Scope for a .338 Win Mag

[sambarhunter]

I can add that I have three of 3.5-10x44 Conquests from around 10 (?) years ago they are on 7mm Rem Mag, .308 Norma Mag and .358 Norma mag,not one scope has failed in any way and they are on rifles that are actually used in hunting situations in heavy bush country and more open cross gully country.They get a tick from me.
One went on UG`s yesterday for $600 Aussies and except for my Xmas crowd here and not seeing the ad I would have jumped on it.

 

[sestoppelman]

I use a Leupold 4-9x40
Long eye relief and warranty for ever

4-9x?

 

[Dr Ray]

4-9x?

3-9x40

Reasonable compact
I use the series 2

 

[sestoppelman]

Figured you meant 3-9, but one never knows...

 

[ChrisG]

5 power will easily let you hit beyond 300 yards. I have made hits on woodchucks with a 4x scope at 300 yards. Once you get past 9 power you need a bipod to steady the scope wobble down. I have a vortex diamondback on my .223 now and in order to use it on 12 power, I need to lay down and open the bipod. For a stalking rifle, I would say 9 power is about the max you need to go and 7x would probably do anything you would want it to. Also, my recommendation is to get a reticle that isn't all cluttered up with crap. That is why it took me so long to get a Vortex scope. They all look like this:

to the tacticool crowd, this might seem to be useful... but it just obnoxiously distracting in my opinion. especially when trying to make a follow up shot on running game to prevent them from getting away. My instinct has always been far more accurate at leading than any reticle.

A simple duplex with maybe a mil-dot for longer range estimation and wind drift is somewhat helpful and this is what the diamondback has:

Avoid falling into the trap that "more is better" in a reticle. I guess that's my $0.02

 

[Hogpatrol]

If you are twisting turrets for longer ranges, go with a Nightforce NXS. The Zeiss and Leupolds are known for not returning to zero. The Conquest is the LAST scope I would put on a hunting rifle. If anyone thinks this is BS, suggest they peruse other sites where the top shooters in the country post. Forum rules prevent me from posting links but I believe I can send them through PMs.

 

[Ray B]

The Zeiss and Leupolds are known for not returning to zero. The Conquest is the LAST scope I would put on a hunting rifle. If anyone thinks this is BS, suggest they peruse other sites where the top shooters in the country post.

And EVERYONE knows you can believe EVERYTHING that is posted on the internet!!

 

[Hogpatrol]

And EVERYONE knows you can believe EVERYTHING that is posted on the internet!!

Conquest user? You have my sympathies.

 

[Ray B]

Just goes to show how little information some people need on which to base their dogmatic conclusions.

 

[mdwest]

If you are twisting turrets for longer ranges, go with a Nightforce NXS.

Thats sort of an apples to orangutans comparison isnt it? The conquest mentioned in the OP can usually be found online for $800 or less (cabelas has them perpetually on "sale" it seems for about $700).. where as the the NXS line starts at about $1800...

The zeiss victory 3-12 (retails about $2K) would be a little bit more fair to compare by..

At the $700 cabelas sale price point I would argue that the Conquest 3-15x42 is pretty tough to beat when looked at side by side with similarly priced options from Leupold, Vortex, etc..

If you want to step into the realm of $1500+ optics things change dramatically..

 

[Hogpatrol]

Just goes to show how little information some people need on which to base their dogmatic conclusions.

Ray, you have the older ones. They may be OK. The newer ones are not worth the money. I take my cue from 1000 yard world record holders, F class and other match winning shooters and others that have done EXTENSIVE actual scope testing. I can email you the thread if you are interested. Sorry if you think this is internet bullshit. It is not. The new Zeiss are not a good scope for the price you pay. Clear glass is useless if the mechanicals aren't up to snuff. Check the equipment lists of the winners of most U.S.BR matches. These rifles are put to the test many times over a year and these shooters will tell you what works and what doesn't. You will not see a Zeiss or even a Swarovski being used by them. You will see Nightforce, Sightrons and a tiny amount of Leupolds. The new Leupolds are also not what they used to be. A fellow LR shooter has shipped his back twice for repair. At any rate, not trying to start a urinary olympics event. Just stating my experiences and other shooters' experiences. If the Zeiss scopes work for you, that's all that matters.

 

[Ray B]

Hogpatrol- It seems to me that you may interposing your own needs in a scope upon Mr. Woods. He is interested in a scope for general use hunting with the occasional long shot. He doesn't say what he considers a long shot, but if a survey were taken I'd guess the actual distance considered as the "odd long shot" to be in the area of 300-400 yards. On game such as deer with a trajectory of a 338 Win Mag (200-210 grain pointed bullets) the hunter has neither the time nor the need to be firing up a rangefinder, then dialing in the exact range on his scope so that he can place the reticle at the anticipated point of impact. I shoot a 338, 200 gr BBCs, mounted with a Zeiss Diavari 3-9 at elk and have found no fault in either the trajectory of the bullet or the trustworthiness of the scope- but as noted, I don't shoot at elk if they are over the Point Blank range of the combo, which is about 370 yards. As for Leupolds, I have some vet friends that were designated marksmen and at the time they served the Leupold Mark4 M1 10x was the sight of choice. It had a milDot reticle, which was used for range estimation and for placement of reticle to allow for windage and elevation. they had complete confidence in their systems, however they did work as a team with a spotter and did work on the premise of a quick adjustment for the impact of the first round. I understand that a lot has changed with optics since those days just a few years ago. those that followed my friends had to turn-in the Mark4s and get newer models that had variable power, bullet compensation dials and some with built-in range finders. Such is technology. But from Mr Woods question, I conclude that he is not using the scope for competition or combat that involves the demands of the qualities of the scopes that you favor. As such listing of people that have had the need for such technology and failed to get it from whatever the product was, has little relevance to someone that would never be placing those demands on his equipment.

