Which scope would you recommend?
By spotter ~ January 1st, 2009. Filed under: BSA scope.
ShooterMcgee asked:
I have a Marlin 336 30-30 with a lever scout rail installed on it. Currently I have a BSA Red Dot mounted on it. I feel pretty comfortable with it 100 yrds or less. Problem is the red dot covers most of the target (animal or paper) at this distance. I would like to use it for deer/bear hunting this year (trees in area but not heavily forrested). What would you recommend? I would like to keep the scope price under what I paid for the gun. I paid 350.00 for the gun.
I have a Marlin 336 30-30 with a lever scout rail installed on it. Currently I have a BSA Red Dot mounted on it. I feel pretty comfortable with it 100 yrds or less. Problem is the red dot covers most of the target (animal or paper) at this distance. I would like to use it for deer/bear hunting this year (trees in area but not heavily forrested). What would you recommend? I would like to keep the scope price under what I paid for the gun. I paid 350.00 for the gun.
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:56 am
Go to walmart they have a nice bushnell for under 100 bucks. Its 3-9×40.
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:01 am
You will be suprised at how much you miss with a scope while hunting. Your field of view really shrinks down. The 30-30 is a great open sight hunting caliber, learn how to use the sights. If you insist on a scope, stay with a low power so that you can see where the animal goes after you pull the trigger.
January 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
For scoped 30-30 I’d prefer a fixed power scope like a 4x, or a 6x with a post.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:38 am
First off, I may recommend you do not burden down the light, slim and handy lever gun with any scope. It sort of defeats the whole advantage. Unless you have failing eyesight, a nice Williams or Lyman peep sight on that lever gun will work for the medium range of the caliber. My grandaddy used a Marlin 336 with a Lyman for decades, hunting into his late 60s, and always fiilled the freezer. Just one perspective.
With the Scout mount, I think you realize you need a LER or EER scope, Long Eye Relief or Extended Eye Relief.
Nikon makes a EER Monarch series at 2x for under $200 and they are very good quality for the dollar. Up from there is the Nikon encore about $300 which is variable 2x to 8x, although that really too much power for an LER. I would say no more than 4x and quite frankly 2.5x has worked fine for me in this application and plus, you are talking about a .30-30 anyway, so you don’t have a long range round to begin with.
Burris makes a wide range of EER, or Pistol scopes that are very well respected, so look at them, although I cannot recommend just from my own experiences.
Being a fan of Jeff Cooper, I always wanted a Scout Rifle but was reluctant to spend the $2000 plus on the Steyr version. I wound up building a custom ‘Scout-style’ rifle on a Russian Mosin carbine that I then heavily tweaked and modified to include synthetic stock, forward mounted scope, trigger job, custom machined muzzle break on a shortened barrel, custom bolt, custom Y-sling, bipod, etc. I actually used a NCStar Chinese LER scope ($35) and believe it or not, for the purpose it has performed and held up really well. I’ve already got three big hogs with this outfit and may take it out for deer in the winter. I have heard variable reports on the NCStar….try this at your own risk and always be suspect of the scope if you do. So far, mine’s working well, but then we are not talking long range testing here, just 75 yards or so.
The forward mounted Scout concept is quite different for most hunters and many people just find it too weird. But those that have tried my rifle have seriously been impressed with the both-eyes-open speed of target aquisition in the field. With a bit of practice, people are converted to believers quickly.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
With bear, a red dot of some sort is nice to have as the crosshairs tend to disapear. I’d recommend this 2×7x32 illuminated scope. The red dot (when on) covers only 1″ at 100 yards.
Field of view is 47′ on 2x
Perfect for a 30-30 and a very reasonable price