Most of my big fellas wear a 1.5X5 Leupold and the harder kickers a 3X Leupold.
Both have good eye relief and are very durable.
For my use unless its on a varmint rifle I have no need for a high power variable..

Current Leupold models at Midway have the following eye-relief on max power:

1.75-6x = 3.3" eye-relief. ( Too short for a big kicker over 5000 ft# muzzle energy)

1.6-5x = 3.7" eye-relief (Marginal for a big kicker 5000ft#)

2.6-8x = 3.6" eye-relief (Marginal for a big kicker 5000 ft#)

4x fixed = 4.0" (OK up to 5500ft#, even 6000ft# for yourself if careful. Guests are another story.)

2.5 fixed = 4.9" eye-relief . (Comfortable. Nice. And this little piggy ran all the way home.)

For variables, the Nikon Inline and Slughunter scopes have 5" eye-relief at 9-power.

Try and find a Kahles 2-7 AH. These scopes are outstanding but in high demand if you can find them. You also can't go wrong with Schmidt and Bender if you can find one on budget. I have 1.1-4 Schmidt rail scopes on my M-03 Mauser for the 458 Lott and 416 Rem Bbls.

Nikon 1-4x Monarch w/turkey reticle. This is a shotgun scope. Very good low power minimal distortion for both eyes open shooting.

The reticle is coated to be visible even in daylight with BC flip-up (on objective) in down position. Has very good eye relief. The turkey reticle is a large diamond that encompasses the plex reticle.

I was using an Athlon Midas BTR moa 1-6x 24mm 30mm tube, but need extension rings or the Burris-Ruger adapting base.

Rifle is a .375ruger Guide Gun 20". The Athlon is a great scope, but a bit close w/o extension for the recoil.

quote:

Originally posted by aklester:
Nikon 1-4x Monarch w/turkey reticle. This is a shotgun scope. Very good low power minimal distortion for both eyes open shooting.

The reticle is coated to be visible even in daylight with BC flip-up (on objective) in down position. Has very good eye relief. The turkey reticle is a large diamond that encompasses the plex reticle.

I was using an Athlon Midas BTR moa 1-6x 24mm 30mm tube, but need extension rings or the Burris-Ruger adapting base.

Rifle is a .375ruger Guide Gun 20". The Athlon is a great scope, but a bit close w/o extension for the recoil.

were you able to see your open sights with the burris ruger adapter?

Got the scope mounted on Saturday...

My big bore is a 375H&H. Since this is the "do-it-all" caliber I wanted a "do-it-all" scope. 1.5-6 with illuminated reticle. Any low powered variable with illumination and decent eye relief should serve you well on a 416.

Interesting to hear so many good reports. However, the very nature of modern scopes, with their erector tubes rocking around every time you let off a big-bore, inclines me to the advice of Atkinson, who shoots so much even some Leupolds start to rattle.

Though Swarovski, Leupold and Vortex have all made efforts to reduce the damage danger with constantly centred reticles, I prefer old reticle-movement scopes like Zeiss/Hensoldt, Kahles and the Nickel. In some of the latter at least, the only moveable mass within the scope is the reticle assembly, with a solid ring in front and a strong spring beneath. For rifles of extreme recoil I would even prefer models without lateral adjustments, to save wear against another screw. The old B&L 'Custom' scopes might be even better, if the mounts can take it, as the fixed powers have no moving parts inside - not even cushioned lenses that might cause parallax over time.

How does Nikon achieve their remarkable stability?

375 or 416 gets a 1-10.

Bigger would never need that much magnification.

quote:

Originally posted by medved:

quote:

Originally posted by aklester:
Nikon 1-4x Monarch w/turkey reticle. This is a shotgun scope. Very good low power minimal distortion for both eyes open shooting.

The reticle is coated to be visible even in daylight with BC flip-up (on objective) in down position. Has very good eye relief. The turkey reticle is a large diamond that encompasses the plex reticle.

I was using an Athlon Midas BTR moa 1-6x 24mm 30mm tube, but need extension rings or the Burris-Ruger adapting base.

Rifle is a .375ruger Guide Gun 20". The Athlon is a great scope, but a bit close w/o extension for the recoil.

were you able to see your open sights with the burris ruger adapter?

