Fixed power scope for 300 Win mag

I have a Bushnell 4200 3-9 on my 300 Win Mag. I have just over a 1000 rounds through it and the 3-9 hasn't sweated it. I wouldn't bother with a fixed power scope myself.
 
6x all the way. Nice and clear with a great FOV, enough magnification to place your shot, yet not so much where a jumper fills your scope with blurred hair.
 
I've always been a fan of the old M8 4x Leupold but if I was to only have one scope it would be the VX3 1.5-5x. I made what were probably my two longest shots on game with a 30-06 and a 4x scope and I could happily go back to that combination. But being a rifle loony I like to keep my options open and try new things. I don't think I own a fixed power scope anymore. Should probably rectify that.
 
There's nothing "wrong" with fixed power scopes, I have a couple I really like, but the days of fixed having any real advantages over variables are long gone.

Way back when, variables were fragile and finicky things, but no longer.

Even the size and weight advantages of fixed scopes are very small; so much that most hunters could never tell in real world situations.

Putting a $300 fixed on a 300 win mag thinking it will be sturdier than a $300 variable is about fifty years behind the reality of todays scopes.

If you just like a fixed scope that's fine, but just be honest and admit that's your personal preference.
 
Northman999 said:
There's nothing "wrong" with fixed power scopes, I have a couple I really like, but the days of fixed having any real advantages over variables are long gone.

Way back when, variables were fragile and finicky things, but no longer.

Even the size and weight advantages of fixed scopes are very small; so much that most hunters could never tell in real world situations.

Putting a $300 fixed on a 300 win mag thinking it will be sturdier than a $300 variable is about fifty years behind the reality of todays scopes.

If you just like a fixed scope that's fine, but just be honest and admit that's your personal preference.
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No matter how you look at it, a variable costs more for the manufacturer to make than a fixed. If the scopes both retail for the same amount of money, I'm confident the fixed will be better quality than the variable.
 
I have a weaver 6X on my 30-06. I shoot 4 litre jugs out to 300yds. have taken game at 20yds. I find it clean and simple. any thing inside 20 yds it is going to be a issue. I am going to a 2.5-8X36 Leupold on my new gun
 
langbanger said:
No matter how you look at it, a variable costs more for the manufacturer to make than a fixed. If the scopes both retail for the same amount of money, I'm confident the fixed will be better quality than the variable.
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Listen what Northman999 is trying to tell you. He is 100% right.
 
langbanger said:
No matter how you look at it, a variable costs more for the manufacturer to make than a fixed. If the scopes both retail for the same amount of money, I'm confident the fixed will be better quality than the variable.
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I don't share your confidence on that. If the variable costs more to make (which seems logical on the face of it, but it depends how they do the accounting) the manufacturer has the choice of taking a bigger profit on the fixed power scopes.

But I do like fixed power scopes and have more of them than variables. When I don't expect to gain significant advantage from a variable power, I tend to prefer the fixed power for its simplicity. Manufacturing quality that makes variable power scopes reliable was achieved long ago, so as long as you are buying good quality, fixed power doesn't necessarily realise that potential advantage anymore.
 
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langbanger said:
No matter how you look at it, a variable costs more for the manufacturer to make than a fixed. If the scopes both retail for the same amount of money, I'm confident the fixed will be better quality than the variable.
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I suspect a lot comes down to volume....I bet they sell 100 variables for every fixed so I wouldn't be all that confident you are getting more with the fixed. Volume decreases price dramatically.
 
I've found that I can easily use a 6x for 99% of my shooting. The FX3 6x42 is a very good scope that uses Leupolds best glass and costs less than optically comparable variable models. And they weigh less than any other scope worth using that has a 42mm objective.
Who cares, frankly, if I am "stuck" with a 6x? or a 4x for that matter. Less moving parts means there is less to go wrong, and that is the opinion of some very credible and well travelled writers for their "magnums". That includes Barsness, Shoemaker, Van Zwoll, and the list moves on.
I shot my bear this past year at 212yds with my Leupold 2.5-8 on 5x or 6x.
 
Fixed power scopes have less moving parts,that alone makes them more rugged.
The only reason you can buy a bushnell fixed 10 power TACTICAL for $300+ is because it's a fixed power.
A bushnell TACTICAL variable will cost 3 to 4 times as much and more.
In the high quality scopes is where the fixed power really becomes a good choice.
Schmidt and bender PM II is considered one of the best scopes you can buy,for ruggedness.repeatability,reliability.
A schmidt and bender PM II fixed 10 power is under $2000.
A variables PM II starts at $3500+.
It costs a lot of money to make a variable as rugged,repeatable,reliable as a fixed power.
There are plenty of examples(leupold,us optics,swarovski,ior,meopta),all make a fixed power for less than thier variable in the same model.
For great optics under a $1000 only fixed powers need apply.
A $500 variable is okay if you sight in at 3 inches high at 100 yards and never touch your turrets again.
Any thing under $500,i would not trust to take recoil on light hunting guns.
My two cents.
 
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