Scope recommednations for a new Beauty

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NavyChief

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Scope recommendations for a new Beauty

I just couldn't pass this one up today and the purchase sounds ridiculous to everyone, with the exception of my friends that have been labeled "Gun Nuts" because I just got a new trio of Kimbers in December after selling off some of my collection of Brownings and Winchesters and an old Savage. Anyway, it is a new Kimber Classic Stainless Select in AA French Walnut and chambered for 300 WSM but the wood on this gun just spoke to me. So, I have the overwhelming majority of my guns topped with Leupold VX II and III series scopes but I thought I might want to do something different with this one. Maybe something just a little different, for no other reason than I just want to. I have very little experience with other scopes with the exception of a couple of Nikon Buckmasters and a couple of Weaver fixed series that I have owned. I started out early with Simmons scopes but sent 3 or 4 back because the ocular glass would shake loose so eventually I gave up on Simmons. The Simmons experience was years ago but it was bad enough, often enough, for me to swear them off in the future. I want to keep the scope under 600$ but I can go a little beyond that if it becomes a must have. Any suggestions for this new beauty. By the way, I don't have any queen safes in my house. everybody gets a turn in the field but some manage to avoid the horseback or long 4 wheel treks while others seem to always make an appearance on those rainy or snowy days up that rocky pass or through that swamp.My only musts are that it be reliable, have a warranty that indicates it is reliable, provide a clear target in low light and mate well with this fine rifle. My other Kimbers wear Leupold VX III 3,5 X 10 X 40 and I wanted a different look for this one. Maybe a longer range scope too.
 

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Very nice looking rifles...

...pictures look similar to my Remington 100th anniversary of the 30-06 ( but with a grade or two better wood ) I'm putting a Leupold VX2 4-12X 42mm in sliver on my Remington mounted on a silver Leupold mount, & with silver Leupold rings...

if you're looking for variety I like the color of the silver Nikon Prostaff 5's I chose the Leupold for my 30-06, because I liked the mounts & rings, & the new rings have the leupold emblem stamped into the top of them... otherwise I had planned to mount the Prostaff 5 ( again, because of the "color" of silver... I also have another Prostaff 5 in black, with the BDC reticle, & really like that scope )

however IMO, on a high end gun like those... you really need at least Leupold quality glass or better the silver VX-3 I think is available in both 40 & 50 mm lenses... been kinda wanting a 50, but that is just so.... big ( I have a 50 mm lens on one of my Browning Stainless Stalkers, but that is a long Burris scope, & it doesn't look that funky... I just haven't pulled the trigger on one of the newer shorter X 50 scopes yet :confused:

I actually have more Burris scopes than Leupold, but they haven't seemed to keep up with the modern features that some of the other guys have lately, so I haven't bought a Burris for a couple years now ( like resettable turrets... which is a feature I really like ) but this scope is on my list of "have to buys", I like that it's new & has resettable turrets, I also like the reticle... Burris also make scopes in silver, in case that is needed with the stainless gun ??? although I don't mind a black scope on a stainless gun, if the stock is black, or if the walnut has an ebony tip... this model only comes in camo & black... but this, in black, is probably the next scope I'm buying...

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/667088/burris-predator-quest-rifle-scope-45-14x-42mm-adjustable-objective-ballistic-plex-e1-reticle-matte?cm_vc=wishList

BTW... Burris also has a forever warranty :)
 
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Beautiful rifles. . .drop dead gorgeous.

I have been a Nikon fan for a long time and own several Leupolds and one Night Force.

I am gradually moving toward Leupold. The last few scopes have been that brand.
 
Good suggestions above but I would also look very hard at the Vortex Viper line of scopes. Excellent warranty, really good reviews, and the ones I've gotten to use impressed me.
 
3.5-10X40 VX3 with CDS MOA dial mounted in S&K rings and bases is what I'd use on that rifle. The 3.5-10 isn't going to add much weight compared to a 2.5-8 or 3-9 Leupold, and it will have a decent useable top power for a .300 WSM. The CDS dial will allow you to stretch the legs a bit as well in the field and at the range.
 
Ziess Conquest series offers some scopes in that budget line. Swarovski Z3 can be had for a little more. Meopta offers a few that are close to that. You might find something in a Khales or one of those listed above lightly used on the SWFA Sample List. That rifle deserves to wear a nice piece of glass, beautiful furniture on that gun.

Another VXIII or Weaver Super Slam would also be a candidate but were it mine, I'd opt for a European line of glass.
 
Kimbers are trim lightweight rifles. IMHO they need a trim lightweight scope to look right. With too much scope you get the Dolly Parton look, too top heavy.

A Leupold 2.5-8X36 would be about perfect.
 
