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2-7x30 vs. 3-9x40

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IdahoSkies View Drop Down
Optics GrassHopper
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Joined: December/10/2013
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    Posted: March/02/2014 at 22:19
I recently "down graded" my binoculars to a 6.5x32 porro.  They are very handy, very light, and enough glassthat I still feel that I am seeing what I need to.  I have an ancient 4x Leopold scope on a .270 that I am thinking about upgrading.  I have 3-9x40s on both my other hunting rifles (a .270 (my wife's) and a .30-06).  I have had such a good experience with the 6.5x32s that I am wondering if I have been "over glassed" with my hunting scopes. 

I hunt Idaho (see the moniker).  This usually means wide open spaces, interspersed with heavy timber.  I do not think I have taken a shot at 8 or 9 power, (not sure I would really want to take a shot that requires that much magnification), but the 40mm glass would help in lower light.  As stated I after looking through 10x50s (way to heavy and really more than i wanted) 8x42s, and 6.5x32's I found what I though worked for me.  So I am wondering if the same is true for rifle scopes.  Anyhow,  I thought I would poll the vastly more experienced collective wisdom before I made a jump.


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3_tens View Drop Down
Optics Jedi Master
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 3_tens Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/03/2014 at 07:38
More people start out with higher magnification. Then when wiser drift back to less magnification with better quality glass.


Edited by 3_tens - March/03/2014 at 08:16
Folks ain't got a sense of humor no more. They don't laugh they just get sore.

Need to follow the rules. Just hard to determine which set of rules to follow
Now the rules have changed again.
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anweis View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote anweis Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/03/2014 at 07:40
Whether you "overglassed" has as much to do with what kind of firearm the scopes are mounted on as with the scopes themselves.
If you hunt in a forest, 3x 40 is great. If you get into open alpine meadows, 6x 40 is great. When checking the rifle, scope, and ammo before hunting, 8x or 9x 40 os great. So, your 3-9x40 is just fine, if it fits the rifle and it is mounted to fit you.
On the other hand, a large and heavy scope mounted on a light rifle just feels clumsy and alters the balance and feel when shouldering. I have 2-8x32 on a Win. Featherweight short action rifle and it feels perfect. I hunt with the scope at 3x. All my scopes are at 2.5x or 3x when hunting. On that rifle, a 50mm scope would have been horrible, regardless of magnification. On the other hand, i have 3-9x40 on a larger heavier, longer rifle, and it feels right. That scope would have been too much for a lever action 30-30.
On a lightweight muzzleloader with 24" barrel, i mounted a 3-9x40 and it did not feel right. It was ruining the balance of the rifle.  I switched to a very light 2-7x32 and it's perfect. I can hit 4" offhand at 100 yards everytime.
On a very light and short (youth, 19" barrel, 12" LOP on the stock) .223 bolt action, every scope felt too much, until i put there a 1-4x24 Nikon. The rifle is very whippy and light and really difficult to shoot without support. A big and heavy scope made it worse. The small scope just feels right when i carry and shoot the rifle. 
 
I check my loads and equipment off the bench, but i shoot 99% of time from realistic field positions (with scopes at low "hunting" magnification). I take shooting sticks and backpacks and everything else i use while hunting to the shooting range and practice. Half of my shooting is off-hand at 50 and 100 yards.  Fit and balance of a rilfe really shows up then. 
I do see a lot of "overglassed" rifles at the range. You know, weekend warriors and deer hunters who never leave the concrete bench and mount  6-18x52 scopes, but hunt 100 yard fields, etc.   
 
If your 3-9x40 is a good scope and if feels OK on that rifle and is mounted to suit you, no, i don't think you "overglassed".  
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