How many here put a scope on a dangerous game rifle, whether it be a bolt action gun or a double rifle?

Who here prefers not to? When does high recoil enter the picture and demand one not to because it will destroy a scope?

Have you ever wished you had a scope on an open-sighted gun? Or wished you didn't because the charge was closer than you could see through a scope?

If I hunted with a double gun I don't think I'd scope it. But then again I would be assuming that shots would be from close range. I have a scope on my .416 Rigby, in quick detach mounts, which I would take off if I thought shots would be at close range.

I have scopes on all my bolt guns regardless of caliber. The dangerous game guns all have 2.5 Leupolds or low magnification variables. My 470 double rifle is for elephant exclusively and I found no need for a scope.(maybe a bayonet would be more appropriate when you're in close-just kidding).

I have a Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-6, I believe, on my .416 Rem Mag. and it does great. This is good close or far. On my next safari hopefully for sable/leopard sometime I will scope my .338 Win Mag with.....don't know yet....maybe one the 30mm low power high end variables. Any recommendations here?

WPN,

For me a scope just works better in all situations. It is what I'm used to and most of us in this day and age have grown up with using a scope. So unless you do a lot of practice with iron sights and know that you will have some limitations in low light and on shot length I think as a client your better off with a scope all the time.

As for recoil effecting scopes from talking to custom builders of big bores it would seem that scope failures go up dramatically when you reach 458 Lott levels of recoil.

Personally I think for a guy whose safari experience is enhanced by hunting with an open sighted bouble or large magazine rifle he should also have a tracker carrying a scoped 375, 416 etc. Say on the 9th day of a 10 day hunt you see the buffalo of a lifetime standing in the open at 200 yards would you pass or grab the scoped rifle? I think most would have a hard time passing because they wanted to use their double exclusively. I suppose you could make the shot with open sights but your margin of error for precise shot placement is too high for me at 200 yards when the front bead covers most of the animal.

Mark

As we age, we tend to lose the visual ability to get the sights in focus. A scope solves that.
The further the target away from us, the more a scope helps our accuracy. I was not good enough with iron sights to be confident of shot placement beyond 100 yd even before age began to affect vision.
All scopes will fail after enough rounds of heavy recoil--"Enough" might be 10 rounds or 10,000 rounds, dependent on many variables but probably mainly on amount of recoil, quality of scope construction, and mounting arrangement. I agree with the above posts.
I have Leupold 1-4x on my 458 win bolt.

Mark's choice is a good one for him, and I suspect most of the younger hunters of today! I on the other hand, have always been a person who tends to use everything available to me for what ever I do, not just hunting.

Speaking for only DGRs, all bolt rifles are scoped in QD rings and bases, and are equipt with quality Iron sights. The scope, in this case, is the primary sight, with the QD bases used to either change to another pre-zeroed scope if one is damaged, or to change to a more appropreate scope for a special purpose like shooting from a blind, with a lighted scope. The Irons are back-up for a very quick removal to use the irons, when called for if the extra scope is not at hand.

On my double rifles, some are scoped, and some are not, but all are in QD rings and bases. In this case the irons are the primary sight, with fine bead, and flip-up moon sight for tight work. The scope is carried in a pouch to be used when needed for that 200 yd Buffalo Mark mentions, or when he is close, but you have to thread a bullet through a tight little hole in the thorn to get to his heart, without hitting a branch on the way. Or if you are tracking Buffalo, and see the Bush buck of a life time, at 200 yds.

Gentlemen, IMO, the person who doesn't utilize everything available to him, especially where Dangerous Game is concerened, is not thinking. I have never understood people's aversion to scopeing a double rifle. If done properly it only makes the rifle more usefull!

I use an old leupold 1-4 in a qd mount on my 9,3. There are some situations that just plain require it.

Unlike Mark I grew up with apature battle sights on my rifles and that is what stays on my heavy- and is what pops up when the scope comes off the 9,3.

For most clients hunting anything other than elephant. - Use a scope unless you are used to something different.

Scopes on big (.450 or above) rifles scare me. Maybe I have a giraffe neck, but they will almost always came back and bite me. That makes me flinch.

I have a scope on my 375, (old Leupold 1x-4x, QD rings) but nothing larger than that, in my safe, carries a scope.

.416 is about the breaking point for me, and I don't own a .416.

That is just me, and I am not the norm.

I have the VXIII1.5x5 on my .404j in QD moutns. I like the express irons for 50yd work & would feel ok w/ them but the scope is a better bet in low light or in thick bush. I would not scope a double (what next syn. stocks on a double ) & I think the .416/.404 is the top end for a bolt caliber for me. I'ld end up w/ a 3rd eye for sure w/ a scope on a Lott.
kudu4u, I think the VXIII 2.5x8 is about perfect for the .338winmag.

I have owned my .458 Lott for about 4 months now and have put just over 250 full power 500grain bullets running 2290FPS through it. I have a Leupold VXIII 1.5X5 30mm tube illuminated retical. It seams to hold up well. Just pay close attention to setting up the eye relief. Do it your self!! And check it in the lowest and highest power setting. Set it out as far as comfortable to maintain good shooting position/stock weld with your cheak. Also be vary aware of scope position if you find your self shooting at extream upward angles.
My brother in Alaska gave him self a beutiful scar shooting a dall sheep with a scoped .375 H&H. The scope bit him so hard and fast it caused him to pull the shot and he ended up shooting about 1.5 inches off the tip of the Rams right horn. Luckly it stuned the Ram enough he could wipe the blood out of his eye and knock the ram down with the second shot.
Keep in mind my brother is 6'6" 270lbs and very fit. He loves big boars and shoots every thing in AK and Africa with his .375, .416, and .470.
He shoots them like I shoot my .300WSM.

