Which scope?

Justin Crossley

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
7,860
Location
Buckley, WA
I'm having a .300 Win Mag built and wanted opinions on scopes. I will be using the rifle for deer, elk and black bear hunting mostly. The finished weight should be around 6 lbs before optics. It will have a 26" carbon barrel.

I'm leaning toward the Nightforce 5.5-22x50 NSX with MOAR reticle. What do you guys think?
 
That's what I would use. If you are using a tapered rail/ring mount I would go with 56mm objective.

The scope and mount will increase the weight of your stick by 50%:)
 
Building a 6 lbs rifle and then putting a full size nightforce on it? Kinda counter productive. Maybe a leupold vx-3 4.5-14 x 40mm with adj objective and varmint hunters reticle at 15 oz, add a capped target turret and your in buisness. I have the leupold vx-3 4.5-14 x 50mm 30mmtube with side focus varmint reticle and capped target turret and have shot deer at 916 and have shot it out to 1200yards. Not sure on the weight but vs a 32 oz nightforce either of these are much lighter
 
Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 with Ballistic Turret

Slightly lower zoom which might be handy for hunting in the tight stuff and the BT's are fantastic.
 
Nightforce are very very nice. Being built like a tank and durable has it's appeal, but they're very heavy. If investing in a build for a lightweight hunting then I would go a Swaro, Leupold if looking to save a few bucks. Assuming nightforce was in your price range then Swaro should be as well. The Z5 3.5-18x44 with the 4W reticle and a custom ballistic turret is hard to beat. It's only 15oz!
 
I prefer the manually adjustable BT over the personalised ballistic cam. You can adjust it to suit different loads etc. The new custom one has to be programmed by Swaro which I find somewhat limiting.
 
Building a 6 lbs rifle and then putting a full size nightforce on it? Kinda counter productive. Maybe a leupold vx-3 4.5-14 x 40mm with adj objective and varmint hunters reticle at 15 oz, add a capped target turret and your in buisness. I have the leupold vx-3 4.5-14 x 50mm 30mmtube with side focus varmint reticle and capped target turret and have shot deer at 916 and have shot it out to 1200yards. Not sure on the weight but vs a 32 oz nightforce either of these are much lighter

I used to think along those same lines. Those scopes are just not reliable enough for me. I'm literally sending a VX3 6.5-20x50 LR into Leopold for tracking issues today. Vortex Viper isn't any better when it comes to tracking and I don't feel that the optical quality is very good at all.
 
IMHO rifle and scope should compliment each other.
I'm a fan of NXS scopes in general, but a purpose built lightweight rifle and a full size NXS go together like milk and grapefruits.
Of course, the 2.5-10x42 Nightforce would suffice!!

But, if you're really wanting to shaving ounces, I'd lean toward a quality 1" scope with <50mm objective, held in Talley one pc. rings.
Swaro, Kahles, Zeiss, & Leupy all make decent scopes that fit the bill. I have a couple 1" Kahles Helia scopes that track true with 0.1cm/1/10mil clicks, have great glass, and 4A reticle that works great for low light shooting...

It all depends where your priorities lie. If dialing bulletproof exposed turrets for long shots are gonna be the norm for shot opportunities, I'd take the weight penalty and slap a 2.5-10x42 Nightforce on there. But if you can get away with covered turrets, using the rifle for more average hunting shot distances, then you might enjoy a good lightweight scope with great glass and a bold reticle. Its up to you & how ya hunt...
Good luck!
 
It all depends on what your going for. It sounds to me like you want rough and tuff. And from your remarks about tracking I will assume dialing in for shots. In that case the NXS is an awesome choice and what is on my 300 win that I use for my carry rifle. One point of interest would be not only the weight but the need to securely mount a scope of this weight when used on a light rifle. For this I would pay special attention to my choice of mounting system. Remember, a scope is mounted to become a bridge across the weakest part of a rifle receiver. A one piece rail will strengthen this bridge and reduce flex that can be transferred into the scope tube during recoil. Two piece mounts do nothing to stop this flex transfer and is the culprit in many rifles not holding zero. Many less rugged scopes even can fail because of it. There are good light weight offerings in rail bases. I use Near Mfg. I have seen the negatives many times over, so it has become common practice on my bench to not use inexpensive mounts if I want the reliability expected from a high end rifle and high end scope. The extra weight of the NXS will earn its keep. If that extra 1 lb or less is that big of an issue, I will look harder into trying to loose the 15 lbs I need to loose.

