Scope eye relief for heavy hitters

[Guest]

When you scope a moderate to heavy recoiler (such as the 300Mags and up) what do you look or in eye relief? I have 3.5" on my 270Wby, and I have never come close to hitting myself, but then again, unless you find a scope too short, you never really know how close you come, do you? So what are y'all using on various heavy recoilers?

 

[JD338]

Exactly why I do not have a high magnafication scope on my 338 RUM.
I love my VXIII 2.5x8, plenty of scope for 500 yd shooting.

JD338

 

[R Flowers]

I have been shooting a friend's 375 H&H some lately and find that the 2.5X8 Leupold is about a perfect scope on there. As JD338 says, it is plenty of scope and there are NO eye relief problems at all. This same rifle used to wear a 1.75 X 6 Leupold and it also was just fine.

Having said that, I shoot 4.5 X 14 Leupold LR scopes on two 300 magnums and have no problems at all. Actually, I use that scope on 5 rifles (25-06, 270 WSM, 7mm Wby Mag, 300 WSM, and 300 Wby Mag) and just love it.

But, my dad has acquired some really bad scope cuts on his forehead shooting a 4.5X 14 Leupold on his 340 Weatherby. (The standard 1 inch tube.) Some BAD cuts!

My own 338 Win Mag also wears the 2.5X8 Leupold, it is a hard scope to beat on the heavy kickers!

I have shot plenty of heavy recoiling rifles with pretty high magnification scopes on them.
But, in the heat of the moment, a guy could get in trouble with that combination.

 

[JD338]

Having said that, I shoot 4.5 X 14 Leupold LR scopes on two 300 magnums and have no problems at all. Actually, I use that scope on 5 rifles (25-06, 270 WSM, 7mm Wby Mag, 300 WSM, and 300 Wby Mag) and just love it.

But, my dad has acquired some really bad scope cuts on his forehead shooting a 4.5X 14 Leupold on his 340 Weatherby. (The standard 1 inch tube.) Some BAD cuts!

My own 338 Win Mag also wears the 2.5X8 Leupold, it is a hard scope to beat on the heavy kickers!

I have shot plenty of heavy recoiling rifles with pretty high magnification scopes on them.
But, in the heat of the moment, a guy could get in trouble with that combination.

I got my first magnum eyebrow last fall with my 280AI and the 4.5x14 Mark4. I was shooting from an awkward sitting position with shooting stix and crept up on the scope, the Leupold flip up cover got me good! :shock:

Since I do not like brakes, the 2.5x8 is going to stay on my 338 RUM.

JD338

 

[old #7]

I have a Zeiss 3x9x40 conquest on my 300 win. The zeiss gives me 4" of eye relief. I have never been hit by the scope .....Yet...
I think shooting position and heat of the moment has a lot to do with it.

 

[Desert Fox]

Get scope that has at least 3.5" eye relief or better yet... a 4". All the scope mentioned above met all that criteria. We all gonna experience scope eye one time or another. I had mine when I installed a Weaver V-16 on my Model 70 Laredo 300 Win Mag and took a prone shot at a mule deer from a very steep angle. I had the scope at 16X and, at the shot, the rifle jumped and the scope smacked me in the eyebrow. I probably saw a thousand stars that day but, I got my deer. The rifle now wears the excellent 4.5X14X50 VariX-III Tactical on it. Guess where that Weaver resides now; in my 6 lb.- 338 Win Mag Howa 1500. Not to worry, the rifle with it's muzzle break, shoot like a 243 :wink:

 

[Guy Miner]

It's more than just the eye relief figure in inches too... It's also how far forward the scope can be positioned on the rifle. Sometimes extension rings help. Sometimes a 1913 "tactical" type base is the answer. The ocular lens of the scope needs to be far enough forward that the shooter isn't going to get clobbered while shooting from a field position.

