Scope Advice

I recently bought a Sako A7 Roughtech Pro in .300 Win Mag and am looking for advice on a scope. I plan to use this rifle for a plains game Safari, but also hope to use it someday for North American big game hunting as well. I like Leupold and have a VX-3 on a different rifle and so I was thinking of a 4.5x14x50 Leupold VX-3 CDS, but am wondering if the minimum magnification on this would be overkill for a South African Safari. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

Hi Newbie85, you have some "nice problems" to solve. I would consider a Zeiss 2,5-10X50 Victory, that would give you probably the highest quality scope on the market and enough magnification for Africa, my other choice will be Schmidt & Bender 3-12x42or 50 in the klassik series.

For pg hunt and in this caliber I would use a fixed scope mount from Recknagel or Apel to get the scope as low as possible.

You didn't mention in what price level you looking, so those alternative is maybe not the cheapest, but if you asking me it's the best.

Good luck !

My PERSONAL opinion is that unless you are going to hunt somewhere that 400 yard shot are the norm and you have the ability that the scope is more than needed. But again, just me, lots of guys use similar scopes.

my biggest scope is a zeiss 2x 10 that I put on my .375 h&h. It worked great, but I also don't think I ever had it above 4x and most of the time it was at 2x. I'm a big believer in minimum scope magnification, not only for quick acquisition, but I am less likely to snatched the trigger on a low powered scope. the extra magnificatiin and subsequent cross hair movement is more than my brain can stand some days.

gordon-kruger said:

Hi Newbie85, you have some "nice problems" to solve. I would consider a Zeiss 2,5-10X50 Victory, that would give you probably the highest quality scope on the market and enough magnification for Africa, my other choice will be Schmidt & Bender 3-12x42or 50 in the klassik series.

For pg hunt and in this caliber I would use a fixed scope mount from Recknagel or Apel to get the scope as low as possible.

You didn't mention in what price level you looking, so those alternative is maybe not the cheapest, but if you asking me it's the best.

Good luck !

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That's two for the zeiss!

You planning on long range shooting?
Shooting in Low light?
Changing ammo during a hunt?

I have personally shot game between 8 yards and 480 yards in Africa.
The vast majority of critters has been under one hundred yards.

If you like your VX3 you'd be just fine with it.

If you like the new toy and have the money get it.

Simple fact is, anything above 6x is purely for beating your mate in a friendly shoot at the range (or a formal competition), unless ... you are a regular 500- 1,000-yard shooter. I took my .30-06 to a 150, 300 and 500 yard Service Rifle shoot a couple of times, when I still had my Weaver GS3-10x40 mounted on it. I never used more than 5x to shoot at anything, although I did take it up to 10x in order to spot for the guy next to me, at 500-yards.

300 wm is a long shooter , I am a leupold fan and find them best value for money

a 50 is not necessary unless you will be hunting in low light situations ( which Africa is not )

I suggest a VX3 4.5-14x40

I have a Leupold VXIII 3.5x10x40 mounted on my .340 Weatherby and haven't found a shot that I couldn't take with it from early mornings to late evenings. I never could understand getting the 50mm objective but I have a couple of friends that have them.

I personally don't have any scopes over 9x mounted on any of my hunting rifles. Most are Leupold compacts in 3 x 9, I'll gladly give up the extra magnification and a little light transmission for the lighter weight. A few ounces doesn't sound like much but after a few days of carrying it around and up and down mountain sides it adds up.

That Leupold would work but I prefer a 400mm and have it mounted closer to the bore. I used a 3X9X40 Leupold as did my daughter in Africa and that is what is on most of my rifles for hunting in the USA. I really like the 3.5X10X50 non-AO and have it on my long range rifles(257Weatherby and 264Win mag. My 300win mag has a 3X9X40. My longest shot in Africa was 480 yards and the 3X9X40 worked just fine. I have taken Pronghorns with the 3X9X40 and 3.5X10X40 at 600+ yards.

I use a duplex reticle in all my scopes. Properly sighted in and I have no problem with close or long shots. Screwing around with dials etc is not for me and I have seen too many animals get away when friends do so. Just "my" feeling.

You cannot go wrong with a Leupold scope.

I agree with Gordon .
Witold

I just picked up a non current Steiner Xtreme 2-10 X 42. It has a real 4" of eye relief which is great for avoiding magnum eyebrow. Tack sharp optics, tracks well and has a nice BDC reticle. The only downside is the short scope body which limits mounting on some guns

Plenty of good advice here from multiple posters.

Myself being a minimalist and all, I prefer low powered, non-variable power scopes of no more than 6x for open places like Grassveld areas or The Kalahari, etc and no more than 4x for normal Southern Africa hunting conditions.
Part of the reason for this is that all these huge front lens scopes so popular today, can make a rifle top-heavy and out of balance.
Another part of my reasoning is that generally (not always) they are higher magnification than I need for hunting and actually become problematic at close range for me in trying to find my critter before it gets away.

Nothing is worse than trying to get "the swing" on some erratic running critter at very close range with a clubby/awkward section of bridge timber, in your hands that has a section of heavy sewer pipe bolted on top of it, not to mention having to carry such an unwieldy thing over steep geography for a couple of weeks.

On the other hand, it is a joy to do the same with a sleek, handy and well balanced rifle that has the scope properly mounted down low, very close to the bore and the eye relief is generous, etc., etc.
I am not a big fan of the .300 Winchester (recoil is fast enough to hurt my sissy shoulder), especially for the usual close range hunting so common with most of Southern African countries (too destructive on the edible meat at close range).
However, I readily admit that with properly stout / bonded core type bullets of about 180 grains or so, the .300 Winchester is a long range beauty in the hands of a non-flincher.

When I was a kid, back in the late 1960s, in my neighborhood was a man who owned only one "deer rifle".
It was a Sako, caliber .300 Winchester and in Redfield mounts/low rings, he had a Redfield 4x scope.
He was not a rifle enthusiast but was an avid hunter.
With this outfit, he shot everything from ground squirrels to elk.
His photos (and antler collection in his garage rafters) was truly impressive.

Not sure how I got 400mm it should be 40mm

Divernhunter said:

Not sure how I got 400mm it should be 40mm

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There are those who might want a 400 mm lens on their rifle scope these days.
The trend lately is certainly moving more in that direction than it is in the other direction.
My favorite is the one that has a notch in it to fit over your rifle barrel, hubba, hubba.

Choice of scope is up to you, but in my opinion a scope with a variable power of around 2X up to 10X should give you a wide field of View at low power and the magnification for that long shot. I also believe in as large of an Objective lense as possible 50X plus if available

4.5x is more minimum magnification than I'd want. I use a 1.7-10x variable scope on my plains game rifle. 1.7x is my default setting. If I need more, I have time to turn it up but the converse is not necessarily true. I find most of my shots are taken at 6x or less.

Thanks to all for your opinions and suggestions. It gives me more reading and research to do on the iPad and more trips to Cabela's. Now does anyone want to start a donation for the scope?

All good suggestions. I'll throw the Nightforce SHV into the hat as well. They have a 3-10x42 model that is really nice.

You might take a look at the Meopta or Cabella's Euro..Meopta glass is as good as it gets... I personally have Zeiss Conquest 3x9x40 as we had 2 Varix 11's go haywire in Africa..Stupid things were all over the place and it was the scopes....Not fun over there..Both were sent back but would not work when I got them back..I did have a backup though...You probably won't be shooting over 2-250 yds in Africa.