SmallCaliberCentral

Merry christmas to me. I just got a new Remington R-15 in .204 with 22 inch barrell.

Have decided on Leupold VX-III 4.5 x 14.

Now I am stuck. I dont want to short change myself with the 40mm OL. But the science tells me that human pupils wont open past 5mm. At 8x and 5mm that is 40mm. In low light I dont imagine wanting to shoot where I would need more than 8x. 40mm mounts lower and is cheaper and on a much used coyote gun is likely to get banged around less.

Is my math off or why do I need 50mm. The science doesnt justify. BUT i only want to do this once. Somebody must have some different math. Convince me! Or confirm!

First of all welcome to the forum! To answer your question (as best I can anyway) The only time that you will see any real difference is in low light situations as the 50 will be a little brighter. Hope that helps. Gary

Congrats on your .204! For your question, Both are very fine scopes! I have a VX-III 6.5-20x40, a VX-III LR 8.5-25x50, and a VX-L 6.5-20x56. Like Captqc said, you won't really notice a difference in clarity during daytime shooting(for me, I shoot 99.3% of the time while it is bright out). But, you can tell a little difference when the sun starts fading that the 50 and 56 seem to let a little more light in. But also for me, the 50 and 56mm's that I have also have a 30mm maintube verses my 40mm has a 1" maintube which might give them an edge also........

If you are budget is tight, I would go for a 40mm. There is a sale right now on Leupys...Midway has them for $100 off.....i think they are about $430 there if I remember right, so they're worth checking out. Personally I would just go for a 40mm. Whichever you choose, mount it up and take pictures and SHARE!!!! Merry X-mas!!!

For you guys with those big 50 or 56mm lens do they hurt you during hunting conditions that is are they so big that you bang em up on stuff etc.

FYI from my understanding, 30mm vs 1" maintube wont affect light transmission but just allows more range of adjustments of your reticle.

thwak: Touchy subject, and very subjective too. All so far I agree with, but will add my two cents FWIW....

In over 40 years of big game and varmint hunting, I can honestly say that in all that time, I've never not made a shot because of too dim light conditions using scopes with objectives of 40mm (and some much smaller). My black timber elk rifle, a .338-06 Ackley wears a Leupold 1.5-5X, with a 21mm objective, and I've made legal shots in dark timber past sunset with it without problem.

To me at least, the 50mm+ scopes overwhelm the rifle, mandate higher mounting of the scope, are subject to more bumps in the field, look out of place on a nice rifle, and are really not necessary at all for 99.5% of all hunting or varminting situations. We'll not even discuss the abomination called the VX-L series of scopes.....I won't even go there (see...I told you it was subjective).

Unless you are a new rifle shooter that is somehow enamored with the celestial-telescope appearance of huge objectives for some reason, I'd stick with what is about standard for varmint scopes; 40mm. That is unless you hunt at night all the time, and really do need maximum light into the scopes objective lens.

Also, a 30mm tube does indeed transmit more light compared to a 1" tube, but the range of adjustment as mentioned is increased with the larger main tube. Compare looking through a soda straw compared to a 1" piece of PVC pipe....no contest.

Below is the scope you mention, a Leupold VX-III 4.5-14X with a 40mm objective. To me at least, a 50mm version would completely ruin the appearance and overwhelm such a sweet little rifle as the Kimber 84M in 204R, but that's just me. Besides, I don't hunt at night, so it's a non-issue.



In the end of course, it's up to you and what your wants and actual needs may be.

I personally don't have anything over 44MM on any scope. I have a ZEISS 3x9x40 on a 7MM last year I shot a nice buck at 150 yards within the last couple of minutes of legal shooting time left and I would say that it was the quality of the scope that done more than a big 50MM......

just an update fellas. I did end up with a 50mm. I do hunt at night a lot. We have a lot of hog hunting here and one of the ranches i have access to has a large field in a very light sandy area that you can see a long ways on a full moon. I have hunted there with my 40mm on my .270 and was satisfied at best. i knew i would never have been happy at 40mm so i just went ahead and got the 50. it is on my remington r-15 in .204. It matches the rifle well with that large front barrel shroud. I actually had to get the picatinny riser blocks and medium height warne rings so it would be comfortable on my high. typical of AR type rifles with there flat comb it has to be mounted high anyway. It looks awesome. thanks for all the replys and advice. it is well taken and respected.

How about a picture of her???? I'd like to see what she looks like

40mm is perfect