Favorite Scope magnification

[Texas42]

Just curious, but what kind of magnification do you like on your everyday/deer rifle?

I do like higher maginification, but it seems the weight adds up pretty quickly.
It seems 3-9 seems to be the most poppular. . . I'm not sure why. I like mine, but the Nikon I have is pretty bulky. I put it on my AR, and I think I'll look for something in a 2-7, just to get the weight a little lower (or heck, a zero power red dot) and stick the 3-9 on my 7mm rem mag. I've got a cheap 6-24, but that thing is just large, and just might end up on . .. . . something else.

Just wanted your thoughts.

(I'm trying to get a poll working, if it doen't, its operator error.)

 

[Charley]

Depends on the rifle.
Some of my rifles wear aperture sights, and indeed, for some of them, mainification IS for losers who can't see.
Have a couple of short range (50-150 yards) lever guns that wear 1-4s, a couple of bolt guns that are 200 yard rifles that sport 2-7s, and my main bolt action hunting rifles have 3-9s mounted on them. I have ONE .22/250 that has a 4-12.
For a hunting rifle, if you can't see it/hit it with a 9x magnification, you are either:
1. Way too far away
2. An incredibly poor shot.

 

[M. Sage]

Deer rifle? I don't see the need for anything bigger than a 3-9. Even that might be overkill, like if you mount it on a .30-30.

 

[matefrio]

Fixed 4x scope here. Unless I'm going to shoot out to 250 yards or more.

Good clear quality glass in the 4x range keeps things simple. Add an Adjustable Objective and it's great.

 

[MR Redneck]

My 270 has always had a Tasco POS on it forever!
My badass .17HMR Marlin has a 4-12X44 Simmions on it. What a awsome combo!!
I have never been big on optics untill I put this .17 together. This gun is amazing for a rimfire. At 100 yard I can empty a 7 round mag on a quarter.
My 270 is getting the same scope because " I like it".
I think the better the scope, the better everything becomes.

 

[texas skeeter]

a [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Schmidt Bender PMII 12-50x56 P P3 Mildot 1/4 MOA MT CW FFP[/FONT]

Yeah baby!! reach out and touch someone!! 19+, the more the better!!

 

[texas skeeter]

and that Schmidtty right on top of one of these.... Yeah baby!!

 

[M. Sage]

My 270 has always had a Tasco POS on it forever!
My badass .17HMR Marlin has a 4-12X44 Simmions on it. What a awsome combo!!
I have never been big on optics untill I put this .17 together. This gun is amazing for a rimfire. At 100 yard I can empty a 7 round mag on a quarter.
My 270 is getting the same scope because " I like it".
I think the better the scope, the better everything becomes.

Better scopes definitely make a huge difference. But for most deer hunting situations you don't need 12X.

 

[MR Redneck]

Better scopes definitely make a huge difference. But for most deer hunting situations you don't need 12X.

I dont even know what the 12 is. That just what I ended up with. Im not much of an expert on optics either.
I do plan on getting a night vision scope for a AR. Be good for hog hunting.

 

[AusTex]

I like plenty of magnification on my deer scopes(and clarity) because I really like being able to identify the deer I am shooting at before I pull the trigger. Maybe my eyes suck but I have shot deer open sights thinking they are shooters just to get up to them to find out they were younger than I thought. That being said I put my Red dot with 2x magnifier on deer rifles and it makes a gun that you can get up quick and take the shot. Awesome idea for hog hunting and deer rifles are usually really light before you put a big ole scope on them. Just a thought.

 

[RetArmySgt]

My dear rifle has a tasco 3-9x but my Long Distance rifle is 24-50x i think.

 

[TheDan]

I used to really dislike using a scope, but my eyes are a whole lot worse now than they used to be. A scope is mandatory for me now, but I like to use as little magnification as possible. 2-4x is good enough. Of course I pretty much never shoot past 300 yards...

 

[Scotsman]

My "everyday rifle" is a 16" AR. I use it for hog hunting, defense etc.
On it I have no magnification, just a red dot. If I know I'm going to be in open terrain and making a shot out to 200-300 yards I put a 4x on it.
On my deer rifle (270 bolt Tikka) I use a 3x9 and leave it on 3 till I'm ready to make a shot so I have a good field of view.