Yes... Most of the barrel in fact could line up the vertical reticle with the line on the buckhorn rear sight and the front sight dot.

quote:

Originally posted by BB416:
Leupold VX3 ranging from 1.5-5x 20 through to 2-7x 32 on my 416 ,450/400 etc. never had a problem with a Leupold on anything

I wrote Leupold and asked what scope they'd recommend for large bore rifles....they said, "
Vari-X 3 1.5-5...lots of eye relief...the 2-7 has even more eye relief. My 1.5-5 is at leupold now getting tweaked after years of sitting on big bores....the zoom was really heavy to move...other than that, no rattles or broken pieces.

MOst scopes used on 500 bolt guns and double guns achieve their statbility by sitting in someone gun cabinet and only used to show at the house warming etc...

For a real kicker, go with the only scope worth a damn and that's the Leupold 2.5X compact..They work, I have a couple that have worked fine for over 2000 rounds, even my beloved 3X crashed on my 7.5 Lb. 505 Gibbs Imp., but so did I eventually..

Actually I see no real use for a scope on the big 500s as they are used for close up stopping rifles on Elephant, Hippo and Buffalo as far as Im concerned...otherwise I wouldn't own one. To me they are no showpiece, and barely shootable.

I fear they're not listening, Ray. What's that quote about a prophet being without honor in his own land?

quote:

Originally posted by Trakehner:

quote:

Originally posted by BB416:
Leupold VX3 ranging from 1.5-5x 20 through to 2-7x 32 on my 416 ,450/400 etc. never had a problem with a Leupold on anything

I wrote Leupold and asked what scope they'd recommend for large bore rifles....they said, "
Vari-X 3 1.5-5...lots of eye relief...the 2-7 has even more eye relief. My 1.5-5 is at leupold now getting tweaked after years of sitting on big bores....the zoom was really heavy to move...other than that, no rattles or broken pieces.

So what is the eye-relief at 5 and 7 power on those scopes? Is it over 4" or does it get close to 5" on the high magnify end?

The eye reliefs seen nowadays seem to be more constant than 50 years ago but I doubt if any of them are very long at higher magnifications, so anything much over four inches would be unlikely. Some old variables would give five inch eye reliefs at 1x but shrink to three inches at 2x and be down to two-and-half by 4x.

As to the Leupold VX3 range, they are the ones with the Beryllium-alloy springs. My theory is they developed them in frustration at Atkinson buggering all the old ones on his elephant guns.

I was hoping someone would report the Leupold stats on the eye relief. My Nikons are 5inches on the highpower, 9 power and 5power.

My .500 Jeff trollops around naked (the whore), and I would not wish scope bite from that bitch on anyone. My .475 #2 also has nothing on top of it... My .465 H&H has a fixed 2.5 Kahles with a T post. The .458 Lott occasionally wears a Swaro fixed 4x with a #4, an old steel tube scope...My .416 Rigby wears a Docter Optics 1,5-6x42 with a #4(one of my all time favs...wish I would have bought a few more when they were being sold here). My .416 Barret resides in the huge shadow cast by a 5-25x60(ish) S&B PMIII. My .416 Taylor wears a Meopota 1,5-6x42 with a modified and illuminated #4 (nice scope for the $, darn near the Docter in clarity and light transmission). My .375 H&H has a Diavari Zeiss 1,5-6x42 #4.. I get bored every now and then and mix them all up (but dear, I have to take all of these guns to the range and sight them in again!)

My 45-70 Lever Action has a Leupold VX-R 1.25-4x20 with illuminated reticle. This scope is great for use in the forest or native bush where it's hard to make out an animal against the surroundings.

My 458 B&M has a Nikon Monarch 3 1-4x20 in Q.D Rings. The German #4 reticle has nice contrast for the dark skin on Asian Water Buffalo.

quote:

Originally posted by 416Tanzan:
I was hoping someone would report the Leupold stats on the eye relief. My Nikons are 5inches on the highpower, 9 power and 5power.

