What do you like for a hunting optic with an illuminated reticle these days?

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Terp312

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I am considering building myself a new lightweight folding hunting rifle, most likely on the base of a MDT HNT 26 stock, a medium 16" profile barrel (if I can source a tikka t3x roughtech ranch) or a light 18.5-20" barrel, tikka t3x action. I am debating what I should put on it for glass.

I tried regular reticles and illuminated ones, and have a very strong preference for illumination. I don't want the optic to break the bank. Ounces do become pounds, but I don't care much about the optics being super light.This rifle is not expected to shoot much past 200 yards, but I do like magnification on the higher end of things. Strong preference for a 40 or a 44 objective lens.

If I had to just drop everything and get one tomorrow I'd probably pick up a vortex viper HD 3-15x44 either with illuminated BDC reticle or the VMR 3 reticle, but I don't really want to spend that kind of money if I don't have to.

What is out there these days?

Any pointers (including comments on why my leanings are misguided) are welcome.
 
While I love the illuminated center cross in my nightforce shv 4-14x56 its a beast ive become a fan of the simple g4i reticle in my 1-4x20 scopes. Bushnell engage has been great and its good enough for big game out the 200 yards. I also like the 1-8x32 forge with the g4i dot but again its a heavy optic and uses a 34mm tube
 
I'm running illuminated Leupold Mark 5HD's on my hunting rifles. I like them and I definitely use the feature. Not just in low light, but also nice for glassing woodlines where the background is dark. My only #####, and its a tiny one, is that when its in a tripod, the reticle automatically shuts off after 30 minutes as its not detecting enough motion.
 
HighSpeedLowDrag2023 said:
So I've gotta ask -- what's the thought process behind spending $1900-2300 on a carbon chassis, but less than $1000 on an optic? (Not saying it's wrong-- at the end of the day you get to decide what the best choice is for you. I'm just struggling to understand the use case)
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In my case, the appeal of that particular chassis is kind of 3-fold. Folding, not cold to touch the same way aluminum like LSS 2 or LSS 3 is, and an adjustable cheek riser. I would by far prefer it if it wasn't what expensive, even if it wasn't all that light. As for why save on glass? I don't buy this whole "spend as much as you can on glass" thing. I am not going to be counting rings annular rings on the curls of a ram on the side of a cliff somewhere. I'm going to be chasing deer, bears, and maybe an occasional moose if the lottery is good to us. I've hunted for a number of years with a vortex crossfire 3-9x40 and have taken deer and a bear with it. I did find I wanted more magnification, so I went with a crossfire 6-18x44 with an illuminated reticle. I don't hate it. I do wish the glass was at least the diamondback quality, but I don't hate it. The glass on my binos is obviously better (diamondback HD, so also low end),, but I can't say that I have ever felt the need to spend more on a scope. I like the Tikka action, it's accurate enough for my needs in my hands. Now I want to make it short, very foldable/packable, and I have very limited requirements out of the glass.
 
350tracker said:
I also wanted a scope with illuminated reticle for my new rifle. Did some looking and decided to buy the Burris Fullfield 2.5 x 10 x 42mm with the illuminated E3 retlcle. Nice scope with good glass and reasonable price. The Fullfield line offers a number of other scopes as well.
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I'll go back and look through some full fields again. I vaguely remember looking through the at some point and not being a fan, but it's been a few years and I can't remember why
 
armybuck041 said:
I'm running illuminated Leupold Mark 5HD's on my hunting rifles. I like them and I definitely use the feature. Not just in low light, but also nice for glassing woodlines where the background is dark. My only #####, and its a tiny one, is that when its in a tripod, the reticle automatically shuts off after 30 minutes as its not detecting enough motion.
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Well that's annoying when you spend that kind of money on a scope! Thanks for the heads up about the reticle turning off on some models after inactivity, I would not have thought about that.
 
Terp312 said:
In my case, the appeal of that particular chassis is kind of 3-fold. Folding, not cold to touch the same way aluminum like LSS 2 or LSS 3 is, and an adjustable cheek riser. I would by far prefer it if it wasn't what expensive, even if it wasn't all that light. As for why save on glass? I don't buy this whole "spend as much as you can on glass" thing. I am not going to be counting rings annular rings on the curls of a ram on the side of a cliff somewhere. I'm going to be chasing deer, bears, and maybe an occasional moose if the lottery is good to us. I've hunted for a number of years with a vortex crossfire 3-9x40 and have taken deer and a bear with it. I did find I wanted more magnification, so I went with a crossfire 6-18x44 with an illuminated reticle. I don't hate it. I do wish the glass was at least the diamondback quality, but I don't hate it. The glass on my binos is obviously better (diamondback HD, so also low end),, but I can't say that I have ever felt the need to spend more on a scope. I like the Tikka action, it's accurate enough for my needs in my hands. Now I want to make it short, very foldable/packable, and I have very limited requirements out of the glass.
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Fair enough. Different strokes for different folks. I've looked through the trijicon credo 3-9x40 in store (though never owned one) and thought it seemed like a dandy optic for a lightweight rifle build where illumination was a requirement. Fits your budget, though I'm not sure if the top end power is going to be what you're looking for. (Actually, scratch that. 6 months ago they were going for $650-750. Now they're up to $1k)

