Which Scope Magnification?

M

Marc Johnston

Member
Hi, I recently purchased a Ruger M77/17 Hornet and I’m really excited to throw an optic on it! I’ve narrowed it down to the Trijicon Huron, either in the 3-9x40 or the 3-12x40. Gun will mainly be used for bobcats and fox. What would you go with and why? I like the idea of the 3-12x40 if I ever catch one crossing a field. That’s a 30mm tube. If I go that route, I need to exchange my rings with Ruger because currently they sent the gun with 1” scope rings. Thanks for any help!
 
If you haven’t purchased the scope yet, may want to consider the Meopta Optika 5 & 6 series. I have quite a few of them, they are built like a tank and have excellent glass for the price. Tracking has been reliable and eyebox is great.
 
derbyacresbob said:
I would also go with the 3 X 12. The last two scopes I bought were Burris 4.5 X 14. I like using the higher power for sighting in at 100 yards. My old eyes can't see a 1 inch dot on paper at 100 yards as good as they use to.
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Exactly what Bob said here. Used 3x9x40 Ballistic Plex FFII's on everything until age 70, switched to 4.5x14x44 and all was good into the 80's and Burris came out with the E1 reticle which is a bit bolder reticle that is very similar to ballistic plex and a lot easier for old eyes to see. Last scopes bought were 4.5x14x44 E1's. Really hoping Burris comes out with a Braille reticle soon @ 89. :ROFLMAO:
 
Any scope I use for calling predators I like at least a 40' FOV the n the bottom end and preferably more. I have kind of a collection calling rifles from for combo guns to an AR. My combo guns wear straight tube 1-4x20s, my bolt actions and AR wear 1.5-6x40 to 1.75-6x32. I do have a 22-250AI with a 2-12x40 but rarely take it out.

Fast target acquisition and being able the easily track moving game is far more important than having a lot of X's. All of my scopes are 300 yard capable on pred sized game

If you have to compensate for not seeing the target at distance by a increaseing the power of the scope I would think better glass or a trip to an eye doctor preferably one that shoots also.. I'll be 80 next year and had double cataract surgery 20 years ago. I still shot a few sub MOA groups yesterday with an inexpensive 1.75-5x32 scope.

I've had to wear glasses since I was seven.

If you can see a predator with your bare eyes using any scope shouldn't make it more difficult
 
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AWS said:
AR wear 1.5-6x40 to 1.75-6x32.
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1-4x20 and 1-6x32 on two of my AR's the other AR's are either 6.5-20x50 or reddots. Although the 1 exception it is wearing a 6.5-20x50 predominantly for varmints.
AWS said:
Fast target acquisition and being able the easily track moving game is far more important than having a lot of X's.
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Very true statement, and usually if I'm hunting I'm dialed down in magnification, which is at times mentally tough not to use all of the scopes capability. Which is why I agree with @AWS here.
And yes the higher magnification can work against you when the game is on the run or moving.

hm1996 said:
Exactly what Bob said here. Used 3x9x40 Ballistic Plex FFII's on everything until age 70, switched to 4.5x14x44 and all was good into the 80's and Burris came out with the E1 reticle which is a bit bolder reticle that is very similar to ballistic plex and a lot easier for old eyes to see.
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On the non AR as in bolt guns wear 4-14x40 to 6.5x20x50 is the norm for me.

I set my son up on this 7mm Mag with a 4-12x 40, then explained when to use the higher end, one example I use was Elk out west on longer shots. Thus far he has been brutal on whitetails in the Ky/Tn region he is stationed in (IIRC he normally hunts @ 6 power, reserving the rest of the power range for either target work or if the game is further than originally thought).
derbyacresbob said:
My old eyes can't see a 1 inch dot on paper at 100 yards as good as they use to.
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exactly and I like being able to see the lines on the target clearly (so I can count correction) and my bullet holes without a spotting scope when zeroing and doing load development. It maybe lazy but when in the South and it hit's over the 90/100 degree mark yeah ones doesn't walk more in the sun than needed.

Which sort of explains why I earlier hit the agree / like button on the 3-12x50 comment. It is better in my opinion to have that extra capability / magnification than not have it. And just because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it. Exactly like @AWS pointed out which rings very very true.

