Too much of a good thing?

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Varrus

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Hey everyone, how much magnification is too much? I have a pretty great rifle I use for hunting and target shooting. Currently I'm using a 2-10 scope, it's great for hunting as the low end makes closer targets easy to aquire and 10 power is more than enough to shoot at distances I find ethical.

My problem is, I would like more magnification mainly for target shooting, I would like to enroll in a long range shooting class and from what I've seen many of the shooters in this particular class are using much more magnification. Specifically I'm looking at primary arms 6-30 (or the 6-24) it seems like a great optic for long range shooting, however I worry that 6 power is simply too high to practically use at hunting distances. Currently I have little issues using my 10 power out to 800 meters except maybe target ID. While I know not long ago snipers were using 10 power optics to make some impressive shots, I'd like to give my self as much of an advantage as possible.

Does anyone have any input? Any practical experience with these or similar optics? Most importantly is 6x to much scope for hunting? For reference I hunt mostly central and southern Alberta in a mix of both boreal forest (where I think I might regret a 6x) and grasslands.
 
You're generally never going to use the max magnification of those big scopes. At 800m I've used a straight 10x scope without issues but you should be able to easily do it with a 15x or maybe a 20x but you shouldn't need to go over that.
 
I don't have much issue at 800m with my current 10x, but from what I've seen this class I am interested in will shoot out to 1650, past 1000m I start to worry
 
Varrus said:
I don't have much issue at 800m with my current 10x, but from what I've seen this class I am interested in will shoot out to 1650, past 1000m I start to worry
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Ok l, yeah put to those distances then yeah you want something at least a 25 I'm honest opinion
 
At some point, I suspect mirage / heat waves, etc. become an issue with too high magnification - we have a "telescope" with 22 to 60 power eyepiece - I think is a 4" (1000 mm) front lens. The beach on far side of this reservoir is about 1000 meters away from our deck; the far crest of the valley wall is about 1400 meters - at max power is often very difficult to make out what is over there - often have to turn it way down to see what the thing is. Granted, this thing is not likely high end optics - more than likely made-in-China or somewhere - brand name is Celestron, model is "Ultima 100".
 
maybe take in the course before deciding what the ultimate is. Can you borrow a scope with more xpower ? Organizer may have a loaner option available?
Just buying a scope by-the-numbers may prove out to be a mistake later
 
There’s a lot different shooting competitions; you could do a lot worse than checking out what interests you and asking what the winners are using. Theres so many things more important than exact power ranges.

Sounds like you have the hunting scope figured out.
 
I appreciate the reply, it sounds like I may just need to have two different rifles set up, maybe I'm asking for to much performance out of one system.
 
I hunt where you hunt and have played with up to 6.5x on low end, have done well on coyote calling even with 4x on low end, you could look at the leupold 30mm tube 40mm objective side focus models in 4.5-14 that weigh around 15.5 oz for solid hunting acceptable weight and to have that higher end magnification and the parallax adjust to go with it...it's said parallax adjust isn't really necessary up to about 10x so that's an option. I did a 6.5-20x40 once that was also lightweight for it's power range but in the end I'm down to 3-9x40 illuminated dot as primary is hunting. If I was more serious about target work I'd set a rifle up for target stuff and keep the hunting one for hunting. That's a smart way to go about it. Guess it all depends how far you want to go? I find the 3-9x I shoot now is plenty to play accurate out to 5-600 yards on the gongs and have shot deer to 420 so far. I shot my older 4.5-14 side focus out to 930 yards though no problem so it's one that could reach much easier while still being a great 'hunting' option. Leupold builds quite a few options on that chassis btw. Just use a red sharpie to mark your regular 200 yard parallax setting and dial to that for the regular hunting...when you spin up to 14x then you'll naturally reach for the dial to focus it. It works pretty good. It will still ride low on a rifle for natural cheek weld being only 40mm objective, low or medium rings.
 
Thanks for the input, I think I will keep my 2-10 as is as the rifle is light weight and very easy to aim and fire from a standing position. I think trying to get the rifle to preform well at long range with a heavy high magnification optic will really only make it a poor preformer in both disciplines. I guess it's time to build out a whole new rifle.
 
Varrus said:
Hey everyone, how much magnification is too much? I have a pretty great rifle I use for hunting and target shooting. Currently I'm using a 2-10 scope, it's great for hunting as the low end makes closer targets easy to aquire and 10 power is more than enough to shoot at distances I find ethical.

