Trijicon Huron 3-12x40 vs 2.5-10x40

[Texas270]

Hunting mainly in East Texas/Louisiana/Arkansas with a chance of West Texas down the road.

Is there any real benefit to the 2.5 low powered zoom? Is it THAT much better up close?

 

[Texas270]

Most hunting will take place within 150 yards

 

[1000yards]

Is there any real benefit to the 2.5 low powered zoom? Is it THAT much better up close?

No benefit, they're pretty much the same scope. And just in case you're not aware: those eye relief numbers are accurate. With the 3-12 I found it difficult to shoot past 6x on an un-braked 30-06, like that scope was going to bite me if I wasn't perfect. Now it lives on a 7x57 but I still won't turn past 6 unless I'm on a bench/prone.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I don’t turn my scopes down to the minimum magnification very often. For me, 2.5 vs 3 is meaningless. If you have the opportunity to try it out, see how well it works with your eyes at 6 to 10. Even in close terrain, my scopes usually stay in that range. The only time I turn them down lower is when I am following a blood trail and I expect a possible short range, running shot.

 

[Macintosh]

2.5x or less is very nice if a significant portion of your hunting includes ALL of these factors:
1) on foot, moving (ie NOT stand hunting)
2) shots typically at extremely close range, 20-50 yards
3) in thick cover, ie in many places its thick enough to obscure visibility even at very close range.

Imo if that isnt your everyday its a non-issue. If that IS your everyday, then yes imo its very helpful to have the wider field of view and err in that direction, even if 2.5 vs 3x is splitting hairs.

 

[Chris in TN]

It's awfully hard for me to imagine where 2.5x vs 3x would make any sort of difference, but equally hard to image where 10x vs 12x would make a difference.

I'm honestly surprised that Trijicon makes two scopes with such an overlapping magnification range. Flip a coin.

 

[TxxAgg]

For your purposes, I’d get the Trijicon Huron 3-9x40 with the German #4 reticle.

 

[Kbhillhunter]

I've had no issues with the eye relief on the 3--12, I think it's completely fine. I've never wished I had 0.5x less on the low end, but have enjoyed having the extra 2-3x on the high end. Any of the scopes mentioned so far will be perfect for what you describe. Last thing id say is that on some rifles I've used 2.5x on the low end was enough to see the barrel tip in the sight picture, not a deal breaker but I found it distracting.