New scope time - recommmendations pls

[Vicko]

Need some help.
So the 30-06 has arrived and needs some glass.
It’s featherweight that will be a pig and deer rifle, but won’t get used a hell of a lot in the short term to be honest.
So I’m thinking a pic rail, some quality glass that I can switch between it and my next rifle (probably an LA102 in 243 that will get most use from varminting to range work).
So if im swapping between rifles and getting more use out of it, I’m ok with spending a bit more. Probably 1.5k mark or thereabouts.

I’d like:
- 3-15x or thereabouts
- relatively clean reticle with some elevation marks but not a full tree and illumination
- locking turrets would be nice
- am thinking SFP, but open to suggestions of a FFP bearing in mind that I’d be looking to use it at low magnification on pigs potentially, so the reticle needs to be properly visible down low

Would also like it to potentially work with a pard nv007 night vision add on. So no IR lens coatings.

I’m liking:
Vortex razor HD LHT 3-15
(Has been looking at a viper pst gen2 3-15 before these were released)
Nightforce SHV 4-16
Zeiss v4 4-16 has some new reticles on the way I see. Have like the Zeiss glass I looked at.
Sig Sauer whisky5 3-15?
Has anyone any experience with the Sig Sauer Sierra3BDX smart scope and range finders?

Anything else I’m obviously overlooking? Burris? Bushnell Forge 3-18 (thats non illuminated)? MeaOpta Optika 6 3-18x?
I wasn’t overly impressed with leupold when compared directly to zeiss recently, but could take another look.

[TassieTiger]

I’ve got nightforce, swarvo, Leo, bushnell, vortex and Chinese scopes.
On my lightweight 30-06 deer rifle I use a mark 3 4-12 and it’s brilliant.

Time again? I’d go Swarvo z3 - lightweight, excellent glass and rock solid. $1300 with BT turrets - cannot go wrong. A friend just put 3 of these on his rifles - no messing round with Lux adjustment, just brilliantly clear, fast operation scope.

[Jarhead]

Hi Vicko!

I would recommend that Athlon Ares which is within your price range.

https://australiantacticalprecision.com.au/product/optics/rifle-scopes/athlon-ares-btr-4-5-27x50-rifle-scope-aplr3-ffp-ir-mil-mrad-illuminated-reticle-212007/

Great scope- great optics and an adjustable hard zero stop on the elevation turret.

[SCJ429]

Treat yourself to a NF ATACR.

[Vicko]

Treat yourself to a NF ATACR.

I didn't win lotto.

[scoot]

I've got a sig sauer w5 3-15 you mentioned. Bought it when I was looking for a simple illuminated dot reticle scope for hunting. Good features for the price range and quite comparable to something like the vxr leupold which are dearer. I like it.
The new version I believe is more tech with parallax incorporated on the side illumination dial, also an anti cant display in the view that lights up. I haven't seen them retailed in oz so I assume you are referring to the older $900 version available at the big C.

[solarpak]

For a lightweight deer / pig rifle it defeats the purpose if you mount a 700 gram plus scope on top? (well it does to me.)

I would look at either a 2-7x / 2-8x or 3-9 x variable - and something that weighs 500 gram tops.

Redfield Revolution / Leupold VX3i / Swaro Z3 do make some excellent lightweight hunting scopes - as do other manufacturers.

C.

[straightshooter]

Adding to what solarpak and others have said.
Bear in mind you have a lightweight rifle which will have fairly decent recoil and you are contemplating quite a heavy scope.
So be very careful of your choice of mounting system unless of course you are buying for looks at the expense of practical performance.

