Author Topic: What type of sight/scope do you use ? (Read 1387 times)

sprest22 · « **on:** February 02, 2005, 03:56:13 PM »

Hello all. I was wondering what types of sights you guys use Remington big game rifles.I have a Rem 700 ADL in .270 Win with a laminate stock that I bought a few years back,and shot with the factory open sights for awhile,which weren't that bad for factory sights.I then figured I need to scope the gun and put a 3-9x40 Nikon scope on it.The scope was great for shooting off the bench,but I couldn't get used to it in the field,I have shot with open sights for pretty much all of my hunting,which is inside two hundred yards with most shots being way less than that,two hundred yards is the farthest you will really be able to see game where I hunt.I took off the scope and put a Williams peep sight on the .270,and took it to the range to sight and was very impressed at how accurate a peep could be on a high velocity rifle.I have used peeps on 30-30's and a 45-70,but never with a bolt action rifle.After adjusting the sights,I shot a one hole 3 shot group at 30 yards,them moved the target back to 100 yards and shot an 1 3/4" 3 shot group,I was very pleased. :grin: The ammo I had was 130 gr Rem core-lokt,I cant wait to get some handloads worked up.What do you guy's have on your guns factory sights,peep sights or scopes?I'm kinda wondering if anyone else uses peep sights for hunting with their 700's.Thanks.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2005, 04:04:38 PM »

Well I used to use a Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x32 scope on my 700 ADL Syn (that was, until, it went for a swim and now you can't make jack out if it

). I'm looking to get the 4-12x40 Bushnell Banner for replacement. Of course, if I wasn't gonna go anywhere else with this gun (like maybe going swimming with it again :roll: ) I'd take the extra $120 dollars and spend it on Bushnell's Elite 3200 3-9x40 w/ FireFly and RainGuard. But, I don't have the extra $120. So...there's my solution. And my response. Hope it helped.

Graybeard · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2005, 05:07:33 PM »

You don't need a 4-12 on a hunting rifle. Take a look at the Trophy 3-9 or the Legend line or stay in the banner line but drop the power to 3-9 or even better yet to 2-7.

jvs · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2005, 10:01:26 PM »

Quote from: sprest22

What do you guy's have on your guns factory sights,peep sights or scopes?I'm kinda wondering if anyone else uses peep sights for hunting with their 700's.Thanks.

For my first 15 or 20 years of hunting I wouldn't think about going out without a magazine full of ammo and the most scope I could afford.

For the last 10 or 15 years I'm beginning to believe scopes are sometimes a waste of money in my neck of the woods in most cases. Experience has shown me that most of my shots could have been done with peep sights and a monocular, which is what my latest set-up is.

I use a scope for squirrels and groundhogs because I prefer a head shot, but I am slowly getting away from mounting a scope on every new rifle I buy. I have one 700 with cheap peeps and one other make with open sights and a few rifles with scopes. My next new rifle will likely be a 700 and have a first rate peep sight on it unless I take the scope off of one I already have. Waiting for the right shot might take a little longer but now I have a little more time to do the things I want to do instead a bunch of stuff I have to do.

I don't usually take as much ammo with me any more either. Even though I never looked like a bandalero out there, I used to take my share of bullets to the woods. Must be a no-confidence factor that I shrugged off eventually. Now if I could only figure out why I have more than one deer rifle.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2005, 01:12:30 AM »

Quote from: Graybeard

You don't need a 4-12 on a hunting rifle. Take a look at the Trophy 3-9 or the Legend line or stay in the banner line but drop the power to 3-9 or even better yet to 2-7.

Well, here's my predicament...

I feel I need the 4-12 because the one time I did hunt out in the field with it (and I'm sure I will again and again) I had a fairly hard time getting a clear picture on anything past 200 yards. I might not need it but the extra 3x magnification might come in handy.

dave375hh · « **Reply #5 on:** February 03, 2005, 01:44:30 AM »

Sprest22,
As a general rule I'd recomend the lowest power range that will do what you "NEED" to do. On my varmint rifles I use very high magnification, but on the hunting rifles I prefer 1.5X6 or 2 X 7 range. These are chosen for their low end rather than the high end of magnification. The big field of view at low power when it's shoot quick or don't shoot is much more important than high power. There's always time to turn the scope up when contimplating a long shot, but seldom time to turn it down for a quick one.

