Scope advice - .300 WSM

[Big Duke 6]

Picked up a Tikka T3 stainless lite .300 WSM mainly for hunting moose and caribou. Figure if I'm lucky enough to someday draw a bison tag I can up the grain and use it for that as well. I'm not well-versed in optics and am looking for a decent, fairly inexpensive scope for it that can handle the shock of the .300 (no muzzle break).

[nowonmai]

Picked up a Tikka T3 stainless lite .300 WSM mainly for hunting moose and caribou. Figure if I'm lucky enough to someday draw a bison tag I can up the grain and use it for that as well. I'm not well-versed in optics and am looking for a decent, fairly inexpensive scope for it that can handle the shock of the .300 (no muzzle break).

You should spend more on the glass than the rifle. I would buy Zeiss but if you're after homegrown options then you can't go wrong with Vortex optics, new player who is impressing and Trijicon (who make ACOG etc). There's always Bushnell but they're not even that cheap any more.

http://sportsoptics.zeiss.com/hunting/en_de/service-support/product-advisor/riflescopes.html#&xcStartAt=wizard.phase1.hunting_environment

http://www.vortexoptics.com/category/riflescopes

http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/product1.php?id=AccuPoint

[sonofscab]

I have the same rifle for elk and use a Leupold VariX-III (now a VX-3, I suppose). 3 years of crazy Colorado fall weather with hunting days ranging from mid 80s down to -20 since I last had to zero.

[JITW]

Picked up a Tikka T3 stainless lite .300 WSM mainly for hunting moose and caribou.

Jealous


~JITW

[Woodsman]

Why couldn't you just buy like 6 of them moneybags?


To the original poster, the answer is it depends on the type of country you intend to hunt. A .300 mag is overkill for about anything in the lower 48 unless you're going long (600+ yards). Long ago I've owned a 300 mag & I had a Leupold vari-x IV 6.5-24x 50mm adj. obj. & sent it to leupold for installation of target turrets & a mil dot reticle. I originally had it set up for long range hunting elk w/my friends in CO, which I did for several years. I found that scope unusable for shots < 100y. That combo is long gone.

For hunting, find yourself a 6x scope with decent glass & call it good. If I can hit consistently 6" @ 600y using a RCMP AR-15 with a 4x scope from prone, you can nail am elk in the boiler pan at the same distance with the 300 easily using a 6x scope. Zeiss is overpriced, as are most of the high end glass. No need to blow cash on that stuff. Just get a decent scope in the 4-10 power range (fixed 6x w/30mm tube & fixed obj. will suit you fine for hunting). I'd go with leupold again, or Nikon, or some others. Basically, I would just run down to the gun store & look through the glass & pace off a distance in the store, choose an object that equates to about 1 minute of angle & pay attention to how well I can see that object & how easily I can spot the object + how much additional area is in the field of view & pick a suitable tool
For the job.

[Big Duke 6]

Thanks for the replies all. Woodsman - I've been told the caliber is overkill for the lower 48 (I'd probably choose a 30-06), but I think if I went to a lower grain I could still hunt deer with it depending on where I hunted. The midwest has some pretty good sized deer. I almost went with a .338 on the off chance I drew 1 of 2 bison draws they have up here, but I know guys that have lived here their whole lives and have never drawn a bison tag and they are draw hunts only and only about 50 are given each year. They are really hunts of a lifetime if you get one and after winning one you must wait 10 years to reapply.

I won't be taking shots at 600 yards. Most folks around here see 300 as the limit. The terrain here is rough and in many cases you're packing everything in and out so the less distance the better. Plus, I highly doubt at my current skill level I'd come close to hitting something that far away. I'm no sniper. :)

[JITW]

Big Duke, we gota' make a plan to hunt hunting moose and caribou bro


~JITW

[Big Duke 6]

Hell ya, there are plenty of areas in Alaska that are general harvest areas where you don't have to have a draw permit. It's a hell of a lot more expensive for non-residents though. The tag alone for a non-resident black/brown bear is $500 and most people spend anywhere from $8-10k to come up here and get one - for me as a resident - 25 bucks.

[JITW]

The tag alone for a non-resident black/brown bear is $500 and most people spend anywhere from $8-10k to come up here and get one - for me as a resident - 25 bucks.

Whatttttttttttttttttttt???


~JITW

[Reflexred]

I'm a second on the Vortex optics, good prices, great optics, outstanding warranty, definitely worth looking at.

[Big Duke 6]

I went with Vortex. Got a Vortex Diamondback.

[Big Duke 6]

Got skunked on my moose hunt this year and my caribou hunt for the winter was shut down via emergency order. I felt real bad about the moose, but found out later after getting back into civilization that a fire had broken out in a nearby region and may have pushed the moose out of the area. I'm definitely going out earlier next year too....I think I went to late in the season. Friggin blows....

[russlits]

After having experienced a broken scope and no open sights, should I have factory sights or leave them off?