Sorry 416 ... my comments were just rules of thumb (borne out in the links below for the smaller scope you mentioned). I thought you might google the scopes yourself, the way most people would do these days.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/leupold_VX-3_1-5x20.htm

https://www.leupold.com/huntin...-5-5x20mm/#tab-specs

quote:

Originally posted by hhmag:
My .500 Jeff trollops around naked (the whore), and I would not wish scope bite from that bitch on anyone. My .475 #2 also has nothing on top of it... My .465 H&H has a fixed 2.5 Kahles with a T post. The .458 Lott occasionally wears a Swaro fixed 4x with a #4, an old steel tube scope...My .416 Rigby wears a Docter Optics 1,5-6x42 with a #4(one of my all time favs...wish I would have bought a few more when they were being sold here). My .416 Barret resides in the huge shadow cast by a 5-25x60(ish) S&B PMIII. My .416 Taylor wears a Meopota 1,5-6x42 with a modified and illuminated #4 (nice scope for the $, darn near the Docter in clarity and light transmission). My .375 H&H has a Diavari Zeiss 1,5-6x42 #4.. I get bored every now and then and mix them all up (but dear, I have to take all of these guns to the range and sight them in again!)

HHMag--
You really should try out a Nikon Slughunter with 5" eye relief on your 500Jeffrey. (Or the Nikon Inline 3-9 muzzleloader scope.) I have a 1.6-5x Slughunter on a 500 AccRel Nyati wildcat. It is loaded to 500Jeffrey energy levels, though in a fairly light platform: a regular Ruger Hawkeye, laminate, with an 8-oz tube in the stock butt for balance. When scoped and loaded it approaches 11 pounds.

As you know, a rifle that produces 6500-7000ftlbs. of muzzle energy needs to be held tight, including the forearm hand. That reduces felt recoil and is good practice for a follow-up second shot. With 5" eye-relief you can safely concentrate on the sight picture and a scope is good for shooting between branches at 75-100 yards or even using on a hartebeest or oribi over 200 yards.

Here is a picture of the shot taken on a buffalo at 110 yards. It would only have been possible with a scope. Since we had already 'bumped' the buffalo twice we may not have had meat on the table without the scope.


The buffalo group were in the distance trees. One cantankerous daddy.


Meat on the table, so to speak. (Some of us do not have access to refrigeration when we hunt.)

Full disclosure: the shot picture and buff above were taken with a 416Rigby (2820fps 350gnTTSX) but the principle for a scope remains the same.

416 cases, one recovered bullet (diagonal first shot), one pass-through at broadside standing buff 20-15 yards in tall grass (we came in without following the blood trail, buff was facing his back-trail in a large patch of tall grass), and one 338 insurance shot, case also shown.

So, personally, I like scopes when hunting. New/old generation. I was raised on scopes and from here on out I suspect that my eyes will demand them as well.

I have a later Leupold VX-3 (just before VX-3i) in 1.75-6x power on my pre 64 Win 70 in 375 H&H. The eye relief is at least 4-1/2 inches as far as the closest eyebox with full field of view and it increases from there. I have never had a close call with a scope kiss on the bench or in the field with this setup. I used the 1.75x setting mainly and shot out to 200 yards just fine. I increased to 6x for a 270 yard shot on a trotting Kudu bull.

A scope's eye-relief in inches is never an issue for me.
On the hard kickers I just make sure the ocular end of the scope is as close to flush with the buttward side of the trigger guard as possible,
i.e., scope as far forward in the rear ring as possible,
and the LOP is correct,
then I use the scope as a peep sight: I don't crawl the stock.
Never a scope bite, but I did touch the bridge of my spectacles with an ocular bell once at the benchrest,
before I learned to use the scope as a peep.
This technique cuts down on parallax too.

Here is an example, easily done with the small ocular bell (diameter and length) of a Leupold 2.5X20mm Ultralight on a 500 Mbogo:





For the record, my all-time favorite scope for just about any rifle from 22RF to .510-caliber
is the Leupold 2.5-8X36mm with various reticles.
Here is a beauty on a .408/.338 Lopwah aka 10.4 Spiridon Moor:


I own 7 of those scopes, and switch them about on various rifles,
if one of the other 93 rifle scopes and 5 red-dots I own do not make me happy.
But I have used a 4-16x40mm Sightron mildot on a 500 A2 out to 942 yards with excellent results,
using the "scope-as-peep-sight technique" described above,
and 750-grain Hornady A-Max bullets at about 2150 fps.
Dead-on with a 5-mil holdover.

