I just bought a Model 70 CRF in .338 WM and now I need to buy a scope. I bought this rifle with Brown Bears in mind and wondering what everyones favorite power scope they use for Brown Bear, plus I need to keep in mind I may use this rifle for elk or Mule deer later on.
I was looking at a Leupold in the range of 2.5 -10 power! Is this low enough power (2.5) for Brown Bears in the thick stuff?

Thanks
Steve

I'm no Brown Bear expert here but on my .338 Win Mag I have a 3-9 VXII, a 2-7 VXII would be good too. The 2.5-8 VXIII is an excellent scope and I have one on my .375 H$H Mag. I used to have a 1.5-5 Leupold on the .375 but I could not get used to seeing the front sight with my scope it was VERY distracting for me so I sold the damn thing and went 2.5-8.
If you are used to the scope and rifle 2,2.5 or 3 is not bad for close up shooting, if you are not used to the rifle and have to hunt around in the scope a bit lower would be better.
Just my opinions anyways.

I am kinda fond of my Leupy 2x7 on my .338 for Brownies and big grizz.

Generally speaking, I would recommend a variable of lower power, and it should be hell-for-stout and utterly reliable.

Trijicon accupoint 3-9x40 for brownies

with elk and mulees in mind Trijicon accupoint maybe the 2.5-10x50

If resources allow it why a Swarovski Z6i 2.5-15x50 with illuminated recticle.Think big.

Your need really is for two different scopes as your situational hunting environments are different

it don't matter.

thick stuff ain't really a scope game its a point and click game..if you have time to use the scope it won't matter...just be realistic.

The scope of choice for most experienced guides is the leupold 1 1/2 x 5 or low fixed power ,most are mounted in detachable mounts.

My opinion. too high if bear is your quarry

friend of mine was deer hunting on Kodiak and, not unusual, a young sow bear answered the diner bell (his shot)

he reacted & killed the sow at 10 yards, when it was over, he noticed his scope covers were still closed, shot on instinct

moral of the story, he didn't need a scope

1.5x5 Leupold w/ ORF rings

loepold 1.75 x 6 is best would never go back to 1.5x5 or fixed or 2x7

I think the 1.75-6X or 1.5-5X would be the best choices for giving low end magnification for Brown Bear hunting and then more magnification in the medium range for the gun after this hunt is over for use in the future on other animals.

I used a 2.5-8X when I went and that would not have been ideal, if my shot had been short, instead of long.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
IF YOU NEED TO MAGNIFY A BROWN BEAR MORE THAN 2 1/2 X YOU NEED TO STALK CLOSER !!!!!!!

With the amount of experience 458 has, it defies common sense to disagree with the above.

Phil, BTW I should have made arrangements to meet you at SHOT. Who's booth were you at ?
Did you see the Bear that was at the Barnes booth ?

I was at the Wolfe publishing booth off and on but did some running around as I only had two days at SCI because I also had to do two a SHOT.

I also like the smaller 1-4x and 1.5-5x Leupolds for a rifle like a .338 or .375 that one plans on using for everything but the little 2 1/2x Leupold has proven to be every bit as useful, plus is smaller, lighter, tougher and cheaper.
When it is no longer available everyone will start clambering for Leupold to re-introduce it - just as they now do for the 3x and the old Alaskan.

I ain't never shot no Alaskan Brown Bear, but I have shot Black Bears up close. I like the 2.5 Leupold and have one on my .375. Can not think of a better scope for that purpose. The highest power I have on any of my rifles are 1.5-5 Leupolds. Phil said it best. 'If you have to magnify a Bear more then 5x, you need to get closer'. I have never lost an animal because of too little power, but have on a few occasions as a kid, with too much. I can see where too high a power in a scope, up close, could get you kilt!

The scope on my .338 is a Leupold 1.5-5, Vari-x III. I think you have way too much power with the 2.5-10x. It's like Phil says above.
I'm constantly amazed at the level of scope power people THINK they need to hunt Alaska. All of my other scopes are Leupold, 2-7x Vari-x II's and I've never felt underscoped in 40+ years of hunting here.
Just me tho. Bear in Fairbanks

My .458 WM has a Leupold 1.5-5x on it. All of the other guns that I hunt with in areas where I may run into bears have a bottom end magnification of no greater than 2.5x, as any greater magnification is too much for up close and personal use in my opinion.

Personally I like low power fixed or variables. My personal brown bear rifles wear:

416 Rem Leupold 1-4.

375 H&H Leupold fixed 4 power

9.3x62 Leupold 2-7

340 WBY Leupold 3.5-10

358 Win Burris 1.5-5

356 Win open sights

That's a sensible selection you have there Lou!

quote:

IF YOU NEED TO MAGNIFY A BROWN BEAR MORE THAN 2 1/2 X YOU NEED TO STALK CLOSER !!!!!!!

