Which scope would you prefer on a 375 H&H Bolt for DG and PG -

uplander01 said:

I think large turrets and side parallax or illumination knobs look “tactical”, also large objective lenses. That is just wholly my opinion, don’t expect everyone to agree. I feel that between Swaro and trijicon you have illumination options that are clean and sleek looking as well as great optical performance. S&b has been my favorite scope brand for 25 years, their scopes are heavy duty, the optical performance is on a different level, and the erectors have never failed on any of the 5 units I own. Swaro I feel has the best illumination system from a classy clean look, own 1 illuminated and 1 non both in the 1-6 magnification, great scopes. S&b zenith imo are the classiest looking scopes ever made.

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I hear you. I beleive or isn't S&B scopes more geared towards tactical, long range shooting and military porposes?

I've used the leupold and the trijicon, both are great scopes for what you described. I will throw out another option, Trijicon introduced a 1-8x24 Accupoint this year. I bought one for my yet to be delivered Parkwest arms 404 Jeffery. I would also suggest the Red triangle post reticle, I don't think you can find a better setup for dangerous game hunting!

SStomcat said:

I hear you. I beleive or isn't S&B scopes more geared towards tactical, long range shooting and military porposes?

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It seems like they have put a lot of effort into tactical scopes yes, and I think you could argue they are the best there is for elite military applications. I only have experience with Klassics & Zenith hunting models, haven’t used exos or stratos, I’m kinda done buying rifles and the optics I have I move from rifle to rifle based on application. The cost of all this stuff has gotten kinda crazy imo.

SStomcat said:

You have a point. Just for curiosity sake I was looking at some S&B scopes - one of them read

Schmidt Bender 1-8x24 PM II ShortDot Dual CC MDR-T6 ST LT MTC / ST LT ZC 0.1 mrad cw Black​

Holy moly... I will need a interpreter just to understand what the heck it means let alone buy one

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Let me help you, this optic is designed for Recce style AR10 or AR15 for 2 legged dangerous game. I've owned 20+ S&B's in almost every model. Best scopes money can buy.

PM= Police Marksman
Short dot= Illumination
Dual CC= true 1x dual focal 1st reticle and 2nd illumination
Mdr-T6= Reticle, Christmas tree style
ST= Single turn turret
LT= Locking turret
MTC= More tactical click on each full mil
ZC= Zero stop
.1 mrad= click value
CW= clockwise elevation turret

I have not read all the replies; I opted for the Meopta as they are rugged. My own choice is a Trijacon 1.25-4X20? now discontinued unfortunately. Reasons. They are tough relatively clear glass and the Picket Post reticle works. Use the entire coloured triangle for fast close shots and the point of the triangle for distance shots. Yes I have taken Elephant and Hippo from 3 mts to 20mts. I have also taken PG out to 400mts, but with the angle it was ballistically about 300 mts. This with a 416 Rigby.

I was 68 on my last trip which included everything I have named. I need glasses for reading but my long distance eyesight is not what it use to be. Remember at 4 power it makes something at 400mts look like it is at 100mts. So unless you want to thread a bullet through vegetation I find I do not need, but do like, more magnification.

This is just me.

AZDAVE said:

On a 375 I would use a 2-10 or 2-12x
on a 416 I would use a 1-6 or 1-8x

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This is exactly what I have done.

I have a Leupold VX6 2-12x42 on my Blaser 375 and
A Trijicon Accupoint 1-6x24 German #4 with the green dot on my Kimber 416 RM

SStomcat said:

I hear you. I beleive or isn't S&B scopes more geared towards tactical, long range shooting and military porposes?

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The PMII line and some of their other offerings, yes.

The Stratos, Zenith and Klassic are geared towards hunting. The Zenith 1.1-4x24mm and Stratos 1.1-5x24mm with Flash Dot technology (little illuminated red dot) and the Klassic 1.25-4x20mm are an excellent pairing with a DGR.

The leupold 6hd 1x6 is my favorite scope...its amazing! The anti- cant feature is a favorite of mine.

Something with more magnification such as a 2-10 or 2-12. You’re handicapping yourself and the cartridge capabilities by using an LPVO in the 1-6 range.

Mark Biggerstaff said:

Personally for the 375 I am a Leupold man as most know. I prefer the VX5 2-10x42 with FireDot just incase I need it. That scope has served me well for the 5 safaris that rifle has been on. I have taken animals from 40 yards to a Gemsbok at 230yards.

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Going with Mark on this one. Final answer. Gracias.

I really like the Leupold VX6, 1-6 Firedot's on my big bores.

