I am going to purchase a Nikon monarch in either a 3.3-10x44 or 4-12x40. I am trying to weight the advantages and disadvantages of each scope. I plan to mount it on a 7mm Rem mag. It will primarily be used on elk, but may see an occasional whitetail. I know the 44 mm objective will gather more light, but with the 95% light gathering capability of the monarch line, I am wondering if will actually matter. Is the better light gathering capability worth the trade-off in less useable magnification? Does anyone have either of these models? Your responses will be greatly appreciated.

I have a Leupold 3.5-10x40 VX3 on my 7mm Rem Mag and I feel its a great combo. Either of your choices would be well suited on a 7mm Mag, but I opine that no more than 10x on the upper end is needed for big-game hunting.

I have an older Monarch 4-12x. Not sure if the current models have the same tube. It is a somewhat short scope. Might care to make sure it is long enough to fit the mount spacing on whatever 7mm you have.

Otherwise, have nothing but good things to say. I don't think you will miss any light gathering with it. I have 4 Monarchs of differing sizes. They are clear, bright, resolving, adjust reliably with no real downside I see.

Is the 3.3-10x a scope with AO? The 4-12x has it. I usually don't care for AO in hunting rifles. Just one more thing to fiddle with. Though if you make long range shots it is useful.

I have both of the aforementioned Monarchs. While the 3.3-10x44 AO is superb, I have always preferred the 4-12x40 AO. I can't pinpoint anything specific; it's just a matter of personal preference. But either will serve you well as both resolve detail, particularly in the shadow areas, incredibly well and are fantastic when the light gets low.

I own both of the scopes you mentioned and recently found a problem with the 4-12x40. Without a lens shade it gets rendered useless due to glare from a setting sun if pointed in the general direction of the sun(aimed at the ground of course). It must be a characteristic of the scope because we also had a Leupold 3.3-10x scoped rifle to compare and there was no glare. Otherwise, both perform great.

Zupspoon-Someone must have scraped all of the coating off your lens. Either that, or your scope is DIRTY, which will cause problems with ANY brand.

Where I hunt, backlit situations late in the day are the norm, and the anti-glare properties of any Nikon Monarch scope are superior to a comparable Leupold (Leupold, by the way, does not make a 3.3-10; maybe you are thinking of a 3.5-10x).

Thanks for the info guys. I just ordered a monarch 4-12x40 from Jon. Now I just have to find a way to tell my wife.

Bobby,

No one scraped the coating off the lens, nor is it dirty. And yes, the Leupold was a 3.5-10x. That said, unless you own a 4-12x Monarch, I would suggest you reserve judgement on the glare issue until you try one. Mine is mounted on a stainless barrel...maybe that aggravates the glare, maybe not...I haven't yet bothered to find out. Ever wonder why they make lens shades? Please don't say just for mirage....

If you'd have read the previous posts, you'd see I DO own that particular scope -- actually 2 of them at the present. And I've used Leupolds as well. So I do not need to reserve judgement; if you're getting that type of glare, you have a problem. That is not normal.

The 40mm objective is going to have a slightly smaller exit pupil through out the zoom range than that of the 44mm.

Exit pupil is; Objective size in mm’s divided by magnification.

That’s the math, but your practical milage can vary depending on how your particular eyes perceive slight changes in light.

Resolving power (not mathmatical brightness figures) is what counts in a scope so if you can look through both of them to see what your eyes perceive you will be ahead of the game.

I agree with the other poster, 12x is allot of magnification for a hunting rifle unless your shooting from a prone position or using a rest at extra long ranges at smaller targets.

A little late to this party, but I'd choose the 3.3x10x44 in a heartbeat over the 40mm objective. JMNSHO.