For hunting white tail deer. I was thinking of getting a 6x scope, but I also do not know any good brands. It's going to be my first time hunting and i'd rather not put too much money into it. So what are some good but cheaper scopes?
Also is a 6x enough? I know the 3-9x variable seems pretty popular, would you recommend that instead? Or is 6x too many, and you could easily use a 4x scope?
Glacierwolf
Favorite Answer
You really should go scope out the area you intend to hunt now - so you will have an idea what kind of visibility you have.
I say that because you failed to tell us where you are going to hunt and what kind of distances the shot can be. And power - is just one 6 things you need to consider when buying a scope.
If you are hunting the woods of Maine - you could walk around a tree and see a nice deer 30 feet away - at 6x all you will see in the scope - is brown fur. As you move the rifle around - you still see brown fur - you will have no clue if you are going to shoot it in the tail or the ear. Here - a scope with 3x or 4x would be the best choice.
If you move over to a friends farm on the last day of the season - you will see deer in the distance. A 4x scope will be better than iron sights - but - you might pass up a button buck thinking it was a doe. Here more power is best.
This is why you see 3x-7x and 4x-12x scopes. You can dial them down for thick woods and dial them up for longer shots in open spaces.
Deer - like all other animals - are more active on cold and wet mornings. A regular cheap scope - it can fog up on you. You need one that is pressurized with nitrogen, argon, or other inert gases to prevent this.
Deer - like other animals - are more active at dawn and dusk. You want a larger front lens - this is responsible for 'catching' the light that goes to you eye. A cheap 32mm or 40mm front lens - might not let you a deer standing in front of a dark tree..... but a larger 50mm might. Also, along the same lines - the tube diameter is important - the wider 30mm tube gets more light to your eye than a 1" tube.
If you wear glasses - or share the rifle with a friend - you need side focus. On a nasty rainy day when your glasses are all fogged up or wet - you can take them off and adjust the side focus..... and shoot without your glasses. I wear bi-focals and side focus is my best friend.
Most of the cost of a scope - are in the metallic coatings. The coatings are what direct light from one lens to another. Cheap soft metal coatings - one swipe with a t-shirt and they are damaged. The more expensive scopes - can take some abuse - and have less light loss. You buy a scope under $300 best also visit the camera dept and buy a lens brush. Be sure to use good scope caps to protect the lens - and - prevent you from having to ever touch them. Get the see through ones.
Like you, I started out with cheap scopes. They worked great the first 2-3 years..... then started to fail on both my rifle and my wife's. Almost cost us a few nice deer. Her scope died from just sitting in the closet. After those near misses - I have only bought Leupold's and Millet's. You put a quality scope on your rifle - when you grab that rifle 5 years from now it will still be as good as the last time you used it. Not so with a cheap scope that uses soft brass or plastic tubes inside to hold the lenses....time, temperature, etc makes them move and get stuck. I can see using a cheapo scope for target shooting. But for hunting - you need that pressurized gas, nice coatings, and good light gathering ability.
I find it interesting some guys will pay $600+ for a rifle, $1800 in jackets, tent, sleeping bag, etc etc - then take a week off from work to go hunting.... drive for hours........ all that expense and they will only put a $89 scope on their rifle. Look at where you are hunting, consider your real needs, then choose a useful scope. The only upside to starting off with a cheap scope - after it fails you - you learn to appreciate a nicer one!
One last hint. When you toss that rifle up to your shoulder - your eye should immediately see though the scope and the cross hairs on target. If not - then you very much need to adjust the height and distance from your eye. If you have to wiggle your head around to get a good sight picture - you could be adding parallax errors to your scope. You hear about guys who said they spent all day at the range shooting into the X ring - only to miss a deer up close the next day? This is what causes that. It's much better to make a bunch of short visits to the local range and verify your first shot of the day is in that X ring..... then to spend all day at the range. Deer don't care how great a shot you were at the end of the day....... it's the first shot of the day that counts.
John de Witt
I used a fixed 6x for many years in my youth, and it was a real pain in the rear. Way too much magnification for hunting in close cover, though OK on a 300 yard shot.
In the days before variables became reliable, most people chose 4x, though some though 2.5x was preferable. People who have 3-9x variables, by the way (and I have several) put them on 3x for hunting, and crank them up if there's time and need for more magnification. Don't be too impressed with that top magnification: it's not very useful for hunting.
My newer scopes are also either Leupold or Nikon (and one Burris I'd like not to have). You don't need a thousand-dollar scope, but if you spend less than $300-400 on optics, you're going to regret it.
?
A 3X to 9X scope with a 40 mm objective will work. I currently have a Nikon Prostaff of these specifications on one of my rifles. You don't want large magnification such as a 4X -12X (or higher) on any rifle unless you are hunting in open country where the shots may exceed 200 yards or so. Good brands are Leupold, Burris, Nikon, Weaver, Redfield, and Bushnell. Leupold and some Burris can be a bit pricey (250 to 500 dollars isn't uncommon for more basic models), but the rest aren't quite as expensive.
The Freak Show
I have two scoped 30-06 rifles. One has a Nikon 3-9X and the other has a vintage Weaver K4 (4X) on it. Both work extremely well. If I were to buy another scope for a deer rifle, it would be a 3-9X variable power. I'm happy enough with the Nikon that I would definitely buy another. It would probably be this one, or one like it, because I like the uncapped adjustment knobs.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/nikon-p-223-3-9x40-bdc-600-rifle-scope.html
ExploringLife
I started hunting with a 6x scope. The first running deer at 50 yards that I struggled to keep in view taught me that it wasn't a good thing. The best all-around scope I believe is 2-7x. I've mainly hunted with a 3-9x. See-through mounts are an option if you want to have larger optics, but anything above 6x is not recommended by many professional hunters for dangerous game. We don't only encounter the game we are hunting.
I have a better Bushnell, and I would trust most any Leopold, one of the better guarantees.
Here is a good start to scope research ...
Recommended Riflescopes
http://www.chuckhawks.com/recommended_riflescopes.htm
http://www.chuckhawks.com/scopes_price_class.htm
http://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_dangerous_game_riflescopes.htm
Hope these help. Shoot safe.