Scope, Rings, and Base for 30-06

[BowhunterNJ]

Looking for recommendations on a combo (not packaged combo) for a 30-06, primarily for hunting whitetails in the East but also applicable for hunting mulies out West.

Is there a good combo for this?

I'd imagine I have to be prepared to shoot 300-400 yards out west...certainly 200-300. Most of the shooting here in the east is likely under 100-150 yards.

Or, would it be best to get quick detach rings and separate scopes?

I'm thinking something in a 2-7x range, but would like the larger objective of 40mm vs 36mm. (Is there THAT much of a difference?)

Let me know what you all think.

 

[DKScott]

There's guys here that have hunted a lot more deer than I have here "out west" (CA), but I've hunted a few and my shots have all been less than 150 yards. I took an antelope at 87 yards. Certainly its good to be confident in taking a 300 yard shot in open country, but over that, maybe you should try to get a little closer, especially with a .30-06, which is what I use. Bullet drop tends to become significant at much over 300 yards. I always take - and use - my laser rangefinder. I think a lot of folks tend to over-estimate range. Sometimes I take it to my trap and skeet club and have friends guess the distance to a tree or power pole, etc. 90% of the time they over estimate by a significant amount - more than 25%. I even played this little game with a professional guide once while on a hunt, at his suggestion. Even he was off by an average of 10%, though he was spot-on a couple of times. I'm no better than my friends. That's why I use the rangefinder.

I use a M-70 with a BOSS and a Leupold VXIII 3.5x10x50 and Conetrol rings and bases. I'm very happy with it, but with the larger objective, you need to make sure that the comb is high enough to provide a proper mount because the eyepiece sits a little higher than on a scope with a smaller objective. I wouldn't go less than 40mm, because often your best shooting times will be in early morning and dusk - both in low light. Don't cheap out on optics. For a fixed power, 6x is about perfect and in a variable I'd prefer 3x9 (or 3.5x10) but 2x7 will probaby work too. The other thing I'd look at is a synthetic stock. I've probably spent too much time around nice shotguns, but I have a gorgeous walnut stock on the rifle and spend a lot of time wrapping it every season so I don't ding it. Vanity is a bitch. Plus, a synthetic stock would probably be a bit lighter.

Scott

 

[BowhunterNJ]

I certainly agree with the range. I am comfortable out to 200-250 yards, but plan on taking a shot as close as possible and likely under 200. The guide just recommended being prepared for shots out to 300-400 yards as they are possible.
I'd imagine of course they are possible, but I plan on stalking up closer!

Rangefinder...of course! Have one, use it quite a bit but mostly for bowhunting.

Stock wise, don't have much of a choice...already have the gun and its had some use. Keeping the stock in prestine condition is beyond its years!

Thanks again for the info!

 

[BigDave]

I would choose a Leupold VX-II 3X9 40MM matte finish with a 4 plex. Forget about the detachable rings, and shoot through rings. I tried both and never used the iron sites. They don't keep zeroed in as well as Hard mounted rings. Don't use cheep rings. Use Leupold rings and bases. The better Leupolds VX_III are even better, if you can afford it.

Be VERY careful mounting the rings. Either have a Gunsmith do it or read up on it first.

NEVER use the scope to align the rings on the bases!!! Get a piece of 1" bar stock or a ring lapping kit. After you have the bottoms of the rings strait. I put some pollishing compound on the bar and run it back in forth on the bottom half of the rings while they are mounted on the gun. Don't lap the tops of the rings. You will see the bluing come off
on the high spots or any misallignments. Once the bottoms are straight and lapped you can mount the scope on the gun. Check to see if the scope is adjusted to true center before mounting it in the rings. You can check it by putting the scope in something like "V" blocks and aim the scope at a distant spot and rotate the scope. If it moves around
You should adjust the scope until it stays in one spot. I use a little clear finger nail polish to seal the screws from loosening.

