Scope Recommendations 300 Win Mag

[14jhudson]

Can anyone suggest scopes for a Browning AB3 300 Win Mag? Just won it in a raffle, so I’ll be outfitting it in a couple weeks. I was looking at the Vortex Viper 5-25x50, but don’t have a ton of experience shooting long ranges. This would primarily be for hunting out west.

 

[hardincobucks]

I see you’re new here and I am as well. I have lurked for a few years and I post every once in awhile. You’re going to soon find yourself down the rokslide drop test rabbit hole and find out that almost every scope you’ve ever owned is complete junk. I’ll sum it up for ya. Nightforce and Trijicon are the only scope brands that make reliable scopes that hold zero. There’s a few other models from other brands that do as well but it’s pretty rare. One of them is the Maven RS 1.2 which is a fan favorite on the this forum. Consider using mils instead of MOA. Glass quality doesn’t really matter. Lastly Vortex builds in their pricing with the idea that the scope is going to be warrantied. Whatever you pay for a vortex scope from a retailer just keep in mind that it’s probably worth about half that price in-terms of quality. A $1000 scope from vortex is a $500 scope from other brands.

 

[eric1115]

I see you’re new here and I am as well. I have lurked for a few years and I post every once in awhile. You’re going to soon find yourself down the rokslide drop test rabbit hole and find out that almost every scope you’ve ever owned is complete junk. I’ll sum it up for ya. Nightforce and Trijicon are the only scope brands that make reliable scopes that hold zero. There’s a few other models from other brands that do as well but it’s pretty rare. One of them is the Maven RS 1.2 which is a fan favorite on the this forum. Consider using mils instead of MOA. Glass quality doesn’t really matter. Lastly Vortex builds in their pricing with the idea that the scope is going to be warrantied. Whatever you pay for a vortex scope from a retailer just keep in mind that it’s probably worth about half that price in-terms of quality. A $1000 scope from vortex is a $500 scope from other brands.

Haha. Follow the white rabbit

OP, to expand a little on this, we have been conditioned to accept scopes that need adjustment every now and then. We rezero at the beginning of hunting season, we check after a long drive to our hunting spot, we put rifles in padded hard side cases because we know our scopes are fragile.

Except that not all of them are. Nightforce, SWFA, Trijicon, and a few others will consistently withstand impacts without shifting POI that consistently knock the vast majority of Leupold, Vortex, and the vast majority of others off by inches, sometimes a foot or more at 100 yards.

If a scope's only job is to put the bullet where the cross hairs say it's going to go, why do we care at all about glass quality or features if it moves without being told? Job one is that it should never move without being told, and job two is that it should move exactly where it's told when the knob gets turned. It takes really bad glass to affect actual hit rates. It takes a pretty small zero shift to affect hit rates.

Also, welcome to Rokslide. Are you able to consider swapping the .300WM for something a bit more usable? What I think is a comfortable majority of us now have largely let the magnums drift to the back of the safe and do most/all of our western hunting with 6.5CM and under (for sure a majority with .30-06 and under). Lots of us are shooting deer and elk out to 500+ with 22 and 6mm bullets with no regrets getting away from bigger cartridges.

Edit to add, you don't need as much magnification as you think, and get a suppressor already for Heaven's sake! You'll also end up with a funny looking knife and maybe some thin soled shoes if you stick around here long enough.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I’m currently using an SWFA 1-6x and 6x on my two 9.3x62’s (my rifles with the heaviest recoil). They are holding up very well.

 

[14jhudson]

Haha. Follow the white rabbit

OP, to expand a little on this, we have been conditioned to accept scopes that need adjustment every now and then. We rezero at the beginning of hunting season, we check after a long drive to our hunting spot, we put rifles in padded hard side cases because we know our scopes are fragile.

Except that not all of them are. Nightforce, SWFA, Trijicon, and a few others will consistently withstand impacts without shifting POI that consistently knock the vast majority of Leupold, Vortex, and the vast majority of others off by inches, sometimes a foot or more at 100 yards.

If a scope's only job is to put the bullet where the cross hairs say it's going to go, why do we care at all about glass quality or features if it moves without being told? Job one is that it should never move without being told, and job two is that it should move exactly where it's told when the knob gets turned. It takes really bad glass to affect actual hit rates. It takes a pretty small zero shift to affect hit rates.

Also, welcome to Rokslide. Are you able to consider swapping the .300WM for something a bit more usable? What I think is a comfortable majority of us now have largely let the magnums drift to the back of the safe and do most/all of our western hunting with 6.5CM and under (for sure a majority with .30-06 and under). Lots of us are shooting deer and elk out to 500+ with 22 and 6mm bullets with no regrets getting away from bigger cartridges.

Edit to add, you don't need as much magnification as you think, and get a suppressor already for Heaven's sake! You'll also end up with a funny looking knife and maybe some thin soled shoes if you stick around here long enough.

The only reason I got a .300WM is because I won it in a raffle drawing. I also have a .30-06, but have a general 3-9 Walmart scope that came with it. I figured if I’m buying a scope for the .300 I might as well make an investment. I may end up switching the nice scope to the .30-06, but just wanted to see what the general suggestions were from everyone on here with more field experience than myself. Furthest shots I even could take at home on deer are 250 yards, which I know are very different than shots out west.