LPVO Or High Magnification Scopes

[DirtTime]

I'm somewhat sure there are people here old enough to remember, many years ago low power scopes were very popular with hunters, as much as the higher magnification scopes. Especially on shotguns and lever rifles. It seems there's a resurgence for the LPVO, and even with bolt rifles. I realize these days most people identify the low power variable scopes with modern sporting rifles. A low power scope is just about ideal for the areas I hunt, barely anything over 100 yards, maybe 150 at max, and that's even thinking of the new AO's. I guess the one big downside is the narrow FOV in most LPVO's, with 24-32 being the most popular.

 

Just mulling things around for the hopefully new set up for the 2024 deer season.

Edited April 3 by DirtTime

[phade]

I hardly ever get asked for lpvo on a bolt for hunting. Every lpvo I’ve sold has gone on a scary gun that I can recall. 

On the contrary at the WNY sport and travel Expo last month, we got pounded with asked for high power variable and even FFP. 6-24 x 50+ was a shockingly popular ask.

 

Edited April 3 by phade

[Robhuntandfish]

hands down my favorite scope for deer hunting is a fixed 4 power.  Simple and no moving parts.  if I am going somewhere I might need a 200+ yard shot then I take my 30-06 with a 9X.  But the .450 and muzzleloader are perfect with a 4 power.  There are very few that have the reticle I prefer which is the circle X, fits right in the kill zone and touch it off.  I have a 2.5 power on my 30/30 but that is also fixed.  Cant see the need for a lot of variation/adjustment on a hunting scope unless you're shooting 200+ yards. 

[dbHunterNY]

it depends. i hunt a lot of woods that get dark so usually I have a 3-9+x40 scope on my rifles. my varmint rifle has a 6-18x but I'm not using that in the woods. i currently have two LPVOs that work well in low light but they aren't budget LPVO scopes. One is a Vortex and the other a Sig Sauer that range from several hundred to under $1k. one sits on my primary ar-15 and the other on 450 i setup for bear hunting. cranked down to 2-3x they sit let in enough light and the red dot function is dim enough that it helps place a shot at last light in thick woods on a black blob of a bear that would otherwise make the reticle disappear. any gun that isn't that capable of taking game out past 250 or so they're pretty handy. not saving weight compared to a 1" tube 40+mm scope though if you're getting a rugged lpvo that's got a 30 or 34mm tube.

[DirtTime]

The only place I have hunted in years that I could use a firearm I could even see past 150 yards was one area in Black Creek Marsh- but you couldn't shoot in the direction where it was open out to about 250-300 yards because you'd be shooting at the road and a parking area. OK< some people might shoot at the road but not I.

 

I have 3-9's on all my bolt rifles and one of my MSR's. I also have an LPVO 1-5 on one MSR and it shoots just as accurate out to 150 yards as the 3-9. I figure if all goes as is planned I might just drop and LPVO on the new rig. I highly doubt I'll be in any different situations as far as distance I can shoot in the new AO's.

 

Who knows? In the end I'll probably end up with a 3-9, but it's sort of fun to think about other options. 

 

 

[Buckmaster7600]

1-4/5X scopes are all I hunt with other than a 2.5-8X. I like how small and light they are and have never been in a position where I wanted more magnification. I’ve killed deer at double the ranges you’re talking with 4X. 

[sbuff]

3 hours ago, DirtTime said:

The only place I have hunted in years that I could use a firearm I could even see past 150 yards was one area in Black Creek Marsh- but you couldn't shoot in the direction where it was open out to about 250-300 yards because you'd be shooting at the road and a parking area. OK< some people might shoot at the road but not I.

 

I have 3-9's on all my bolt rifles and one of my MSR's. I also have an LPVO 1-5 on one MSR and it shoots just as accurate out to 150 yards as the 3-9. I figure if all goes as is planned I might just drop and LPVO on the new rig. I highly doubt I'll be in any different situations as far as distance I can shoot in the new AO's.

 

Who knows? In the end I'll probably end up with a 3-9, but it's sort of fun to think about other options. 

 

 

I know exactly where you are referring to in in black creek marsh.

What type of eye relief are you looking for, I have 3x9 on all my guns but never really use more then 4x .

[DirtTime]

59 minutes ago, sbuff said:

I know exactly where you are referring to in in black creek marsh.

What type of eye relief are you looking for, I have 3x9 on all my guns but never really use more then 4x .

There are some good deer in that place, but it's a right time right place type of woods with the pressure of other hunters. This will be going on an AR upper, so eye relief will have to be around 5-6". Another reason the LPVO is being considered. I rarely use anything beyond 5-6X myself.

 

 

[Chef]

18 hours ago, phade said:

I hardly ever get asked for lpvo on a bolt for hunting. Every lpvo I’ve sold has gone on a scary gun that I can recall. 

On the contrary at the WNY sport and travel Expo last month, we got pounded with asked for high power variable and even FFP. 6-24 x 50+ was a shockingly popular ask.