That's one of the best lines I've read on AR! My bear rifles have a 1.5x6 zeiss and a 2-7 leupold, usually cranked all the way down. My next 375 will have a peep sight.

Thanks! Now I need to get out and use them.

I have an old Vari X 111 2.5X8 Leupold on my Mod. 70 .338 Win. Mag. Probably 90% of my shots are taken with the scope set on 2.5. When it is on 2.5 it has more eye relief and is faster for me then my old 2.5 fixed power Leupold. I have a 1.75x6 Leupold VXIII on my old Win. Featherweight 30-06. I had their Custom Shop put the Post/Duplex reticle in it. It is a fast scope and has plenty of power for any shot a hunter should take. I read it is the toughest variable powered scope Leupold makes, go figure. I have a Mod. 70 Win. in .375 H&H. It has a Leupold VXIII 1.5X5 with the Custom Shop's German #4 reticle. Any one of these scopes is a good scope for hunting in Alaska. Just keep it on the low setting and as our resident bear guide says, get closer if the bear looks to small through a 2.5 power scope. I use to think the 1.5x5 was the ultimate brown bear and close quarters scope. Now I wonder if the 1.75x6 with its Post/Duplex reticle and 32 mm objective lens isn't better. I am mostly a moose and caribou hunter with the occasional bear thrown in. I could finish my hunting career with any of these scopes.

Gentlemen

Thanks for all the advise on the subject. At first I thought the question was dumb however, not ever hunting Brown Bear or Alaska for that matter. I just thought I'd ask the ones that have been there and have done it.
I'm leaning more to the Leupold VIII 2x7 and keep the scope on 2 at all times, plus the field of veiw is larger. Just in case things get up close and peronnal I wanted to be able to hit a lethal spot and not just have the scope full of hair. Of course if a bear happened to be up that close a scope might not be needed.

Thanks Again

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
IF YOU NEED TO MAGNIFY A BROWN BEAR MORE THAN 2 1/2 X YOU NEED TO STALK CLOSER !!!!!!!

I understand that kind of straight talk..

Don

As an aside - I just remembered it. On one of our 3 elk hunting trips to Afognak Island, my partner had a 6x scope on his .338 Mag. He had been there numerous times and shoulda known better but....
At any rate, we ended up close & personal with a brownie by accident. It happens, you know. My partner put his scope on the bear & all he could see was hair. We were able to back off with no problem but we had the "pucker factor" for a while.
It was the only scope he had & he used this rifle for everything. True story. Just don't use a scope with too much magnification & even better, IMHO, is to have a set of open sights on the rifle just in case.
Bear in Fairbanks

The best scope for a bear rifle is the one that is attached to the gun with quality QD mounts.

I've got a 2.5x Leupy compact on my .375-338



I go back and forth between a scope and aperature sight. Shot a lot of deer with iron sights as my average shot over the last 30 years is right around 50 yds.

Steve,

I think if I went back to AK to shoot a bear I'd leave the 2.5x8 Leuolds on my two 375's. I think Phil and everyone else is correct that you do not need more magnification than 2.5 but I bet if you check the FOV for the fixed 2.5 it won't be larger than the 2.5x8 at 2.5 and the 2.5x8 varialbe gives you more versatility and light transmission than the tiny 2.5 for other hunts you may use your 338 on.

Mark

Bear, I sure as hell can relate. ran into a brownie up in arctic valley (anchorage area) and, go figure, I had my scope cranked up to 9x.

Now adays, I dont even own a 3x9, etc. my wife has 1 on her 30-06 but I will stick with low magnification. it helps with the stupidity factor.

I have a Leupold VX III 2.5 x 8 power on one of my 7mm Rem Mag that I'm thinking about putting on the 338WM for BB. Well just for hell of it I turned down the power to 2.5 (which is where I would leave it at 2.5 to hunt) and stuck a tumb tack in the wall and looked through the scope to see how clear it was at a given distance. I could actually see the tack real clear as close as two feet away...I know a Brown Bear is not a tack however, if a Brown Bear jumps out of the alders within two feet I could see him in the scope. Now with that said If a Bear jumps out that close and I don't already have my rifle to my shoulder...I won't even have time to bend over and kiss my sorry ass good-bye.

Steve

In my eyes the 2.5-8 you picked is about perfect. Just be a fanatic about turning your scope down and always carrying it on lowest power, big mistake made is cranking up your scope to look at something that you should be using your bino's for and forgetting to turn it down.
My dad always said carry your scope on the lowest setting because you won't have time to turn it down if you jump something close, you will always have time to turn the power up if you need it.

Snellstorm

I agree with you about keeping the scope power turned down all the way and using the Bino's. I can't hunt unless I have a pair of binoculars with me. Plus there is a safety value here with using lower powered scopes, it's not only my safety but the safety of my Outfitter/Guide comes into play. And not to mention I want to make a human shot on the bear.

