If you were hunting baited leopard and plains game, no buffalo, which of these two rifles would you take, a Rem 700 in 7MM Mag, or 300 Win Mag.
Both are tack drivers.

And what would you do for a scope. Both have 3-10 Zeiss Conquests today.

No bad choices there - both are fine for leopard. I would probably opt for the .300 Win Mag in case you were taking large plains game like eland or kudu.

I agree with subsailor for the same reasons. I have a leupold vari x r on mine for the lighted reticl

Either rifle and a scope with a lighted reticle and good light gathering like a Swaro.

Moderator-Should you move this thread to "African Hunting" ?

Both calibers are ok.
Check if the country where you want to hunt has a minimum caliber for leopard.
If you can use a torch to hunt the cat, the scope will do the job.
I shot 2 leopards with a Leupold VX-3 with illum. reticle and it was very helpful.

df06

Either rifle is fine as are the scopes for leopard. My personal choice would be as subsailor said the 300 for larger game and I like an illuminated reticule scope.

Mark

+1

7mm-08 with vx3 1.5-5

Camera Land has some demo Zeiss Dialyt scopes that won't break the bank and will work well. I really like the 2.5x8. You can get three for the cost of the Swarovski.

Use a soft point bullet and a Swarovski Z6i scope. The illuminated reticle is a huge help.

Going Leopard hunting this year Have a Leopold vx3 in 25 to 8 How much better is it to have a lighted recital

quote:

Originally posted by shotgun46:
Going Leopard hunting this year Have a Leopold vx3 in 25 to 8 How much better is it to have a lighted recital

Please do not take offense at my comments, but your VX3 2.5-8 is on the low end of what I would consider to be an acceptable scope for leopard hunting....that is, unless you are shooting in daylight. Don't get me wrong...the Leupold VX3 2.5-8 is a great scope. I own several of them, but if I am shooting in low light, I always go to a scope with a 30mm tube or a larger objective. You want to gather as much light as possible. A Swarovski is going to be your best bet. I used a Leupold VX6 with illuminated reticle on my leopard hunt last year, and worked fine. If I hunted leopard again, I would go to one of my Swarovski scopes and put it on 4 or 6 power. You are paying for that last 10 minutes of daylight or the ability to make out the leopard in the tree and shoot within 2-3 seconds when the light comes on. In those cases, a top end scope is worth every penny, and an illuminated reticle gives you an extra edge.

Agree with Dave above. Except on the 30mm tube. That does nothing for light gathering. It is all about the objective. To travel all that way on an expensive Leopard hunt I would make sure that I am equipped with a Lit Reticle and a decent sized objective to gather the light in a top quality scope.

quote:

Originally posted by McKay:
Agree with Dave above. Except on the 30mm tube. That does nothing for light gathering. It is all about the objective. To travel all that way on an expensive Leopard hunt I would make sure that I am equipped with a Lit Reticle and a decent sized objective to gather the light in a top quality scope.

Mac - you are of course correct about the 30mm tube not adding to light gathering. As much as objective size being important to gather light, the lense coatings are right in there as well. A cheap scope with a large objective is not going to do anyone any good in a leopard blind. Bottom line - I think we are in violent agreement. If you can afford a leopard hunt, you can afford a higher end scope with a reputation for low light performance to optimize your chances for success on your hunt.

I chose a Winchester Mdl 70 in 375 H&H with a leopold illuminated reticle. I was glad I chose the 375 over my '06 when we had visiting lions and elephants at the blind.

If you are hunting an area where it is legal to hunt at night, make sure you try out your illuminated reticle at night prior to your hunt. Mine was brand new and I was unfamiliar with it and I had some problems and that is not the time you want problems. They were all operator error.

My light rifle in Afica is a 375H&H Caprivi. Toped with a Talbot QR amounting system and a VARI X 3 30mm tube 50mm bell illuminated German #4 reticle.

Two cats D.R.T. dead right there. 300gr. Hornady on the first and a TSX on the second.

Illuminated is a must.

Mike

I am far from an expert, but I got an excellent leopard at night three years ago in Zimbabwe and am going again in a few months. I used a VXIII 1x1.5 with illuminated reticle on that trip and it obviouly worked, but I felt I was pushing the limit of it's capability. I have since compared it during several nighttime experiments with a Swarovski Z6i 1x6 and there is a big difference. I've now got my own Z6i as my primary scope and the VXIII will be a backup.