 

That's pretty funny, I would guess the average hunter would have no idea what to do with a FFP scope 

[dbHunterNY]

22 minutes ago, Chef said:

That's pretty funny, I would guess the average hunter would have no idea what to do with a FFP scope 

you don't really need first focal plane scope unless your highest power is pretty high. 0-300 yards with most bottleneck cartridges you really don't need to reference reticle markings to make a good shot. anything over that most people can't hit shit and cranking up to 9-12 power of most second focal plane hunting scopes isn't a big deal or hard to get on target. there seems to be a trend with people practicing "long range" for recreation with higher power scopes or shooting factory classes in PRS competition with their hunting rifles. with enough magnification I could see the need to back off full magification when shooting at something really far out there. not needing to dial elevation saves time. not many people, including myself, dial windage over using the reticle with windage moa or mils. i don't think any of this is on the my mind of your average hunter as you said. most shooting within point blank range of their rifle it'd think.

[DirtTime]

On 4/4/2024 at 9:37 AM, dbHunterNY said:

you don't really need first focal plane scope unless your highest power is pretty high. 0-300 yards with most bottleneck cartridges you really don't need to reference reticle markings to make a good shot. anything over that most people can't hit shit and cranking up to 9-12 power of most second focal plane hunting scopes isn't a big deal or hard to get on target. there seems to be a trend with people practicing "long range" for recreation with higher power scopes or shooting factory classes in PRS competition with their hunting rifles. with enough magnification I could see the need to back off full magification when shooting at something really far out there. not needing to dial elevation saves time. not many people, including myself, dial windage over using the reticle with windage moa or mils. i don't think any of this is on the my mind of your average hunter as you said. most shooting within point blank range of their rifle it'd think.

I used to see those monster size scopes on hunting rifles here, but not as much any more. Either the popular 3-9, compact 3-9, and LPVO's. I can't see a need for anything beyond 3-9 here in NY, we don't have the wide open spaces like the west and Midwest to have extremely long shots. So I'd agree the need for windage adjustments on the fly are far more realistic than elevation for distance.

[dbHunterNY]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:25 PM, DirtTime said:

I used to see those monster size scopes on hunting rifles here, but not as much any more. Either the popular 3-9, compact 3-9, and LPVO's. I can't see a need for anything beyond 3-9 here in NY, we don't have the wide open spaces like the west and Midwest to have extremely long shots. So I'd agree the need for windage adjustments on the fly are far more realistic than elevation for distance.

as a generalization for here in NY i agree 3-9 works just fine. most of my scopes are 3-9x40. on public ground even more so you don't need even that much magnification. it's more a bigger light collecting objective that allows you to go up in magnification just to identify the deer close to last light. is it a doe or a small 4" spike? is it a branch or antlers that appear on top of its head? maybe does it have 3 legal points on a side if you're in an AR area? a private ground with plenty of ag fields it's easy to get distance that would incline someone to want my than 9x just to shoot further. with our farm I can get a couple lines of sight for a 1,000+ yard shot. idk why you'd shoot at wildgame that far though as it's far too easy here with topography and cover to get much closer. my highest power scope is 18x and for that far I'd be all over buying a scope with more magnification way past 18x. mirage can be an issue but at 18x a deer (or better yet a practice target) at that distance isn't very big the keep a dot, hash mark, or crosshair of your reticle well within it. 

[DirtTime]

16 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

as a generalization for here in NY i agree 3-9 works just fine. most of my scopes are 3-9x40. on public ground even more so you don't need even that much magnification. it's more a bigger light collecting objective that allows you to go up in magnification just to identify the deer close to last light. is it a doe or a small 4" spike? is it a branch or antlers that appear on top of its head? maybe does it have 3 legal points on a side if you're in an AR area? a private ground with plenty of ag fields it's easy to get distance that would incline someone to want my than 9x just to shoot further. with our farm I can get a couple lines of sight for a 1,000+ yard shot. idk why you'd shoot at wildgame that far though as it's far too easy here with topography and cover to get much closer. my highest power scope is 18x and for that far I'd be all over buying a scope with more magnification way past 18x. mirage can be an issue but at 18x a deer (or better yet a practice target) at that distance isn't very big the keep a dot, hash mark, or crosshair of your reticle well within it. 

Right. I don't have AG areas to hunt, so as I said, I'm not seeing further then 100 yards max for the vast majority of my hunting. While sitting I have dialed my scopes up to 9, and it seemed far more of a hindrance than a help. I generally have them set at either 3 or 4 and don't touch it. Coyote hunting is the same, and maybe push it to 5-6. So, for me personally, an LPVO is not a bad way to go. I'll have plenty of magnification for the areas I hunt, light gathering isn't going to be very much difference as I have found out by being out there and using both the LPVO and a regular 3x9. I won't be giving up anything that would be a huge factor against going with the low power.

[sbuff]

What about a peep site ,I love mine on the ones that have it 

[DirtTime]

1 hour ago, sbuff said:

What about a peep site ,I love mine on the ones that have it 

I've tried hinting with an AR style rifle using iron sights and I'm not a fan, not at all. All my iron sights for those uppers/rifles are peep style with ring back and post front. Just a personal preference, but I want crosshairs for hunting anything bigger than a groundhog with a modern sporting rifle. I don't mind a peep sight on a shotgun, but not a fan of them on a rifle.