My problem is, I would like more magnification mainly for target shooting, I would like to enroll in a long range shooting class and from what I've seen many of the shooters in this particular class are using much more magnification. Specifically I'm looking at primary arms 6-30 (or the 6-24) it seems like a great optic for long range shooting, however I worry that 6 power is simply too high to practically use at hunting distances. Currently I have little issues using my 10 power out to 800 meters except maybe target ID. While I know not long ago snipers were using 10 power optics to make some impressive shots, I'd like to give my self as much of an advantage as possible.

Does anyone have any input? Any practical experience with these or similar optics? Most importantly is 6x to much scope for hunting? For reference I hunt mostly central and southern Alberta in a mix of both boreal forest (where I think I might regret a 6x) and grasslands.
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the big question is what do you actually want to shoot at 800 or 1,000 meters?
If you are on steel, a 10X is great, but if you want to shoot proper Fclass targets, then you want to have some more magnification for several reasons, one being it is far easier to hold over a ring or two when the wind is switching .
Another is for easier mirage reading.
If you are using it mainly as a hunting scope, 10X is fine, but if you wanted to go to a 6-24X you would not be hampered when dialing down to 6X for close shooting.
Cat
 
Typical rule of thumb for optic selection is take the distance you want to shoot and multiply by 1.5 or 2. Ie if you want to shoot 800m then you want a 16x or 12x min. Biggest issue most shooters have is being over magnified. I find the 4-20 or 5-25 is a pretty idea range depending on caliber. On my 6mm Creedmoor I use a 2.5-20 NX8 and it's absolutely ideal.

Keep in mind too optics are the strongest in the middle of their range. So a 5-25 will perform the best at 15x... etc
 
Varrus said:
Hey everyone, how much magnification is too much? I have a pretty great rifle I use for hunting and target shooting. Currently I'm using a 2-10 scope, it's great for hunting as the low end makes closer targets easy to aquire and 10 power is more than enough to shoot at distances I find ethical.

My problem is, I would like more magnification mainly for target shooting, I would like to enroll in a long range shooting class and from what I've seen many of the shooters in this particular class are using much more magnification. Specifically I'm looking at primary arms 6-30 (or the 6-24) it seems like a great optic for long range shooting, however I worry that 6 power is simply too high to practically use at hunting distances. Currently I have little issues using my 10 power out to 800 meters except maybe target ID. While I know not long ago snipers were using 10 power optics to make some impressive shots, I'd like to give my self as much of an advantage as possible.

Does anyone have any input? Any practical experience with these or similar optics? Most importantly is 6x to much scope for hunting? For reference I hunt mostly central and southern Alberta in a mix of both boreal forest (where I think I might regret a 6x) and grasslands.
Click to expand...

First Precision rifle course I took, I used a straight 10x scope. It's pretty easy to hit repeatedly out to 800 yeard/meters with one. - dan
 
Depends what you are shooting... off the bench shooting groups and testing loads I run full magnification the whole time... PRS style shooting having to acquire other targets you will want a wider field of view, most of the shooters I know run in the 12x-20x range depending on the stage.
 
Scope quality plays a role. Low end scopes don't tend to do well at high mag while mid and high end scopes tend to be much more useable up top
I only use max mag (25-32x on my better scopes) for load development and shooting groups.
 
A good 3-10X is about as much as anyone needs for normal hunting conditions. I suspect most hunters with a 3-10X are like me and carry the rifle with the scope set at a 5X or 6X while walking or stalking. Certain hunting television programs try to sell the viewers on gear for long-range hunting but the reality is most hunting shots on big game are 50 to 300 metres, which can be easily accomplished with a fixed 4X or 6X. Good luck getting on target if the optic is dialled up to 10X and a buck pops up at close range in the bush. For the times when the magnification is needed for a longer shot, beyond 10X, a shooter may have difficulty getting back on target if a follow-up shot is required.
 
Unholysavage said:
Scope quality plays a role. Low end scopes don't tend to do well at high mag while mid and high end scopes tend to be much more useable up top
I only use max mag (25-32x on my better scopes) for load development and shooting groups.
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x2 on this

image quality makes an intangible difference on what feels like enough magnification for a given task, within reason; a better image(brighter/higher resolution/contrast etc.) will feel as precise, or give confidence, as well as a lower quality image a few x's higher in magnification

optics rule of thumb is buy once cry once, if you don't spend the money now...by the time you've gone through a few options you will have spent even more than the do it right the first time approach, goes for spotters and bino's too., another rule might be to spend a similar amount on your scope as your rifle (for basic hunting setups anyway), I will happily hunt rest of my days on a trijicon accupoint 3-9x40 and I like to play on steel/coyotes out to ~600, big game up to ~400 now
 
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