Regarding rifles, of the two you are considering, I would go with the 300 and take only one type of heavy bullets for all purposes. If you are hunting in an area with lion, elephant and buffalo you might want to consider a larger bore rifle even though DG are not on your list. I had several (three I think) promising set ups in the BVC that lions ruined by hanging around because of the bait.

Good hunting,

Are night vision scopes allowed for hunting in Africa? Seems like the answer for low light shooting if they're allowed.

Gentlemen IMO, all the things mentioned do have some effect on the brightness of any particular scope. However none of them are as important as the exit pupil size. Only if the exit pupil is a max of 5mm is it useful to the human eye! The human eye cannot utilize any more than a 5 mm exit pupil no matter what else is there in a scope.

Certainly the quality of the lens, the lens coatings, and the boldness of the reticle along with an illuminated apex of cross hair, are far more important than an objective lens over 40 mm, or a 30mm tube over a 1 inch tube. In the end it is simply the combination of all those things that makes a perfect scope for cats over bait, One that has barely been mentioned is power setting. I like a 3-9X40mm set on about five or six power for precise bullet placement zeroed in at the distance from the blind to the bait.

If you want to know what works best in poor light, ask any long time predator hunter who most often is set up for night shooting, and failing light in the evening, or just before sunrise. They will all tell you that a 40mm objective, a bold reticle, and a lighted apex of the crosshair. If shooting with a spotlight, none of it matters because you are creating daylight.

Of course opinions vary! That's what makes a horse race bet!

I took my last leopard with a 300H&H Ruger #1 with 180gr TTSX bullets and a Trijicon 3x9x40 and amber dot. That was about a perfect set up in my opinion. Daytime cat only and it worked great.

Daylight Leopard taken with the above rifle:



My first leopard was taken with a M-70 in 375H&H using the 300gr TSX and Leopold Vari-X 7 in 1.75x7. That hunt allowed a spot light and the crosshairs were very difficult to see, even with the heavy duplex.

Leopard taken with light and 375 with Leopold Vari-X 7





My last attempt that failed mainly due to extreme heat of December in the Zambezi Valley, I used a 9.3x74R double and Trijicon 1.25x4. We had the option of using a light as well and although we didn't get a tom feeding, we checked the set up with the red light and it would have been an excellent choice. That scope has the post with red triangle. Still, no issues with the red light and it was crystal clear and well defined.

Both cats taken in the first two hunts were dead under the tree and traveled less than 3 or 4 yards, so both calibers will get the job done as will the two you've mentioned. However, I do recommend taking a second, and larger rifle into the blind with you, regardless of whether or not you choose a 375 for the cat. The reason being that you never know what else will show up. I've had lion on the bait that decided to come check out the blind and having an additional rifle felt good, mainly because your leopard rifle, whatever it is, will be strapped down on the shooting platform, more than likely anyway. On my first hunt, with the 375, we had the rifle strapped down, preset with the crosshairs on the bait. Around 2:00am we had a herd of elephant surround the blind with what latter was determined to be a cow with a calf, just a few yards from us, trumpeting and kicking or throwing dirt on the blind in total darkness. I had my 500NE along as well, but loaded only with A-Square lion loads. The following night, I had it loaded with solids! That is really the only time I've been hunting DG in Africa where I really felt we were in danger, so yea, if you can take an extra, heavy rifle into the blind, in addition to the PH and his weapon, by all means do so.

Rifle strapped down to shooting platform where elephants moved in on us in the night:

Df06

Lots of great advice here. Add me to the list of folk who would go with the 300 for all the reasons mentioned.

Low light is when leopards come and go so that's the situation to be prepared to shoot.

Low-light human pupil size is quite variable -- from as small as 4mm to as large as 9mm in diameter. It also varies with age - some populations steadily decrease with age while others decrease then increase again.

If you plan to buy a new scope then having a measurement of your own low light pupil size is valuable.
Your eye doctor can do it but a simple way is to

Dim the lights as much as you can and still be able to barely make things out

Place a ruler under your eye

Have someone take a picture with flash of your eye and ruler (or stand in front of a mirror and take one of yourself)

Choose a scope with an exit pupil close to your own.

From personal experience of taking a leopard in low light conditions, I would recommend taking a scope with a large objective bell, preferably with an illuminated reticle. Whatever scope you choose, test it out in the dark at home before you leave. As for bullet, 308 on up is more than adequate, though some countries have legal minimums as has been mentioned.

Being in a blind with a leopard on bait, your PH repeatedly telling you to shoot and not being able to see out of your scope is not a low I wish upon any hunter. I was using a rented rifle that I did not test at night. Luckily they had another set up in camp and Mr. Spots returned next evening.