Objective size 40mm0r 50mm?

[necchi]

Going for a new hunting scope for the 308 nothing fancy but not bottom of the barrel either.
Narrowed it down to two with the options I want in the $250 range;
BDC not Mildot or common 4plex
Variable 3-9/10.5 (I do like target shooting too)
Non-A/O
They be the Vortex Diamondback and/or the Bushnell 3200 Elite.

Now here's my quandry, both are avbailable with a 40 or 50mm objective, weight isn't really an issue as I'm mostly stand hunting along field edges or power lines surrounded by woods/swamp.

I'm currently mounted with Nikon knock-off's sold by Scheels with 42mm objectives (nice scope) but the 4x16 on the 308 is a bit much and is going on a 223.
My original thought was to go with the 50 as I'm gettin older and wanted more light reaching my eyes, and not sure I want smaller than my current 42. So now I'm second guessing myself.

What do you guy's think? Any feedback besides telling to to buy a different scope would be nice  pretty much set on those two it's just the Objective lense I'm wondering about,
Thanks in advance, John from here in MN.

[Graybeard]

40mm using a 50mm or larger on such a rifle is kinda silly and shows a lack of understanding of optics and their properties and uses. We don't hunt all night long in the US like they do in Europe so trying to copy their scopes just shows a complete lack of understanding of what's needed and useful.

You want your scope mounted low and of a size that doesn't over power the balance of your rifle. I have no hunting rifles with more than a 3-9 on them and most have 2-7 or 2.5-8 scopes on them. Quality optics not huge honking objectives are what is needed.

I have no experience with Vortex optics but the Elite 3200 is an excellent scope. I have several Elite 3200s and 4200s both. Those and Leupold scopes are on most of my rifles. I do have a Mueller 4.5-14 on one of my varmint rifles.

[Dave in WV]

IMHO the 50mm won't make that much difference. Since you are pleased with the 3200 I'd go with one with a 40mm objective.

[parkergunshop]

I have one scope with a 50 M/M objective a 3x9 Leupold.  I own over a dozen others, including Elite 3200, Leupolds of various powers, Weavers, Lyman All Americans, half of my scopes are fixed power 3X, 4X or 6X  upto 24X and I have yet to change power when hunting with the variable scopes I own.  They are normally set at about 4 power,  I guess that I had a lapse of reason when buying the 3x9  scope with a  50 M/M objective for it has served no purpose at all that I can tell. over a 40 M/M.

I dislike the higher rings many of these  scopes require, lack of clearance with the bolt handle and/or safetly, that comes with the oversized bulky scopes, particularly those made in Europe, See no advantage in a tube size over 1 inch requiring special rings, or in paying $1000-$2000 for a rifle scope as some insist on doing.  I have seen many $300 dollar rifles with scopes costing close to $1000 dollars on them.

[necchi]

40mm using a 50mm or larger on such a rifle is kinda silly and shows a lack of understanding of optics and their properties and uses. We don't hunt all night long in the US like they do in Europe so trying to copy their scopes just shows a complete lack of understanding of what's needed and useful.

Well that's kinda why I was askin,  If a 50mm objective is that darn terrible, why on earth does every scope maker offer one? All the way from CenterPoint too Luepy, Zeiss and Svarski.

 I'll have no trouble mounting a 50mm on a 308 handi. Matter of fact I should be able to use my existing mounts. Dimentions where the very first thing I looked at. And as far as hunting all night, your right we only get 1/2 hour after sunset. Did you ever hunt MN Bleackbear on a rainy night in a state forest north of Duluth? It gets kinda dark under that canopy in September. Lighted optics is something I completely don't understand, I'm old enough to be home and near bedtime by the time I need a lighted sight.
 And again I enjoy target shooting.

