PG - I am late to the party in my review of your DG scope video. Nicely done Sir. Your points are well made and clearly communicated and honestly, I would say I agree with much if not most of your positions. We have evolved as hunters along a similar path and I too started with a low power classic Leupold DG optic as my 1st attempt. It was a 1.5-4x non-illuminated with a very thick reticle and all it took was one trip to the field on a deer hunt to expose that it was inadequate for my needs. It now rides on one of my 22lr squirrel rifles and works ok for tree rats.
I agree that:
- Illuminated red dot or ring dot (ghost ring) reticles are best for all hunting.
- Reticle choice is critical and has a lot of affect on how useable a scope will be in the field.
- Locking turrets or capped turrets that cannot be knocked out of zero in the field are important.
- The on/off switch on the Swarovski is one of the best designs and it also turns off the reticle anytime the rifle is slung vertical up or down with the switch on.
- I too avoid QR rings and have never needed to remove a scope in the field.
In fact the only reason to remove a DG scope in the field to follow up on a wounded Buffalo or Lion, etc would be if the scope chosen was not a proper DG scope to begin with or if it was somehow damaged. I have never had that happen. This practice is one that I think may have its roots in time gone by when scopes were often not illuminated and were often fixed 4x optics and were also more fragile. Being in appropriate for close, fast work it had to be removed before tracking into the thich bush after that wounded buffalo. Also decades ago, in the 1950's a quality optic would cost many times what a Winchester Model 70 cost and it was thus desirable to use one scope on many rifles and that led to mounting systems that made that easier to do. These requirements mostly do not apply today. My opinion only.
Where we diverge in opinion just a bit is on the best DG solution. While a 2-12x or 3-9x scope makes for a much more versatile rifle for DG and PG, to me a DG rifle needs to be optimized for its intended purpose of killing dangerous game. To any extent that it can also be deployed on Kudu or Eland, fine. I always bring another PG rifle that is optimized for longer ranges and higher precision so my DG rifle is laser focused on those 100y and less shots on DG in low light.
I have found that the rifle shoots the same regardless of how you aim it as long as you can see well enough to aim precisely. To that end, I choose superior glass with a reticle that incorporates a red dot or better still a red ring with a fine center dot for low light and precision sight picture. With a good reticle and great glass, I can see well enough to aim precisely even at very low magnification.
1-6x or 1-8x is enough for DG. Set at 1x with both eyes open, it is as fast and accurate as a red dot hologram sight. Zoomed to 3-4x it is enough to judge horns on a Kudu at 150-200y. I refuse to shoot big DG calibers out past 200y since even the 375HH begins to slow and drop too much to suit me. Still with my 1-6x Kahles K16i, I have been able to shoot impressive groups out to 400y. That is too far for shots on game but the rifle scope combo is capable nonetheless.
The two DG optics that I have and use are the Z6 Swarovski, 1-6x duplex and the Z16i Kahles 1-6x. I like the Kahles the best. It has better, more precise turrets and a superior reticle that can be used for hold over shots at longer ranges. Not necessary for DG but super functional. The glass on both are equal and quite good. The turrets on both suck but are adequate. They are pricey and frankly, IMO not totally worth the cost for what you get. But, they are still very good optics.
Another option that I am sold on for general hunting but would not hesitate to use on DG as well is the Arken Optics EP8 LPVO. It is a ffp, lighted ring reticle, 1-8x optic that has superior capped turrets that come in Mil or MOA increments and while they are lower cost scopes, their glass is nearly as good as the two top flight Euro optics. Not as good but so good that most shooters cannot tell the difference. Another benefit of the low power optics is that all of these scopes stay focused throughout their range of magnification without the need for any separate parallax adjustment. When seconds count that is a real time saving advantage.
They also hold up to my two 338 magnum rifles which kick as much as my 375's due to being lighter rifles. I have taken game with these scopes out to over 300y dialed to 8x. I see no reason for a hunter to routinely shoot much further except for specialized situations. Pics below show one of my DG rifles with the Kahles mounted and the other two are the EP8 reticle at 1x and 8x to show what it looks like. The only optic I have found that out classes the Arken as a hunting scope is the Trijicon Credo. But it also costs about 3x as much. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
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