best scope for low light conditions
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DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
Quality of glass and glass coatings are what makes a scope good at last light. European glass is the best, followed by Japanese. These scopes can get up to $3,000+ so best thing to do is set a budget first, then go from there?
rustybucket
Member
I have a trijicon accupoint and the glass clarity at sunset is fantastic. It will definitely take you way past legal shooting hours. My son used it to kill his first deer at 50 yards 2 minutes before legal hours ended. He made a perfect shot.
DoubleLungRage
Well-known member
I also have a few Trijicons because I think they are a good balance between money and low light capabilities. IMO the next step up would be the Meopta MeoStar.
AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
European hunters live and breathe low light hunting mostly from elevated stands as you travel though central Europe use see stands dotting the landscape overlooking farm fields, in forests and even vineyards.
Most older German scopes I've shot with have very bold reticles German #1 and 4s. Like mentioned before glass and coatings can be more important than large objectives in scopes with lesser glass and coatings. 1.5-6x42/44mm and 8x56mm scopes are quite popular.
I'm not a horn hunter and have never had a problem with my scopes during legal hunting. Pretty much if I can see my quarry with my bare eyes I can kill it with my rifle. I shoot a lot of 1-4x20mm and 1.5-6x40-44mm scopes.
Most older German scopes I've shot with have very bold reticles German #1 and 4s. Like mentioned before glass and coatings can be more important than large objectives in scopes with lesser glass and coatings. 1.5-6x42/44mm and 8x56mm scopes are quite popular.
I'm not a horn hunter and have never had a problem with my scopes during legal hunting. Pretty much if I can see my quarry with my bare eyes I can kill it with my rifle. I shoot a lot of 1-4x20mm and 1.5-6x40-44mm scopes.
K22-hornet
Active member
If your scopes are 10+ years old, then many of the new, mid-priced scopes can improve on what you have.
How late in the night are you going to hunt?
How much are you willing to spend? Good optics are not cheap, and cheap optics are not so good.
In general, the more you spend, the better low light performance you can expect.
Zeiss, Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender, Leica, Leupold, Kahles, are all very good in low light.
How late in the night are you going to hunt?
How much are you willing to spend? Good optics are not cheap, and cheap optics are not so good.
In general, the more you spend, the better low light performance you can expect.
Zeiss, Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender, Leica, Leupold, Kahles, are all very good in low light.
Spurchaser
Well-known member
I have a Leupold where you better know your shooting times and have a watch handy because I can see way before and way after legal shooting light.
Good point. I still have and use an old Redfield 2 3/4x Widefield on my 30-06 and can see before and after shooting hours plenty well enough to shoot. Never have thought about that a lot but have had the 2 3/4x out and looked through it at those times and couldn't figure out what people were talking about. Now I'm gonna have to take out a 2-7x and 3-9x and try them on the lowest power!
Spurchaser
Well-known member
Mines a 4x15 I think and I keep it on about 6 or so. If I really want to look a buck over I’ll crank it up, but we only archery hunt bucks and use rifles for does. It really does help to make sure I am shooting a doe and not a little spike. And yes, I know any deer by itself is generally a young buck and thanks to a good scope I’ve made that distinction before pulling the trigger. The closest one that almost got a bullet had little spikes that couldn’t have been more than 2” long.