[TassieTiger]

Just looking at the athlon Recommended above - I’ve not yet had a chance to handle one - have heard good things...but it is almost twice as have as Z3...770 grams vs 410.
I know ppl say it’s under 1/2 kg so what - but if you go long walking like I do - you would be amazed at what adds up.
The Leo 4.5 to 14 is lighter again 370 grams.
The redfield is lighter yet again at 355 grams!
Vortex 3-15 is 480 grams.
Zeiss is 640 grams.
The nightforce you nominated is 780 / 810 grams.
Sig sauer whiskey 5 appears to be around 900 grams.
Meopta Optika 6 3-18 is 851 grams.

[Vicko]

A bit of extra weight won’t be such a bad thing.
Kicks like a mule at the moment.
But the Razor LHT is not heavy at all and I’m probably leaning that way.

[Vicko]

Went and handled some glass today.
Specifically the Razor LHT, NF SHV and the MeaOpta Optika6.
My thoughts:

Glass -
Razor seemed the nicest glass to my eye, although it does have the smallest objective at 42mm (versus 56 for the SHV and 50 for the Optika6). Surely that 56mm sucker has to draw light better when it gets darker.. I'd prefer the 50mm Razor for that reason, but it only has the BDC reticle and only in MRAD (I prefer MOA). I tried looking in some darker corners of the store and up close couldn't really pick much difference. If anything the Razor looked brighter. I was quite surprised by how good the Optika 6 looked. It has the higher top end too in terms of magnification which would only really get used at the range I'm guessing but is still worth noting. It's glass seemed pretty close to the SHV if not clearer...

Rings and turrets -
Razor was the stiffest by far. Seemed overly stiff to me. You sure aren't going to bump anything out of chosen setting... SHV and Optika 6 both adjusted nicely. Optika 6 turrets felt a little soft, but these scopes aren't really designed to see a lot of dialling I suppose.

Reticle - I really like the HSR5 reticle in the Razor. SHV Moar reticle also looked good. Optika 6 had the BDC reticle which although not my preference is nice and simple. It would take some getting used to in terms of making use of it. I'd have to work up my Dope and have it on hand - especially as I'd ultimately like to be able to swap this scope between a couple of rifles later on (I'm still unsure of if thats a 'realistic plan' or not.

Weight -
The Razor is clearly the lighter of the three at around 500g. Not much difference between the SHV or Optika6 at a little over 800g. They do feel unbreakable by comparison. The Razor 'feels' light. Will it handle the 30-06 recoil and the odd smack from branches and clunk on rocks as well? I'm not expecting to be doing much shooting off the shoulder (its running a bipod for a reason!), but will no doubt do some (most likely on pigs).

Price -
Here's where the Optika 6 stood up. Rounding down, it'll come in just over $1000, the SHV just over $1500 and the Razor LHT just over $1600. Note that MeaOpta's warranty is for 10 years, Vortex and Nightforce are for life.

So I'm left with a bit to think about
- The glass on all three would be more than sufficient in reality
- Am I confident of the build quality of the Razor - particularly given it's light weight. Will it be robust enough?
- For the same money as the Razor - I could get the Optika 6 and a range finder... which I need.

[TassieTiger]

For what it’s worth - looking through scopes in store, makes things very hard...artificial light works well in some optic coatings...I made a large mistake in store once and bought a muncher cheaper scope based on the “doesn’t look like better glass to me...” - only later when I could compare side by side in the field with another shooter did I realise what I’d done.
Get them outside if you can...

[Mikey91]

Just picked up 2 zeiss 3 - 15 conquest hd5s for my 3006 and 223, couldn't be happier.

Horsley Park had them on special for about 1k last I checked.

[straightshooter]

A bit of extra weight won’t be such a bad thing.
Kicks like a mule at the moment.
But the Razor LHT is not heavy at all and I’m probably leaning that way.

Trouble is that "bit of extra weight" possesses a bit of extra inertia and when the object it is somewhat flimsily attached to accelerates at something like 400 g then that "bit of extra weight" wants to stay where it is.
Win a prize for working out where things can possibly go wrong.