High Brass · « **Reply #6 on:** February 04, 2005, 04:13:26 AM »

I have a Leupold VariX-III 2.5-8 on my Remington M760 30-06. Its about as big of a scope that I'd care to mount on this particular rifle but it works great. I have pleny of magnification, ample field of view, clarity/brightness is great, and very good(long) eye relief.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2005, 04:14:00 AM »

Well, seeing the advantages of a lower powered scope, I might just consider going to a 2-7. Maybe I'll just stray away from field shots.

Graybeard · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2005, 04:21:47 AM »

Iffen ya can't see to make shots in the open at 300 yards with 9X then the problem is either with your eyes or you need to go to higher quality optics. Magnification is not a substitute for poor quality and in fact high magnification only worsens the problem. Low quality and low power work far better than low quality and high magnification.

Buy a quality 2-7 or 3-9 and if you can't see to shoot game in the open to 300 yards you need to get some glasses. Many western hunters consider 6X to be ideal for long range game shooting. I have only one big game rifle in my entire house with a scope that reaches 9X and that's it. All the rest max out below 9X.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2005, 12:16:36 PM »

Well, the eyes aren't the problem. They're at 20/20 last I checked. And I'm not real comfortable with taking shots past 100 yards anyway (that's normal, right? :roll: ) Suppose I miscaluclate wrong once? There's either a wounded deer or a missed deer and a wasted bullet, both scenarios bad. I think I better stick to the woods.

3006bluffhunter · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2005, 06:24:48 AM »

My Father started us boys hunting with a 22 with a peep sight.....Fell in love with them from that point on...I have a 10-22 a model 7400 & a handi rifle with a peep on....They are great for fast shooting...brushy area hunting and good out to 150+ yards.....They are a non magnifing scope!!!!!People under estimate a peep sight shooter...They are a deadly sight....Ask some of the vets. on here they will tell you ...Dale

sniperVLS · « **Reply #11 on:** February 20, 2005, 10:10:44 AM »

Super sniper 10x42

this thing rocks, excellent light transmission, will not lose a zero. Glad I stumbled across these before I went and spent 1,200.00 on a Tactical Leupold. I got sick of variable models :-D

If interested..

http://www.riflescopes.com/departments/264/rifle_scopes/super_sniper_rifle_scopes/super_sniper_rifle_scopes.htm

DakotaMike · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2005, 10:40:02 AM »

These are the rifle and scope combinations I currently use, the .338 is definitely the "go to" rifle.
.338 win mag stainless synthetic with 2.5x8 Leopold VXIII
8 Rem mag BDL with 3.5x10 Leopold VXIII
22-250 ADL with Nikon 6x20

dakotamike

beemanbeme · « **Reply #13 on:** February 21, 2005, 04:56:11 AM »

I have found that variable powered scopes are like buying your first shotgun with a poly-choke on it. The first year, you can't keep your hands off it. After that, you pretty much set it and forget it. In my case it would be set on 3x or 2.5.
For years my "go to" rifles for hunting out west has been a .300WM with a 1.5x5 Burris scope on it and a 7mag with a 2x7 Leuy. My "hunt here around the house" rifle is a model 7 in 7-08 with a vintage Weaver 3x on it.
If you have the plex type cross hairs, with a little practice, its very easy to "range" distances using the space between the heavy portions of the cross hairs.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #14 on:** March 06, 2005, 02:50:00 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard

Iffen ya can't see to make shots in the open at 300 yards with 9X then the problem is either with your eyes or you need to go to higher quality optics. Magnification is not a substitute for poor quality and in fact high magnification only worsens the problem. Low quality and low power work far better than low quality and high magnification.

Buy a quality 2-7 or 3-9 and if you can't see to shoot game in the open to 300 yards you need to get some glasses.

