on a sheep hunt either.... pretty sure my leica eyepiece alone almost weighs as much at your spotter.... people that don't dial or can only shoot within a couple hundred yards then get whatever floats your boat i guess. Lightweight comes at the price of durability....

I did it for comparative purposes.

Some would argue that someone who can shoot a red dot several hundred yards without magnification is the better shooter then the guy who needs lots of magnification

once again your missing the point that ultralighters have different priorities

I constantly have these debates with my buddies. But when we are on the mountain and land up constantly taking breaks because you guys can’t keep up. It becomes a real buzz kill

 

[madcalfe]

I did it for comparative purposes.

Some would argue that someone who can shoot a red dot several hundred yards without magnification is the better shooter then the guy who needs lots of magnification

once again your missing the point that ultralighters have different priorities

I constantly have these debates with my buddies. But when we are on the mountain and land up constantly taking breaks because you guys can’t keep up. It becomes a real buzz kill

lmao ok you do you i guess.... would love to see someone shoot 400-500 yards consistently with a red dot then throw in a 20-30 mph cross wind cause you know that's a typical thing in the mountains. and I'm not missing the point in "ultralight" I'm probably packing around close to 20,000$ in gear when I go sheep hunting and have my pack dialed at 57lbs+/- for 14 day hunts that I do yearly..... just kinda sounds like you boys need to get in shape

 

[WRM]

Yuhp--turned into an "I shoot ___ at 1,000 yards with my __ pound ___ scope" thread. Hope the OP got what he was looking for.

 

[Blue72]

lmao ok you do you i guess.... would love to see someone shoot 400-500 yards consistently with a red dot then throw in a 20-30 mph cross wind cause you know that's a typical thing in the mountains. and I'm not missing the point in "ultralight" I'm probably packing around close to 20,000$ in gear when I go sheep hunting and have my pack dialed at 57lbs+/- for 14 day hunts that I do yearly..... just kinda sounds like you boys need to get in shape

57 lbs??? Yes you are definitely missing the point…. I don’t care how in shape you are, you are going to be sucking wind if you hunted with us, probably on the verge of tears

Many shooters consistently shoot 400 yards using red dots with chest/head/hat method.

 

[Blue72]

Yuhp--turned into an "I shoot ___ at 1,000 yards with my __ pound ___ scope" thread. Hope the OP got what he was looking for.

Yep, especially since you need to be fairly close to count rings, do these guys go back to a thousand yard mark to make the shot?

but I’m sure they have 120mm spotters that can count from 4 miles away

 

[DoubleDown]

Yuhp--turned into an "I shoot ___ at 1,000 yards with my __ pound ___ scope" thread. Hope the OP got what he was looking for.

I did, stop with lh hd 1.5-8. Leupold was in consideration but I couldn’t accept 2.5 or 3 low power.
I do understand argument on both sides. My hunting partner logging his rifle that weigh alone as much as my 3-4 day backpack (without water)

 

[madcalfe]

Yep, especially since you need to be fairly close to count rings, do these guys go back to a thousand yard mark to make the shot?

but I’m sure they have 120mm spotters that can count from 4 miles away

lmao how many sheep hunts have you been on or actual mountain hunts?
I'm guessing by your username thats your birth date and well you live in long island so im gonna probably say none? i mean yea with your nikon spotter id imagine youd have to be fairly close to count anything with it....
and 57 lbs for a 14 day fly in hunt. (no guides packing your shit) is light. if you cant huff that weight youd be really ****** coming out with a ram

 

[WRM]

Clearly you did not read the post earlier today about some semblance of courtesy on this site.