I'm having a 9.3x62mm built for Alaska and Canada hunting. Specifically for bear and moose.

Mulling over what scope to use...

Considering the following:

Leupold FX-II 4x33mm
Leupold VX-III 1.75-6x32mm
Swarovski 1.5-6x42mm
Zeiss 1.5-6x42mm
Schmidt & Bender 1.5-6x42mm
Khales 1.5-6x42mm

Always seems to be a trade off..... no clear-cut obvious choice....

I prefer the generous eye relief, light weight, reasonable price, and clean ergonomics of the Leupold..... but neither are great in low light conditions.

The Euro scopes are great glass, and with 42mm lens, will perform better in low light conditions..... however, the eye relief has me concerned (3 to 3 1/2 inches) and they weigh more than I like, and may not balance as well as the Leupolds.

For those of your hunting in said areas for bear and moose, what scope do you use??

Appreciate the input.

Limited experience here, but...

I've shot one animal in four years of hunting here in Alberta, Canada, that was actually at last light: a small whitetail doe, on closing day, in a foot and a half of snow. Every other animal I have shot was shot in full daylight. And that includes a moose and two bears.

I have a S&B 2.5-10x56 on my 9.3x62, and yes, it is a bit top heavy. If I get really excited, and I crawl into the scope, I get tapped on the head. If I can take my time, the eye relief is never a problem. Nor is the tap on the forehead, it's not like it cuts to the bone!

I've used my .300WM with a fixed S&B 6x42, to take wolf, deer, moose, sheep, and never wanted for something 'brighter'.

Personally I don't think you can go wrong with the Europeans on your list.

Frans

Any of them would be good.

My alaska rifle is a 300 ultra and I have a 3x9x40 conquest on it. I love that scope.

My next favorite scope is 3-9 leupold ultralight that I currently have on a 240 wby mag. Think this is going to be my predator rifle.

Why not a Leupold Vary-X III 2.5-8x?

I have shot moose on the first week of September at 9:30 PM in Alaska, and still had enough light to see through my scope.

I'm a die hard leupold man myself so I would opt for the 2-7 euro. It is just one really nice scope. I have right now on my guns.....

VxIII 1.5-5x20 lighted reticle, 6lb 375 H&H
VxII 4-12x40, 300 win mag
VxII 3-9x40, currently a spare
VxII 2-7x33, 30/06
FxII 2.5x28 scout, 9.3x62
FxII 2.5x28 scout, Guide gun 45/70
VxII 2-7x28 rimfire,10/22
VxII 3-9x33 ultralight, 222 remington

and just put a Euro-30 2-7x33 on a 35 whelen for my dad. Of all of those scopes I have to admit that the Euro-30 was probably my favorite, followed by the vxII 2-7. Just very practicle size for hunting. I used to have a VxIII 2.5-8x36 and found it to be almost magical in its practicality and function. Any of these scopes will work in as low a light as you can shoot in. Check out one of those EURO-30 2-7x33 I'm sure you will like it.

Another scope that gathers a lot of light is the Nightforce scopes, but they are big and heavy. Thier 2-10 isn't too bad though.

Here is a pic of that euro-30 2-7 on my dads whelen.

If you can afford the Zeiss then get one. The optic quality is probably the best in the world, especially when it comes to low-light conditions. Their latest Victory series are a lot lighter, and has a lot better eye-relief than the typical German scopes of yesterday.

Since you consider low-light conditions important I would forget those 33 and 32 mm scopes. I have used a Leupold scope myself and its an honest, quality product, but its just not in the same leauge as the Zeiss and Swarovski.

The S&B scope is a very good one, I had one for years but traded it off and got a 2,5-10x50 Zeiss V this year. This scope is actually a bit lighter than the S&B 1,5-6x42.

Low-light conditions are of course not just first and last light but also foggy, cloudy and rainy days. Not to forget allthose deep shadows in the woods and so on.

Fosteology:
My opinion for what it's worth is the Leupold Varix-III in 1.5-5 is what you want. That's the scope I have on my .338 Mag which I use for moose. You're not gonna need high power for this but rather rapid target acquisiton. We hunt moose in an area with lots out thick brush/timber. A long shot is sometimes 50 - 75 yds. On top of that, there are grizzlies in our area and if you happen to run into one up close, you don't want high power on your scope. The scopes such as 2.5-8x, 2x-7, etc, are too much, in my experience as far as weight and quick target acquisition are concerned. One of my partners & I were elk hunting on Afognak Island several years ago & we ran into a brown bear up close & personal. My partner had a 6x scope & all he could see was fur. He had no idea of what portion of the bear he was looking at. Get a relatively low powered, light weight variable of top quality. Also, in passing, since you're getting this rifle made up, make sure you have a set of open sights put on as well. This type of hunting is expensive and time consuming. If something happens to your scope while on a trip in the bush, you're gonna be screwed. Don't anybody give me the "extra rifle or scope" thing. That's oftentimes quite impractical. Just my thoughts.
Bear in Fairbanks

If you want to spend the big bucks for them Zeiss, Swar etc... nothing wrong with that. I have used sucessfully for many yrs Leupold Vari-III in 1.5 x 5 or 1.75 x 6 and have a couple of 3-9 that date back late 50's or early 60's from my father. Will provide enough light gathering abilities for what you are requiring---just my .02

Thanks for all the advice and input.

