That's some arcane wizardry there BUM. Lol. Personally I run an old 1-4 Redfield 5 Star on my 338 WM. Always worked, so far. - dan
which scope to use on my 338 win mag
- Thread starter mikeboehm
- Start date
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Not on CGN!
What did you have, what did you replace it with? An effort to gain knowledge is why I ask.
That rifle had a Japanese Scopechief IV 3-9x40, which was a pretty decent scope in its day. I could see the buck clearly with Nikon Monarch 10x56 binoculars, but with the scope I could not tell which one had antlers. The scope seemed as though it had some flare even though it was getting dark. I have the original box and it was $300 25 years ago. I replaced it with a VX-6 2-12x42. I am going to replace another scope soon - a VX-III 4.5-14x40 AO and it will likely be something like a S&B 3-12x50 or a Victory HT 2.5-10x50.
The VX-6 is far, far superior to the older VX-III. It's not even close. I've also compared it to some of my other Leupolds - VX-2 3-9x40, Ultralight 3-9x33 etc and I have to say that the differences are tremendous when the light starts to fade. In broad daylight they are all functional, but even then you can clearly see the difference.
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I have a Sako 75 in .338WM, with a McMillan stock in standard weight. It wears Sako ringmounts and a VXR 4-12 x40 CDS and also has irons. The scope and rings are 30mm and it weighs 9.5lbs.
The weight is in your stock, probably 8-10 oz heavier than mine. The ringmounts are fine on this rifle, but i had to remove the recoil pin to get the scope mounted.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Now yer talkin' sense!! The grey in my hair allows an observation - a 338 Win Mag is a hand loaded 250 grain @ 2750 fps affair. With lighter bullets, your way further ahead with a .30 mag of some sort. In my "old guy" opinion, 30-06 with 180 partitions @ 2800 fps is just about all that is needed in Western Canada, south of the 60th. A boring round that kills everything, a boring trajectory(-8" @ 300, -24@ 400), which works well with a boring 3x9-40. Not hard at all to work out range drop with the Leupold reticle. Start "juicing up" from there, though, and you'll find that eye relief is starting to become important. My perspective: my 20" 223 Rem, my 26" 243, my 28" 6.5x55 and my 24" .308 Win have scopes up to 16x; my 338 Win has a Leupold M8-4x; my 9.3x62 has an older Leupold M8-3x and my 458 Win Mag has a Leupold 2.5X. (My 30-06 by the way has an Williams aperture sight). All of them have put their game on the ground. I do not hunt antelope with the 458 (although I do blaze away at gophers with cast bullets!), and I would not willingly hunt Kodiak's with the 308. Scope, caliber, game and hunting style all need to fit together.
My Sako 85 in 338WM is wearing a Ziess Conquest 3-9x40 in Optilocks.
The package is very nice and when looking for a dark moose, in dark timber at first or last light the scope is considerably brighter than ambient light.
It works for me.
Also, I don't understand why I would want to dial back my magnification in dark light.
I subscribe to the theory that I keep the rifle at a low magnification (3 to 4 power)at all times and dial up if it is necessary.
The package is very nice and when looking for a dark moose, in dark timber at first or last light the scope is considerably brighter than ambient light.
It works for me.
Also, I don't understand why I would want to dial back my magnification in dark light.
I subscribe to the theory that I keep the rifle at a low magnification (3 to 4 power)at all times and dial up if it is necessary.
If your referring to my post HeadDamage I understood the physics / mechanics of it all I just fail to see why the magnification would be cranked up in the first place.
However I guess it would depend on how or where a person hunts.
My experiences have shown in dense forest a wider field of view is quicker for a snap shot (if and when required) while if an opportunity presents itself at range one usually has the time to increase the magnification. i.e.; you got time to wind it up but no time to wind it down.
And if your referring to something else...nevermind
However I guess it would depend on how or where a person hunts.
My experiences have shown in dense forest a wider field of view is quicker for a snap shot (if and when required) while if an opportunity presents itself at range one usually has the time to increase the magnification. i.e.; you got time to wind it up but no time to wind it down.
And if your referring to something else...nevermind
