I’m speaking with Mike Branson of Gideon Optics at SHOT Show 2025, and today the topic is scope and reticle choice. What is good, what is bad, and what is best for you?
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Optic needs to fit the rifle/cartridge combination-best I have used (old School) Lyman All American 4x, Leupold 1.5x to 5x. Rifles Lyman on sporterised Model of 1917 Enfield 30-06, Leupold on Savage 340 in .22 Hornet, scopes fit the respective rifles and all practical applications.
With rifle calibers less than .30-06, there is little point in a scope with more than 6X to 9X magnification. .30-06 with 180-grain has enough effective range (out to about 1,000 meters) to make 12X a reasonable top figure.
The “super-sniper” calibers like .333 Lapua or .408 CheyTac probably need 16X. .50 BMG or .416 Barrett likely could get use from 20x-24X. The critical factors with such high magnifications are of course objective size, plus whether or not the scope’s innards can stand up to recoil forces.
For most hunters and etc., with a .308 Winchester or equivalent, a 1.5X-6X variable or even a fixed 4x scope is probably all they’ll ever really need.
The ones who really need high-magnification “benchrest” type scopes are the actual benchrest shooters, plus the varmint hunters with .22-250s and etc.
The one has to put all the bullets through the same hole to score. The other has to deal with very small, animate targets.
Other than something like jackrabbit or coyote, I’ve never seen much point in a scope on a handgun. Although you can make sort of a case for same in metallic silhouette competition.
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