3x12 vs 4x16 scope

[TexAg09]

I'm looking at upgrading my scope to a Vortex Diamondback HP. My current scope is a 3x12, and I've been happy with it (minus performance in low light hence the upgrade), but is there any reason to consider a 4x16? I'd be putting it on my .308, and I hunt in Utah when I can draw a tag otherwise I hunt in central and east Texas. Most of my shots in TX are 200 yards or less, and my shots in UT are...well how far do you want to go? Haha! Realistically My farthest shots would be around 500 yards. The specs for both scopes are the same size and weight, but the price is $329 vs $389. I appreciate your input!

 

[elkdreamer]

My experience at those ranges says the 12 would be fine. Usually lose field of view as the power goes up. Not sure if your worried about that. Just my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

There is no reason to consider 4-16.

 

[RiverRatt]

I felt the 4-16 was too much scope for my liking when it came to hunting. If anything I'd look into something like the vortex viper line. I went from the crossfire line to viper and been very happy with it. The viper tracks very nice and pretty good glass for the price point. I don't believe the diamond back are really designed for dial and shoot situations. They are advertised that way but I don't think they'll last very long with content adjustment. I ended up getting the vortex viper 2.5-10 with bdc reticle to take the dial and shoot completely out of the equation. It's still there but I doubt I'll use it.

"Keep it simple stupid!" K.I.S.S.

 

[Eric.MN]

I believe at cabelas you can get the viper 2.5x10x44 with 30mm tube on sale for 250$. I thought that wasn't such a bad deal.

 

[belly-deep]

There is no reason to consider 4-16.

+ 1

 

[rammac]

Vortex products have tiers of quality with the Crossfire being their least expensive and lowest quality, the Diamondback is next, then the Viper and finally the Razor. None of them are junk but as you go up in quality you find that the controls become more crisp and repeatable, the brightness of the glass will improve, the options increase, and the robustness of the parts are better. I've got two Vortex scopes, a Razor HD 5-20x50mm and a Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44mm FFP. The Razor is for long range work out to 1200 yards and the Viper is for close to medium ranges out to 600 yards or so. I say all this only to demonstrate that I've had experience with Vortex products and long range shooting.

It would help to know what the objective lens sizes are. Assuming that the objective lenses are the same diameter for both scopes then the 4-16 scope will actually be darker in low light conditions, higher magnification reduces the amount of light transfer through the scope. Also as the power of a scope increases the weight will increase too. In regards to magnification power, it depends on what you're using the scope for. Precision target shooting at long range will definitely benefit from increasing the maximum magnification to 16 power but for hunting big game it wont matter much until you start taking shots at ranges of around 600 yards or more.

I'd recommend buying a Vortex Viper HS 2.5-10x44mm as Eric.MN suggested, it's a better quality scope than the Diamondback, it's lighter, and costs less money.

 

[Don Fischer]

A 308 at mostly 200yds? I'd strongly suggest a 2-7X40x scope. Plinking with one of my 243's I'd had no trouble reaching well beyond 300yds with good hit's. In my mind to many people put way to much scope on their rifle's. A 2-7x will ride lower on the rifle, be somewhat lighter and at 200yds especially, on 2x will gather much more light than you should need and shooting at 200yds with a 2x scope is easy! I do have a few 3-9x scopes and one 4 1/2-14 on a rifle I used mainly for shooting targets at long range, to 500yds. The thing I found with that 4 1/2-14x is that I seldom use it at more than 8x! Think about that! My 3-9x's seldon come off 3x! At 3x they gather plenty of light!