Jeff
 
Well my leupold is everybit as accurate as my nightforce. I'll say that I heard leupold went through a phase, maybe they still are, where they were producing scopes with poor tracking. If you can get one made before 2011 you should be set. If you call with a serial number and they'll tell you when it's made. I really can't see putting a scope that weights 2lbs on a 6lbs rifle, maybe it would be top heavy? I also don't really get building a dedicated longrange rifle at 6 lbs but it's your build and as long as you are happy with it get what you want.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. A buddy of mine who knows quite a bit about shooting and optics also recommended looking at the Huskemaw scopes. Any of you guys have positive or negative feedback on them? According to Huskemaw's website, the BD 5-20x50 weighs 26 oz. and seems to have some good features. The NSX weighs 31 oz. if I remember right.

I'm really not trying to build a super ultralight rifle but more a great all around rifle that is capable of longer range hunting. I feel that a 300 win in about an 8-8.5lb package would be an awesome "do all" setup. I know I can build a lighter rifle and could also build a more capable long range rifle if that was what I wanted.
 
I heard they were a wierd MOA, 1/3 click I think, would be the only negative I guess. I don't have any experience with one so that's all I can say
 
Last edited:
Have you looked at the MeoStar R2 2.5-15×56 RD ? I was looking at scopes for my project and ran across it. I know nothing about it and hadn't seen before. 22.93 oz sounds reasonable for a carry rifle. The NightForce has an impeccable reputation but 30+ oz. is getting crazy. I'm not sure about the tracking on the Swarovski Z6 3-18×50 BT either.
 
I have the R2 right now. It isn't really a LR scope, as the turrets are set-oit-and-forget it style. It is really a MPBR low-light hunting scope.
 
One more thing to consider, with regard to objective size on a lightweight rifle.

The larger the objective, the more glass it has. Sounds silly, but ounces = pounds, and a larger objective lens weighs more than a smaller one ;)

More importantly, the larger the objective, the taller the scope height needs to be to accommodate it on the rifle. That isn't so much a weight issue, but the taller rings might raise your scope height enough so that you lose a positive cheek weld on the stock. If you add in a canted base, that will lower your objective, thereby requiring even higher rings to clear the barrel. That cant also raises the eyepiece height. So, cheek weld becomes chin weld, in order to acquire a full sight picture thru the scope...

Lightweight rifles are tricky enough to shoot well, and especially so when its chambered in a big 30 cal. When you factor in not having positive, repeatable facial contact on the comb of the stock, the whole package becomes a recipe for lowsy shooting form and inaccuracy...

So, if opting for a larger objective scope and/or canted base, keep in mind that, depending on your stock's ergos, you just might have to address a comb height issue. Remedy would be to add some type of elevated cheekpiece or stock pad/pack to level your eye in the scope, and re-acquire positive cheek contact on the stock. Which, in turn, adds more weight back onto your lightweight rifle...
 
Thanks for the responses guys. A buddy of mine who knows quite a bit about shooting and optics also recommended looking at the Huskemaw scopes. Any of you guys have positive or negative feedback on them? According to Huskemaw's website, the BD 5-20x50 weighs 26 oz. and seems to have some good features. The NSX weighs 31 oz. if I remember right.

I'm really not trying to build a super ultralight rifle but more a great all around rifle that is capable of longer range hunting. I feel that a 300 win in about an 8-8.5lb package would be an awesome "do all" setup. I know I can build a lighter rifle and could also build a more capable long range rifle if that was what I wanted.

Justin, I run the huskemaw 4 x 12 on my 300 win mag and it works great---very repeatable. It does come in 1/3 MOA but you can get used to that. I just run a basic moa turret instead of their custom turrets and have had good luck. The only real negative I have heard regarding them is that the glass is just so so. I find it to be pretty good and you ain't looking through it all that long............. I had a nightforce on it and it was just too heavy for this rifle so I went with the husky for its lighter weight. I also really like the reticle on it. One more "selling" point--------they give a pretty good discount if you are a guide, outfitter, law enforcement or military. I think that you would like it and it would fit what you are looking for.

Randy
 
Back
Top