 

[wesheltonj]

They’re are new Conquest and old Conquest scopes. The old one are Meopta scopes with a Zeiss name plate. The new Conquest come in 2 flavors, the made in Germany and the assembled in Germany. They are not even close to the old ones.

 

[Dr Ray]

5 power will easily let you hit beyond 300 yards. I have made hits on woodchucks with a 4x scope at 300 yards. Once you get past 9 power you need a bipod to steady the scope wobble down. I have a vortex diamondback on my .223 now and in order to use it on 12 power, I need to lay down and open the bipod. For a stalking rifle, I would say 9 power is about the max you need to go and 7x would probably do anything you would want it to. Also, my recommendation is to get a reticle that isn't all cluttered up with crap. That is why it took me so long to get a Vortex scope. They all look like this:

to the tacticool crowd, this might seem to be useful... but it just obnoxiously distracting in my opinion. especially when trying to make a follow up shot on running game to prevent them from getting away. My instinct has always been far more accurate at leading than any reticle.

A simple duplex with maybe a mil-dot for longer range estimation and wind drift is somewhat helpful and this is what the diamondback has:

View attachment 213081
Avoid falling into the trap that "more is better" in a reticle. I guess that's my $0.02

I call it clutter!

 

[sambarhunter]

Don`t we all love the experts that tell us that 'this and that' are no good....sheeeesh!

These 10 year old Conquests in the pic,358NM and 7mm RM on right have literally worked their bronze freckles off without fail.
They dont come out to play bench and paper every three months like many do or even dont ...they are worked.
Now that 7 mm as my go to rifle comes with me virtually EVERY DAY to the tune of up to 350 days of the year as I stalk or drive around the property in the mountains..dogs/deer/foxes/cats and whatevers are on the list and as a general rule one cannot have a rifle in use everyday laying on the vehicle seat without knocks,it comes with it being a tool. I cringe when at times I hit the scope whilst in a hurry in getting the rifle out,so far it keeps smiling.Its a rare day for me not to take the rifle (or other choice) 'up the back'

I also do have Swarovski and Diavari scopes on other rifles ..so what! Big deal! But those Conquests have proven themselves by actual use since new,maybe they aren't in the same class as the latter pair but they are also not in the same price bracket either. They have plain old vanilla crosshairs with no other shit inside btw.

The bottom line is that they have never failed me (3x) and if I was to hand you the guest hunter a Conquest equipped rifle when a nice stag walked by would that hunter decline as "Conquest scopes are no good"

My guest hunters have shot their stags with the same scopes above and also on a .300WM,no complaints!

 

[Hogpatrol]

B

Don`t we all love the experts that tell us that 'this and that' are no good....sheeeesh!

These 10 year old Conquests in the pic,358NM and 7mm RM on right have literally worked their bronze freckles off without fail.
They dont come out to play bench and paper every three months like many do or even dont ...they are worked.
Now that 7 mm as my go to rifle comes with me virtually EVERY DAY to the tune of up to 350 days of the year as I stalk or drive around the property in the mountains..dogs/deer/foxes/cats and whatevers are on the list and as a general rule one cannot have a rifle in use everyday laying on the vehicle seat without knocks,it comes with it being a tool. I cringe when at times I hit the scope whilst in a hurry in getting the rifle out,so far it keeps smiling.Its a rare day for me not to take the rifle (or other choice) 'up the back'

I also do have Swarovski and Diavari scopes on other rifles ..so what! Big deal! But those Conquests have proven themselves by actual use since new,maybe they aren't in the same class as the latter pair but they are also not in the same price bracket either. They have plain old vanilla crosshairs with no other shit inside btw.

The bottom line is that they have never failed me (3x) and if I was to hand you the guest hunter a Conquest equipped rifle when a nice stag walked by would that hunter decline as "Conquest scopes are no good"

My guest hunters have shot their stags with the same scopes above and also on a .300WM,no complaints!

Ten years ago is a century in products and manufacturing. Just because you have three that were made in that time frame, it doesn't apply to what's out there NOW. Buy a new one TODAY and give it the same treatment and get back to us in say... a year. Sorry if your feelings were hurt.

 

[sambarhunter]

Tell you what,you bring a brand new one down to me as payment for taking you hunting Sambar..First we put it on one of my deer rifles for you to use.
You cant get a better deal than that lol!

Here is an old one laying on the seat as usual, pic taken 30 mins ago while I was picking up camera cards.
The only thing getting hurt is by the 7mm btw.

 

[mdwest]

Tell you what,you bring a brand new one down to me as payment for taking you hunting Sambar..First we put it on one of my deer rifles for you to use.
You cant get a better deal than that lol!

If Hogpatrol doesnt take you up on this, let me know...

I'll gladly trade you a new, in the box Zeiss Conquest 3-15x42 for a Sambar

 

[LivingTheDream]

Tell you what,you bring a brand new one down to me as payment for taking you hunting Sambar..First we put it on one of my deer rifles for you to use.
You cant get a better deal than that lol!

Here is an old one laying on the seat as usual, pic taken 30 mins ago while I was picking up camera cards.
The only thing getting hurt is by the 7mm btw.

So the conquest is ordered when are we going to hunt Sambar?

 

[mdwest]

So the conquest is ordered when are we going to hunt Sambar?

Get in line!!!!!!!