In my life I have owned only one telescopic sight, a Nikon Buckmaster 4x40 presently on my .22 rimfire rifle. It is semipermanently mounted via Weigand's Integramount. I will not remove it to solve my problem.
Where I live and hunt, deer and elk hunting is done where an exceptionally long shot is 150 yards; likely shots generally occur under 100 yards. My hunting partner has arranged for us to hunt a couple of weeks of the season in Montana east of the Divide, and this will now occur every year. He informs me that the terrain, whose specific area he has hunted for more than 20 years, requires a scope sight.
His rifles use variables whose maximum magnification is 6 power. If I must buy a telescopic sight within the next 60 days, my inclination is to acquire a fixed 2.5 power because I tend to distrust complex optical-mechanical devices. Unfortunately, installing a telescopic sight means that the rifle on which it's mounted cannot use the aperture sight presently installed. So it's one or the other.
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Having written that, there are two variable scope sights whose specifications intrigue me. And, yes, they are ungodly expensive - Leupold's VX-7 1.5-6x24 and Nikon's Monarch African 1.5-4x24. Both are 30 mm basis tubes, with large fields of view and generous eye relief, relatively small, with modest magnification, apparently top of the line from their respective manufacturers, and essentially the same price.
Beyond their specifications lists and marketing hyperbole, I know nothing about either of them. My overriding concern is that complex optical-mechanical devices will not be reliable for the long term.
I just want to make a buy, mount the scope, and be done with this for the remainder of my shooting life. Those of you who have experience with either of these sights, or high-quality low magnification fixed power scopes, please let me know your thoughts.
Where I live and hunt, deer and elk hunting is done where an exceptionally long shot is 150 yards; likely shots generally occur under 100 yards. My hunting partner has arranged for us to hunt a couple of weeks of the season in Montana east of the Divide, and this will now occur every year. He informs me that the terrain, whose specific area he has hunted for more than 20 years, requires a scope sight.
His rifles use variables whose maximum magnification is 6 power. If I must buy a telescopic sight within the next 60 days, my inclination is to acquire a fixed 2.5 power because I tend to distrust complex optical-mechanical devices. Unfortunately, installing a telescopic sight means that the rifle on which it's mounted cannot use the aperture sight presently installed. So it's one or the other.
***
Having written that, there are two variable scope sights whose specifications intrigue me. And, yes, they are ungodly expensive - Leupold's VX-7 1.5-6x24 and Nikon's Monarch African 1.5-4x24. Both are 30 mm basis tubes, with large fields of view and generous eye relief, relatively small, with modest magnification, apparently top of the line from their respective manufacturers, and essentially the same price.
Beyond their specifications lists and marketing hyperbole, I know nothing about either of them. My overriding concern is that complex optical-mechanical devices will not be reliable for the long term.
I just want to make a buy, mount the scope, and be done with this for the remainder of my shooting life. Those of you who have experience with either of these sights, or high-quality low magnification fixed power scopes, please let me know your thoughts.
