Light scope with good low-light capabilities

slimjim

I'd like to get a scope for my new 6.8 AR that works good in low light conditions but is not heavy. I don't need any more than 4-6 magnification but would like around 2x for close in situations. Any suggestions. My 2.5-16x50 Bushnell 6500 does great in these conditions but would make the rifle too top heavy. Any suggestions?

Pumpkinslinger

www.bushnell.com/all-p...4a-w-illum

How about something like this?

slimjim

Pkslinger, that has an illuminated reticle which is nice but I have always understood that you need a big objective lens to gather light at dawn and dusk. Seems they only come in 3-9 or greater.

slimjim

I saw this Nikon but it only has a 32mm Objective. Weigths less than 12 oz though. If only it had an illuminated reticle.

Elvis

1-4 leupold shotgun type scope would be ideal. great field of fiew and good low light gathering. the best scope Ive owned(and Ive killed a few of them) is a 3x9x40mm niko stirling gold crown. they beat my leupolds for low light and field of view.

Vince

The Nikko Stirling is a fair sort of a scope, but really is the lower end of the market. I have a Nikko Stirling Platinum on my Weatherby, and although it is a great scope it really isn't as clear as a Loopy. I also have a NS Gold Crown on one of my .22 rimfires and it isn't as good as the Platinum.

You are right in saying you need a larger objective to bring in the light, but the coatings they put on the glass these days, in my mind, probably does more to bring in that light.

What brand of scope to go for...generally, I believe you get what you pay for when buying glass.

Cheers, Vince

slimjim

Vince wrote:

I believe you get what you pay for when buying glass

Agreed, and its not very easy to test scopes out in typical hunting low light conditions.

Pumpkinslinger

What you are concerned with is the "exit pupil", which is related to how much light gets to your eye. Ideally it should be around 7mm range. You calculate that by dividing the objective diameter by the magnification. The Bushnell above has an exit pupil of 6mm at 4x and 15 at 1.25x, plenty for low light.

The illuminated reticle, especially at 1.25x, would act like a red dot and let you shoot with both eyes open for fast target acquisition.

Here's a better explanation:

www.nikon.com/products...sic_05.htm

Pumpkinslinger

I kinda like this one too. One like this will probably go on my next SUR (Sport Utility Rifle).

www.burrisoptics.com/f...ical1.html

Dawgdad

Check out Mueller Sport Dot IR. I have two of them and love them . Great glass for the price. Only the dot in the center of the cross hairs illuminates so it is like a red dot in very low light.

If you want to test drive one Give me a PM I have a 3x9 40mm in a one piece mount for flat tops that is "surplus". If you like it we can tlk price.

slimjim

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

I kinda like this one too.

Wow, a 24mm exit pupil! I've eyed this one before.

slimjim

Dawgdad wrote:

Check out Mueller Sport Dot IR. .... If you want to test drive one Give me a PM

Thanks, Dawgdad. I'll consider it.

Aloysius

slimjim wrote:

Pumpkinslinger wrote:

I kinda like this one too.

Wow, a 24mm exit pupil! I've eyed this one before.

maybe try to get it with a blue cross. Red is no good during daylight. Red AND green doesn't allow enough adjustments, so better take red OR green and when you've seen blue, I think you no longer like red or green.

And a crosshair with a very small red dot in the middle works fine, but you 'll miss the dots or the thicker parts on a cross when you want to hold over.

Why don't you take 2 different scopes and a mount that allows easy exchange? You even can give each scope his own round: the small scope a real stopper for close brushhunting, the large scope your best long distance load... I bet it's cheaper than buying 1
Zeiss or Swarovsky.
By the way: for low light a fixed multiplication will always be better than a variable scope. The high multiplication will also reduce the lighthole inside the scope.

slimjim

Aloys, all good advise. I've seen the two color red/green illuminators and they have half the adjustment that a single color has. I saw blue in a scope once and loved it but the scope was a "cheap" Chinese knock-off that I wouldn't take the time to even mount on my worse rifle. I haven't seen any other scopes with blue, however.

The thought has crossed my mind that I may need two different scopes.

I didn't know that about fixed vs variable. I know that if I get about 8x on my 2.5-16 Bushnell that its low-light performance drops off.

Aloysius

Don't judge too soon. I put a chinese Bushnell 10-40x50 with sidewheel AO, blue light, milldots and an internal water-level (costing about 100 euro) on a Remington Sendero in .300 WM. I don't use that rifle that much because they don't allow the .300 WM anymore on the range, but it's still functioning OK.
To be honnest: it surprised me too.
When buying a new chinese scope is cheaper than the transportcost to have a Zeiss or a Leupold repaired...
and when you have several rifles and cannot efford to put Zeiss or Swarovski on all of them...
and how many scopes that carry a brandname are produced in China?
And when it's bad quality, you trow it away and try another one. It's also fun when a scope of 25 euro on your cheap Baikal gives you more fun than that Zeiss on the Blazer of your buddy Smile