Recommendation on lightweight hunting scope?

P

prairieguy

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
177   0   0
Location
Alberta
Hello CGN gun gurus,

I am seeking some advice on a new (or new to me) rifle scope.

I am putting together an ultralight mountain rifle and would like to top if with a high quality, light weight scope.

I have been scouring the internet and various manufacturer's websites but cannot seem to find what I am looking for. The killer seems to be finding one with clockwise adjustments and exposed / target turrets. It's like trying to find a unicorn.

Here are my preferred requirements:

- low profile exposed elevation and windage turrets / ballistic turrets
- clockwise (European) adjustments for elevation and windage
- .mil adjustments preferred but not a deal breaker if they're 1/4 MOA
- Parallax adjustable
- 3-15 magnification (or similar)
- 30mm main tube diameter preferred
- illuminated reticle in first focal plane
- HD / Schott glass
- weight: approx 20 oz / 600 gr
- Absolutely not made in China. North American or European manufacture only

- budget maximum of $2500

Any and all recommendations welcome. Thanks!
 
That’s a tough one for sure. Interested to see the suggestions
One that fits a few of those qualifications would be the Leupold Mark V
I think one challenge will be finding a FFP with those specs as it typically turns into a tactical scope and size and weight start going up.
A buddy just got the Vortex Razor LHT and it is really nice, meets most of your requests and has a great price point.
 
It sounds like you are looking for a target scope for an ultralight build. Light weight scopes are in the 12 oz range and have few of the bells and whistles you're looking for. It kind of defeats the whole purpose of the ultralight when you add a 30mm tubed telescope to it. I've been down this road before. Removed the beautiful, heavy vx3L 14x and replaced with a 1.5-6x. Great decision. If you're convinced you need all that magnification Leupold 14x are still only 13 ounces.
 
March has some glass that checks most of your boxes. Of the precision scope makers they seem to be one of the few true "lightweights". Their 4-24 FFP is 21 ounces. It's like Leupold and NF had a baby. They are a little over budget, and almost non existent used.
 
Thanks for all the recommendations.

I have given March a serious consideration. Their 3-24x42 ticks all the boxes except two, CW rotation and price.

Unfortunately they will not make a scope with clockwise turns. I even had the Canadian importer contact Deon about making on as a special order and they declined.

Schmidt and Bender seem t be the only ones that hit all my requirements with their Zenith and Stratos line but they are $$$$.
 
travco said:
Swaro Z5 3-18 great scope . Z6 is considerably heavier . Z5 is well withing your budget .
Click to expand...

Yeah but I dont believe Z5 has HD glass, that starts at the Z6 line and up.

Nighrforce nxs line is good but their glass is just ok.

Seems like he needs to bump that budget up to 3.5 to 4k with that wish list.
 
Last edited:
Illuminated reticle, parallax adjustment, target turret, 30mm tube, 5x erector ratio. Those 5 features each add significant weight, if I were you I’d think hard about what features you really need on a scope for an ultralight mountain rifle. If you can ditch a few you can drop weight, why spend money on an ultralight build and then add unnecessary weight.

Perhaps you do need all of those features, but:
-unless you anticipate a lot of low light hunting maybe you could do without the illuminated reticle
-maybe a 4x erector ratio would save a couple ozs (4-16x)
-how much vertical adjustment do you need in your reticle, maybe a 1 inch tube will do
-could you make do with a ballistic reticle instead of turrets, it’d save significant weight

Personally my “lightweight” is a .270 on a slabbed and lightened Rem700 by Ralf Martini. It wears a Leupold Vx3 2.5-8x36. I’m considering Swarovski Z3 3-10 with a BRH reticle as I’d like a bit better low light performance and a ballistic reticle. But I’m not going to be shooting game further than 350-400 yards max so that’s plenty of scope for the job. Perhaps your needs are different though.
 
joehunt said:
The Vortex Razor LHT and the Leupold vx6 hit the mark minus the turret rotation.
Click to expand...

The new 30mm Razor LHT is SFP. Also the illumination is just a centre dot.

I went throught this a couple of years ago, my 'wants' were pretty much the same as the OP, minus the backwards European turret rotation. There was nothing on the market at a any price point. The Vortex Razor LHT is the closest I have found, if you factor weight as the primary focus.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom