Best scope for dangerous game rifle?

" just point and shoot "

Thats how it went for me the one and only time I've ever really NEEDED a gun.
It was the 2nd round, fired from the hip. Got lucky. Still here.:D

Time is the biggest issue, it'll be up close and moving fast, so you will need some speed. Shouldering may not always be possible.

Been doing more two shot 'snap' / 'hip' / 'instinct' practice ever since the big scare. Hope it's never needed.b:

The .303 'bush packer' wears it's rugged irons, a Brno .375 carries the 1 1/2 x 6 b&l turned right down. Looking to try out Boomers brass front partridge blade idea, should be wicked fast with that wide vee rear.
 
Iron sights, only. Optics have no place on a purpose built dangerous game rifle, never have. My PH told me he cringes whenever a Cape Buffalo or elephant hunter shows up with glass on his rifle, of any sort, and he's stood behind hundreds of dangerous game hunters to date. He also just stopped a charge at 4 paces on a Buffalo about two months ago, again, iron sights only.

My advice, is if you carry say a .375 for dangerous game to be an all rounder, like myself, add QD rings to a 1-4x20mm Leupold or something of the sort; IF you have a mount system that reliably keeps zero, like the Ruger integral mounts with Warne QD rings. Still test shoot on arrival, of course.

Here's my April Cape Buffalo, taken at VERY close range with iron sights over a .375. Only way to roll.

DSCF2400.jpg
 
snoopycda said:
actually i am from BC. i have never hunted in Saskatchewan. my point was that close range shooting should require no scope at all. i started my hunting career with an open sighted model 94/30-30. i have shot moose and deer at reach out and touch them ranges. a scope here would be a hindrance. really close range game that may want to eat you would require a fast short open sited rifle that swings and points like a shotgun. a rear sight may not even be necessary. i believe marlin make one of these in a large enough caliber.
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You are absolutely correct in that close shooting should require no scope at all, which is why pistols and revolvers have no scopes and usually no place to mount a scope. Most rifles have iron sights as they are designed to shoot at distance. A good place to look for advice would be talking to some GI's who ar hunting dangerous game all the time in close quaters and need to make extra super fast shots or its lights out, for that purpose there are some scopes that work great, reflex red dots and the scope I mentioned NF 1-4 or Schmidt and Bender short dots. They do indeed work better than irons as that red dot being superimposed over the target just allows your eyes to react more quickly. The NF or S&B then also give you that option of magnification if you ever want it, that's all. your life your call.
 
Ardent said:
Iron sights, only. Optics have no place on a purpose built dangerous game rifle, never have. My PH told me he cringes whenever a Cape Buffalo or elephant hunter shows up with glass on his rifle, of any sort, and he's stood behind hundreds of dangerous game hunters to date. He also just stopped a charge at 4 paces on a Buffalo about two months ago, again, iron sights only.

My advice, is if you carry say a .375 for dangerous game to be an all rounder, like myself, add QD rings to a 1-4x20mm Leupold or something of the sort; IF you have a mount system that reliably keeps zero, like the Ruger integral mounts with Warne QD rings. Still test shoot on arrival, of course.

Here's my April Cape Buffalo, taken at VERY close range with iron sights over a .375. Only way to roll.

DSCF2400.jpg
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technology has changed and there is some glass that actually belongs on top of dangerous game rifles, if not the military wouldn't be using it, they are in a far more dangerous game. BUT it had better be the right stuff.
 
dizzy said:
technology has changed and there is some glass that actually belongs on top of dangerous game rifles, if not the military wouldn't be using it, they are in a far more dangerous game. BUT it had better be the right stuff.
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Actually, no, I disagree. In military applications, any sighting system is expected to operate over the standard engagement ranges, from 25m to 200m as standard. In dangerous game hunting, we don't have that problem, we KNOW it is going to be close. Really close, 25 yards can even be a touch of a long shot at times for dangerous game. They can also flash in a second and charge, especially after the first shot.

In addition, in military applications you aren't shooting .375 Holland & Holland, .404 Jeffery, .505 Gibbs, or .450-400 / .500 Nitro et al. Just 5.56, at worst, 7.62. Both light cals, with very little recoil. Dangerous Game hunting holds the distinction of being the only shooting sport requiring the firing of the heaviest caliber, hardest recoiling rounds in rapid succession on fast moving, close targets they may well not stop. The recoil and concussion throws one off much more, and will easily prove iron sights superior at 4 paces than looking through glass- even a red dot. Also, glass breaks, and optics catch on bush. My PH, in his charge stopping instance mentioned, fell hard in the sequence of events and had his rifle been wearing a red dot or other device, things might not have ended well. You want as few links as possible between you and the straight forward, fool proof function of your heavy caliber rifle for dangerous game. Optics is one of those links, and entirely unnecessary; that part is hard to debate.

PH's, just like soldiers, know their business, and it's life and death for them too. I haven't ever seen a PH with a red dot. The future might change things, but I doubt it. A soldier and a dangerous game hunter have entirely different quarry, and requirements.
 
vviking said:
Angry predator's don't grant favors to the unprepared or ignorant.
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Nor do they take you captive for ransom, show trials or to saw your head off on the internet. They want to scratch, stomp and gore you to death right there on that spot and it takes more than a swarm of 62gr FMJs to change their mind.
 
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