Great input and all good suggestions.

Right now I am looking at a Steiner Predator Xtreme in 2.5 X 10 X 42 with a 30mm tube. Never had a 30mm tube and I am researching the advantages/disadvantages over a 1" tube. I would love to put a really high end optic on it like a Swarovski Z3 or Z5 or even a top end Zeiss but I have never even looked through any of that glass and I don't know if I can justify the expense. I really just hunt a lot of whitetail but I do go back home out west annually and hunt where a 400 yard shot may be all you get. However, I shoot a lot more deer between 200-250 yards than any other distance but if I get an Elk tag I don't want to have to pass up a shot because I spent too much on the gun and not enough on the glass. I haven't hunted pronghorn in ages and Muleys seem to be moving farther and farther north each year so this gun will see mostly whitetail chores but back home every gun you have doubles as a coyote/bobcat/varmint rifle so I don't want to go less than a 3X9. I don't really want a huge scope but the size and weight are more important to me than the actual magnification. Something around 12-13 inches and under a pound sounds about right to me. I'll check out the Kahles also, forgot about those guys. If anybody finds a deal out there please let me know. Looking to come in under 500$ if I can. I got a great rebate deal last fall with Leupold on the VX III line but that deal is over now but I am willing to wait. No hurry on this gun just want to keep my eyes and ears open for a good deal on some good optics for this rifle. I did think about a simple Leupold 6X fixed power for a little while and I haven't ruled that one out. It should handle just about anything I want to do and almost all of my VX scopes stay on either 5 or 6 power anyway unless I am sighting them in. Thanks again for all the great input, it is useful and appreciated.
 
Swarovski or upper scale Zeiss would work very good.
You wouldn't put recap tires on a Cadillac would you.
You have a beautiful rifle dress that lady up.
 
Getting closer to finding the right glass

Well I made another decision on a scope today. I have 2 other Kimber 8400 WSM's and they both wear identical VX III 2.5 X 10 X 40 scopes and I really don't want to go with any larger scope than that. Both of those guns balance in the hand and at the shoulder very well and are a pleasure to carry with the low weight of the rifle and the scope coming in at a hair over 12 ounces. The rifles look good too with the scope only being 12 and a half inches long. The Steiner looked like a great deal but its about an inch longer and about 18 ounces. I know 6 or 7 ounces isn't all that much but I often carry a gun on foot a lot to get to my stands/blinds and all too often it is uphill (both ways of course) and rough terrain. I also like to prowl the ridges back home in Oklahoma, Kansas, East Colorado, and Texas so I really want to stay light with this gun and keep it around the same weight as my other Kimbers. I already have a heavy beanfield rifle for my Dad's place where we sit in round bales and wait for whitetail to come to the edges of 40 acre fields and hope the wind is right because we know the length is 440 yards if we are looking down the fence-row and about 620 if it is from corner to corner. I need a sandbag and very little wind to be successful but I have been there and done that many times with my old Browning A-Bolt II in SS with the BOSS and a 26 inch tube shooting 150 grain Nosler CT BST with H4831 getting me about 3000 fps. An old Silver VARI X II sets atop that old gun and it stays on 9X, one of the few guns I own that does. I love the accuracy but that old gun is really heavy. Sure didn't seem heavy back in the mid 90's when I first bought it. I think I got it in 94 or 95. I saved all my liberty money from my deployment to the Persian Gulf and ordered one the week I got home. Looked forward to that gun the whole cruise. Well enough rambling. Thanks again for all the input and it may sound crazy but I am really thinking about a Leupold fixed power 6X. Optics Planet has them with a 10% off coupon and that would keep the whole rifle trim and light and all but failproof and should still be enough for these old eyes and anything from 350 yards in shouldn't it? Maybe I'll pull the VX III on the 270 WSM or the 300 WSM Classic Select and put a fixed power on one of those to really trim it down and put the VX III on my new Kimber in SS. All this shopping is really kind of fun.....thanks for the help and input guys and let me know if I have missed any deals out there, especially on a nice 30mm tube scope. I attached the other 3 Kimbers I have just to show how the VX III scopes are about as big as I want to go to keep the rifle balanced.
 

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My newest scope is a Leupold VX3 in 4.5-14x40 with the Varmint Hunter reticle. I'm real happy with for hunting. I don't have any 3-9 scopes any more. Got rid of them.
 
Done!