 I'll be going for the 50mm. If I don't I'll never know I've made a mistake and will always wonder. I've check our sponsor Mueller Optics and they have close but no cookie for what I want. I find full MilRadiant dot's too busy. I'm not a sniper and don't intend taking any shot's past my praticed range of 300, (least without a range finder)
( coyote maybe but that's a different gun )
( I don't do no doggin, an aroud here you can get easily within 200 of a ground hog )

 

[Lloyd Smale]

they offer them because typical of american mentality bigger is better to most. Ill go two ways with large objectives. First i dont care for them. If you buy a GOOD scope with GOOD glass a typical 3x9 scope will gain nothing going from a 40 to a 50mm objective. Your eyes just dont dialate enough to take advantage. then to me they look ugly and need hight mounts which makes shooting akward. Now where you might see an advantage is if your buying a cheap scope like a tasco or bushell or simmons bottom line scopes that dont have good glass or good coatings on the glass. There poor at picking up light and anything like a bigger objective can help. Problem is that in alot of cases the larger objective scopes are more expensive and in that case your better off spending that extra money on a 40mm with better glass because upgrading to a better scope not only gives you better glass but usually a better made scope with lenses that are aligned better and adjustments that track better.

40mm using a 50mm or larger on such a rifle is kinda silly and shows a lack of understanding of optics and their properties and uses. We don't hunt all night long in the US like they do in Europe so trying to copy their scopes just shows a complete lack of understanding of what's needed and useful.

Well that's kinda why I was askin,  If a 50mm objective is that darn terrible, why on earth does every scope maker offer one? All the way from CenterPoint too Luepy, Zeiss and Svarski.

 I'll have no trouble mounting a 50mm on a 308 handi. Matter of fact I should be able to use my existing mounts. Dimentions where the very first thing I looked at. And as far as hunting all night, your right we only get 1/2 hour after sunset. Did you ever hunt MN Bleackbear on a rainy night in a state forest north of Duluth? It gets kinda dark under that canopy in September. Lighted optics is something I completely don't understand, I'm old enough to be home and near bedtime by the time I need a lighted sight.
 And again I enjoy target shooting.

 I'll be going for the 50mm. If I don't I'll never know I've made a mistake and will always wonder. I've check our sponsor Mueller Optics and they have close but no cookie for what I want. I find full MilRadiant dot's too busy. I'm not a sniper and don't intend taking any shot's past my praticed range of 300, (least without a range finder)
( coyote maybe but that's a different gun )
( I don't do no doggin, an aroud here you can get easily within 200 of a ground hog )

[Lloyd Smale]

by the way 3200s are good scopes. I havent looked through a diamondback vortex but have heard there compareable to the 3200. I do have a 2x7 vortex viper that i just bought and it would be a perfect scope for your 308. I put it side by side with one of my vx2 2x7 and 3x9 luepolds the other night in low light and it was just as good as either of those scopes compared it to my 3200 and it actually was a bit better and thats with a 32mm objective compared to the 3200s 40mm. I didnt compare it to the nikon monarchs or 4200s but those are so close to the leupolds that its a toss up. Cameraland has them on sale right now for a great price. Couldnt imagine a better scope for the money on a 308

[necchi]

I appreciate everyone's feed back on this,
 Moneys tuff an times are hard, so I'm really streaching just to spend what I can here. I'm not hitting the food shelf by any means, but I just can't sqeeze the budget any tighter, (damn gas!).
 I looked at the Viper      They do have different coatings, so it's better glass and I keep reading that over and over.
Let me tell ya, this is a real struggle. It's not an impulse buy, I've been kicking this around for about a month an doing a ton of reading before I posted. A little more leg work today to a couple of local shops an I'll make up my mind for better or worse.
But it might just end up being best 3 outta 5 in a coin toss 

[Graybeard]

There are basically three things that need to be considered in selecting a scope that are strictly scope related.

One is the mechanical side of the scope ie, how solid is it and how well with it hold up to the physical abuse all hunting guns get.

Another is the quality of the actual glass the lens are made of and how well it is polished. Not all glass is the same and not all makers polish them the same. The better the quality of glass that goes into the making of the lens and the higher the level of polish the better the light transmission and the less reflection and internal disburstion will affect the image quality.

Lastly is the quality of the coatings on the glass. All air to glass surfaces loose about 5% of the light that enters with no coatings at all so it is imperative that ALL glass to air surfaces are coated. Multi coatings are superior to single coating that were used in the early days. Making sure all surfaces are multicoated is one way to be sure you're getting the light to your eye that the scope takes in. Again not all coatings or multicoatings are equal and some companies use better coatings than others.

