need a mountain rifle scope. advice wanted

[bard]

just ordered a forbes in 07/08. want to keep the scope more on the light side as well. thinking of either the vx2 3-9 x33 or 4-14x40. kink of like the idea of the cds dials with a cal like the 07/08. hope to use it at the range out to 500 so might come in handy when u have a lot of drop me thinks. never had a scope as small as the 33mm. do u loose much for light transfer at low light? any sheep that I will be putting the cross hairs on will of been verified to be legal by a large spotter and binos already so will the 33mm be good enough? also open to other options.

 

[Stid2677]

I have this scope vx2 3-9 x33 on a couple rifles and have had plenty of light sheep hunting in Alaska. Took this sheep at 500 yards with one of them. I'm a believer in CDS dials or ranging reticles.

Took this one just past midnight.

Took this Grizz coming into camp right at dark, took this photo the next morning.

 

[Matt Cashell]

A 33mm objective scope of modest magnification should be just fine in low light. I have a Vortex Viper 2-7X32 w/ BDC reticle on my 7-08 and think it is a great practical combination. I have made hits at both first and last light with it even at 7x no problem.

 

[joelbiltz]

Although a bit heavy the new Nightforce 2.5-10x42 would be great.

 

[Sundodger]

Leupy VX1 and VX2's are very light compared to many other equivalent scopes, that is the reason I have a VX1 4-12 on my savage.

 

[Ray]

I also have a loopy 3x9x33 with CDS. When you look at the scope weights for light weight loopies and the standard VX scopes you will not find much of a weight savings for the light scopes. An ounce or two on glass can be made up with stock choice or machining. Go for good glass that adds to the usefulness of the rifle.

 

[handwerk]

Another one worth looking at is the swaro Z3 3-9x36 (w/4A), we have them on a bunch of rifles and have been very pleased.

 

[eleaf]

No external turrets, but the Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x is friggin awesome in low light, and tough as nails. I use the triange reticle, but you REALLY have to know your rifle in order to shoot past 300 or so. I used it on prairie dogs (also with a 7-08) out to 550 yards and was blasting them.

It's also extremely light at just 13oz.

 

[hunting1]

I have Leupold VX2 3x9-40 with LR Duplex on my Ti rifles and VX3's 3.5x10-40 with CDS dial on my Magnums. less than 13-oz's hard to go wrong.

 

[Ross]

Leupold vx2 3x9/40 here and I sent the scope in to to the custom shop to add the ballistic dots....one advantage with leupold is the custom shop to customize your scope and the very quick turnaround....they took my bullet info, typical hunt temp, some other variables and I set up the dots for the local range. Has paid big dividends for me. Good luck in your choice.

 

[swat8888]

I have the vx 2 as well. Seriously considering dropping the dough on a Swarovski Z3 with a little more magnification, better low light performance, at not much more weight at all over the leupys. I like the CDS but not amazed, want to try out the zeiss "z" reticle and the swaros to see how I like em.

 

[Stid2677]

I have the vx 2 as well. Seriously considering dropping the dough on a Swarovski Z3 with a little more magnification, better low light performance, at not much more weight at all over the leupys. I like the CDS but not amazed, want to try out the zeiss "z" reticle and the swaros to see how I like em.

I run the Rapid-Z 600 on 2 of my rifles, I do like them and can say having looked through my Zeiss and my Luppys side by side that I do get a few more minutes worth of light with the Zeiss, but they are several OZs heavier. I like the Rapid-Z and have killed several animals with them, but I have also used the wrong line in the heat of the moment.

I also have a Swarovski Z6i on my Sako Kodiak 375 H&H and it is on another level compared to Zeiss or Leupold, but then again it cost 3X as much.

Kenton industries makes custom dials with your ballistics for several scopes but not for Swarovski.

Swarovski has their own ballistic Turret but it cost more, they do look nice though.

http://www.sportoptics.com/swarovski-ballistic-turret-rifle-scopes.aspx

 

[Matt Cashell]

I have the vx 2 as well. Seriously considering dropping the dough on a Swarovski Z3 with a little more magnification, better low light performance, at not much more weight at all over the leupys. I like the CDS but not amazed, want to try out the zeiss "z" reticle and the swaros to see how I like em.

The Z3 w/ BRH might work well for you. It has for me.

 

[Stid2677]

The Z3 w/ BRH might work well for you. It has for me.

Which one do you have and what height rings is it mounted in?

Thanks

 

[Matt Cashell]

Which one do you have and what height rings is it mounted in?

Thanks

I have the 4-12X50. It is in Medium TPS rings, but I think lows will work with some rifles. It is very lightweight and slender for a 50mm scope.

The reticle lines are not marked, but I never had trouble finding the correct line. The lines are also subtended in MILs, so getting your drops is a breeze.

Nice scope.

 

[Yellowknife]

I have the vx 2 as well. Seriously considering dropping the dough on a Swarovski Z3 with a little more magnification, better low light performance, at not much more weight at all over the leupys. I like the CDS but not amazed, want to try out the zeiss "z" reticle and the swaros to see how I like em.

I have a RZ-600 on my main hunting rifle. Picked it up in trade a year and a half ago. It's a complicated reticle at first glance, but I found I quickly got used to it and never see the other bars in the field or at the range unless I want to use them. Generally speaking though it works best with a ~3000 fps cartridge, and I have to turn it down to around 7x for my 30-06 w 180's. That's not the end of the world, since I just leave my scope on 7x when sheep or caribou hunting, but it does mean I will be taking any long shots at less than max available power.

I've used it on a couple fairly close range, rapidly moving grizzlies, and found the lack of thick outer wires to be a non-issue. Also killed a lynx with it well after sunset, and was able to see the the reticle when I needed too.

I normally like smaller, lighter scopes and keep thinking I should get a leupold on that gun, but I'm having a hard time moving away from the Zeiss as a do-all, general purpose, scope at the moment. I would guess the Swaro to be even better.


Yk

 

[Shrek]

Another vote of confidence for the swarovski z3 brh. I'm very happy with mine. I very much like the zeiss conquests I own but they track for chit. I've had to send one of them off twice to have the erector replaced. Zeiss warrantied it both times and the one my friend had go bad but they were gone for months and my friend missed two nice deer last year before he figured out the erector wasn't holding zero. My swaro tracks well and the brh reticle is very easy to learn. I will say that I like the brightness and color of the zeiss glass better but not that much more than my swarovski.

 

[Yellowknife]

I very much like the zeiss conquests I own but they track for chit. I've had to send one of them off twice to have the erector replaced. Zeiss warrantied it both times and the one my friend had go bad but they were gone for months and my friend missed two nice deer last year before he figured out the erector wasn't holding zero.

Funny, I started having slight wandering zero issues late this fall. Not entirely sure if it's the scope or the bedding, but I'll be doing some tracking testing at the range in the very near future.

Yk

 

[Matt W.]

I use a VX-3 2.5-8x36 on my mountain rifles... Pretty darn happy with that set up.

 

[swat8888]

I'm cheap so I may just snatch a new CDS for my custom job once it finally gets built. As some have mentioned my issue with Zeiss on my mountain rifle is the weight. Will be keeping an eye out for a good deal on a Swaro Z3 if I can find one in the meantime.