Help deciding scope magnification

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Half Fat

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Looking to get a new scope, but having a tough time settling on a magnification range.

The use would be shooting at range (500m-ish, hopefully more) and would also be used for hunting.

Currently I am looking at 3-15 magnification but I am wondering if I should go up to 5-25? Mostly looking at the Vortex Venom and Strike Eagle lines currently, so if anyone has some input between those two, it would also be appreciated.
 
You should be able to knock a 6" gong every time at 500m with a 15x scope. 3-15x is a great all-arounder for bush hunting, coyotes or big game. 25x is nice too but not necessary and they tend to get bulky.

My primary target rifle has 3-15x as does my hunting rig. Go for glass quality primarily and magnification as a second priority.
 
Spend money on the glass not on the magnification, or Hubel telescope sized objective lens. 10 X will do what you want unless your a bench rest shooter. Most magnification over about 16 is just mirage anyways.
 
Any experience with the venom or strike eagle scopes? Is there much or any difference in glass between? Some things I've read day the strike eagle is slightly better but then I have also seen people saying they are basically even or venom might have a slight edge
 
I like the 16 ish power for one reason only. Easier to see the target at 100 yards. However for hunting purposes I use a 2.5x10 and thats enough for almost anything. After 16 power things get too shaky for me.
 
For hunting I like a scope that goes down to 3x because I sometimes encounter deer at close distance and don't want to be unable to find it quickly in the scope. My preference is to keep my scope set to the low range when I sit or walk, as turning the power up may be possible if the deer is off in the distance, but wasting time turning it down could result in a lost opportunity if the deer is very close.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
For hunting I like a scope that goes down to 3x because I sometimes encounter deer at close distance and don't want to be unable to find it quickly in the scope. My preference is to keep my scope set to the low range when I sit or walk, as turning the power up may be possible if the deer is off in the distance, but wasting time turning it down could result in a lost opportunity if the deer is very close.
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Agreed. ^^^^^

I have a Swarovski 3-18x44 on my Sako Finnlight .270 Win. 1 inch tube, light (compliments the rifle), really nice glass. At the time it was not crazy expensive. (I don't know what's on the market these days). I do not regret buying good glass.

I have shot 1 foot square gongs at 600 yards with it, and visibility was very good. 18x was perfectly fine for 600 yards.

24x or 25x would be even better for long range target shooting (albeit with tradeoffs for weight and bulk), but its not necessary. And for me, I would never shoot at an animal at that range. 300-ish yards would be about the max hunting range for me, so I could get by with far less than 18X, and field of view is important to me in a hunting situation.
 
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3-15 or 3-18 is a good choice for long range and hunting. If you only hunt in large open area you can sacrifice low end zoom for more magnification.
 
Half Fat said:
Looking to get a new scope, but having a tough time settling on a magnification range.

The use would be shooting at range (500m-ish, hopefully more) and would also be used for hunting.

Currently I am looking at 3-15 magnification but I am wondering if I should go up to 5-25? Mostly looking at the Vortex Venom and Strike Eagle lines currently, so if anyone has some input between those two, it would also be appreciated.
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When you start reaching the 25 power, you'll get the jitters.
Not productive.

Better glass as has been mentioned would eleminate most of this.
 
propliner said:
You should be able to knock a 6" gong every time at 500m with a 15x scope. 3-15x is a great all-arounder for bush hunting, coyotes or big game. 25x is nice too but not necessary and they tend to get bulky.

My primary target rifle has 3-15x as does my hunting rig. Go for glass quality primarily and magnification as a second priority.
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Used to do that consistently with a fixed 10x. These days I use more magnification, but I'm also stretching the distances more. I really don't see much value in real high magnification for hunting. Varmint shooting, yes, the targets are much smaller. Longest shot I've ever made on deer sized or better game was taken with a 2-7 scope. In the prairies, across a field. Hunted for years with a couple Magnums with straight 6x scopes. I'd be looking at a good quality 3-9 or 2.5- 10 these days. - dan
 
My rule is for each magnification or zoomies = 100 yards so a 3-9x40 you should be able to reach out to 900 yards. Practice makes perfect on my coyote rifle I have a 2-7x32 Weaver Kaspa - I set it at 4x for coyotes. I agree the higher the magnification the more heavy and bulky it becomes.
 
Had a 6.5-20 viper on my moose gun, at 250y the moose filled the scope I was successful however I did miss out on a deer I jumped at 30y because I couldn’t find it in the scope. I realized then for most hunting on the east coast it was waaaayyyyy too much zoom. I swapped it out for a gen1 2-10 pst and can confidently hit a life size iron ram at 500y. I am now a true believer that less is more with my latest purchase being a 1-4 crossfire II mounted to a brush gun can still see holes in paper on 4X at 100y. I second buying the best glass possible over zoom, the crossfire will be replaced by a Leopold in the coming years when finances permit.
 
WereWeasel said:
Had a 6.5-20 viper on my moose gun, at 250y the moose filled the scope I was successful however I did miss out on a deer I jumped at 30y because I couldn’t find it in the scope. I realized then for most hunting on the east coast it was waaaayyyyy too much zoom. I swapped it out for a gen1 2-10 pst and can confidently hit a life size iron ram at 500y. I am now a true believer that less is more with my latest purchase being a 1-4 crossfire II mounted to a brush gun can still see holes in paper on 4X at 100y. I second buying the best glass possible over zoom, the crossfire will be replaced by a Leopold in the coming years when finances permit.
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I bumped my deer at 30y this year, kept my scope at 3x and managed to see all of it, and blow out her heart. Afaik the crossfire is about $200-250,and a leuopold can be grabbed for $300-350 by next season. You really should've just waited one more paycheck and gotten what you wanted the first time. I wouldn't pay over 450 for a newly used VXFreedom, but the 2-7 would kick ass for NS. It was what I originally wanted but couldn't pass on the deal I got.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
I bumped my deer at 30y this year, kept my scope at 3x and managed to see all of it, and blow out her heart. Afaik the crossfire is about $200-250,and a leuopold can be grabbed for $300-350 by next season. You really should've just waited one more paycheck and gotten what you wanted the first time. I wouldn't pay over 450 for a newly used VXFreedom, but the 2-7 would kick ass for NS. It was what I originally wanted but couldn't pass on the deal I got.
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But a mark 6 patrol is $2600 and a used vortex razor is $1500 on ee right now. Sub $500 glass is all pretty on par for the big names I wouldn’t pay more for one brand over another in the econoglass department.
 
When I bought my first long range rifle I topped it with a 3.5-15x NXS. I never really pushed the range with that setup, but it's always been very good. I built a long range 300 Winchester many years ago and decided on a 3.5-10 Mark 4. It's a beautiful scope and I thought that I wouldn't want a ton of power for long range hunting. I quickly realized that doing load development at 200 yards was not giving me the most consistent holds with that level of power. So I bought a 5.5-22 NXS and have never regretted it. I actually kinda wish I had the same scope in place of the 3.5-15x on my 308, but I haven't wondered enough to actually do anything about it!
 
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