I used a 2.5x8 in QD mounts on my .416 for elephant this year. I really liked it for the exact reasons Jason and a couple others pointed out. You don't necessarily go to Africa looking for just one animal. Although it would have taken a pretty serious trophy to distract me from elephant I was awfully glad I could have taken a 200 yard shot at a sable, waterbuck, etc. if needed.
It's also pretty comforting to be set up for a little longer range with your heavy gun if something fails on your light/medium rifle. On my first safari my hunting partners' .375 stock went to splinters on the second day. He was really glad he had a good scope (1.75x6) on his .416 when he ended up with 200 yard shots on both eland and impala.
At 10 feet no scope magnification will be perfect. Then you're probably more interested in a good gun fit and practice grouse shooting. Irons would probably be better in really tight cover in the case of a charge but you lose the other advantages of distance and low light capabilities.

Kyler

There is really no need to make an elephant gun also serve as a plains game rifle unless you just really want to. If you are concerned you might see a sable while on elephant tracks, just make one of the trackers carry your 30-06.

3X is fine.

Andy,
I am a fan of the old 3X Leupolds althrough I have trashed two of them on a 458 Lott that had a muzzle brake on it, but it trashed all the scopes I used except the 2.5 Leupold compact....I have a 3X Leupold on my 416 Rem, my 375 H&H and on several med bore saddle guns...I could live with the 3X Leupold for ALL my hunting on all my guns if I had to, and never look back......

I prefer irons for elephant hunting, either a shallow V or better yet a ghost ring peep sight, but if I were a dyed in the wool scope user and they are abundant, then the 3X Leupold would as a good choice as any...

As to durability, I think the 1x4X, 1.5x5, and 3X are all about equal, and you can get a bad one now and then. Perhaps the fixed scopes are a bit more dependable than the varibles as they have less to go wrong.

Andy,

Seems like a toss up on the scope for elephant debate. In my case particularly since I've had to wear double vision glasses the front bead of irons is just a little too fuzzy for me to trust my POI. I can see very well and I shoot pretty good with a scope so I think I'll stay with it.

Another thing that crossed my mind was that as a client hunter your job is to put the first bullet in the elephant in the right place particularly if you are trying the brain shot. If a guy is used to using a scope and shoots better with one why would he change to irons just because he was hunting elephant? Of course if you are presented an easy shoulder shot you probably could make the shot with any sighting equipment but for the inexperienced of which I am one the brain shot is a fairly intimidating venture and not at all a slam dunk. For you guys that are confident with your open sights more power to you. I'll stay with what I'm used to.

Andy, do you have a price set for the scope?

Regards,

Mark

I sighted in on various targets today at ten yards out to 30 yards, and with both eyes open still had good situational awareness.

Under ten yards the optics were out of focus, and I felt like I lost quite a bit of time aquiring the "target."

Guess Ill just have to shoot before he gets to 30 feet!!!

Mark, this was a brand new still in the box with celophane, M8 3 X when I mounted it on my Dakota.

Andy

I would not use a scope on anything weighing over a ton but I have had excellent service from the 1.5x5 Leupold on my "little" (375) rifle & plan to install one on a 450 Rigby when I finish it.

Andy,

Jack O'Connor swore that more than a 6X scope wasn't needed for antelope in Wyoming. Now a 3X scope is supposedly fine at 10 yards.

First you have to decide what is elephant hunting.

Standing off at 40 or 50 yards with shooting sticks and potting an elephant is not what I consider elephant hunting, it is potting. Like potting prairie dogs at 300 yards. Have the PH bring a portable shooting bench.

You could kill an elephant with a laser-guided missile too, but so what?

Unless you get up close enough so that the half-blind hunter can accurately place a shot, you are target shooting, not elephant hunting.

Elephant hunting has a long and distinguished history. One has to decide whether they are living in the past or shooting with illuminated reticles, titanium shooting sticks, and a 6-24X scope with a laser dot backup.

I'm living in the, perhaps antiquated, past. But to each their own.

I have shot at least a dozen elephants with a 2.5-8X scope, set at 2.5X.

Never had any problems whatsoever.

Closest shot was about 20 yards, longest was 55 yards.

Will,

I can't agree with you more! "Up close and personal" That's what makes it a hunt!

To each his own and its your hunt and your money, so hunt them like you please...I would not hunt elephant with anything but a double rile, it's not cricket to do otherwise you know!

So I suppose my nostalgia goes even further than Bills, who wants irons up close on a awkward, clumsy, ugly, cheating bolt action repeating rifle!!

On the serious side, I like to shoot from very close if possible, thats the rush of elephant hunting, and I want irons so if a charge comes I can point and shoot, I can't do this with a scope with any degree of accuracy like I can with my double. With my double just pointing and shooting both barrels I can usually touch both bullets center or come close to it, at under 25 yards...

If I were hunting open country then a scoped bolt gun would probably be a better choice as the shots are further...I would take my 416 or 404 in such a case.

Andy,

You have to ask yourself what you wish to do.

If you are going to POT an elephant, then a 3X scope would be perfect.

If you wish to HUNT an elephant, I suggest you do it the same way some old Africans are said to have done.

Get yourself a sharp axe, crawl very quietly to an elephant from the rear, and whack him real hard to cut the hamstring.

You will need to run back rather fast, but only for a few yards. As the disabled elephant won't be able to move.

You have to light a fire and cook a meal, as the wait for the elephant to die might take a few days or even weeks.

That is what is called elephant hunting

Saeed,

Oh, come on. I figured I would stir things up more than this.

I will try harder next time!

Andy,

That 3X is such a peice of crap that you should sell it to me cheap. Actually I really will buy it if you decide to sell it at any reasonable price.

I didn't want to try and justify a scope on the particular I hunt I was on but it might be fun so here goes.

We approached the elephant I shot this year from about 100 yards in very open country. I mean we could clearly see the elephant's head with ivory and about half his body above the scrub mopane. There were only a few scattered trees in this area. We assessed the ivory on the right side as good. We moved around carefully to the left side and found the ivory to be good also. We then moved in to about 30 yd. To get closer than 30yd. would have meant plowing through the scrub and alerting the elephant and still perhaps not being able to get the shoulder shot which I actually wanted. After some discussion it was decided I would take the shot behind the ear. I did and the elephant went down like a ton of bricks. The scope helped me place the shot. I was much more confident than I would have been if I was looking at a somewhat fuzzy front bead. I do apologize if the hunt I just mentioned was not a real elephant hunt but I really enjoyed the Hell out of it anyway.

Regards,

Mark

Saeed,
Actually I hunted them like that in my early years as that was before the advent of gunpowder, the only thing that bothered me was the lack of metal axes and most of us poor boys had to use flint!!

All that came to pass with the coming of good, well bred quarter horses and nylon ropes! but as you know we had to corn the roads to get the elephants near camp...