Current state of Dangerous Game optics?

[bowjijohn]

I have a swaro 1-6x ee i and a swaro 1-8 - both of which have served me well

After the world championships next year I will probably be getting rid of them, together with my R8 Jeff barrel

Sadly I no longer work in the bush and I guess I’m moving on

They are great scopes though

 

[MacJenkins]

For staight tube scopes I have NF 2-10 on a couple guns. A few have Swaro Z6, couple 1-4 Trijicon and a couple S&B 1-8 Exos. The Exos is the clear winner IMO but the most expensive as well. All the above are decent scopes with the NF being my least favorite. But the NF are right at 20 years old so I'm sure they have improved a ton.

 

[RR 314]

For staight tube scopes I have NF 2-10 on a couple guns. A few have Swaro Z6, couple 1-4 Trijicon and a couple S&B 1-8 Exos. The Exos is the clear winner IMO but the most expensive as well. All the above are decent scopes with the NF being my least favorite. But the NF are right at 20 years old so I'm sure they have improved a ton.

Preach! Exos is the clear winner in my book as well.

 

[Aaron N]

I have a swaro 1-6x ee i and a swaro 1-8 - both of which have served me well

After the world championships next year I will probably be getting rid of them, together with my R8 Jeff barrel

Sadly I no longer work in the bush and I guess I’m moving on

They are great scopes though

World championships of what?

 

[VertigoBE]

World championships of what?

I’m also curious!

 

[roklok]

I have a strong dislike for 30mm scopes, it seems that the few otherwise excellent DG choices are 30mm, so it makes the pickings even slimmer. I also lament the demise of the Leupold Custom Shop, I had several scopes I sent in for #4 reticles.

 

[DelRock83]

Have run the vortex st through 70 458’s without issue. Was absconded with! Now on a 3.5” turkey. No issues. Going to try an h2. Have a viper 1-8 on it now. Am happy with it in qr rings but it added a bit of weight. 458 isn’t beating me up with either so may keep the lpvo

Iwa

Lpvo’s give the option of reach so to speak. I have run both and find that I plan to mount the lpvo but have a quality red dot as a backup. There are good QR rings for the lpvo but not as many for the red dot.

I have wondered how would a good handgun scope work for a dg rifle

Good question

 

[DelRock83]

I wanna go the lpvo route ive seen for damn sure those sig and vortex lpvos are durable because on my last tour in Afghanistan the SF guys were beating them to death on top of thier rifles i understand its not the recoil of the 5.56 that would do the beating but the terrain being mostly rocky its different than dropping or bumping them anywhere else...the only thing I'm concerned about is finding one that will be long enough to span the action without minimalising proper ring placement

Lpvo’s give the option of reach so to speak. I have run both and find that I plan to mount the lpvo but have a quality red dot as a backup. There are good QR rings for the lpvo but not as many for the red dot.

 

[BeeMaa]

I wanna go the lpvo route ive seen for damn sure those sig and vortex lpvos are durable because on my last tour in Afghanistan the SF guys were beating them to death on top of thier rifles i understand its not the recoil of the 5.56 that would do the beating but the terrain being mostly rocky its different than dropping or bumping them anywhere else...the only thing I'm concerned about is finding one that will be long enough to span the action without minimalising proper ring placement

The energy imparted during recoil is very different from a rifle being dropped or smacked by something. If you want military grade for your DG rifle, I would recommend Nightforce, Trijicon or Schmidt & Bender. Just understand that the durability comes at the price of a heavy optic.

To keep the weight down and still have a very reasonable level of durability, Swaro, Leica and Kahles have some very good options with top quality glass.

If you are worried about rings and miunting, it’s easier to eliminate them and get a rail mounted scope.

 

[DelRock83]

The energy imparted during recoil is very different from a rifle being dropped or smacked by something. If you want military grade for your DG rifle, I would recommend Nightforce, Trijicon or Schmidt & Bender. Just understand that the durability comes at the price of a heavy optic.

To keep the weight down and still have a very reasonable level of durability, Swaro, Leica and Kahles have some very good options with top quality glass.

If you are worried about rings and miunting, it’s easier to eliminate them and get a rail mounted scope.

Oh no I'm not too concerned about weight matter of fact I would welcome it in a rifle of such caliber but not so ridiculously heavy because I still have to carry it I'm not boasting or bragging but I've carried 20 pound machine guns up and down mountainous terrain on deployments but hell I'm NOT the physical specimen now that I was back then lol I just want the set up to make sense

 

[DelRock83]

The energy imparted during recoil is very different from a rifle being dropped or smacked by something. If you want military grade for your DG rifle, I would recommend Nightforce, Trijicon or Schmidt & Bender. Just understand that the durability comes at the price of a heavy optic.

To keep the weight down and still have a very reasonable level of durability, Swaro, Leica and Kahles have some very good options with top quality glass.

