50mm vs 40mm for night hunting?

After jumping on board with USOptics, we are learning fast that QUALITY optics is the name of the game, not objective diameter.

I am currently shooting a 37mm objective from USO and it's ten times better than any 50mm I've ever shot at night or during the day for that matter.
 
Soreloser about nailed it. Leupold makes some dandy scopes and their warrentee is great. I'm using one 50mm scope, a 3 by 9 by 50 Simmons I bought from a friend for 25 bucks. it works great, but I don't hunt at night.

I did have to put it in a set of high rings to keep it from bumping the barrel, but I change it out for an 8 by 32 target scope when I'm done calling in the spring and am getting ready for ground squirrels and rock chucks so the rings work for both scopes.

I like the idea of two scopes for two different types of hunting.
 
The advantage of the 50mm (which is what I have on my rifles)is to gather more light,if you have a 40mm with 92% light transmission and a 50mm with 85% then there is no advantage.You dont have to buy high end scopes either,do some research on the light tranmission of differnt brand scopes.........You'll be surprised. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I shoot with a quality scope and it's a 50mm objective. It does help 65 year old eyes at night. You can tell me different but my eyes don't lie, neither do dead coyotes.
 
helidrover72,

All of my calling rifles carry a 50mm objective scope. I much prefer them for day, and night calling. I shot a feral pig the other day with a buddies rifle, it carried a 32mm objective scope. I felt like I was looking through a straw! I agree that a scope doesnt have to be 50mm to be a very good scope, but I much prefer the 50's over any other after using them for years.

I don’t necessary look at a scope for its light transmission only. Of course it has its place, but I don’t feel its everything. I like the 50mm's simply for the added field of view it provides. When you get a "hard charger", or even a "hard leaver" getting them in the scope is the first objective. If you can see more it will allow you to accomplish that first objective faster. The rest just falls in to place that much quicker. Makes sense to me.

If you are already interrested in a Leupold, go with your gut. Any thing in the Leupold line will suite you well as far as clarity, light transmission, and overall value. Its hard to argue with a lifetime warranty also. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

I have gone with my gut for years, and it must be working because my gut is getting bigger! I think it is just filling up with good decisions! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Take care,

Todd
 
Haha, looking through a straw. I get the same feeling when I go back to my deer gun. But its primarily used for when Im hunting from a heated stand and the corn feeder is 50 yards away inside of a 100 acre deer pen. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
If you use comparable scopes the light transmission difference between a 40mm and 50mm objective isn't enough that it can be seen with the naked eye. Plus the 40mm will save you a few $$.

A 30mm tube will give you a wider field of view that a scope with a 1 inch tube of the same power and objective.
 
I'm using an NCSTAR 50mm scope... I've had it on my 10/22 for 3 years. Gathers light nicely, I don't see replacing it anytime soon.
 
FOV for a 40 mm scope is the same as the FOV for a 50 mm scope

Leopold VX III 4.5 to 14 40 mm 100 yard FOV is 7.4 feet at 14 power

VX III 4.5 to 14 50 mm 100 yard FOV is 7.4 feet at 14 power.

Thinking that a 50 mm has a larger FOV is a placebo effect.

Light transmission is the key to scope brightness not the objective size. Maximum light transmission in a perfect scope would be approximately 98 percent.

If a 30 mm scope and a 50 mm scope both had 95% light transmission both would be equally bright. Perceived brightness also is a product of proper eye relief. If it is set up perfect for your eye the scope looks brighter.
 
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Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. The same scope in a 30mm tube has a wider field of view than the same scope in a one inch tube.



Oh I agree the 30 mm tube will give a wider field of view.
 
If you look at yhe specs on Bushnell ellite 3200 riflescopes with firefly reticle you will see that the 50mm objective reduces the FOV and that a 30mm tube does nothing for FOV a 30 mm tube just gives you more windage and elevation range as well as makes it harder to find rings for.
Bushnell ellite 3200 3x9x40mm
FOV 33.8-11.5
Bushnell ellite 3200 3x9x50mm
FOV 31.5-10.5
Bushnell ellite 3200 3x9x50mm with 30mm tube
FOV 31.5-10.5
The 50mm objective will give you more exit pupil and this is needed at the higher magnifications. The normal eye can use an exit pupil of 4mm (daylight) but will dialate to at the most 7mm in darkness. Meaning that an exit pupil of more than 7mm is more than the human eye can possibly utilize so any more is a waste of fine glass, money and just added weight that causes you to have to mount the scope higher than needed. The formula to calculate exit pupil take the mm obj. size and divide that by the power that the scope is set on. example 40mm divided by 3x is an exit pupil of 13.3 40mm divided by 9x is an exit pupil of 4.4 While hunting predator hunting at night you would probaly never use the higher power settings anyway and you should use the lower settings for more FOV.
 
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GoatPacker, that has got to be a typo on Bushnell's part?



There are a lot of things being said in the area of optics that by all practical reasoning make sense. I used to believe a lot of these things myself and was really shocked when I started researching these things for myself rather than believeing what I had heard. I still have a lot to learn from you people and look foward to it. I looked at several manufacturers sites and either saw a lot of "typos" or the facts are all the same.
 
Thanks, Joel. Again I wonder if there aren't some typos. See the elevation and windage adjustment for the two 50mm objective scopes? The 1 inch and 30mm are both listed as 57.

I have two Leupy 4.5 - 15 scopes with 50 mm objectives; one has a 1 inch tube and the other a 30mm. With both settings on the lowest power settings the 30 mm tube has an obvious wider field of view.
 
Yes, I noticed the windage and elevation are the same on the leupolds, I also see no advantage to a 30mm tube other than more weight.
 
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