Posted: 11/30/2024 9:15:43 PM EDT
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Right now there's a great deal on a Steiner Predator 4 2.5-10x42 on Amazon for $590. Over at Euro Optics Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 seems like a good deal at $790. I think Steiner is made in Germany and Swarovski is German parts assembled in US. Spec-wise Vortex Viper HD is similar to Steiner and can be had cheaper on eBay. Anyone has experience with them hunting? |
Turns out this IS my circus, and those ARE my monkeys.
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Athlon 4-16 x 40 mildot reticle capped adjustment s under $200. Swarovski is great glass but for hunting if you run a ballistic chart with drop in MIL you can use the dots at 16x for known hold over at longer distance. At 8x divide in half at 4x divide in half again. You can also make a chart to estimate range to a known size target figuring a deer back to brisket is 16 inches . Adult deer 100 yds 5 Mil 200 yds. 2.5 Mil 300 yds 1.6. Mil 400 yds1,25 Mil 500 yds 1.0 Mil 626 yds. 0.8 Mil Or pick a First Focal Plane Mildot and take the math out of it. It’s much more important to know where the bullet will be at a specific distance than it is to have the best glass. |
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I’m looking at a vx-3 or possibly accu point for a 7mm-08. South eastern whitetail. Shots normally within 100 but have opportunity for up to 700 yards. Looks like warranty is good for Steiner leupold and vortex. Probably come out fine anyway you go. I have vortex viper HSLR 4-16x50, pst gen2 5-25x50 and leupold vx-3 3.5-10x50. Arbitrarily the leupold seems to do the best at low light. You might consider Trijicon accupoint line. Read a bunch of good stuff about them lately. |
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Originally Posted By Javak: Mostly likely a .308 bolt action, up to 300 yards, probably just pigs and deers. I wonder how Leupold's VX-3HD compares to those. I don't have first hand experience with either of those, but I do own or have shot Leupold VX-1, VX-Freedom, VX-2, VX-3hd, as well as some specialty scopes such as their pistol scopes. In looking at the specs, the first thing that jumps out to me is the Steiner Predator 2.5-10x is a 30mm tube, and a hefty 23 ounces. The Swarovski 3-10x is a more comparable scope, 1" tube and 12.7 ounces. For comparison a Leupold VX-3HD are 1" tubes, and the 2.5-8x is 11.9 ounces, while the 3.5-10x is 13.1 ounces. Also the Steiner appears to only come with the one reticle which is some kind of BDC and windage marks, but no mention of what cartridge and bullet they are meant for. I hate BDC reticles, as they are completely useless unless you are shooting the exact bullet, and exact velocity they are meant for. Between that and the weight, I would pass on this one. The Swarovski does appear to have multiple reticle options. Your preference is your preference. With comparable weight, and what I know about their binoculars, I would say this could be a good option. One scope I think you should consider is the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x CDS with the Tri-MOA reticle. That specific scope has become my favorite hunting scope, it is near perfection in my opinion. For whatever reason Leupold does not offer any reticles I want in the VX-3HD line, the vast majority of them are basic duplex reticles. If that's what you prefer, that's fine. I want some kind of markings to go off of, and the Tri-MOA reticle is perfect. It's not overly busy, but it offers just the right ability for field use. You may or may not like the CDS feature, I do like it. I do not have any intention of ever getting a turret meant for a certain cartridge, I keep mine as an MOA turret, and dial it like any other dialing scope. You could simply ignore this feature, the turret on these is no bigger than a regular capped one. With the Tri-MOA reticle, hold over could ba a great method to use. |
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Thank you for all your inputs. The Steiner scope on Amazon was a Black Friday deal and it's back to regular price. I'll probably end up with a Leupold at some point. One thing I learned you can do about the uncalibrated BDC like that on Steiner (ironically from watching a Vortex YouTube video) is that, once you have a specific cartridge zeroed in at 100 yard and the next line down is 1 MOA, you can enter the cartridge data into a ballistic calculator to find out distance to 1 MOA drop, let's say 235 yards, then to the next line and so on. It still involves guessworks though. |
Turns out this IS my circus, and those ARE my monkeys.