If you are worried about rings and miunting, it’s easier to eliminate them and get a rail mounted scope.

A rail running across a magnum action isn't gonna interfere with clearing malfunctions or ejection the biggest magnum caliber rifle I have is a 300 Win Mag and it has a rail but the big bores look like the actions need room to breath and operate....if that makes sense

 

[DelRock83]

The energy imparted during recoil is very different from a rifle being dropped or smacked by something. If you want military grade for your DG rifle, I would recommend Nightforce, Trijicon or Schmidt & Bender. Just understand that the durability comes at the price of a heavy optic.

To keep the weight down and still have a very reasonable level of durability, Swaro, Leica and Kahles have some very good options with top quality glass.

If you are worried about rings and miunting, it’s easier to eliminate them and get a rail

I'm not trying to argue or debunk anyone I'm like really uninformed and ignorant to the DG rifle game and I'm soaking up EVERYTHING you guys are telling and hungry for the knowledge I don't wanna be the guy that gets chopped up or gorged or get someone messed up by equipment failures or overlooking ANYTHING trying to control what I CAN to be prepared ..... you guys have done this b4....I haven't ....lol

 

[DelRock83]

Have run the vortex st through 70 458’s without issue. Was absconded with! Now on a 3.5” turkey. No issues. Going to try an h2. Have a viper 1-8 on it now. Am happy with it in qr rings but it added a bit of weight. 458 isn’t beating me up with either so may keep

Errrr....the VORTEX Lpvo’s handled the 458's I know the red dots can....man I LOVE talking to you guys.....keep preaching....take me to school...lol

 

[DelRock83]

A rail running across a magnum action isn't gonna interfere with clearing malfunctions or ejection the biggest magnum caliber rifle I have is a 300 Win Mag and it has a rail but the big bores look like the actions need room to breath and operate....if that makes sense

No I'm asking about the rail situation

 

[BeeMaa]

A rail running across a magnum action isn't gonna interfere with clearing malfunctions or ejection the biggest magnum caliber rifle I have is a 300 Win Mag and it has a rail but the big bores look like the actions need room to breath and operate....if that makes sense

I'm not sure you understand what I mean by a rail mounted scope. This is for clarification only, and I'm not trying to talk down to anyone, just make sure you are informed. Rail mounted scopes have an integral rail that fits to an adapter (mount) that attaches to the rifle. In my case the Swaro scope is attached to a Contessa QD mount that is then attached to the rifle. In my case, using the Blaser R8 the rail doesn't create an obstruction for top loading of the magazine.

If you want to do something similar, but with a traditional bolt action rifle, I'd recommend using QD rings that mate directly to the action of a double square bridge like those of a CZ550.

Both of these designs have three pieces that minimize failure points. The R8 has the scope, mount and action. The CZ550 has the scope, rings and action. Both have proven incredibly reliable and 100% return to zero while maintaining the ability to remove them quickly for whatever reason. I'd also like to mention that I've done reloads on both of these rifles while running at a full sprint and pulling shells from my belt while chasing game. Of course it takes practice, but still pretty easy once you get the muscle memory down.

Some rifles exhibit problems with ejection where the spent brass shell will hit the turret of the scope on ejection and cause it to fall back into the action. This will cause a failure to feed when trying to return the bolt to battery as both the spent brass and fresh cartridge attempt to occupy the same space. This is something that can be worked out by a competent gunsmith or by changing the kit you are using. Either way it will take reps of dry fire and live range sessions to work out the kinks and find potential failure points.

I hope this has been helpful and once again, I haven't meant this in a condescending manner. Purely informational.

 

[DelRock83]

Ok I see where IM going wrong I'm thinking about a PICATINNY rail....

 

[BeeMaa]

This would be another common (probably the most common) option and it adds front and rear mounts to the top of the action. Shown is a Winchester M70 with mounts on top of the action that mate to QD rings. It does introduce one more possible point of failure (the action/mount adapter) but they have also proven very reliable when attached to the proper torque and Loctite is used.

 

[DelRock83]

This would be another common (probably the most common) option and it adds front and rear mounts to the top of the action. Shown is a Winchester M70 with mounts on top of the action that mate to QD rings. It does introduce one more possible point of failure (the action/mount adapter) but they have also proven very reliable when attached to the proper torque and Loctite is used.
View attachment 712124

So they also have qd mounts that mount DIRECTLY to the action

 

[Raven]

On my Blaser S2 in caliber .470 NE is an old Swarovski habicht 1.25-4x24 scope. It works great and there are no problems with it. Therefore, for now it will remain on the rifle.

 

[VertigoBE]

On my Blaser S2 in caliber .470 NE is an old Swarovski habicht 1.25-4x24 scope. It works great and there are no problems with it. Therefore, for now it will remain on the rifle.

View attachment 712135

Those are good sturdy scopes. They sometimes come up for sale at ridiculously low prices, where I pick them up for future projects.