Love those Nikons too.

THE FEW THE PROUD THE 395 FAMILY
Rip

I usually shoot my 500 Jeffery with my Leupold 1.5-5x scope on it. I was brought up hunting deer with a scope and it just is more natural for me. Even jump shooting deer or elk in the timber, the sight picture is always there. Habit I guess. I take it off to practice with irons and if a friend wants to shoot it, I always take the scope off. Those Talley steel QR rings are the bomb.

On my last build, a .458WM by Wayne Jacobson I mounted a Leupold Vx-6 1-6 with Firedot. So far, so good.

quote:

The eye relief is at least 4-1/2 inches as far as the closest eyebox with full field of view and it increases from there.

Actually, I suspect that the eye-relief decreases from there and becomes considerably less than 4 inches.
The 1.75-6 Leupold has always had rather short eye-relief at the high magnification.
Here are the specs from the current model, and approximately what I remember from older models:
Leupold "1.75-6x32"
Actual Magnification -- 1.90 x - 5.50 x
Eye Relief (in) - - - - - 4.40in - 3.30in
"

Good shooting technique, perhaps coupled with RIP's 'peep' technique that I also recommend, can protect eyebrows, even with 3" eye-relief. But I prefer 5" eye-relief on the high-power when it is offered.

3" is OK on a 270, but I have insisted on 3.5"+ on a 338WM (the Leupold 2.6-7.8 a.k.a. "2.5-8" served me well for many years with a 3.6" low eye-relief) and I've used 3.8" and 4" on 416's but now prefer 5-inch eye-relief on hot 416s and 500s. That, a good forearm grip, and the slightest bit of 'peep' view with a somewhat erect head help the shooter put the bullet exactly where it needs to go.

quote:

I mounted a Leupold Vx-6 1-6 with Firedot. So far, so good.

The Leupold 1-6 has an eye-relief of 3.8" throughout.
That will work, but you should practice good technique: forearm grip strong, head held back and a little erect to where the field of view gets a hint or more of black ring on the edge. That should give you 4"+ eye-relief.

RIP's peep idea is a good one if you have a scope with a good non-critical eye relief, such as I have found in old Nickel, Zeiss, B&L, Leupold and Kahles scopes.

Some modern scopes don't seem to have that flexibility, though, such as the Kahles 1.1-4 Helia C we have. It has a constant eye relief much longer than my old Helia Super but if you pull your eye back a fraction from the sweet spot the view collapses to one of the exit pupil.

I did not mispeak and I went with a ruler not a specification sheet.

quote:

Originally posted by K Evans:

quote:

Originally posted by Hogbreath:
I've got a Leupold 2.5 - 8 on my .416. Works great.

I have the same on my .416 Rigby and I agree.
I have a Vortex PST on my .458 Lott and it won't hold zero, gonna replace it with a Leupold 2.5 x 8
My .375 H&H has a Leupold 3x9, works fine.

Have you sent the Vortex back to the factory ? That is the very first Viper PST I've ever heard of that wouldn't hold zero.

Nikon 1.1-4x24mm (30mm tube) properly mounted on a 400 Whelen, this peep sight has a big field of view:



The Leupold 2.5-8x36mm on same rifle, gives smaller field of view and slightly lesser physical eye-relief when used as a peep sight,
but it still works fine,
and once again, the 2.5-8x36mm wins my contest here:



So the big, fat Nikon was relegated to peep-sight duty on a 500 Mbogo CZ:





Same 500 Mbogo with Leupold 2.5x Ultralight as backup peep sight, this scope might actually be better as the primary scope for this rifle:



The 1"-tubed Nikon 1-4x20mm is a nice one for big bores too.

THE FEW THE PROUD THE 395 FAMILY
Rip

I think the Swaro z-6, 1-6 illuminated is ideal. At a true 1x and illuminated, it is a red dot.