I've been meaning to ask you, what would you consider quality optics? My old scope was a Bushnell Sportsman (which prolly spells cheap, so that coulda been why it was poor viewing and it filled up with water like a submarine with a screen door when it went in the drink). I was looking at Bushnell Banner, then I looked at Trophy. Don't even recommend the Legend line, I don't have the $$$ to spend on the scope plus if it goes in to the drink again I'll be ****** out of $240. So...how bout a recommendation. Looking for a good 3-9 within $120. Thanx in advance.

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #15 on:** March 06, 2005, 04:13:46 PM »

I put a 3-9x42 Redfield Illuminator w/AccuTrac on my new 22-250 LV-SF. My M7 223 wears a 3-9x40 Bushnell Elite 3200. I'm very satisfied with both of them. MI VHNTR

Added on edit: Fishman029, try a Bushnell Trophy in 3-9x40. They run just under $100 and have very good optics for the money. I've had mine for years with no problems.

High Brass · « **Reply #16 on:** March 08, 2005, 02:22:52 AM »

Fish,

I'm not trying to answer for Graybeard or anyone else but I'll add my 2 cents.

"Quality" optics is a paintbrush term but by and large there is a big difference when you go from $75-150 scopes to $250-350 scopes. This is a genaral dollar figure and that varies a bit. For example: I've hunted deer and squirrels with Bushnell Sportviews, Tasco WC, and Weaver V series and did fine. However, once I got a Leupold VariX-III and a Nikon Monarch I noticed a great deal of difference. Here's what I mean on this. I have a Weaver V10 (2-10X) scope on my 243 and it has been the rig the I've taken probably most of my deer with. However, compared with the Nikon I can see things better at a lower magnification (say 6x or so) than I can with the Weaver's 10x. Yes the scopes are focussed to my eyes and of course the 10x makes things larger, but everything including clarity and brightness are alot better with the Nikon and Leupold. I've shot quite abit to just over 200 yards on various targets with the Nikon while setting the magnification on 5 and 6 power to be vary comfortable taking a shot on game. I'm not a Nikon salesman, but for less than $300 I think it's one heckuva scope and I'll probably buy one for my 243 someday.

My Dad ("Dave in WV") expressed to me that when you go to better quality optics than what I previously mentioned that he found that you can do well with lowe magnification. You know what? He was right IMO. I doubt that I'll ever use 9x for anything other than the range as most of the time my scope stays between 3-5x.

I don't think that you need to go to $1,000 scopes to appreciate a jump in quality but I do believe that when you go to $250-350 scopes you see a big jump and readily benefit from it.

This is not to say that lower priced scopes aren't worth a hoot, far from it. The two farthest deer that I've killed were with a Tasco WC 2-7 and the previously mentioned Weaver. Both were inside 200yards and I think that both were set on 4x at the time of the shot.

Different folks income and financial responsibilities dictate how much they're willing to or able to spend on scopes so nobody here can tell you what to get. However, saving up for scope is a good investment if you hunt alot and plan on using the rig for many years.

One parting shot I'll leave and then I'm done. My former lead technician bought a scope of low price (and he made alot more than I did/do) and put it on one of his 30-06 rifles. After replacing it three times he spent almost as much in buying the scope and mailing it as a fellow could on Bushnell Elite, Nikon Monarch, Burris Fullfield II or the like. Finally he realized that spending a little more up front would have been a lot less hastle. Good luck.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #17 on:** March 08, 2005, 02:36:28 AM »

Well, I've been talking around, and I think I'll get me a Trophy 3-9x40. My one friend recommended the 4-12 Banner, but I think that sucker would be huge on a hunting rifle. But that's my decision. Now just waiting for the funds.

Approx $120 off Cabelas with the flip-up scope caps (something I've learned that I could really use in some scenarios). Thanks for all the help.

sprest22 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 08, 2005, 03:42:02 AM »

Fishman,
I have a Trophy 3-9x40 and used it on a few different guns I have,I think you will be happy.It's a good all around scope.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #19 on:** March 08, 2005, 05:44:04 AM »

Quote from: sprest22

Fishman,
I have a Trophy 3-9x40 and used it on a few different guns I have,I think you will be happy.It's a good all around scope.

I just hope it can survive going in the drink like my other one did

:-D Then again, I hope I don't do that again. Thanx!