Have a great hunt!

I have picked up the same scope in EE version!

Safari njema

I have mostly used the 3X Leupold of yesteryear on my DG rifles up to the 416s, and 404 and the 2.5X compact Leupold on the Lott and up..but on the Lott and up I prefer iron sighted guns, either the traditional shallow V or better yet a receiver (peep) sight with the aperture removed..The receiver is good to 300 yards and Ive never even shot at DG past my longest shot of 225 yards on one occasion at a honking big Buffalo vacating the area in a hurry, it was a one shot kill, hunting with Van Heerden in Tanzania the rest were under 200 and more likely under 100 yard, were talking Africa..

Thanks, Ray. YHour eyes must be a lot better than mine. At my age, I know there is a front sight out there somewhere on my rifle but I sure can't see it among all the blur! Sounds like you had some great hunts. mj

Depends on how well you shoot with Open sights. Most nowadays shoot way better with a scope. As they should it is far superior in many ways especially if you have the right one for the job, which he does now. Remember shot placement is everything. I shoot a ton with open sights but I shoot way better with optics. As it should be. It’s cheating

On shot kill is the goal. I see a lot of videos of guys shooting open sights with doubles and having to put multiple double barrel shots into a buff to put it down for good. I attribute it to not very effective first shots possibly due to open sights adrenaline etc. with a good scope you can put the bulletin in with precision and drop it. Plus longer range since you want to kill a buff this time I’m sure! Will give you tons more flexibility in taking a shot at a target.

quote:

with a good scope you can put the bullet in in with precision and drop it

True up to a point - it does give the advantage on accuracy but to drop it in its tracks you have to know precisely where to put the bullet.

Well that goes without saying. Apparently I figured that out but maybe others haven’t but practice does make perfect

Yep. That's why my former scope gave out after about 2,000 rounds of guiding .458 Lott bullets to the target. A good way to learn to shoot a big gun, for sure! I have not forgotten to study anatomy and read trusted sources on bullet placement. Hopefully all this won't go out the window at a critical moment! Thanks, again, for everyone's help! mj

trijicon red dot would be my pick

If you shoot better with a scope then by all means use one, but I would suggest a QD scope mount, just in case or if you have a bull holed up in some really thick stuff and then pointability might be best of all if you have practiced and pointability is best with the scope removed for sure....

As to one shot kills on buffalo, it is rare indeed with scope or irons, and even in a charge situation a double is normally the better option if on can shoot..

I don't buy off on Gunslingers post in that regards, seen and shot too many buffalo to come to his decision, so I respectfully have to disagree with his assumption..Most buffalo are shot within 50 yards by a long shot, irons or scope work, close work is iron sight work, long shots are scope work, thus the QD scope..Few PHs allow long shots unless the client has been pre proven..

Of course if your eyesight is bad, or you feel uncomfortable with irons, then by all means use what works for you as an individual, and practice makes perfect whatever one does..I do wonder that if one can shoot and manage a 458 Lott then that person is probably comfortable with scope or irons, I would suggest only the Leupold 2.5X compact on any rifle of 458 Lott or larger as Leupold move the reticle system directly under the adjustments making it much stronger Im told by Leupold and it seems to have worked for me over the years on the larger bores..

Yes - I have the detachable mounts and have tested the sytem to make sure zero is maintained after removing and remounting. That's one reason I needed to get a 30mm tube in a new scope and why I can't take another pre-sighted in scope (I don't have another 30mm scope). Thanks for the input. I leave Sunday for Zimbabwe. Thanks, again, all! mj