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I was looking in to getting a Leupold VX-2 3-9x40, but then I saw that it also comes in 3-9x50. So my question is which scope would you pick not considering price? And would I have to mount the 50mm objective scope farther forward?
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NO... not forward but higher mounts so the bell clears the Barrel. -
I'm dealing with mounting a 50mm on a Marlin XL7 right now. I've ordered the high rings. It may take the extra high rings.
The advantage of the bigger bell is more light gathering. Basically, you can see earlier and later. I don't think the larger objective is worth the extra money, but that's just my opinion.Comment
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Where I hunt in the dense woods I prefer the 50MM lens. It gathers more light at dawn and dusk and on overcast days. When I traveled to Alabama the large bucks came into the food plots right at dark and I could pick them up with a 50MM and not with a 40MM. We are only talking a period of 10 or 15 minutes but that is a long time when you are waiting for a big buck. I use some 40MM scopes but on my deer rifles I use the 50MM scopes.Comment
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As a rule of thumb, you multiply the desired power setting by the size of your dilated eye pupil in low light (6mm)to determine the size of the objective lens that would transmit all the light the human eye can use.
A 9X power setting would require a 54mm objective lens (9X6).
You gain light by enlarging the objective lens or by reducing the power of the scope. A 6X power setting would require only a 36mm objective lens.
Having said that, the amount of light has nothing to do with the brightness of the light coming through. That is determined by the quality of the lens. Many 40mm objective lenses will be brighter in low light than some 50mm's simply because the lenses are of better quality.Comment
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BTW, the size of he dilated adult human eye in low light varies from 5mm to 7mm, with 6mm being about average. The exit pupil of a scope should be 6mm or greater to transmit all the available light that the human eye can use.Comment
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99explorer,
I don't know about all of your scientific calculations all I know is that when my buddy and I are sitting in a shoothouse in Alabama in the evening we can see the deer later with my Nikon Buckmaster 3X9X50 than we can with his Leupold 3X9X40 VariXII.Comment
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Sarge - I don't doubt your word for a minute.
For one thing, it is possible that the Nikon has a better lens system or has superior multi-coating. That alone would make it brighter.
More likely is that, set at 9X, the exit pupil of your scope is significantly larger than his. The diameter of your objective lens (50mm), divided by the power setting (9) gives an exit pupil of 5.5mm. The diameter of your buddy's Leupold (40mm) divided by the power (9) is 4.4 mm, significantly lower, given a dilated eye pupil of 6mm.
But down at about 7X and lower, the exit pupils would both be greater than 5.5mm with little or no apparent difference in light-gathering quality.
All this is in the realm of theory. What takes place in the field is the only thing that matters.Comment
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I guess one question for you is what is it going on. I have several 3x9-40 on many of my rifles. One thing that limits my shots to 350 yards or so is the 9 power. If your shots are 350-400 or less it will work great I think. On my new 300 win mag i went with a 4-14-40Nikon. I wanted the 50 but the model did not come in the 50. It truly makes a difference with the 50mm in early and late time hunts. It also seemed to me with the one I had it limited the shadows at long distances as well. But it did require the larger rings and so it sat more than the standard 1.5 inches high. Cant go wrong with the leupold thats the one on my 308 and I really like it.Comment
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I use 50mm objectives on my scopes for light gathering in the woods. It gives me about 30 minutes more of useful hunting in a day. A lighted reticle may stretch that a bit since you may still have difficulty seeing the reticle 27-30 minutes after or before the sundown/sunup. My favorite is the Firefly reticle that requires no batteries.Comment
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