Leupold is about as good as it gets for mechanical properties. They are solid and rugged optics and backed by an absolute life time guarantee. Their glass is generally good and so is the polishing of lens tho the higher price levels have better glass and better polish and coatings than the lower price lines.

Bushnell Elites are also very solid mechanically and glass and coatings in my opinion are superior to those of Leupold scopes.

All the Leupold and Bushnell Elites I have do a great job of holding zero and taking the adjustments you put into them to adjust POI. All are bright and clear and are all I need for all lighting conditions in which I hunt.

I have little experience with most other brands in the last 30 years as at least that long ago I stopped buying other brands. Other than one Mueller APV 4.5-14 and the BSA that came on my GAMO air rifle all other scopes in use on my guns are either Leupold or Busnell Elite.

[parkergunshop]

Greybeard,

I agree with your Leupold Scope analysis,  I have a 30 year old 24 power Leupold that has been on pratically every caliber rifle from a .222 Remington to a .458 Winchester Magnum.  It started out on benchrest rifles in  NBRSA  for five years and then graduated to being used for accuracy testing on rifles I worked on.

This scope has been zeroed in on dozens of rifles and used to fire test groups using various loads up to and exceeding maximum on large magnums, .338, 375 H&H and 458 Winchester Magnum without failure and the adjustments work just as well today as 30 years ago.   It is still in the same set of Leupold Rings it was first installed in.

This was the first Leupold I purchased and I have since purchased four more and have yet to have any type of failure period with a Leupold.  Matter of fact, I have not had a Weaver or Lyman All American fail either.

The last scope I purchased was a Bushnell Elite, it's optics are great, but it has not stood the test of time like my Leupolds.

[deerandduck]

Not sure if you've made your choice yet, but heres my 2 cents....
Go with the 40mm.  The 50 does get you a few things but it does cost more.  There are other limiting factors that affect the amount of light you can gather with a scope, i.e. tube size, power setting of zoom, your own pupil opening.  Bottom line, I don't waste my money of the scope hype and get a 50.
On another note, I had a viper scope, about a 2.5-10 maybe or something close.  I really liked it on the range, good clear optics.  But when using it on a deer one early morning, I had difficulty in getting the view.  It seemed real picky about exactly where I held my head.  I do have 2 3200s and they both have killed many deer.  Just a darn good scope.  I do have better ones (i.e. Nikon Monarchs) but good scope for the value.

thanks,
deerandduck

[necchi]

Well, it's gonna be this one;
http://www.bushnell.com/products/scopes/riflescopes/elite3200/323950B/

3x9 50mm Elite 3200 with their DOA retical. Just under $200 shipped/NIB.

There's a heck of clearance on the 3200/4200 series all over the place. I understand they have a new Elite model comming out (with a new improved price tag) so the older ones are going out the door.

I'll let you guy's know how the 50mm works out for me in a few years. I spend maybe two weeks a year hunting with the 308, but alot of time on the range.

[charles p]

I have several Leupolds in 40mm and 50mm objectives.  I don't see any real advantage to a 50mm, and if you ever hunt with the aid of a horse, that 50mm may not fit very well in the outfitter's scabbard.

[Swampman]

Wouldn't accept a 50mm scope as a gift if I had to actually use it.

[mcwoodduck]

For the most part I think it is flip a coin.
I have a 50mm and a 40mm Leupold Var X II 3-9 and really there is not a difference between the two.
other than;
1) the 50 needs higher rings and if your rifle does not have a nice high comb on the stock you are not going to get a good cheek weld.
2) if you plan on taking the rilfe on horse back for Deer, Elk, Moose, Sheep... you will need to get your own scabbord for the 50mm.
When I was in IDaho, I brought my 308 with the large objective as a back up rifle to my 338.  The Guide told me most of the scabords are made for 40 - 42 MM objectives.

[Jim Miller]

  Pick the one with the largest exit pupil. It will make eye position less critical.


Jim