Thanks, good hunting and Semper Fi

Will

No for big bore double rifles, or any rifle you are going to hunt elephants with, imo. I want all of the perspective I can get.

I think a scoped rifle is probably the most versatile for hunting buff, so long as the lower end of magnification is 1x or so or at most 2x. But I prefer using a double rifle and, so far at least, it hasn't cost an opportunity. But then, a tracker is carrying my scoped 375H&H, just in case.

Yes for the first shot at a lion, but I would want my double rifle for approaching a downed lion or for any follow up. If a double rifle isn't an option than an aperture sight on a bolt rifle with a large aperture, followed by an express sighed bolt rifle or a bolt rifle with a scope with a very low lower end like 1x to 1.5x

Yes for the first shot at leopard, but again I would want to switch to my double rifle after that. I would take a double, auto or pump shotgun with large buckshot or slugs over a bolt rifle.

If I were to ever hunt rhino, I would want an open sighted rifle, preferably a double rifle.

If I were to hunt hippo on land, and I hope to, I would want an unscoped rifle, again, preferably a double rifle.

My thoughts,

JPK

I have a 416 bolt action, I put removable scope mounts on mine. I've had some situations where I was glad I could tke the scope off.

I've found that I shoot more without the scope, I enjoy it much more

scopes on bolt guns work for me. on doubles, if in a huge caliber, then i think you are just looking for scope failure.

my 416 rigby wears a 1-4 vxII leupold. so far 50+ full power loads fired... all ok.

For me .458 and under I will take a scope double or bolt rifle.

I have been looking for a reasonably priced over/under Suhl or Ferlach 458 Win with a EAW mount for years, hopefully I can find one for under $10k.

If I buy another Blaser S-2 or Kreighoff it will be a 416/500 and it will carry a scope.

D99, www.searcyent.com builds DR's in 500/416 too!

Yes he does. I like Butch's guns. I think I'd like to have a 500 or 470 from Butch.

Both my 375/404 have Leupold 2.5-8x scopes on them, mounted permanently.

Neither rifle has an open sight.

These rifles and scopes have been on many hunts, and I never touch them.

Saeed, How is your hunt going?

Bwanamich,

We are going on the 13th of next month, and all of us are looking forward to it.

On my last buffalo hunt, I had two rifles with only iron sights. I'm going to be sixty in a few months and my eyes just aren't what they used to be... so what happened on the hunt. Every darn time we go ready to shoot a buffalo, they'd be in the dark shadows or more than 70 yards. I never could feel comfortable about shooting, as someone said, with the front bead being fuzzy and covering most of the buffalo's chest or into the shadows where I couldn't be absolutely certain of bullet placement. Yet, on my elephant hunt 9 months later I felt quite comfortable with irons, but at 20 yards (about my max for elephant), what the heck?

So, I hope, next time I'll have the best of both worlds. Butch Searcy is making me a .450/.400 3" Classic double with QD mounts for a 1.5x5 Leuopold. I think I'll still be welcome in the DRSS with scope on for the buffalo (or eland or kudu or terrorist) and off for the elephant. What do you say Mac, Rusty and Mark?

Come next March in Omay, I guess well see if it works.

I use a scope for everything but elephant.

quote:

Originally posted by JudgeG:
So, I hope, next time I'll have the best of both worlds. Butch Searcy is making me a .450/.400 3" Classic double with QD mounts for a 1.5x5 Leuopold. I think I'll still be welcome in the DRSS with scope on for the buffalo (or eland or kudu or terrorist) and off for the elephant. What do you say Mac, Rusty and Mark?

I say what ever floats your canoe! bring it on!

You have a thoughtful question. Here's my perspective. I use a scope on my .416 Rem (Leupold low power) That works well and I definitely don't want to give up the accuracy advantage. On the other hand I have quick-detach mounts so I can use the gun if the scope gets damaged during the hunt. Scopes have progressed to keep pace with recoil, so I'm not worried about scope failure. What I am worried about is putting a scope where it doesn't belong.

Here's the problem. You're standing in front of an elephant in close cover. Your scope is right on his head at 1.5 power. You are 15 paces away and you still have no idea where the bullet is going to go. All you know is that it will hit somewhere on his head.

Your scope has put you too close. It has limited your field of view and limited your ability to place the shot. You don't have time to wonder and look over the scope and look back to try to make sense of things. With this much riding on the outcome of your decision, this is not a situation you want to find yourself in.

I'm a scope advocate. Still I have to conclude that a scope is not safe on an elephant hunt. The same logic may apply to lion or buffalo-retrieval stalks. Close up and personal simply requires iron sights.

Bill:

While I don't use a scope elephant hunting, I've found that with both eyes open and with up to a 2.5x, scope, particularly with a post and crosshair reticle, I can see/focus around and through the scope with no problem at any range. It's kind of like a ghost ring and front post with some glass involved.

Do you shoot a scope with both eyes open... maybe that's the problem, if you don't?

i stopped hunting elephant with a scope this year, otherwise i still like scopes, i might shoot a buffalo next year with out one as well. I did shoot a pig once with iron sights, its fun to mix it up but when I didnt have the knowlege of hunting I do now I felt better with a scope. as a side note a back up gun shouldnt ever be scoped.

Not for me at least on an over 400 caliber stopping rifle. On a medium caliber double I could see it but I prefer my mediums to be bolt rifles.

465H&H