Scopes for heavy kickers

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kyle700

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I'm thinking I'd like to put a scope on my ruger #1 in .416 remington. I just feel more confident with a scope unless the range is very short. I have a couple of questions about this.

Are the rings that came with the gun adequate?

Which scope would you recommend? Obviously something with alot of eye relief. I'm thinking a 1-4x variable would be great but maybe I'm wrong. I don't want to cheap out but at the same time if I could keep the price reasonable that would be best. (under 1000, preferably quite a bit under)

Looking forward to your thoughts, thanks in advance.
 
I had a #1 in .416 Rigby. I wanted a scope that was small, tough, and light, with enough eye relief that it could be mounted with the ocular even with the front edge of the falling block to prevent scope rash when shooting prone or at a steep angle. I finally had a gunsmith make me a custom steel quarter rib, inletted for Talley QD rings, as the factory mounting options were too far rearward. The scope I chose was a Leupold 1.5-5X. Mounted in this fashion, I could only use it up to 3X while keeping a full sight picture, but for shots out to 400 yards this proved enough. Today I would probably opt for a Nightforce 1-4X (I have one on my .458 M-70). While the eye piece of the Nightforce is even longer than the Leupold, the 30 mm tube and the illuminated, etched, reticle are worth the cost and trouble of custom mounting IMHO. Leupold does have a new 1.5-5X Dangerous Game Scope with an illuminated reticle and metric adjustments, that might be a viable option, although I haven't seen one in person.
 
My CZ Rigby 416 went with a US Optics 1-4. Etched reticle, good (not the best) eye relief, illuminated and very very strong. Not light tho, but in a bigger gun, I felt a little useful mass is acceptable.

I mounted it on a Pic rail cap screwed on top of the receiver of the CZ. lapped the rings - good stron ones (Cant recall )

To me the 30mm tube is not required, but it is what they offered at the time.

Maybe a bit high for your budget, but you should consider it. Mine took huge punishment and did not blink.

My rifle was to be used for dangerous game, and I wanted strong, tough, a bit heavy for recoil management and dependability. It worked.

Boomer's siggestions are also excellent as well.
 
I have a VX3 1 - 4 that I have used on the big bore Number 1 and it works like a charm! It has the heavy duplex though and I am not a big fan, great for quick target acquisition in the thick stuff though!
 
Boomer said:
The scope I chose was a Leupold 1.5-5X. Mounted in this fashion, I could only use it up to 3X while keeping a full sight picture, but for shots out to 400 yards this proved enough.
Click to expand...

But how can we solve the problem that at low magnification (in this case, even your maximum magnificaton of 5 is low), it is very difficult to aim at paper target of 200 yards away, it is simply not clear enough. To shoot something of 4 hundreds yard away is even more difficult for eyes.
 
I too have a 1.5-5x on my .416 Rigby mounted in Ruger rings. The Ruger mounting system is a good one - have no fear. I woudl stick with a lightweight scope like the 1.5-5x Leupold rather than a heavier option like the 1-4x Nightforge. On heavy recoiling rifles you have more inertia to deal with when you have a heavier scope. More inertia leads to things breaking easier or shifting under recoil. DG rifles are usually fairly heavy so I would rather not add a scope that made the weight any worse than it needed to be. I'm sure that illuminated reticles are nice, but for me they're not worth the extra weight.

As for the 5x being too low powered to take a shot at 200 (or 400) yards, I shot a springbok in RSA at 287 meters with my 416 and the scope set on 5. Perhaps some don't, but I feel completely confident in taking a shot at 100 yards with iron sights. If you can do that, you can take a 300 yard shot on 5x with ease. At 5x the image at 300 yards appears like it would at 60 yards with 1x or irons. Plus you have the added bonus of only dealing with one focal plane...crosshairs are focused and the image in the scope is focused - much easier than irons. I'm not sure that I entirely understand what Boomer is talking about regarding the full field of view at 3x. Sewer-pipe view?

That said, most people don't have any business shooting at an animal much over 200 yards away so the discussion is rather moot.
 
What I have mounted on a few of my heavier kickers are;

On my Marlin 444S, in 444 Marlin, a 1.5x4.5 Bushnell Scope Chief VI.

Marlin444S444.jpg


On my Marlin 1895GS, in 45-70, a 1x4 Leupold Vari-X II.

Marlin1895GS45-70.jpg


And on my Winchester Model 70 Super Express in 458WM, a 1x4 Leupold Vari-X II.

Model70Winchester458WM.jpg


All three utilize Weaver pivot mounts.
 
5298A7D1-B445-484A-BDC7-695B482B13CB-555-000000438EF18FF3.jpg

I put a new VX6 1-6 on Talley fixed rings on a Rem 700 416RemMag i recently acquired. It is hands above the Leupold VX3 1.5-5 or the European 1.25-4 which I thought were great.
The ruger rings are good for heavy kickers, I have them on a RSM 416 Rigby as well that is fairly abusive. The nighforce might be a good option especially if your looking for something illumunated.
 
elker said:
But how can we solve the problem that at low magnification (in this case, even your maximum magnificaton of 5 is low), it is very difficult to aim at paper target of 200 yards away, it is simply not clear enough. To shoot something of 4 hundreds yard away is even more difficult for eyes.
Click to expand...

