What is the predominant optics on the dark continent?

Lhleggtowner

AH senior member
Joined
May 6, 2020
Messages
64
Reaction score
58
What is the predominant optics on the dark continent? Also what does everyone run as a mount ? If I’m going to kick this build off I need to start buying some parts. TIA
 
This will be going on a 404 Jeffery.I all but have nailed down a builder. It will be a all around style scope. I am thinking 1-8x. Because if and when I get to go to Africa I would like to use one rifle. I would like to buff hunt but, while I’m there I would love kudu and plains game.

Is a first focal plans or second better? I have used both

30 mm , 34m tube better?
 
I will keep the answer very simple buy the best quality optics you can afford and don't look back! Nothing worse than seeing crap optics on fine rifles but people skimp on optics all the time then regret it later. Good high quality scope is going to start at 1500 USD and go up from there. I would consider a Leupold bare minimum on a 404 jeff. and yes I am an optics snob and have seen and had many mid range and Leupold scopes fail. High end European scopes don't fail very often. aka Schmidt & bender, Swarovski, zeiss and leica. I like swaro and S&B personally. Good luck
 
I will keep the answer very simple buy the best quality optics you can afford and don't look back! Nothing worse than seeing crap optics on fine rifles but people skimp on optics all the time then regret it later. Good high quality scope is going to start at 1500 USD and go up from there. I would consider a Leupold bare minimum on a 404 jeff. and yes I am an optics snob and have seen and had many mid range and Leupold scopes fail. High end European scopes don't fail very often. aka Schmidt & bender, Swarovski, zeiss and leica. I like swaro and S&B personally. Good luck
Yeah you right about that. I’m a buy once cry once guy. I really think a 6 or 8 max s where it is at. Swarovski, or what not is a good choice. What retical do u think?
 
You can pretty much take the top range from most manufacturers and find them very well built, with a price to match.

I have a strong liking for Meopta, but ultimately the choice is yours.

8x is possibly a bit much for a 404, I would be reluctant to go beyond 6 and would rarely use even that in a variable. My 416 has a 1-4 and is most used at 2.
 
This has been said before by other folks (including me) but put a $500 scope on a $2K custom rifle and you have a $500 dollar rifle. Buy the best you can afford. In a .404 it ought to have a low end of around 1.5 and high end of whatever is offered. My DG rifles wear 30mm Leica, Zeiss, and Swarovski.
 
I had a Leupold vx3 1.5-5x20 on my 375H&H with a regular reticle.
After being in Africa and trying to see the crosshairs while looking at a Sable...not fun.
As @Red Leg said, I had a $3K rifle with a $400 optic...yep a $400 rifle is what I had.

Since then we have revamped our entire rifle & scope battery.
Our 416RM is wearing a Z8i 1-8x24 and the 375H&H a Z8i 1.7-13.3x42.
I preferred the 4A-IF reticle from Swaro over the other illuminated options.

I would agree with what others here have said about brands.
Stick with Swaro, Zeiss, Leica or S&B and you will be in good hands.
It's just a matter of matching what you want to what each of them offer.
Another consideration is ease of customer service, which Swaro is very good at.

Lastly, if it's going on a 404J, it would be wise to have quality QD mounts for the scope.
For following up on DG if the need does arise.
 
For 40 years I only used Zeiss and Schmidt & Bender telescopes.
 
There are many here using great optics if you read enough and take it in.
I understand Redleg comment on having a cheap scope on a good rifle but.

I’m not in that league so I do have a $600 Leupold on my $1200 CZ.

I don’t have the hunting budget that many others have but I see Leica Schmidt and Bender named regularly for big bore rifles.

I see Swarovski named a bit by African residents maybe they get a better price but surely sale price is set worldwide regardless of currency variance.

I have a couple of nice scopes and appreciate them but m wondering at what point does a $3000 scope out do a $1500 scope? If it was twice as clear, twice as bright then its clear they are worth it. I think the money comes in with the zoom range, reliability, brand reputation and dare I say it bragging rights. If I haad a Z8, an S&B or a nice Lieca I would be happy to be in that league and tell you how good it is. If I had the ones for that I would be looking at. Blaser to mount it on and then the extra barrels the list goes on.

I would like a Swarovski among others. That would be a good start
 
What is the predominant optics on the dark continent? Also what does everyone run as a mount ? If I’m going to kick this build off I need to start buying some parts. TIA

There is not any !

We all come from very different areas of the world and therefore use very different tools.

As far as a scope is concerned , one has to differentiate between hunting for Plain Game and hunting DG. For hunting Plain Game the same scopes can be used that are used for hunting at home. When it comes to hunting DG , in all cases the scope should have a minimal magnification in the direction of 1x in the event that close combat occurs and the glass cannot be removed quickly enough.

I mainly use the scope 1.5-4.5x18 from Zeiss or 1.25-4x20 from Schmidt & Bender , but I have also used other scopes from Leupold or Swarovski Habicht. When it comes to rifles with strong recoil , the scope must be resistant and of good quality.
 
I don't dispute the quality and workmanship of expensive optics but you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get an excellent scope. They're nice to have and if you can afford them treat yourself to the best. Life's too short. They are not, however, mandatory expenditures.

I have expensive rifles and some expensive scopes. I also have a few regular rifles wearing $200 Leupolds. My regular rifles are just as efficient at killing game as my expensive rifles and the $200 scopes work just as well as my expensive scopes except maybe in the absolute last minute of shooting light. My $2000 scope might buy me an extra minute of shooting over my $200 scope but it's not going to buy me any more time than my $800 scope will. It's been my experience with most mechanical things that while quality/performance increase with price they don't increase at the same rate. Price almost always outpaces improvement in performance. The trick is to find the sweet spot. Good luck with that. It's an age old pursuit that has never been fully mastered.

