I am not exactly looking for a particular brand recomendation , but mainly what power , objective size and so forth do you favor ? Do you think a 30 mm tube improves anything over a 1 inch tube . How about recticules ? Have the lighted recticules been found to be helpful ?

I am interested in this subject from the standpoint of shooting predators at night .

I use an S&B 8x56 with a heavy reticual for lamping, but if i were buying now I would definately go for an illuminated reticual...I don't see a difference brightness wise between 1" or 30mm scopes ( i have both) but quality of the optics and coatings is important. As an example I had a 6x42mm Swarovski Nova which was fractionally brighter than a mid range 7x50mm Meopta and I put that down to the quality of the coatings...I tried both against a 3-12 (?) x40 Burris and the Burris just did not hold up at night....I sold the Burris within a week of buying it..

Regards,

Pete

sdgunslinger

Could't belive this post first time I read it. An americano asking for suitable night hunting scopes

I use 3-12X50 Swarovski. Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B, there is not much of difference between them. Pick one you like

You can go for either 8X56, 2,5-10X56, 3-12X30 or 3-12X56. All of them will do fine. I would opt for a illuminated reticle. Get a reticle like german 1, number 4 or 8. choose a 30 mm tube.

My friends in USA have exchanged all their american scopes after they gotten the first european one and used it for a while

Cheers
/ JOHAN

[ 10-15-2002, 14:44: Message edited by: JOHAN ]

Hallo,

I don't think the 30mm has big advantage against the 1".
Important is that the light-permeability is over 90%. That is the most problem of the cheaper scopes.

Your illumination gives only on dark targets (like wild boar on snow) really advantage. You are quicker in getting the correct point on the target. No more.
So it is in your side to say it is worth to spend a few $ more.
Or you choose Swarovsky, which is prepared for illuminated recticle and you can buy the light unit or not.

Best regards

The classic is a Kahles 8x56 with 4A or 1 reticle. It works against a bright background ( Maize, if no snow "available").

Nowadays mostly Swarovski 3-12x56 with illumination. Make sure the scope works without batteries, too! This is not true with all reticles!

At night its used turned to 8x. If the stand is close to the target, or quick shooting is necessary, before dark its often turned to 3 to 4x for quick shooting.

I prefer to shoot my pigs at daylight - at least a little bit.

At night I am at a meeting, in bed or at a Bar ;-)

Hermann