So here's today's big question:

I'm getting a Winchester Model 70 in 375 H&H. My intention is to use it to hunt buffalo and I want to get your opinions about scope options. I was thinking of putting a scout scope to insure against the ever dreaded "scope cut". yuk... Are there commercial mounts available?

Thank you,
Melody Rutkowski
www.long-grass.com

Melody, I am interested in this subject as well. I have a scout scope on the .416 Rem I bought many years ago. It certainly does prevent scope eyebrow, so that is positive.

At the time I got it, I had heard so much about how fast it was to use a scout scope - the people at Gunsite claiming they broke clays with their rifles with scout scopes mounted. Maybe I was just too in-experienced at the time, but I got a 2x or a 2.5x scope (the exact number eludes me). What I found was that the field of view seemed quite restrictive.

In scout scope theory, you are supposed to keep both eyes open, see "everything" normally with your non-scope eye, and almost super-impose the cross hairs with your scope eye. For me, it never really worked like that, and I always wondered whether it was because the magnification of my scout scope was too high?? Would I have been better off with a 1x scope??

Unfortunately, these days scout scopes seem a lot less popular, and Leupold only offers the 2x or 2.5x (?). I don't know who else offers these scope in a quality suitable for a heavy kicker??

So in conclusion, if the scout scope works for you like it did for me, it sure avoids scoping your eyebrow, but it felt pretty restrictive in terms of FOV.

Perhaps somebody here can shed light on this issue, apart from clearing up your question about mounts etc??

- mike

I do not think that you will need one, for example a 2.5x compact leupold has heaps of eye releif and so do the 1-4 leupold and the 2-7 leupold.

The 2.5-8 leupold and the 1.75-6 are also very popular choices.

Melody: Stay away from those EER scopes. They are very hard to get used to. Instead, get yourself a Leupold in either 1.75X6 or a 2.5X8. The best eye relief in the business and arguably the thoughest. I have the former on my 375, Hasn't changed zero in 10 years. Just make sure you mount it properly. jorge

Melody,
I agree with mike and PC.
However, I have placed a scout scope on a .375 H&H that was rechambered to .375 Wby. This was done to have a secondary scope mounting system, a backup to the standard scope, in case it gets bashed. I also have a pop-up peep sight on the standard scope bases, so I have 4 different sighting systems on this rifle. One of the four ought to be working in any situation at hand!

Get a Ruger No.1 quarter rib and mount it on the barrel in scout scope position. It carries a fold down rear sight and allows use of Ruger rings to mount the Scout Scope.

Mine was done to a Whitworth Mark X, but the standard winchester has a fat enough barrel that it may be pinned, screwed, and epoxied or soldered to the barrel.

There are other Scout bases available, but the Ruger quarter rib makes a good one on a bolt action rifle. The best would be an integral quarter rib milled to accept your favorite rings.

The Scout Scope may be a good backup to the standard scope, but I prefer the standard scope too.

If you get a scope cut its because your stock is too short..I have never got a half moon and I have been shooting big bores for 50 plus years and I crawl a stock worse than most...Use a Leupold 3X, 4x or something simular..I would much prefer a receiver sight without the disc to a scout scope which I think is a pretty useless scope anyway....

Sadly, some of us have this knack for finding our scopes with our foreheads. I probably do so about once a year - and I mostly utilize European rifles which have a longer LOP than is typical for American stocks. A lot of it probaly has to do with difference in normal shooting position - which in my case is very upright - as opposed to position instinctively used when shooting up-hill, crawling the stock, and forgetting yourself...

The scout scope idea is an excellent one, but like so many other things, I'm just not convinced it lives up to its theoretical promise. But it does prevent Weatherby eyebrows...

- mike

Thank you all!

I knew I would get good advice here. I've found that you can read and read, but in the end nothing beats advice from those who have tried it all.

I have a Leupold 1-4 that I can practice with for now.

Melody Rutkowski
www.long-grass.com

Melody,

I started using scout scopes in the early 90s after (naturally) taking the Gunsite rifle course under Jeff Cooper. Since I have built a scout, bought a Stey Scout and put scout scopes on a .416 Rem and a .450 Ackley.

After several African and North American hunts, all the scout scopes are gone. They work best in a square range environment from 8:00a to 5:00p with high contrast tartets -- meaning the targets are obvious. Black animals under black shadows are a problem for them, as is field of view and low magnification.

I like the 1.5-6X40 form factor for an Africa scope, or a 2.5-8X or 3-9X in NA -- all mounted over the action.

I still hunt with the Steyr Scout, but the scope is a low-power variable mounted over the action.

jim dodd

quote:

Originally posted by TexasZebra:
Thank you all!

I have a Leupold 1-4 that I can practice with for now.

Melody Rutkowski
www.long-grass.com

The 1-4 Leupold is a fine choice. The 375 H&H doesn't have enough recoil in most rifles chambered for it that it can't use a standard mounted scope! Like Ray, I've been shooting heavy hitters for 50 yrs without a single cut eyebrow! IMO, the only advantage to a scout scope, if there is one is, it takes the scope away from the top of the action to make for quick, and easy re-load of the magazine. That isn't enough justification for me!