So shoot at a bigger piece of paper. The purpose of a .416 is to flatten a big ugly that is intent on flattening you. This is not normally a long range problem. But if you mount a scope suitable for long range shooting on a dangerous game rifle, there will be a problem as you frantically struggle to find an identifiable head or spine to shoot, but all you can see through your scope is a fuzzy mass of tawny colored hair, or willows, or thorn bush. If the rifle is to used as a general purpose hunting rifle, you might be inclined to give a 2.5-8X a try, but as magnification increases, eye relief decreases and it forces you to snuggle up close to the end of a pipe that moves rapidly towards you. If you shoot at a steep angle or from prone, you will get even closer. Think about how far back that rifle will jumps in recoil before you decide to mount 10X glass. If it moves back 4" but you only have 3" of eye relief, well . . .
 
I prefer a fixed power scope - I have a Leupold M8 2.5x and it worked well on several heavy recoiling rifles.
 
After reading BUM's post, I thought I should check out the difference in weight between the 1-4X Nightforce vs the illuminated version of the 1.5-5 Leupold. The Nightforce is heavier than the Leupold by 2.7 ounces, or about the same as a round of 400 gr .416 Rigby ammunition. I did neglect to mention though that an additional advantage of mounting the ocular of the scope even with the front edge of the falling block was nothing covered or obscured the loading-ejection port of the #1. This facilitated much quicker reloading when spare rounds were held between the fingers of my support hand.
 
Boomer said:
After reading BUM's post, I thought I should check out the difference in weight between the 1-4X Nightforce vs the illuminated version of the 1.5-5 Leupold. The Nightforce is heavier than the Leupold by 2.7 ounces, or about the same as a round of 400 gr .416 Rigby ammunition. I did neglect to mention though that an additional advantage of mounting the ocular of the scope even with the front edge of the falling block was nothing covered or obscured the loading-ejection port of the #1. This facilitated much quicker reloading when spare rounds were held between the fingers of my support hand.
Click to expand...
Good point boomer, I hadn't considered that. I won't be shooting past roughly 200 with the gun (if I need to reach farther I own better tools for the job) so a 4x should be sufficient.
 
kyle700 said:
Good point boomer, I hadn't considered that. I won't be shooting past roughly 200 with the gun (if I need to reach farther I own better tools for the job) so a 4x should be sufficient.
Click to expand...

At that range the 2.5x is enough, imo. The fixed 4x weighs 9.3 oz - which is the same as the 1.5-5x20, while the fixed 2.5 weighs 6.5oz. The 2.5x also gives you 4.9" of eye relief, which is nice.
 
1899 said:
At that range the 2.5x is enough, imo. The fixed 4x weighs 9.3 oz - which is the same as the 1.5-5x20, while the fixed 2.5 weighs 6.5oz. The 2.5x also gives you 4.9" of eye relief, which is nice.
Click to expand...

Really? No kidding I guess it would be nice. I'll have to do some research. I've never had a case of magnum eyebrow and if I can keep it that way I'll be happy.
 
Leupold VX-3 1.75-6x32mm is sitting on my .458x2" American K98 Mauser. Has a 3.7-4.8inch eye relief.
One day last fall the empty rifle&scope took a 3.5 foot fall to the cement from the shooting bench at our rifle range.
No problems whatsoever except for some scratching of the finish and my shattered nerves!
 
1899 said:
I prefer a fixed power scope - I have a Leupold M8 2.5x and it worked well on several heavy recoiling rifles.
Click to expand...

I used one on a 444S and it held up well. The current 2.5X Ultralite Leupold has over 4 inches of eye relief and designed to work with low rings.
 
Boomer said:
So shoot at a bigger piece of paper. The purpose of a .416 is to flatten a big ugly that is intent on flattening you. This is not normally a long range problem. But if you mount a scope suitable for long range shooting on a dangerous game rifle, there will be a problem as you frantically struggle to find an identifiable head or spine to shoot, but all you can see through your scope is a fuzzy mass of tawny colored hair, or willows, or thorn bush. If the rifle is to used as a general purpose hunting rifle, you might be inclined to give a 2.5-8X a try, but as magnification increases, eye relief decreases and it forces you to snuggle up close to the end of a pipe that moves rapidly towards you. If you shoot at a steep angle or from prone, you will get even closer. Think about how far back that rifle will jumps in recoil before you decide to mount 10X glass. If it moves back 4" but you only have 3" of eye relief, well . . .
Click to expand...

Bingo.
This group was shot with a 1.75-6 Leupold w. Heavy Duplex

416RM.jpg
 
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