Well I made up my mind and went with the Leupold VX III 2.5-8 X 36. I went with this scope because I plan to use this rifle as my light hunting rig and I want to keep the weight and overall size of the rifle package down. I already have a pair of Kimber 8400 WSM Classic Selects in 270WSM and 300WSM that wear Leupold VX III 3.5-10 X 40 scopes. That's a good package for long distance shooting and I'll keep them like that but this one will be carried a lot more, and a lot farther, up the hills, down the valleys, and across the ridges, so small and compact is what I am looking for. The smaller/lighter scope fits the bill perfectly. I know the difference in weight between the 2 Leupolds is only and ounce or so but the inch or inch and a half length difference really changes the feel of the gun. It just feels lighter, quicker, and better suited for horseback in Oklahoma when I go home or on the shoulder when I have to walk a ways here in Tennessee through the woods and brush. I really liked the Kahles and Steiner models but they seemed very heavy and bulky compared to the compact Leupold VX III. Thanks for all the input, it is appreciated, and proved useful.
 
What about a vx6? Powerful magnification options, great quality and let's face it; What does every pretty lady deserve? A 24k gold ring ;)
 
I think Chief has pretty well figured what he wants and he needs. With excellent taste in riflery, I might add. I think that a 50mm, high power variable, would reduce the utility of the Kimbers purpose.

Kimber rifles are for the price about the best you can get,IMO. They aren't existing actions that were shaved light, they were sized smaller, to be lighter. Bolt, reciever, and action diameters are designed on a reduced model 70 style action, which makes them unique and desirable.

They are hunting rifles, not target rifles, and are remarkably accurate, in almost every review first hand, print and media, that I have ever encountered.

Kimbers are now a fairly local operation, and although my hunting days are numbered, so I have to pass on a new Kimber, I do enjoy my Cooper Montana varminter, 6.5x284, another fairly local favorite of mine.

I gave one of my Weatherby's, 300WBY, to my son and the other, 340WBY Deluxe sporter is in my brother safe in Spokane.

In my hunting experience carrying the rifle in and making the kill was the easy part. The haul out, alone, the last two times, just about did me in. I was fine,but tired, until I got home and stepped out of the old Dorango and hit the ground with the hardest leg cramps I hope to never know again. Had to have help getting my sorry carcass up off the lawn.

Sorry about wandering on your post, beautiful rifles!
 
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Mr. Handlerer2

I really appreciate your taste in a quality rifle such as a Cooper but I am just flat out jealous over the cartridge. I have always wanted a rifle in that wonderful chambering. I consider it to be the original short magnum. I remember when I first read about one and saw that the round would push a 130 grain Ballistic Tip around 3100 fps with a B/C nearly .500 and compared it to my trusted favorite, 270 Winchester, and found that while my 270 will achieve those velocities in that weight, the B/C for the 270 bullet falls short at .433 for the Nosler ballistic tip. Don't get me wrong, I still believe the 270 Win is probably the best all around cartridge where I grew up in Oklahoma, unless you want to side with the 280 Remington and I'll not argue that point with anyone, but the 6.5 likely has both beat by a little if numbers are a big thing. Performance in the field has proven the 6.5 is a flat out deer and pronghorn killing machine that pulls double duty as one of the best predator rounds when you load up some 100 or 120 grain pills and push them at 3600 and 3300 fps respectively. I have no idea why more manufacturers didn't chamber, advertise, and promote the round. I haven't owned one yet because I am waiting for the right gun to come along and if I could find one of those beautiful Coopers with the right wood, I would be all in. I'll find one eventually and I hope I have to re-barrel it when I am done from the use it will see. Just curious if you handload for the round? I figure it is likely that you do and was hoping you might pass along some info about the best brass you have found for the cartridge and maybe any favorite loads for coyote and whitetail that you use. I do have a beautiful Kimber stock I purchased from a fellow who sold the wood and barrel from a 8400 WSM action for a wildcat project. I ended up with a great piece of Claro Walnut that would be perfect for a 6.5 project on a Kimber action. He ended up with a 6.5 essentially sitting on a 300 WSM case. WOW! Addiction to speed is a beautiful thing..... I would appreciate any insight on components for the cartridge if you wouldn't mind and I'll just bite my lip to control the jealousy until I can find the right 6.5 or perhaps just assemble my own. Thanks, Jim
 
fergawdsakes, please don't put a Simmons or similar on that exquisite beauty!

Stretch the budget, watch ebay for awhile, and snag a Trijicon Accupoint: either 3-9x40 or 2.5-10x56; or even the 5-20x50 if it's strictly a long-range rig (desert/plains). If you keep your eyes peeled for awhile, you can get one of these in the $700-$900 range, depending upon model, new - and even less used.

Failing that, I'd tell you to go with an Elite 4200 in 2.5-10x40, but they discontinued the 4200, so I dunno. If not Leupold, maybe look at a Minox, Nikon Monarch, Sightron S2, Sightron S3, or ??
 
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