Scope for a hunting rifle

KDX

KDX

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I have a .257 Roberts AI and was wondering what the recommendations were for a hunting scope. I'll be putting a Sightron SII Big Sky 6.5-20x50 on it but am wondering if that is over kill. I'll zero it @ 200 yards and use it for coyotes out to 500 and possibly deer this fall.
 
The question is would you do bush-heavy wood hunting? Just because of the weight and the size of the overall rig to walk in dense wood. For coyote there's no problem but for the deer remember that the lowest power will be 6,5 so if you have one nearby you will find it difficult to scope it easily. For deer per example, I hunt in woods and my scope is always at 2-3 except when I go in a "plain game setup". With a scope like that the shortest the distance the more difficult it will be.(50-75 yards).
 
That is way more scope than I would ever mount on a hunting rifle.A magnification range of 3-9, or 4-12 would be much more suitable for big game hunting.
 
A qualilty 3-9 will get it done. A Leupy vari X II or better. I've hunted 2-25x56, and thats a lot of glass to haul around, and absolutely useless in any area other than open ground.
 
SII Big Sky 3-9X42 w/ HHR reticle

All the optical goodness you already know in a much smaller package.

Unless you are staying put, that larger scope will be a pain in the bush. Been there, now use the smaller scopes.

The extra aiming points are great as a BDC reticle.

Jerry
 
I've got a few 257's.
250 AI and 257 Bob have 2.5-8 Leupold's
25-06 has a Leupold 6x42 w/ M1
257 Wby has a 4.5-14 Leupold

I've never understood mounting a large scope on a short action.

I'd go Leupold 6x36 with LR Duplex.
 
Thanks for all the replys. I'm going to be doing some load development with 100gr bullets in the next week or two so the 6.5-20 will be going on it for that and I'll take it off when I'm done. I have an old 3-9 kicking around that I could put on it but I'll wait and see. I certainly do like the Sightron glass.
 
Buy a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 RZ 600 or 4.5-14x44 RZ800 and call it a day. perfect coyote scope which will cross over to a longer range deer scope. Prophet will smoke everyone else on pricing if you're looking.

Cheers!!
 
You might also think about the Bushnell 6500 in 4.5x-30x.
4.5x isn't too bad in the woods, and 30x is lots of magnification.
And the Elite 6500 is pretty good glass.
Or if you want to bias towards the woods just a bit more, the 6500 also comes in a 2.5x-16x.
 
Get the sightron you want. You won't be sorry. I use an 8-32 SIII for coyotes and have shot them as close as 30 yards on 8x. If you can find it, try a used one, if you like it you're good to go, if you want something smaller you can sell it for a small loss.
 
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