I have a Zeiss Conquest 2.5-8x32mm with the #4 reticle that I think I'm going to try. If it doesn't suit me then I think the Leupold 1.75 will get the nod.

If i could afford it I would have a Khales or Swarvo, but on my own 9.3x62 I have leupold 2-7x33 Vari X11 and it has served me well, it was orginally on my .416 Rigby for a round a 150 or so shots so they can take a licking to.

It does have plenty of releif and good field of view.

For what its worth...
I have/own Zeiss, Leupold and various others and until recently a Swarovski 1.5-6x42 with a 30mm body. I dislike 30mm scopes but i will say this...that Swarovski was the brightest scope i have ever looked through. I have compared them all at night time with only moonlight and no ambient.
They are all very close except for that Swarovski. It excelled in low light.
Beyond that i prefer German made Zeiss scopes. They seem to be bullet proof and hold their zero flawlessly.

Prefer Leica binos.

Adam, Nice bear picture in the new Successful Hunter.
I put a 3x Leupold on one of my 9.3x63. A classic scope for a classic rifle.

Thank you very much Phil. I don't know why they keep doing so but they are saturating the colors too much on my work. That piece was far more muted and snowy. Even my ads are such.

And i enjoyed that story...bear chaser! Just got our heads back day before yesterday. Gonna boil em out in Sal Soda.

I sure wish Lon would let loose of that 350. He has too many nice guns to have that baby sitting around. Seriously though it was a great refreshment to read a story that does not involve RemChester and the new and improved Hyper Magnum FarKill'R with a range finding Scope atop. God help us.

We should gang up on the editors that be and get some more good reads about grand old rifles that work as good as anything available.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:

I put a 3x Leupold on one of my 9.3x63. A classic scope for a classic rifle.

I would buy one if i could ever find one.!

JB says there is talk at Leupold about bringing the 3x back but that they wanted to make them shorter ???. time will tell.
Don't mention "old rifles that work" to Scovill or he'll think you havn't been reading his pieces. ha-ha
I know what you mean about the color. Must be the printers.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
I know what you mean about the color. Must be the printers.

I had the opposite happening to my pictures. A german magazine I write for had switched to a Polish print shop (cheaper), and my beautiful cougar pics came out almost looking black and white... all the life got taken out of them.

Frans

i have done the full circle with scopes..now im back to where i started...4x you dont need more...pay particular attention to the reticle....leupold have terrible reticles, just compare the 4x leupold with its medium duplex, to the 4x zeiss with its z plex reticle...you will see what i mean , target aqusition is so much better with the zeiss/z plex cominaton its not funny
S&B offer a real nice 4x scope
regards daniel

Phil,
What i want is simple. A manufacterer to build a scope that will never fail. I am not as concerned with optics quality, they are all great (some better) but just make something that is sturdy. For the money they cost, they should be.

As for colors, print never does a good job. Most of my work has layers of glaze that are impossible to print.

As for you statement and the articles...i read i have read about lever guns and all sorts of stuff!

I've got a Swaro 4X on my Heym and will be putting a VXIII 1.75 X 6 on the custom 62 I should be seeing in a month or so. I agree with others that the 2.5 X 8 or the 2 X 7 would be great as well.

The red dot and holographic sights are never mentioned in relation to Alaska hunting, so I assume that there is something very wrong with them in that environment. But something like an EOTech holographic sight seems to have at least theoretical value; huge field of view, rapid target location, very accurate under 125 meters, rugged, and 200 hour battery life. Why are they a bad choice?

Hello,
I am sure the quality of the European optics is quite high as well as the purchase price. Leupold makes excellent scopes and have used them for many years. Some year plus ago, purchased a Nikon 1.5-4x Gold Monarch and have been very pleased with it's performance on both 416 Rigby and 458 Lott rifles. Fairly stout recoil and good eye relief and more than 200 rounds on each and not a glitch of any sort!!
Very next shot may blow them into small pieces but might be something you would want to check out. Clarity and light gathering really is quite good. Good luck whichever way you go.

I like the fixed 3 x leupold.. But there is not a thing wrong with a fixed 4 x scope... And a 4 x 40 Nikon is a very bright scope....I have a 1.5-6 x28mm Burris signature on my 9.3x62....It fits that rifle very well......

quote:

Originally posted by AFreeman:
For what its worth...
I have/own Zeiss, Leupold and various others and until recently a Swarovski 1.5-6x42 with a 30mm body. I dislike 30mm scopes but i will say this...that Swarovski was the brightest scope i have ever looked through. I have compared them all at night time with only moonlight and no ambient.
They are all very close except for that Swarovski. It excelled in low light.
Beyond that i prefer German made Zeiss scopes. They seem to be bullet proof and hold their zero flawlessly.

Prefer Leica binos.

Amen brother, to the brightness (and clarity) of the Swarovski 1.5-6X42. I think it's my all time favorite scope.

Sometimes real bargains can be had at riflescopes.com's sample list. ESPECIALLY AFTER THE SHOT SHOW...Tom

http://www.riflescopes.com/samplelist.asp

I have 3, 9.3X62, Love them all. But I feel it is mostly a 200 yard round. The largest scope on mine is a 1.5 X 5 leupold. Has always worked good for me. Even with that scope I can get 1" groups at the range...My $.02 thanks Maddog