I used to have an old steel Weaver K2.5 that I mounted on a No. 1 in .416, and on a .458 WinMag that I had reamed to .450 NE. IT worked fine for punching paper with cast loads at 100 yards. As a hunting scope, however, it lacked the clarity and brightness my aging eyes need. I no longer have that scope, but was thinking about a Leupold in 2.5 or 4X fixed. How do these hold up on the heavier calibers? I'm thinking about a No. 1 in .405, .416 Rigby or .458 Lott. Is 4X too much glass for a Lott?

I have a Leupold 1.5x5 on my #1 .458, just because it had the longest eye relief I could find. It has been back once for repair (after about 50 shots). I can't shoot it above 3x because of the relief. From what I have read I think their 2.5x compact may be the best bet; with this much recoil I believe simpler is better. One of these days I will give one a try.
C.G.B.

I put a Redfield 2-7x on my .458wm #1H, and have found it to perform well with over 100 rounds full power charges behind 400gr bullets so far...

Dan

The Leupold 2.5 is probably the toughest scope I've used. Had one on my 600 OK for awhile. Be sure to lap the rings to eliminate any pressure points and get a good seat and you should be fine with any of the calibers you mention. I would stick with the 2.5X as I think that is plenty of scope for the ranges you are likely to use it.

FWIW I look for 90% or more coveage when lapping a scope in. I think it really helps. The only scope I've ever had came apart was a 1.5-4 Leupold on a 416 wby and I didn't lap it. Lapped the next scope and have a few hundred rounds thru it since.

Godd luck,
John

There's a fixed 4x Leupold mounted on my .416 Rigby #1. It's served very well, although I must admit that many of the rounds I've fired have been reduced loads with cast bullets (usually in the 2100 fps area with 365-grain bullets).

It has also survived a goodly number of loads approaching the .416 Weatherby, with 400s departing at 2600-plus. THAT is a severe test of a scope (and shooter)!

An old K1.5 Weaver served well for over 1000 rounds on my .404 Mauser, but it has now been retired to a .22 sporter (and is still working fine).

Although I own quite a few variables of different power ranges, I still like fixed-power scopes for many purposes. I think you're on the right track. I once killed a bull moose at thirty FEET using a K4 Weaver, and had no trouble seeing enough of the animal to place the shot correctly.

The 2.5x leupold is a good scope as would be the 1-4 leupold or the 1.5-5 that was mentioned.

My No 1 isn't a large bore it's a little 7x57. Sitting on top of it is a Redfield 1.75-5x, just bought it off e-bay.
It's a beaut. It's one and a half inches longer than the Leupold 1-4x that was on it. That extra one and a half inches has solved the eye relief problem. The clarity is very good, to my eye, beter than the Leupy it replaced.
How it would stand up to the recoil of a large bore Iduno. And I aint-got-no plans to find out.
One might be worth a try if you can pick up a goodun.

I put a 3 X 9 Ziess Conquest on my Ruger # 1 in .416 Rigby. I also put the same scope on my Model 70 Winchester in .416 Remington. I have shot the Ruger 200 plus rounds and the Remington much more than that and both scopes are doing very well indeed. My Model 70 served me well in Africa on Buffalo. I kept it set on 3 power for hunting, but had more if I needed it. Good shooting.

Bill,

I currently have a Leup 1.5-5 on a RSM 416 Rigby and one on a RSM 458 Lott. The one on the Rigby has sustained a couple of hundred rounds of Rigby and before that a couple of hundred 45-70 rounds. The one on my RSM Lott has over 200 rounds on the RSM and over 100 on a #1 Lott. Both have been fine. We'll see if I soon have a failure but so far all is good. I can see the logic of the fixed 2.5x, and on a real big boomer that is what I would suggest.

John

From what I have read, NOT 1st hand, use only fixed power on the #1 in a lott. I believe it was Rick0311 who posted that this was the only way to go and he had Leup.data to back him up. I am going to scope my #1 lott and the(i"ll get killed here) scope that is highly recomended to me is the Tasco Titian 1.5 fixed.
So now stone me