Sightmark Presidio 5 – 25 x 56 on top of a Marlin SBL 45/70
I know in past posts, I’ve touted red dots and LVPO’s for lever guns. After all, lever guns aren’t precision rifles, they don’t shoot what many consider “long distance” or flat shooting cartridges. Most folks would really be stretching the limits of lever gun rounds shooting past 200 yards…and most wont shoot one further than 100, which is why a 1-6 power scope is ideal, or a red dot for “brush gun” work.
However, there are exceptions to every rule. One exception would be when youre hunting BIG bears, in low light areas, and need an objective lens, the size of the Hubble Telescope so you can hunt during the times those bears like to roam. I always call the last 15-20 minutes of last light the “witching hour” for mature bears. It’s when I’ve shot the majority of my bears over bait. However a dark target, shrouded in shadows from a canopy over head presents a problem that an RDS or LPVO won’t solve well.
So, what do we do? Put a bigger objective on our big irons. Now what does that mean? Usually WAY more magnification than necessary, but that’s fine because we don’t need to dial that far up. For example, I’m headed to Minnesota on a hunt I’ve been waiting for, for 6 years, and I switched out my 1-6x24mm LPVO for a 5-25×56 objective scope. So now, of course, 25x is ridiculous and I don’t see myself dialing past the base magnification, but what I do need is that light gathering that the more than 2X objective lens will provide. This will keep me on stand longer, and be able to identify my target animal later into the evening.
So, yes…it may look silly, because the scope is half the size of the gun, will add a bunch more weight, and probably get made fun of in photo ops, but it’s the right tool for the job.
As I said, exceptions to the rule…I want to give myself the greatest advantage possible on this hunt…and that means a big optic on a big iron.
Black Dirt Diaries 