I didn’t vote for any of the poll choices as I believe the Leupold VX5HD in 2-10x with Firedot reticle is a better choice. It’s what I have on my 375 and 338 and I wouldn’t have any other scope. It’s an outstanding scope and excellent choice for any 375.

I have two 375 H&H's.

One is a 1952 year Model 70 Winchester, it is put together as a tribute rifle to Finn Aagaard and many of the old school Sourdough Alaskan guides like Hal Waugh, it wears a very old but exceedingly clear bulletproof tough Unertl Hawk 4X rifle scope in big wheel Weaver rings on Weaver two piece bases, the scope can be easily removed with the back edge of a knife blade or coin, it's factory rollover rear barrel sight in the forward position puts the excellent 300gr CEB #13 flat nosed solids dead on at 25 yards.

I centered the reticle in that scope in Wifes big bathroom mirror, they do not have a constantly centered reticle, bolted it to the rifle, slid in bore sighter, it was near dead on bore centerline, a testament of the quality put into those rifle builds of that era, had it zeroed in three shots from the bench.

The other is a 1965 year FN Browning Olympian wearing a gloss 2.5-8 Leupold in Talley steel QR rings with levers, the scope can be removed in seconds if needed, the iron barrel sights are dead on at 25 yards also with the 300gr CEB #13 flat nosed solids, they clock 2600 fps over the Garmin.

Both rifles shoot the same soft point loads, 300gr Partitions and A-Frames, they clock around 2625 fps average over RL-17 powder from both rifles.

Very versatile and effective hunting rifles you can hunt Elk, Moose, the great bears of Alaska, and all the wonderful plains game animals of Africa to 400 yards if you know your drops, even bull Elephant at 15 feet with the solids, nothing is off the table.

I cast accupoint but i woukd go for a mil R or mildot reticle with illunination.

Because you can do holdoffs if you choose to shoot oast your zeroed distance alot easier and hold for wind.

SStomcat said:

1.7–10×42 with an illuminated reticle. I guess we will find out next July when the rubber meets the road

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I have the same model along with the Z8i 1.7-13. The Z8i has a third knob for parallax that is not present on the Z6I and it is a tad longer.
The field of view on that model at 1.7 magnification is 75+ feet which allows me shoot both eyes open easily but your MMV. That is 20+ feet more field of view on the bottom end than most 2-12 models. Excellent choice!

Dirtdart said:

I have the same model along with the Z8i 1.7-13. The Z8i has a third knob for parallax that is not present on the Z6I and it is a tad longer.
The field of view on that model at 1.7 magnification is 75+ feet which allows me shoot both eyes open easily but your MMV. That is 20+ feet more field of view on the bottom end than most 2-12 models. Excellent choice!

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Yes, I’ve tried both the Z8i 1-8x24 II L 4A-I and the Z8i 1.7-13.3x42 4A-IF. They’re probably the best of the best that I’ve seen so far, especially the latter.
If I can somehow justify the price-to-quality ratiowhich is admittedly somewhat subjective and convince myself that I can actually shoot better with it than I do with my top-of-the-line Leupolds and Meoptas, I may just have to buy one.

Who knows… sometimes you just need to give yourself the right excuse. However at these prices you get a good second hand Dakota.

50Gunner said:

Both rifles shoot the same soft point loads, 300gr Partitions and A-Frames, they clock around 2625 fps average over RL-17 powder from both rifles.

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They dont make them like that anymore. You are fortunte to have them.What is your load for RL-17 if you do not mind sharing?

SStomcat said:

Yes, I’ve tried both the Z8i 1-8x24 II L 4A-I and the Z8i 1.7-13.3x42 4A-IF. They’re probably the best of the best that I’ve seen so far, especially the latter.
If I can somehow justify the price-to-quality ratiowhich is admittedly somewhat subjective and convince myself that I can actually shoot better with it than I do with my top-of-the-line Leupolds and Meoptas, I may just have to buy one.

Who knows… sometimes you just need to give yourself the right excuse. However at these prices you get a good second hand Dakota.

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10X on the top end is more than enough for damn near any situation you will find yourself IMHO.

I used the predecessor model Leupold scope with pretty much the same specs. I liked it and it worked very well for both plains game and DG. I saw somone moment on a perceived limited field of vision. Well, that never impacted me. I am not sure if the fellow who made the comment ever used one or was just commenting. I would go with the leupold.

Dirtdart said:

10X on the top end is more than enough for damn near any situation you will find yourself IMHO.

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I have never hunted or prefer to hunt at long distances beyond 400 yards. 10 to 12X is more than enough for me.