I agree it isn't consistent to put a $200 scope on a $5000 rifle but you don't have to put $3000 worth of glass on it either. You can buy extremely good scopes for a lot less than $3000. If you have the resources and/or want the pride of ownership of an expensive scope buy one. I own some but I'm keenly aware that beyond a certain price point it's more about want than necessity.
 
Is it OK to have a cheap scope on a cheap rifle?

I paid $80 for the used 1953 Model 70 .308 rifle years ago and do not remember the price of the Leupold 4 power M8 scope.
This goat was taken last October at 235 yards with a dead-on hold - bang flop. hundreds of deer and some other stuff since around 1970 with same rig. Longest kills were 300 yard mule deer and 400 yard whitetail.
I wish I had taken it to RSA, but took my older brother's Ruger .338 with Leupold because he passed away without ever hunting Africa.
Scope snobs, rifle snobs, car snobs and plain old hunters - use what you want and can and "Good Hunting" ! ;)
 

Attachments

  • 58118_600x400.jpg
    58118_600x400.jpg
    175.8 KB · Views: 102
Last edited by a moderator:
Is it OK to have a cheap scope on a cheap rifle?

I paid $80 for the used 1953 Model 70 .308 rifle years ago and do not remember the price of the Leupold 4 power M8 scope.
This goat was taken last October at 235 yards with a dead-on hold - bang flop. hundreds of deer and some other stuff since around 1970 with same rig. Longest kills were 300 yard mule deer and 400 yard whitetail.
I wish I had taken it to RSA, but took my older brother's Ruger .338 with Leupold because he passed away without ever hunting Africa.
Scope snobs, rifle snobs, car snobs and plain old hunters - use what you want and can and "Good Hunting" ! ;)
Great story. with the money you have saved you might be able to take that outfit to Africa, I hope you do sometime
 
Is it OK to have a cheap scope on a cheap rifle?

I paid $80 for the used 1953 Model 70 .308 rifle years ago and do not remember the price of the Leupold 4 power M8 scope.
This goat was taken last October at 235 yards with a dead-on hold - bang flop. hundreds of deer and some other stuff since around 1970 with same rig. Longest kills were 300 yard mule deer and 400 yard whitetail.
I wish I had taken it to RSA, but took my older brother's Ruger .338 with Leupold because he passed away without ever hunting Africa.
Scope snobs, rifle snobs, car snobs and plain old hunters - use what you want and can and "Good Hunting" ! ;)

You forgot hunting clothes and shoe snobs. :D:D:D:D
 
... Also what does everyone run as a mount ? If I’m going to kick this build off I need to start buying some parts. TIA

Missed this on my first answer regarding the scope and can't edit, so...

I used to use Talley QR mounts/rings. Now, I switched to Picatinny rails on rifles, and Talley rings for my scopes.

Reasoning is so I can use the same scope on a variety of rifles rather than marry a $$$$ scope to just one rifle. If I am going to take .458 to Africa then I put the 1.7x on it and just use the irons on the .416 or the .500 (more fun anyway ;) when shooting those ). The .375 also has a rail and the Z6i 3-18X 50 is on it (moved it from the .308) as that might be my plains game rifle on this trip.

On my practice .22LR I have a Vortex Viper PST G2 Scope (5-25X x 50). Good scope, but not as expensive as my African rifle scopes.
 
Not sure why folks are bad mouthing Leupold scopes. I have a pre-1064 M70 30-06 with a basic Leupold scope of that era that has never had a problem It's been a great hunting rig for more than 50 years and served me well on my first African hunt for plains game. I did a lot of research before buying a scope for my new 416 Rigby last year. I looked a Swarovski, Vortex, Nikon and others, and ended up with a Leupold VX6 HD 1-6 with the CDS dial. It's a $1500 scope with illuminated reticle. I looked at a comparable Swarovski, but it was $1000 more for no discernible reason and its poor ergonomic design made it more difficult to work with than the Leupold.
Never had a problem with American-made Leupold scopes and if I did, Leupold guarantees their scopes forever. I also got excellent service on setting up the CDS dial.
Leupold makes scopes in price ranges from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. It's all about what you want your optics to do.
 
Not sure why folks are bad mouthing Leupold scopes. I have a pre-1064 M70 30-06 with a basic Leupold scope of that era that has never had a problem It's been a great hunting rig for more than 50 years and served me well on my first African hunt for plains game. I did a lot of research before buying a scope for my new 416 Rigby last year. I looked a Swarovski, Vortex, Nikon and others, and ended up with a Leupold VX6 HD 1-6 with the CDS dial. It's a $1500 scope with illuminated reticle. I looked at a comparable Swarovski, but it was $1000 more for no discernible reason and its poor ergonomic design made it more difficult to work with than the Leupold.
Never had a problem with American-made Leupold scopes and if I did, Leupold guarantees their scopes forever. I also got excellent service on setting up the CDS dial.
Leupold makes scopes in price ranges from a few hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. It's all about what you want your optics to do.
I don’t understand either. Leupold has never failed me. I keep thing simple, just a standard duplex and sighted in for 100 and I hit what I aim at. I once watched a episode of Jim Shockey hunting sheep in Russia, he missed at 100 yards because his several thousand dollar scope was dialed to shoot at 900 yards by accident, my first thought was if he had a 3-9 practical hunting scope on the rifle he would have had his sheep.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,626
Messages
1,131,453
Members
92,687
Latest member
JohnT3006
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top