The lower - power scopes regardless of make seem to work well for me within my comfort zone simply because I don't try to make a shot on an animal after a given distance. The only time I use a high powered variable any more is plinking at the range or in a shooting match....
375 H&H and Glass
- Thread starter badbrass
- Start date
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- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Scope your .375 appropriately for how you intend to use it. That might be the same as you would other big game rifles or it might not be. I don't see how a 1.5-5X is old school, the magnification range is appropriate for many big game scenarios. I used a M-70 .375 H&H with a 2.5-8X36 in Africa, it was a nice set up; physically smaller than a standard 3-9X and nearly the same range of magnification. I have a 1-4X Nightforce on my .458, and I believe it may be the best big game scope I've ever owned, even a hair better than the 1.5-5X.
I have a 1-4X Nightforce on my .458, and I believe it may be the best big game scope I've ever owned, even a hair better than the 1.5-5X.[/QUOTE]
Boomer... how is the 1-4X for eye relief, more or less than a 1.5-5 Leupold ?
Clarity is better eh ? And whom might sell them ?
Boomer... how is the 1-4X for eye relief, more or less than a 1.5-5 Leupold ?
Clarity is better eh ? And whom might sell them ?
Leupold VX-III 1.5-5 is 9.7oz
Bushnell 6500 1.25-8 is 15.8oz
64% heavier is not exactly in the same category to me
However, with the larger objective and (ugly) 30mm tube the Bushnell will be brighter in low light conditions. I will give you that.
However, even with my inferior low power tiny lens scope, I run out of legal shooting light before I can blame the scope itself.
The parameters of the scopes suggested were not all to maintain the "weight category." Some were a better power range, some were a brighter design... and one combined the two... since there were no criteria provided, I just threw out some options that may have interested the OP... none of them were anything I would go with, but I know what I like and why... I had to guess with that post.
And P.S - I said that I was not hacking on anyone who chooses that scope... if you like it and it works for you then thats great.
.375 glass
I have several of the scopes suggested above but when glassing my new .375 to take for lion I played with the 1-4 leupold, the 1.5-5 leupold the 3-9 leupold and I went out and bought a 1.5-6 Zeiss Diavari. Reasoning being most of my shooting was going to be inside a 100 mtrs however the odd long poke could be asked for ( I shot a Puku at 280 mtrs) and sitting for lion and leopard was going to be low - very low light conditions, where I found the 20 mm objective lens to be less than stellar. The Zeiss was absolutely marvelous and I would recommend it highly. Some will say the Zeiss is heavier and it is but my 700 is quite light and I was looking to add a little weight so the Zeiss fit all my needs to perfection. The 6X I found to be more than adequate for shooting accurately right out to 400 mtrs at the range, so in my opinion and research with optics on the .375 I found this to be perfection.
I have also an old 3-9 Diavari which I played with on this rifle but wanted lower than 3X for sitting late and maybe having to do some hair raising close up work on cats in low low light.
My son took his 375 ruger to Africa just a couple of weeks before my last trip, wearing a 1.5-5 Vari X III and found it lacking in magnification and light gathering. He is an excellent shot (good teacher I think) and when his PH realized this, he was asked to take shots that were beyond the comfort range of the 5X and heavy duplex of his scope. He did however manage to take his Kudu at a ranged 420 mtrs but he said that he sure would have liked a bit more magnification and a much finer cross hair.
This is my experience for what it"s worth.
I have several of the scopes suggested above but when glassing my new .375 to take for lion I played with the 1-4 leupold, the 1.5-5 leupold the 3-9 leupold and I went out and bought a 1.5-6 Zeiss Diavari. Reasoning being most of my shooting was going to be inside a 100 mtrs however the odd long poke could be asked for ( I shot a Puku at 280 mtrs) and sitting for lion and leopard was going to be low - very low light conditions, where I found the 20 mm objective lens to be less than stellar. The Zeiss was absolutely marvelous and I would recommend it highly. Some will say the Zeiss is heavier and it is but my 700 is quite light and I was looking to add a little weight so the Zeiss fit all my needs to perfection. The 6X I found to be more than adequate for shooting accurately right out to 400 mtrs at the range, so in my opinion and research with optics on the .375 I found this to be perfection.
I have also an old 3-9 Diavari which I played with on this rifle but wanted lower than 3X for sitting late and maybe having to do some hair raising close up work on cats in low low light.
My son took his 375 ruger to Africa just a couple of weeks before my last trip, wearing a 1.5-5 Vari X III and found it lacking in magnification and light gathering. He is an excellent shot (good teacher I think) and when his PH realized this, he was asked to take shots that were beyond the comfort range of the 5X and heavy duplex of his scope. He did however manage to take his Kudu at a ranged 420 mtrs but he said that he sure would have liked a bit more magnification and a much finer cross hair.
This is my experience for what it"s worth.
I've used the 1.5-5x20 Leupold and never found it lacking. My current 375 has a 4x Kollmorgen Bearcub in a Griffin and Howe quick detach mount and it works well too. I've also used a 3-9x40 and if you think the shots will be longer that's a good choice. I guess it depends how you think you'll be using the rifle.
Riflesmith
CGN Regular
- Location
- On The Line
I have two .375 h&h rifles. One carries a zeiss diavari 1.5-6x and the other a zeiss diavari 2.5-10x.
It gets dim when the sun goes behind a cloud too. I had one on my .416 Rigby for 1000 range shots and 1 hunting trip. Couldn't get it off fast enough when I got home.
My experience exactly with all the Leupold 20 mm OL scopes, too dark and almost worthless at dusk and sunrise, especially if critter is standing in the shade.
As others have said, scope it like you would any "standard" hunting rifle. I've got a VX-III 1.75-6x32mm on mine, and that's as low as I would recommend going. The low light performance of that scope is reasonable IMHO -- it's served me well in the last 15 minutes of legal shooting light when the pressure was on to clean up a mess that started when a Cape Buff decided not to play nice and surrender at the first shot. That said, though, something like a 3.5-10x40mm will have a noticeably better twilight factor, which is nice to have, but seldom essential.
The thing with the .375 is that it's really a medium bore jack-of-all-trades, not a heavy "stopping" rifle. With a trajectory that very closely mirrors a .30-06, it should be outfitted with glass that allows for quick shooting up close on big scary stuff as well as for taking a 300+ yard shot on a deer-sized critter.
If I were to scope my .375 again, I'd likely go with something more along the lines of a 2.5-8x.
The thing with the .375 is that it's really a medium bore jack-of-all-trades, not a heavy "stopping" rifle. With a trajectory that very closely mirrors a .30-06, it should be outfitted with glass that allows for quick shooting up close on big scary stuff as well as for taking a 300+ yard shot on a deer-sized critter.
If I were to scope my .375 again, I'd likely go with something more along the lines of a 2.5-8x.