Thanks
Steve

www.skymountainoutfitters.com

For the What it is worth department I will say that, after being out of shape and simple poor shooting, the single item that causes the majority of missed and wounded game is the client having a variable powered scope turned up to the highest power
I have talked with a lot of African PH's who tell me the same thing.

I have fixed, low power scopes on all of my hunting rifles. Years ago, I had 3-9x variables, and got to thinking one day that I ALWAYS had the power ring set for about 4x. So, I said to myself, why have a variable when it's always set at 4x???? DUH...
The absolute BEST scope I have is the Schmidt and Bender 4x36 fixed power scope. The image is excellent, and blows away all wanna be's, in 4x.

Steve, at 1.5 on my 1.5x5 Leupold, I can see my front sight blade

I have never killed a Bear but I have shot dozens of Whitetail running being chased by dogs in the woods. Which is considerably safer than running bear, but at least as difficult to hit? I have found the greater FOV of a low power variable easier to shoot accurately.
Is their any disadvantage in the variable scopes other than a hunter with his head up his a** leaving the scope on a high power.


Leupold FXII 2.5----------39.5 @ 100 yd
Leupold VXII 1X4----------75-28.5 @ 100 yd
Burris Euro Diamond 1X4---109-32 @ 100yd
Swarovski Z6 1.5X5 --------127-20.4 @ 100 yd

I used two diferent rifles on two spring hunts 330 dakota 3x9 ziess 375hh 3x9 could of shot either one with iron sights low power is good advice. be comfortable with your rifle, practice off hand. good luck.

I have a 1.75x6 VX 3 on my bear rifle a 416 taylor.

I find that most people who have trouble finding there target with a scope is.

1 the rifle and scope are not set up properly so it doesn't come up naturaly and they do not have a full sight picture when the rifle is on there shoulder.(IE see through mounts ect.)

2 they hardly ever paractice putting the rifle to their shoulder.

3 they piss on moan when you tell them to paractice and the complain because they didn't get their game because they couldn't find it in the scope.

In the right hands scopes are faster then a peep or irons for placeing accurate shots on target.

quote:

Originally posted by 458Win:
For the What it is worth department I will say that, after being out of shape and simple poor shooting, the single item that causes the majority of missed and wounded game is the client having a variable powered scope turned up to the highest power
I have talked with a lot of African PH's who tell me the same thing.

Most guys are out of shape to be sure and most can not shoot for S$#T.

But, there is no excuse for walking around with your scope maxed out. That is just the epitimy of stupid. I also will give the Guide some of the blame on that for letting them do it. Fat you can not control, the scope ring, you can control.

If a Guide asked me is my scope on the lowest power I would look at him like he had three heads and just drank a tall glass of stupid.

quote:

Originally posted by MuskegMan:
I've got a 2.5x Leupy compact on my .375-338



I go back and forth between a scope and aperature sight. Shot a lot of deer with iron sights as my average shot over the last 30 years is right around 50 yds.

.
.
.YUP ...
as far as a bright scope , I have a 1.5-6x40 mm Burris Sig.Select that has been on 4 rifles so far and has killed a good amount of animals ... It spends most of it,s time on 1.5x .. The only thing I don,t like is the front bell ,like all front bells gets in the way of my thumb when I wrap it around the front of the receiver when luggin the rifle around ..........I prefer Express sights to a peep sight , but thats mostly because it,s easier to get the snow and ice off express sights than out of an arpature. Even a ghost ring ... jmo..They are a little easier to see in dark timber also ..

quote:

But, there is no excuse for walking around with your scope maxed out. That is just the epitimy of stupid. I also will give the Guide some of the blame on that for letting them do it. Fat you can not control, the scope ring, you can control.

If a Guide asked me is my scope on the lowest power I would look at him like he had three heads and just drank a tall glass of stupid.

Stupid is as stupid does and virtually every year I have clients who insist on carrying their scopes on the highest power EVEN AFTER I TELL THEM TO TURN IT DOWN AND WHY . Some clients I even turn it down and then find out they turned it back up while I was not looking.
How is that the guides fault? They are the official hunter on a hunt they paid for and there is nothing illegal or unethical involved.

It is absolutely amazing how most customers want a real high power scope on their rifles, because they say 'I shoot game out at only loooong range; clear out to 250 yards!'.
They feel they need at least 14 power for these shots.
When I hold up a Leupold 1.5-5 and tell them that this is what most my rifles have, and that it's also the highest power any of my rifle have; they look at me like I'm nut's!
Anyone ever have to magnify a Brown Bear more then 5X?
I carry my rifles with them set at the lowest setting and have never had any trouble with big game at any range that I would shoot at them.
High power scopes are for shooting sage rats!