Just my opinion, and there has been some very good advice from members, to the OP
Respectfully Mike
 
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My experience pretty much mirrors that of AWS with one exception. I was diagnosed with macular degeneration in my late 50's. Fortunately had a very good ophthalmologist who was way ahead of his time on MD because his father suffered from it. There are two types of MD, wet and dry; wet can be treated, but dry cannot, mine is dry type. My Dr. put me on a special vitamin w/Lutien which slowed the progress considerably. Dr did double cataract surgery 9-10 years ago and that was a real eye opener (pun intended) but noticed my groups were opening up about 4-5 years ago. Went through a couple of rifles because they would not shoot moa groups, they were stringing vertically. Finally noticed a phantom horizontal cross hair to be the issue, not the rifle or ammo. The added power of the scopes help to distinguish the extra cross hair. Can't explain why but my POI is drawn toward that phantom cross hair in spite of the fact I know it is there and try to compensate. I am now forced to accept a 1.25"-1.5" group that would heretofore eliminated a rifle.
I discovered that phenomenon may years ago shooting HP competition. During the 600 yard slow fire strings (iron sights), the pit crew puts a spotter in your last shot to enable shooter to see where he hit, aided with a spotting scope and raises the target for the next shot with spotter in place. Average shooter cannot see the 6" diameter spotter through his iron sights. I was blessed w/exceptional eyesight which enabled me to see the 6" spotter. It took me a while to realize that, for some reason, my POI was drawn toward that spotter somewhat negating any sight correction to hit center of target. Asking pit to use a 3" spotter on my target resolved that problem.
 
About the only purpose of a scope is to superimpose the reticle over the target, everything else is fluff to me. I have a 50 year old 1.5x fixed scope on a hunting rifle that can shoot accurately enough well past my wants. I think we give scopes more importance than neccessary.

JP Sauer 7x57R with Weaver K-1.5 duplex in weaver Grand Slam rings that I modified to fit a German Claw mount. 100 yards
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We're not shooting one inch dots, we're shooting game. For sighting in if you can't see a 1 inch dot use a 2, 3, or even a 4 inch your point of impact won't change because of the size of the target.
 
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AWS said:
For sighting in if you can't see a 1 inch dot use a 2, 3, or even a 4 inch your point of impact won't change because of the size of the target.
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I never thought of it that way. Thanks for the enlightenment.

I have several lpvo on various caliber sbr uppers, 1-4 through 1-8. Even in my 3-9 I still find myself actually hunting with all of them around 4-5x. Just never felt comfortable in the 1-3 power unless using them more like a dot circle/ red dot type optic (chevron/horseshoe reticles).
 
AWS said:
We're not shooting one inch dots, we're shooting game. For sighting in if you can't see a 1 inch dot use a 2, 3, or even a 4 inch your point of impact won't change because of the size of the target.
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Absolutely. The dot is merely a reference point; if you can't see the dot under your cross hairs, try using a square aiming point and shooting at a corner by bracketing the square with your cross hairs. You can do the same thing with a dot, bracket the dot rather trying to quarter it, ie. horizontal cross hair touching dot at 6 oclock and verticle touching dot at 9 or 3.
As my eyesight failed, i began to favor square aiming points and one of my favorite is four black square pasters on a white background. The beauty of a variable power scope is that you can tailor size of reticle to the size of your target.
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This target provides at least 5 easy sight pictures.
 
greengt88 said:
If you haven’t purchased the scope yet, may want to consider the Meopta Optika 5 & 6 series. I have quite a few of them, they are built like a tank and have excellent glass for the price. Tracking has been reliable and eyebox is great.
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Ok, I’ll bite. I have a Huron on the way. I could just throw that on my 450 bushmaster. The Optika5 in the 2-10x42 seems like a solid scope. Do you have the Z plex reticle for hunting?
 
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no affiliations with the vendor only purpose is the reference is so the OP can get the SKU if that is his desire.

(my preferred game is 6" tall by 1.250" wide and can be a boggier to hit at 400yds plus with winds, when the terrain allows. Thank goodness that is not a norm, but sometimes is the case. Little spastic individuals they are, but different game, different needs).
 
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Marc Johnston said:
Ok, I’ll bite. I have a Huron on the way. I could just throw that on my 450 bushmaster. The Optika5 in the 2-10x42 seems like a solid scope. Do you have the Z plex reticle for hunting?
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Yes I have 4 of them, all with the Z-Plex reticle and the Adjustable parallax..Eurooptic generally has the best pricing.
 
I looked at that Optik 5 2-10, nice scope with a 55 ft FOV on the bottom end it would be a VERY useable scope.for me.

I have a steel tube Meopta Artemis.1.5-6x40 with a German #1, even though it is a FFP scope.the fat post.still shows up well on 1.5x. Nice scope that kills game well but I never could figure out why the FFP on this scope
 
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