Hello all,
First time poster here, Been reading for awhile and lots of good stuff. Thanks
My question is I am looking for suggestions for a new scope for my 300 win mag that will handle the recoil and wont break the bank.
Right now I would say ut to $350 is all I can afford. so lets hear your thoughts to help me decide.
thanks

Any modern Leupold will work.

Geotge

Have a VX 1 now and never felt comfortable with it.
Any shared opinions about Vortex Diamond back or Burris Fullfield 2?
The Nikon Manarch is nice but a bit out of my price ranges.

Is the VX 2 really any better than the VX 1.
I am sure this would qualify as a "dead horse issue" sorry.
Greg

Spare yourself the Leupold disappointment and buy a Zeiss Conquest it’s soooo much better scope....you can get one for 399$

Actually if you look at gr8fuldoug of Camera Lands post in the classifieds for Zeiss scopes you can buy a 3x9 Zeiss Conquest for $349.00 delivered right now. Great scope for the money!

The Burris Fullfield IIs are good scopes (I have four of them).

The VX2 scopes have better lens coatings than the VX1s, so they will transmit light better.

The Nikon Monarchs are brighter than either of the above, as are the Zeiss Conquests.

I do not have experience with Vortex as I do not buy scopes made in Communist China.

Buy the best optics you can if you intend to invest a lot of time and/or money in your hunts.

George

Thanks for the input.

I never thought abou Zeiss so I guess I will check them out.
I believe the Vortex Diamond Back is made in the Phillipines and the Vortex Crossfires are made in China.
I have a Burris comming for another Rifle so we will see how I like it.

Think used or refurbed also. Doug at Cameralandny has a lot of demo and shot show specials. You can also find some good stuff at samplelist.com

A quality scope used can be a great deal. I have bought used Nikon and Swarovski and have been very pleased.


LWD

quote:

Have a VX 1 now and never felt comfortable with it.

If you'll describe the discomfort you've felt that might help guide useful suggestions.

With the VX 1 4x12x40 I dont like the eye relief., seems short and even on low power I feel like I am looking thru a tunnel very long and narrow. The edges blacken quickly if the least off center.
The glass is clear but the power magnification ring is very stiff to turn.
I currently have it on a remington 204 and have harvested chucks up to 500 yrds so the scope works. Im just not that comfortable with it.

Do yourself a favour and look trough a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 with 4” eye relief and then you will know what everybody is talking about, no tunnel effect and crystal clear view. I’ll bet that you will never buy another Leupold after that.

Thanks for explaning what you don't like. I'd advise going to a scope of less magnification for a hunting rifle. As you note, the VX-I 4-12 is working great as a varminting scope, which is what scopes in that range of power should be reserved for. I don't like anything above 9x or 10x in a game rifle scope.

I'm not here to knock anyone's scope, but if you're having a problem with eye relief on a Leupold, I think you'll find a greater problem with a Zeiss. Yes, its eye relief is 4", but it is exactly 4", no more, no less. In other words, the Zeiss (as well as most other European makes) has what is known as critical eye relief. With a hunting rifle, which may be shot from various positions, critical eye relief is a big problem since your eye position will vary depending on whether you are shooting offhand, prone uphill, prone downhill, kneeling, etc.

I recently had possession of a Zeiss Conquest and found its "tunnel effect" pronounced with a large ring of black around the relatively small sight picture. On the other hand, a comparable Leupold shows the sight picture right out to the edge of the lens with no wide black ring surrounding it.

Personal preferenced vary, but from your description of your needs and your price range, I would strongly suggest trying a Leupold VX-II 3-9. The LR reticle is nice if you sometimes hunt in places that may offer a legitimate shot beyond 300 yards.

The older I get, the worse my eyes help me out. I went to the Zeiss Conquest line of scopes for a couple of years now. The problem I have with them is that head placement on the stock is sooooooo critical because there are no shadows to help me locate that perfect place to put my head. I'm in the process of going back to Leupolds and will upgrade as many as I can to the 4.5 x 14 -50 in a MK 4 LRT. They are clear enough for Long Range with my .50 cal and I can still find a shadow to gauge my head placement. The Zeiss would and is perfect for hunting but off the bench, where I do a lot of shooting, I miss the shadows for the help Just my .02

Stonecreek,
thanks for your explaination.
I will have to spend some "scope" time at the gunshops.
Most my other scopes are 3x9x40's and the 300 isnt used very much but I obviously want a quality optic that will handle the 300 recoil.

I wlll continue looking and do appreciate all advise given
Thanks,
Greg

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Personal preferenced vary, but from your description of your needs and your price range, I would strongly suggest trying a Leupold VX-II 3-9. The LR reticle is nice if you sometimes hunt in places that may offer a legitimate shot beyond 300 yards.

You really feel there is noticable difference between what I have and this? (obviously or you would not have suggested it)
Please explain why?
Thanks
Greg

quote:

Originally posted by mrbofus:

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Personal preferenced vary, but from your description of your needs and your price range, I would strongly suggest trying a Leupold VX-II 3-9. The LR reticle is nice if you sometimes hunt in places that may offer a legitimate shot beyond 300 yards.

You really feel there is noticable difference between what I have and this? (obviously or you would not have suggested it)
Please explain why?
Thanks
Greg

Several years ago I owned a Vary-X II 4-12, which is essentially the same scope as the VX-I. I had it mounted on a .270 and found that acquiring the sight picture required much more precise eye placement than the 3-9 Vari-X II's I was used to. Leupold says that they "loosened up" the "eye window" of the 4-12 in later models, but any higher powered variable is going to have somewhat more critical eye placement than a comparable lower-powered variable. Actually, I find the 3-9X Leupolds rather forgiving in eye placement.

I still own a couple of VX 4-12X scopes, but I have them on varminting rifles which are almost exclusively shot from a rest, where they are perfectly comfortable.

My 300 has a older leupold 3-9 v2 or something like that been on the gun bout14 years now.But if i was doing it again a Burris full field 11 same size would be my choice ,My sons and i have 5 fullfield11 on guns ranging 338 fed thru 375HH never had a problem in some cases they have replaced much more exspensive scopes that couldnt handle it.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by mrbofus:

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Personal preferenced vary, but from your description of your needs and your price range, I would strongly suggest trying a Leupold VX-II 3-9. The LR reticle is nice if you sometimes hunt in places that may offer a legitimate shot beyond 300 yards.

You really feel there is noticable difference between what I have and this? (obviously or you would not have suggested it)
Please explain why?
Thanks
Greg

Several years ago I owned a Vary-X II 4-12, which is essentially the same scope as the VX-I. I had it mounted on a .270 and found that acquiring the sight picture required much more precise eye placement than the 3-9 Vari-X II's I was used to. Leupold says that they "loosened up" the "eye window" of the 4-12 in later models, but any higher powered variable is going to have somewhat more critical eye placement than a comparable lower-powered variable. Actually, I find the 3-9X Leupolds rather forgiving in eye placement.

I still own a couple of VX 4-12X scopes, but I have them on varminting rifles which are almost exclusively shot from a rest, where they are perfectly comfortable.

Thanks,
I was playing with the VX 1 yesterday some and the eye window is pretty tight. I will hopefully do some side by side comparisons with the vx 2 and one again do plan on a 3 x 9 when the 300 gets new glass.

I've been using a Burris 3x9x40 FF II for the past 8 or 10 yrs. The standard plex is great for my aging eyes in low light. It's been put thru the wringer and that scope is tougher than nails. It sits on my beloved 1987 257 wby MK V.
If it dies tomorrow it won't owe me a thing.
Hope this helps