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Bart Simpson
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/25/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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Posted: August/27/2004 at 17:37 |
Years ago, and sometimes nowdays, most hunting could effectively be done w/ a fixed 4 power scope of modest price. Now that we have so many readily available choices and price ranges, why do most of us spend large for rifle scopes when their true function is simply that of a rifle aiming device?
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Carl in N. FL
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redneckbmxer24
Optics Master Joined: June/02/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1055 |
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i think quality would be the best answer, and features. for deer hunting out to 500yds, i dont think you can beat a 4x
cory |
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If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, I'll be only one of millions!!!
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Bart Simpson
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/25/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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I'm not certain you can see a Florida deer at 500 yards. But do you carry a 4x when you hunt or would it be a high end variable? Even I get some funny looks when guys in my camps check out my rifles. Yeah, some are good ol' boys and they ask "What do you need a scope like that for? Why spend all that money just to hunt a deer?". It's not all that easy to explain sometimes.
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Carl in N. FL
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redneckbmxer24
Optics Master Joined: June/02/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1055 |
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hey, you can just give them the look when they cant hust, because their equipment failed, and yourt still going strong. ok, now for the 4x scope example, i use the 4.5-14 leupy on my 300 ultra mag, and never turn it up. sometimes when im messing around when theres no action, i might mess with it a little, and test clarity on different powers, but i never turn it off 4.5 when hunting. i have a 4x on my black powder, and im getting a 4x for a 300 sa ultra mag.
cory |
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If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, I'll be only one of millions!!!
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Knewt
Optics Apprentice Master Craftsman Joined: June/28/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 90 |
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Waxing nostalgic:
After passing the NRA Hunter Safety Course back in '69 I got my very first deer rifle... a 257 roberts with an ancient beatup 2x unertl.... Then in college I got a nearly new 300 savage with a 4x redfield wide view for christmas from my "parents-in laws" and I was in cat "scratch" heaven. It wasn't until I gave up my career as a "starving artist" back in the early 80's ( and had some disposable income) that I got my first vari-power: a 4-12x second hand luepy.... and I thought it was so so cool... especially when it came to sighting in and working up loads. The 25-06 that I had at the time was shooting about 2.5 moa or so I thought.... but when I swapped out its old 4x for the 4-12x suddenly it was shooting groups a little more than half that size... I found that the 12x far exceeded the 4x for 100 yd sight-in's.... so like a dummy I lug it out into the "limestone" area of the Black Hills (S.D.)still set on 12x. The first 3 deer I pulled up on I couldn't even see... and I was about to smash that frickin' luepy aginst a tree until I started looking at it and realized that it was set on 12x... I dialed it back down to 4x and left it there (got a little 3x4 the next day) until my next trip to the range. Now days I seem to need a minimum of 7x for 100 yd target related work, but still carry it (usually a 308 norma) into the field set at 2x and most years it doesn't move from that setting, but I hunt mostly in heavily forested mountain areas. One of the big treats in my life has been hunting antelope in wyoming.... and there I used the 25-06's 12x setting almost exclusively. |
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Roy Finn
MODERATOR Steiner Junkie Joined: April/05/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 4856 |
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Variables are versatile. That would sum it up. But this is one of my favorite topics. Not quite to the point of ranburr with all the Zeiss 3-9 he has, but , I have 3 4200's in 2.5-10x40 on my main hunting rifles. Whitetail hunting is my absolute favorite and I have been fortunate to be able to hunt them in many different areas. I live in the North East, so if you want to get the opportunity at a nice buck then, in general, it is up close and personal hunting. On the opposite end ( 10X ) I have never felt the need to have more power than this. This is hunting not target shooting. I still have a Leupold in 4.5-14x40 that I switch between my 280 Ackley and my 300 WM for target shooting ( load development ), but when the range sessions are over, off comes the Leupold in favor of the B&L Elite 4000's and Bushnell Elite 4200's. I know that I have been rather critical of Leupold scopes of recent, but it's only because I feel that they have priced themselves out of the market. As ranburr, stated in a post of past regarding this same topic, " I don't think I'll be switching any of my Zeiss scopes anytime soon". I feel the same way about my Elite 4200's!!!!
Edited by Roy Finn |
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Chris Farris
TEAM SWFA - Admin swfa.com Joined: October/01/2003 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 8024 |
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"why do most of us spend large for rifle scopes when their true function is simply that of a rifle aiming device?"
For low light enhancement, magnification for longer ranges (open sights don't offer any), and only two objects to line up (reticle and target) instead of three (front sight, rear sight and target).....makes fast shots much faster. Edited by Chris |
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Yojinbo
Optics GrassHopper Joined: August/29/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 8 |
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This reminds me of a conversation I have with my grandfather every few
years (he's 94 so It's new to him every time). He worked for
Wright McGill in Denver as a tool and dye maker for 20+ years making
Redfield scope production and testing machines (and the occasional
prototype mount or dongel). He swears by a 4x scope on a .30-06
and can't imagine why I need anyhting else.
In truth if I was taking whitetail 'back home' this combo works fine. But I don't hunt deer at this point of my life. I have been varmiting a lot the last decade from a fixed position (a 3-legged table actually) taking prarrie dogs from huge extended colonies at distances that vary as much as 200 yards or more per 'set up' (I only seup up and take down twice or so in a day of shooting). I love my variable scopes for this type of work and I can't see how I would go back to fixed even if I started on deer again. Actually what may take me "full circle" to a small 4x is the ferral hog problem we are having in Oklahoma and Texas. This is not wild boar but farm hogs that have escaped captivity 10+ generations ago. They are a big managment issue on unfenced (or poorly fenced) acerages. I think contol of this population is the perfect job for hunters looking for something diffrent. In any case, I have a 45-70 for the hogs and the last time I was out I found myself wishing for a 4x wtih a wide field of view (these hogs are BIG). Edited by Yojinbo |
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ClutterMonkey
Optics GrassHopper Joined: August/28/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Are the hogs dangerous or just destructive? I dont eat pork, but would love to kill babe.
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Chris Farris
TEAM SWFA - Admin swfa.com Joined: October/01/2003 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 8024 |
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Very destructive to fences and crops. They compete for the same food that deer do and this is really a problem. Hogs are shoot on site like Coyotes. They have the potential to be dangerous if provoked but cases are few and far between. You best chance of getting injured by one is if you messed with a sow's piglets.
Check out this Texas hog from one of our Photo contest entries http://www.riflescopes.com/gallery/entry186.htm Edited by Chris |
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Bart Simpson
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/25/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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I'm sure glad to see that y'all don't refer to those hogs as "wild boar". You ought to see these hogs down here in the swamps of Florida. When one winds you and you hear the popping of his jaws but you can't see him 'cause of the palmettos it WILL make you wish the hole in the barrel was a little bigger.
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Carl in N. FL
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Chris Farris
TEAM SWFA - Admin swfa.com Joined: October/01/2003 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 8024 |
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Here is a pic that has been floating around the Internet. Suppose to be from S. Texas and the guy is supposed to be 6'4". I think its a damn good photoshopped pic. |
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redneckbmxer24
Optics Master Joined: June/02/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1055 |
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wouldnt be bad for the photo contest, now would it. if ONLY he bought from SWFA, what a pitty.
cory |
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If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, I'll be only one of millions!!!
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Manuel
Optics Apprentice Joined: July/08/2004 Status: Offline Points: 132 |
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who WTF is that supposed to be hog?
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redneckbmxer24
Optics Master Joined: June/02/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1055 |
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javelina i beleave.
cory |
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If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, I'll be only one of millions!!!
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