[bman940]

You will be hard-pressed to beat what Meopta Optika6 brings to the table. I love my Optika6 3-18x50. I have used it for pig hunting after the sunset with moonlight and deer hunting during legal shooting hours. This scope is loaded with useful features and if you want to use it as a BDC reticle you can dial it in with Strelok Pro app. I had mine on a.375 H&H for pig hunting, huge fun to use this rifle again. For deer season, it went to a Rem. 700 .308.

[Vicko]

I had been pretty much convinced on SFP scope here, but now I'm thinking that I should see if I can get a look through an Optika 6 FFP 3-18x56 with the MRAD1 reticle.
Thats one of the very few reticles that look like they should still work well at low magnification in a FFP scope.

Anyone got/used one of those?

[Vicko]

And I should look at the vortex strike eagle 5-25x56 too...

[juano86]

No one has mentioned it yet... But for that application and for the money id look at the Leupold VX-5 HD 3-15X44 30mm tube which is A LOT of scope for about 500g it has CDS and zero stop, phenomenal glass quality and a lifetime warranty. Throw it in some talley lightweight rings, and away you go. the barn has them on special for $1699 i think. They generally run closer to $1800.
The VX3i 4.5-14 30mm tube is another good option for a few hundred less and also some weight saving. Love my Leupy's

[Vicko]

Yep - the VX5 had been shortlisted earlier but I couldn't find one with a decent and/or illuminated reticle for less than about 2k - even on thebarn.
The Razor HD LHT is lighter, cheaper, and has better glass that I can tell.

I looked at a Strike Eagle 5-25 today. Definitely not Razor quality glass, but it'd probably do the job. Turrets felt a bit soft but eyebox was ok. Reticle is still iffy in terms of usability at 5x mag.
Hmmm what to do what to do...

[Oldbloke]

For a lightweight deer / pig rifle it defeats the purpose if you mount a 700 gram plus scope on top? (well it does to me.)

I would look at either a 2-7x / 2-8x or 3-9 x variable - and something that weighs 500 gram tops.

Redfield Revolution / Leupold VX3i / Swaro Z3 do make some excellent lightweight hunting scopes - as do other manufacturers.

C.

+1 3-9×40 is hard to beat as a general hunting scope. Weight and cost goes up with a 3-9×50 or higher mag. But the 50 will help in low light, might give you an additional few minutes. I have Bushnel Elite and Sightron scopes. All 3-9×40. 22lr, 223, 30-06. Fixed scopes are lighter.

[solarpak]

Listen to us old blokes!!! - if you can find a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 MC (assembled in the USA) - a better hunting riflescope you wont find.
Not made anymore but crop up used - for around $500 - and sell very quickly!!

I recall uncle nick harvey had at least nine of them on his hunting rifles - and old nick does know a thing or two about optics !!!

C.

[solarpak]

Added to that - i just added a Lynx 6x38D to my watery vanguard 243 - a notoriously heavy rifle .
That rifle (with a walnut stock) weighed around 3.6 kg unscoped. I wanted to keep the overall weight under 4 kg and knew i had to go via the fixed power route.
The Lynx 6x38 (marketed buy Malcolm Gault - a very nice bloke indeed) weighed 260 grams and glass quality is exceptional. Rifle weighs 3.9 kgs all up and is just nice to carry in the field.

C.

[Vicko]

I’m not discounting anything.
The Razor HD LHT weighs 530grams.
The old Zeiss 3-9 MC is only 100grams less.

[Vicko]

Further to that.
Given the featherweight model 70 comes in at 3kgs dead, that’ll put a 30-06 punch with less weight than your 243 after I’ve mounted the scope (if I go the Razor LHT) AND added a bipod. If I went sans bipod I could run a strike eagle and it would still be lighter than your 243.

[TassieTiger]

You’ve made your decision - anyone reading this thread can see that - just do it man! They do have great reviews!

[Vicko]

Lol - Fair enough too.
Order has been made.