What is a good scope for a Winchester rifle?

Question

I was looking into replacing my old scope, I was told Leupold was a good brand, and i was trying to stay in the 400 - 500 dollar range!

thanks

Now that I know what brand, Which scope would you use for hunting most likely in a tree stand or stalking?
Im very confused as im doing this for my husband for christmas!! i need all the help i can get! I saw all these different numbers when i went to the scopes website! whats the difference with the mm's on each scope?

Answer 1

Yes, Leupold is a good scope. In fact, it is a great scope. The mm reference in relation to a scope is the diameter of the front lens in millimeters. The larger the front lens the better it is at gathering light. There is a trade off, though, the larger the front lens, the higher the rings will have to be to hold the scope above the barrel and the higher centerline of the scope will be. That means that with some of the scopes with larger front lens he will have to hold his head up a bit to see through the scope. This is not desirable. Be sure to talk with a knowlegable salesman to determine the best lens size for the scope that you buy for him.

As for the power of the scope, my personal preference for a lever action .30-30 is a fixed 4 power scope. The .30-30 is not a long range rifle and a fixed 4 power scope is all that he will need. The advantage to a fixed power over a variable power scope is that all of your money is going into buying better quality lenses and is not being wasted for the mechanical parts of a variable power scope. However, you didn't mention what type of Winchester rifle he has and I am just assuming that you are asking about a scope for a lever action .30-30. If his rifle is a bolt action and he is liable to be hunting at longer ranges, then that is when it is more appropriate to buy a variable power scope. The variable power that is most common and the one that I personally perfer is the 3 X 9 power Leupold.

I hope you find this info helpful. Your husband is lucky to have a wife who will buy him such nice big boy toys.

Answer 2

Here's a short and quick summary of what you need to know:

For the Leupold scopes, I would go with a Vari-X model, preferably a Vari-X III or IV, the higher roman numeral is a later generation with better light gathering capabilities. They are slightly more expensive, but you can still easily stay in your price range. The more light the scope can gather, the clearer the sights and the longer your husband can stay in the stand.

On these models, the 3-9 or 4-12 for example are the powers of magnification that the scope has. For most purposes, the 3-9 is ideal. It has a low power for better light gathering and a high power for long shots; it's very versatile.

The objective size is given in mm and is the diameter of the front end of the scope. The 50mm scopes gather more light, are more expensive, but are definitely worth it. Bigger is better here.

On Leupold's website, you'll also have options on the crosshair style and finish of the scope. For crosshairs, go with either duplex or fine duplex as they're the most common. With the finish, matte would be better than glossy as your husband will be hunting in a treestand and the gloss could give away his position.

Hope this clears up the Leupold's website confusion.

Answer 3

Most people use variable-power scopes these days. If this is for deer hunting, I'll tell you about one of the scopes I bought this past year. It's a Leupold VariX II 2-7x 33mm. VariX is the Leupold brand's designation for variable-power scopes. The VariX II sells for somewhere in the $300-450 range, and you could get to the VariX III line with your budget. The lowest power setting is 2x, good for still hunting/stalking. The highest power is 7x, good for long, deliberate shots. 33mm is the diameter of the objective lens.
Within the Leupold line, you'll get more light transmission and clarity with the pricier optics. Lots of folks prefer 3-9x scopes for deer hunting, and I have 3 or 4 of that range but don't find the 9x magnification gives me much compared to 7x in the field, and that low 2x is quite nice on a quick, running shot, with a wide field of view. The larger the objective, the more light the scope will gather at dawn and dusk, but the larger objectives also add bulkiness and may require that the scope be mounted higher, both negatives, so there's a needed compromise.
There's been a trend lately to put huge scopes with very high magnification on deer rifles. I'd encourage you to avoid this. It ruins the balance of a fine rifle and makes jump shots nearly impossible. I suspect some of the people who do this have succumbed to the "bigger is always better" syndrome, and others use the scope as a substitute for binoculars, and it's much better to go ahead and lug the binocs to the stand even though it's an extra bit of equipment.

Answer 4

Leupold is the Champagne of Rifle Scopes..There are more expensive ones out there, but dollar for dollar Leupold's are the best, and highest quality Scope on the market today. I sell Leupold probably 6-1 over other brands to my customers that want the best and know from experience that the Leupold quality is second to none. I would highly recommend them as I own more than a few myself, personally..

Answer 5

Leupold makes a high end and a low end scope. The high-end can be very pricey but low end reasonable. The rifleman which is the low end is a great scope for the money it is 3x9x50mm . i have one on a Remington .270 that serves its purpose. they run about $300 which is a good buy.

Answer 6

Leupold is the Gold Standard in scopes.
Depending on your uses, you probably don't
need one.
Weaver and Redfield make scopes good enough
that only the most finicky can tell the difference
from the Leupolds.
What caliber Winchester?
What ranges do you shoot at?
What game do you hunt?
All are factors in choosing:
the quality of optics you need,
what magnification or ,(variable range), you need,
what objective diameter suits your requirements.

Answer 7

IIRC, the scope has to be mounted forward of the receiver on top ejecting rifles like the 1894, so isn't eye relief a factor? Maybe somebody else knows better than me. I'm a Marlin man so I don't have that problem.

Just one more thing to consider, eye relief that is.

mms are usually the objective size. the larger the more light generally better brands use coatings to maximize light transfer on their optics as well.

Oh and don't forget scope rings, that's got to be included in your price range.

Answer 8

this is my personal opinion, yes leupold makes very good optics, but so does nikon with a lower price tag, I believe that the clarity is very comparible, i truly cant see the difference in most models.. they both have all the fancies that anybody could need. i have used both scopes and i find that I like the nikons, unless of course you are using this for some sort of professional use, then i would go with an US Optics SN3 T-Pal 3.2-17x44mm, but that is way above your prescribed price range.

Answer 9

You were told wrong.

Leupold is not good.

It is THE BEST!!

You can spend more money, but I don't think you can get a better scope than a Leupold.

Doc