A HATE shiney guns. A few cans of Mil Spec camo paint will do wonders. When I was young I polished my guns to keep them looking new. But to me a camo paint job looks better. You rifle will be your hunting companion for life. Don't worry if it might
hurt the resale value. You will be handing it down to your kids and the paint will keep it looking new. You can always repaint it every few years to keep it looking fresh.

I've shot my share of NY whitetails when I lived back there. I would sight in the gun about 3 inches high at 100 yards. You can just aim low in the chest on close shots and high in the chest on those LONG shots.


Enjoy

Big Dave

Big Dave

 

[BowhunterNJ]

Thanks for the input Dave!

Yeah, this rifle is already being handed down from my father to me. It used to have an old Vari-X II mounted on it, but since we started hunting NJ...his 30-06 was used less and less (no high powered rifles allowed for deer hunting in NJ). So I took his 2-7x off and put it on his muzzleloader.

The 30-06 is a Remington Model 700 Springfield, actually in superb condition...stock is nearly like new despite its use and years. Its a raised cheekbone stock, so that gives me some options on bases/rings and larger objective scopes that tend to sit higher.

I can't seem to figure out what kind of bases it has on it right now or the rings...but they are OLD and could use an upgrade.

After reading through the posts on here, I'm taking a serious look at the following two scopes in particular:

- Nikon Monarch® Gold 30mm Riflescopes 1.5-6x42mm
- Bushnell Elite 4200 1.5-6x36mm
- Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40mm

I like the Leupold line, but I really want a 2-8ish with a 40ish objective...the only one that is in this level is the LPS, which is a tad pricey for me right now. The Euro scopes (Zeiss, Swarv, etc) offer this type of range (scope) but are out of my range (money).

I'm looking to hang around $500 or less.

I own a Burris Fullfield (original) 3-9x40mm and have it on my muzzleloader. It is way overkill for this gun as I've learned, since most shooting is under 100 yards, but I really liked the illuminated crosshairs. The scope has worked out quite well over the years, having taken a few with it. My ML really drills em in there too...so that helps!


Well thanks again for the input, any additional would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DKScott]

Well, I was waiting for Frank to post the Control Rings and bases promo, but he'd say: "If it ain't Conetrol, it ain't much". Conetrol has far and away the best rings and bases. To learn why, go to www.conetrol.com

As for scopes, you might check out the Zeiss Conquests for around $400. I love my Leupolds and VXIIs are around $300.

Search for "best prices for..." on the net and also try e-bay. You'd be surprised at what you can find sometimes.

 

[bighorn67]

Check out this scope

swift 2-7x40

and this scope

swift 3-9x40

I have the second one. It is awesome. I shoot bullets in bullets with it using my Remington 700 3006 and PMC Gold 168 grain Barnes XLC. The optics are clear and bright, lifetime warranty, waterproof, shockproof, fogproof. I would put it up against any other scope out there. You can't beat it for the price. You will need to buy the base and rings seperate. Get Leupold base and rings.

Dave

 

[BigDave]

When I was 14 , many years ago I saved up $153 to purchase my Win Model 70 in .308. It took me a long time to save that much money earning only $1.25 per hour. I debated many different calibers and models. I was determined to buy a rifle that I could use for everything. Mostly I would use it in NY for whitetails. I too lived in NJ and started
hunting when I was 11. with an old Mossberg .410 to shoot small game.

The scope I bought first was a Redfield / Widefield 1.75 X 5 power. I thought it was a good idea if I used detachable mounts, incase I needed to take the scope off iif it got dammaged on a hunt.

Well this turned out to be a big mistake. Being a kid I could not help playing with the scope and would take the scope off and on many times and I really never got the gun to shoot consistantly. Fortunate for me the deer would walk right under my stand and the first two bucks were shot less than 50 yards away. I had lots of problems with my redfield scope too, The wide field was the reason I purchased the scope, but I should have gotten a scope with a larger objective lens and more power so I could shoot "Chucks" too,

My next scope was better, It was a Bushnell 4 X12 with a large objective mounted with
shoot through fixed scope mounts. I could not get over not being able to use my Iron sights as a backup. The scope was brighter and more powerful , Usually I would hunt
with the scope somewhere around 6 power. The shoot through mounts were a too high and I never really used the Iron sights. The first shot usually was close , but my gun really didn't shoot all that well. Sure I could hit a silver dollar size target at 100 yards most of the time.

