Fixed or variable scope

Tommyaya4

Setting up a stalking rifle for next season now the question is I could put a fixed powered scope a schmit and bender 8 x 56 fantastic low light scope. 300 plus acres of permission I have hunted for years with my uncles and even they would say that they have never had to take deer beyond 250 yards. With this in mind am I really missing out on anything by not buying a variable powered scope

cavan shooter

They say you get a better clarity from a fixed power. Never had one and stick to 3-9 on the ruger which if I'm honest is always dialled up to 8 or 9.

cookimonster

I've a 3-12 x 56mm Bushnell XLT been using it for a good few years now with a lot of dawn and dusk shooting in forestry and stalking out on open hill. I've it set to 8 power and have never changed it since. So much so that I'm thinking strongly at picking up a 8 x 56 fixed power for my next centre fire stalking project.

Tommyaya4

That's where I'm coming from 2 uncles shoot variable both dialled up to eight and haven't bring moved in years just thinking of getting back to basics like lads where knocking deer with iron sights do you really need to spend thousands on a scope to hunt

cookimonster

Realistically forget iron sights unless your doing driven game and even then from my limited experience most that I saw was done with optics / red dots and the few that did use open sights had rifles specific for driven shoots.
From what I've read there's a divide from one side of the Atlantic to the other. If you rule out the long distance craze the average US hunter of medium to large game use 3x9 40 scopes, vermin shooters go more mag but not so much more objective bell - 44mm.
This side in Europe we tend to go bigger on the optics in terms of objective up to and beound 56mm. I can't say weather this is because we in Europe tend to do more dusk and dawn shooting while in the US tradition may influence hunters in aspects of daytime hunting. I know that they do hunt both ends of the day, the traditional moving times of deer species but I have always been amazed at footage of large numbers of white tails roaming forestry during daylight and the ability of hunters to get close into them.
There is no doubt that quality is associated with the higher end scopes but as was pointed out by Cass recently do you want to pay that much money for such little return measured in minutes in relation to dawn and dusk. Nor do you need a scope that tracks absolutely perfectly unless you tend to dial in shots, once it can be zeroed and it holds happy days.
I have gladly traded those minutes for what I could afford in terms of reliability. My scope is for stalking, hill and wood, it holds zero and does not fog the one in three days it rains here. So for bog standard stalking out to point blank range of most realistic game calibres a low mag or fixed, either 4 up to 8 power and objective from 40mm to 56mm will do you once it will hold zero and give you a clear picture to deliver a humane shot. After that each to his own....

Captainaxiom

Anyone ever look at the swfa fixed x10 scopes. They can be picked up in the US for $299. They seem to get incredibly good reviews online comparable to scopes 3 or 4 times the price.

clivej

I've only had 1 fixed power scope a Bushnell 3200 10x 44mm on my CZ .22lr It did that job well on rabbits out to 130y.

For foxes .223 and deer .308 I have 2 Bushnell 4200 6-24x50mm. Set at about 6-8 zoom on the shoulder. For the shot I will adjust the zoom to fit the range.
AT say 200y it's great to be able to zoom in on the target area AND SEE IT through your scope.

IMO It's better to be able to zoom in than not be able, in other words to have it and not use it OR not have it and need it.

And if you go target shooting in the future it good it have extra zoom IMO.
Shoothing yesterday at 200y on a 2" reactive target that 2" is very small even with my scope up at 24 power zoom.