Uphill shots from prone may well be the worst, but different positions place the eyebrow/forehead closer to the scope. I found that a fixed power scope has a shorter ocular lens housing by about an inch, and is easier to position well forward in the mounts, so I use one on my 7.5 pound .45-70 Marlin, which is a kicker for sure! :grin:

Regards, Guy

 

[Powerstroke]

All my scopes are as far back as I can get them. I'm 5ft 10in, and have extremely short arms ( JD I launch a 27in arrow from my Hoyt with no overdraw ) My .300RUM will dot my eye once in a while ( cabelas 6.5 X 20 ) but has a rubber ring around it so not too bad.
The one that gets me is my 7-08 M700 Varmiter with a Leupold Straight 16X on it. The lowest magnification I have is a couple straight 12X's.
I'd agree, the more the magnification the greater the chance....

 

[Guy Miner]

:grin: Powerstroke - pretty funny, I'm only about an inch and a half taller, but I like my scopes mounted far forward. You like yours back closer...

This stuff has to drive scope makers and scope mount designers nuts! :grin:

 

[Big Squeeze]

I have an Elite 4200 in a 3X9 variable mounted on a light weight, short barreled compact Ruger Frontier 300 WSM. Even with this short 16.5" barrel, my chronographed reloads well exceed the 30-06 & come to within 4.5% or less of the 24" 300 WSM velocities!.......As a result, this light weight has some serious recoil! My 4200`s eye relief is listed at 3.3" and yet, I have never had a problem with recoil. Not even close....Proper head placement, body positioning or posture is the key here! At the instant of recoil, your head should move back with the stock, not just the rifle itself!!!

 

[westy]

On my first .270 I had a kahles 6x and if I was laying down shooting it would clobber me every time to the point one night there was that much blood from my head on the lense that I couldnt see any more deer to shoot.
I am presently importing a .338win magnum and I plan to mount a Tasco 6x24x50 on it. Even though it has an adjustable muzle break, after reading some of the posts here, I am starting to become a little concerned.
Give me some advice fella's, it sounds like I could use some.

 

[Guy Miner]

Big Squeeze - you ever shoot that stubby blaster from prone?

The prone shooters I compete with are very aware of the difficulty in keeping a scope from bonking the shooter in the forehead. Not much of a way to recoil with the rifle from prone. A fellow just has to lay there and take it. That's likely one reason the lighter-kicking cartridges are gaining in popularity in that sport.

We see a lot of guys, including me, with their scopes positioned well forward on their prone rifles.

Likewise a group of big-bore Marlin shooters have come up with a variety of ways to leave distance between the ocular lens housing and their eyebrow/forehead. I use a fixed power scope, which has an inch less length to the ocular lens, and mount it on a Leupold STD base, which also helps keep it well forward.

Others favor the "Scout Scope" on a mount placed well-forward on the rifle. Those big bore Marlins, weighing in at only around 7 pounds, develop some serious kick with stout loads!

:grin:

Safari Club International recently published parts one and two of a three part series testing scopes for Dangerous Game rifles. They used an un-braked .460 Weatherby magnum. :shock: That ought to do it! :grin: I'll dig up the results, but one thing they were very interested in for those scopes was the eye relief.

Westy - if it hasn't bit you yet - or come close - and you've tried it from a variety of shooting positions - you're probably set up just fine.

Regards, Guy

 

[Big Squeeze]

Guy.............My little stubby blaster??? Yep!!....Yes! I have used the prone position on several pig hunts with my Frontier with no problems!....Remember though that with the Ruger Frontier, you can use a conventionally mounted scope or a scout scope!!.........I do both!!

 

[Guy Miner]

Ah! That's right! Sneaky setup there... :grin:

 

[FOTIS]

Leupold baby..... Leupold!

 

[Big Squeeze]

Guy!....................How about an Aimpoint 9000L red dot on my Frontier?!! With unlimited eye relief, it can be used as a scout scope or as a conventionally mounted scope!!! I can also switch it to my 500 S&W handgun and even over to my newly acquired 375 Ruger Alaskan! Great versatility!............... I am considering the 3x9 Trijicon for the Alaskan, but the more I look at these Aimpoints, the better I like em!

 

[Guy Miner]

Aimpoints are pretty cool. Hunted with a fellow who uses a .358 Browning BLR with an aimpoint - he's used that combo for quite a few years and has taken at least a dozen elk with it... Nice setup!