Based on what you're describing, I would check out the Delta Titanium 2.5-10x50 or 2.5-15x50. Slightly larger objective lens than you're looking for, but good feature set for the price and the Delta optics seem to be quite highly regarded by the competitive shooting crowd. No first hand experience with them.
 
Terp312 said:
Got any particular model leads for Leupolds or Burris in mind that light up and are at or under 1k?
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https://www.basspro.ca/p/leupold-vx-3hd-35-10x40mm-riflescope - illum is above your budget though
https://www.basspro.ca/p/burris-fullfield-riflescope-101752886 - the fullfield newer models are quite nice
https://www.basspro.ca/p/burris-fullfield-riflescope-101752886
https://www.basspro.ca/p/burris-signature-hd-riflescope
https://www.basspro.ca/p/vortex-viper-hs-long-range-30mm-riflescope - non-illum

once you settle on a model, search across the country for the cheapest price - including shipping and taxes. Stay away from Bushnell. Steiner is good, but more money. there are other options out there (Arken, DNT, etc), I have no experience with them though.
 
The 3-15 viper hd are actually a pretty crisp optic for around $1k.

The one thing that is kind of a bummer is the button for the illumination. While it is a vast improvement over the razers squishy/ mushy button. You still have to fully cycle the optic brightness levels up and down.

For example if you are on power setting 5 and want to reduce brightness and go back to 4, you have to push the button multiple times in order to increase the brightness to the max setting before it starts decreasing. Have to go all the way up in order to go down.

Other then that I think in is a decent optic choice. Glass seemed pretty darn good, and their warranty is the best in the biz. I'd try and compare it instore to the burris, leopold firedot, or steiner might have an illuminated model out as well.
 
I have only one optic with the illuminated reticle, a lwupold vx3hd 3.5-10x42, I like it cause the reticle is really simple and the dot pretty small. A hunting optic on a hunting rifle.
 
Terp312 said:
I am considering building myself a new lightweight folding hunting rifle, most likely on the base of a MDT HNT 26 stock, a medium 16" profile barrel (if I can source a tikka t3x roughtech ranch) or a light 18.5-20" barrel, tikka t3x action. I am debating what I should put on it for glass.

I tried regular reticles and illuminated ones, and have a very strong preference for illumination. I don't want the optic to break the bank. Ounces do become pounds, but I don't care much about the optics being super light.This rifle is not expected to shoot much past 200 yards, but I do like magnification on the higher end of things. Strong preference for a 40 or a 44 objective lens.

If I had to just drop everything and get one tomorrow I'd probably pick up a vortex viper HD 3-15x44 either with illuminated BDC reticle or the VMR 3 reticle, but I don't really want to spend that kind of money if I don't have to.

What is out there these days?

Any pointers (including comments on why my leanings are misguided) are welcome.
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Why such high magnification for the distance you mentioned? Unless it is on a varmint rifle? What chambering are you thinking?
On most of my big game hunting rifles I have 2.5-8 leupold non illuminated but you can find them illuminated, and that is plenty for me on big game size animals up to 400 easy! Just asking cause you would save quite a bit of weight and it would be a lot more compact. Also at that magnification for the same price of a higher mag scope you usually get better components.
 
I have a few Leupold VXR Firedot scopes and have been very pleased with the performance both on the range and when hunting big game. I had a battery contact break on one last fall, probably due to prior owner improper battery installation. I sent it to Korth/Leupold in AB and it was returned quickly, all repaired under warranty. Excellent service! WK
 
DGY said:
Why such high magnification for the distance you mentioned? Unless it is on a varmint rifle? What chambering are you thinking?
On most of my big game hunting rifles I have 2.5-8 leupold non illuminated but you can find them illuminated, and that is plenty for me on big game size animals up to 400 easy! Just asking cause you would save quite a bit of weight and it would be a lot more compact. Also at that magnification for the same price of a higher mag scope you usually get better components.
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Yeah, I wondered a lot of the same things. Why so much magnification to shoot out to only 200? Why a ballistic reticle when the max point blank range of most modern cartridges exceeds 200 yards for big game hunting purposes? My lightweight dogging rifle is Ruger American Ranch with a Leupold vx2 1-4x20, and it does everything I need it to for deer out to 200.

At the end of the day though, OP gets to decide where their priorities lie, and what equipment is going to be most enjoyable and productive for them.
 
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