When I moved to California it was a whole different story. When I got drawn for an antelope tag. I knew I needed to get serious. I needed to be able to shoot 300+ yards . I wasn't sure if the gun could do it or not. So here is what I did.

Removed the front and rear iron sights. They would be useless at long range.

I Piller bedded the action and free floated the barrel. This was a HUGE inprovement.
The stock had a high spot where it pushed on the barrel and would string out the shots as the gun got warm.

Purchased a Leupold VX-II 3 X 9 MAtte 4Plex scope, Leupold bases and medium rings.

True centered the scope.

Shimmed the mounts so the scope would bore sight close to true center.

Lapped the rings to be perfectly straight.

Custom loaded high quality ammo (Nosler ballistic tip CT)

I sighted my gun to zero at 250 Yards.

My gun now shoots very well and I have not adjusted my scope for many years. I take a backup gun on longer hunts, but have never needed it

I wound up shooting my Antelope at 350 yards, I shot low because I did not think it was that far away, so I had to shoot him again at 500 Yards. I could never have done that with the original setup

 

[BowhunterNJ]

Nice history Dave!

Unfortunately, living in NJ and not having many ranges available (or the hunting frequency out of state) to shoot high power rifles, I am not familar at all with the "tweaking" you did.

Perhaps when I finally get out of this state, and have some property where I can shoot, I'll have an opportunity to really get into it more.

So, did ya hit em at 500? That's a heck of a shot!

OK, so...an update on my scope selection issues...

I've narrowed it down after researching and talking to a few people.

I've decided to step it up and go with a 3-9x, which will give me a few more options. I use the Burris Fullfield 3-9x40mm on my ML right now and don't have any problems acquiring animals even at close range, so I figure this will be a good choice and allow for increased magnification for my trip out to Wyoming.

Here is the list I'm thinking about right now (in no particular order):

- Nikon Monarch® UCC 3-9x40mm Riflescope
- Zeiss Conquest 1" 3-9x40mm Riflescope
- Leupold VX™-ll 3-9x40mm Riflescope
- Leupold VX™-ll 3-9x50mm Riflescope
- Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x50 Riflescope with a Multi-X Reticle in Matte Black

I've seen the Nikon Monarch in person, and compared it to the Leupold LPS and quite honestly, didn't see a great bit of difference. I was quite impressed with the quality of the Monarch's glass, albeit my testing was minimal...there was NOT a blazing difference between this $300 scope and the $1000 LPS.

But, I know some really like the Leupold quality, so I posted the VX-IIs in the range I'm interested in, both 40mm and 50mm choices (given the high cheekbone stock of my gun, I was thinking the 50mm was a better choice for low light shooting).

The Bushnell Elite 4200 scopes are pretty well liked. My buddy has the B&L Elite Binos and they pretty much blew my socks off when I compared them to my Nikon ATBs (this was a couple years ago).

So, let me know what you think...I have a feeling the Conquest will be the likely choice, with the Elite and Monarch not far behind, and Leupold coming in last...but that's my .02! I want to see who else has some pennies!

Thanks again for the insight guys!

 

[BigDave]

My 2 cents.


I would definately pick the Leupold VX™-ll 3-9x50mm Riflescope.

Sounds like your stock needs a little taller scope. The 50MM objective
is a little more expensive and a bit more weight, but it's worth it. You will
never need to buy another scope for that rifle. I've never owned a Zeiss, Kales, Savwarski., I wish I could afford to. I purchased both my Leupolds online from Bear
Basin Outfitters on sale.

Having confidence in your rifle is important. I was told by a good hunting buddie that
you should expect to spend as much for the scope as you did for the rifle.


I used to shoot at Ottens Rifle range in West Milford NJ near Upper Greenwood lake.
I'm not sure if it's still open it's been 20 years. They had 100yard benches.


Dave