Recommend me a scope.

TheCoachZed

TheCoachZed

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Southern NB, aka "Canada's Bible Belt"
Bought a Savage Weather Warrior, want a scope that allows me to shoot moose/deer/bear at 300 yards, ideally (local range only allows for practice at 200 yards though :( ).

I want intermediate eye relief (around the 5-inch range, I think, definitely more than 4, but less than 6). Fixed power would be good, but a low-to-mid variable would also be good. Low-to-mid would be perfect for moose hunting in northern NB, where you go from spruce jungle to clearcuts and back to spruce jungles all day.

Want quality, ideally with a lifetime warranty that's easily taken care of in Canada. But my budget is probably $600 max, and probably $450 would be easier. But I want to buy once, cry once.

I'd also definitely prefer a duplex reticle. Decent FOV would be good, which means most scout scopes are unappealing.

I'm thinking: Maybe a Leupold 1.5-4X Freedom Scout, but that's not probably great for longer-range shooting.

Maybe a Bushnell 6500 1.25-8x, but good luck finding one NIB for that warranty.

Any other suggestions?
 
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You're probably gonna laugh, but I have a cheap Bushnell Legend Ultra HD, duplex reticle 4.5-14.
Its sitting on a 7 mm rem mag.
I've shot an animal's from 25 t0 300 yards on 4.5 x.

I also use it at the range for target practice.

Eye relief is not an issue with my 7 mm rem mag.
 
45C said:
You're probably gonna laugh, but I have a cheap Bushnell Legend Ultra HD, duplex reticle 4.5-14.
Its sitting on a 7 mm rem mag.
I've shot an animal's from 25 t0 300 yards on 4.5 x.

I also use it at the range for target practice.

Eye relief is not an issue with my 7 mm rem mag.
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I actually thought of putting an el cheapo Bushnell 1.5-4.5x on it. It would do everything I needed and would hold up to the recoil, just thought it'd be nice to having something a little better, with maybe more eye relief. I suspect it would have enough for me, but part of my thinking is, if I get an extra inch or so, makes it easier to loan the gun out to less-experienced shooters.
 
It sounds like you already know what you're looking for but are held back either by price or procrastination.

It's a pretty simple matter to go through the dealers, such as Wolverine Supplies out of Manitoba or Wolverine Tackle out of Alberta and check out their clearance scopes, which may have been display models, but still are covered by warranty.

Luepold always honors their lifetime warranty. Korth out of Okotoks Alberta does the warranty work and does it extremely well.

I don't know if they have any refurbished scopes on hand or not. Can't hurt to ask.

I just picked up a 2.5-16x50, Bushnell Elite 6500, that was a display scope in their shop and was put on clearance appx 50% of the average normal price across Canada.

The scope is bright, extremely sharp and clear, with adjustable parallax, from 25 yards to infinity and it is covered under warranty. That being said, the Bushnell warranty certainly doesn't come close to Leupold's when push comes to shove. I don't know how well trained the Bushnell repair techs are, but I've never had one come back that was repaired properly and usually had damage done to the lens ring threads and other exterior and like interior components done at the facility.
 
Honestly, I kinda know what specs I want, but not what's available that has them. I figured some other people would know of some possibilities I missed--I never knew about the 6500 1.25-8x until last week, and was surprised to find out it existed. It's the best match for what I want, but of course it's discontinued. Thought maybe someone else would know of a decent equivalent.


bearhunter said:
It sounds like you already know what you're looking for but are held back either by price or procrastination.
Click to expand...
 
bearhunter said:
The scope is bright, extremely sharp and clear, with adjustable parallax, from 25 yards to infinity and it is covered under warranty. That being said, the Bushnell warranty certainly doesn't come close to Leupold's when push comes to shove. I don't know how well trained the Bushnell repair techs are, but I've never had one come back that was repaired properly and usually had damage done to the lens ring threads and other exterior and like interior components done at the facility.
Click to expand...

That's what makes me very reluctant to spend $600 on a used Bushnell.

I'd rather have a 1.5-4x scope I could rely on from someone else, than a 1.25-8x scope that had iffy trustability.
 
Pretty tough to beat a Leupold. I’ve had a VX2, 3-9x40 on my weather warrior in 300 RUM for 15 years. Probably have about 400 rounds through that gun. It’s never skipped a beat.
 
TheCoachZed said:
Bought a Savage Weather Warrior, want a scope that allows me to shoot moose/deer/bear at 300 yards, ideally (local range only allows for practice at 200 yards though :( ).

I want intermediate eye relief (around the 5-inch range, I think, definitely more than 4, but less than 6). Fixed power would be good, but a low-to-mid variable would also be good. Low-to-mid would be perfect for moose hunting in northern NB, where you go from spruce jungle to clearcuts and back to spruce jungles all day.

Want quality, ideally with a lifetime warranty that's easily taken care of in Canada. But my budget is probably $600 max, and probably $450 would be easier. But I want to buy once, cry once.

I'd also definitely prefer a duplex reticle. Decent FOV would be good, which means most scout scopes are unappealing.

I'm thinking: Maybe a Leupold 1.5-4X Freedom Scout, but that's not probably great for longer-range shooting.

Maybe a Bushnell 6500 1.25-8x, but good luck finding one NIB for that warranty.

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Can you shoot with both eyes open? That's part of the idea of scout scopes, and it gives them a much bigger field of view than a conventional scope's.
 
Brutus said:
School yourself on optics. 4-5-6 inches are not intermediate eye relief measurements.

Example: FX2 2.5x20 has 4.90 inches of eye relief.
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Well--most scout scopes I see are 9-10 inches.

Most conventional scopes seem to be 3-4 inches.

I'd say 6 is intermediate between 4 and 9, but if you know of a better name for these kinds of scopes, I'm all ears. They seem to be pretty rare. There's that Burris 4.5-14 Timberline, which a poster mentioned, but those seem to have iffy reviews, some people hate the eye box (although this seems to be the only scope with roughly the specs I want, that's actually available anymore). There was the Bushnell 6500 1.25-8x, but that's discontinued. There was a Leupold 1.5-4 VX Freedom in this range, but that's also discontinued. There is the Bushnell Banner 3-9 EER scope, with 6 inches, which seems to have a lot of bad reviews.

Is there a good reason why these seem to be unpopular? Something with at least 4 power, with 5-6 inches of eye relief, seems a rare bird. That FX2 you mentioned might do nicely, but I'd like more than 2.5x.
 
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If you plan of getting a Leupold, I suggest getting a VX-2 or better. I've owned a couple VX-freedom scopes and hated them. The ocular focus on them made it very hard to get a clear crisp view of the crosshairs. I really like my VX-2 3-9x40, it's an excellent scope, and very light weight. If I was to buy again, I'd probably pick up a 3-9x40 vortex diamondback, or the one with the 50mm objective. also, sometimes on the equipment exchange you can find a 3-9x40 vortex viper for a good deal.

Anyhow, good luck on your scope quest.

Ryan
 
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