I hunt with a 30/30 - used to be open sights but put a 2-7 Redfield on it. It's perfect right up until last shot.
Branched out and got a reach out and touch something rifle. I put a Vortex Crossfire II on it. It is not good in low light. I'm tapped out 10-15m before last shot. I'm wanting to jump up to a 3-12, 4-16, call it 12-16x in max zoom. Knowing low light and that high of zoom, I'll have to dial it back a bit but anyways - would like to do that fun thing where you ask an internet forum their opinions.
Would like to know your favorite scope that performs well in low light?
In terms of the adage - I paid $450 for the rifle, so will budget $250-400 for the glass replacement.

I'm a Leopold fan. They have a system out called the CDS, you can give them your load data (or factory load if you don't reload) and they will mill you a dial that is dial and go for range, I.E. 1=100yds 2=200yds. Its pretty neat, my Leopold CDS does really well in low light, but I have the bigger objective for just that reason. The bigger the objective the more light it lets in.

I like Leupold too. For maximum light gathering, you need to look at 50 mm objective lenses.

I put a cheap Tasco 4x from walmart on my sons 3030, Can see to shoot past sunset. YMMV

^^this Brent...…. and 30mm tube, always plan on spending nearly same for glass as the gun.

And anything over 9x on a 30-30 is a waste...even for threading thru brush.

My 30-30 wore a 1.5x5 for decades and killed over 20 with it, 7 out to nearly 300 yds, but I practiced and handloaded.

Leupold are what I use.

fa

Why do you feel the need for high x on a 30-30?

You'd be better off with a straight 4 x with a 40 mm belll.

Sounds like he bought a different rifle. A Burris 4.5 to 14 x 40 is a Great Scope in that price range with a Forever warranty.

With optics; you get what you pay for. Optics do not “gather” light as people usually say. They transmit the light through quality lenses with multiple coatings. I use Swarovski and Kahles.

I use a 3-9 Leupold and can dang near see in the dark with it. Not so much when shooting toward the recent sunset because of the glare. You can dial the power down and get more light through it and see better.

Oh, I see that now. My apologies

Nikon - all the way!
6x - 18x Buckmaster.
Great in low light!

Reach out and touch it means something different to different people what does it mean to you?

can I ask the better question , you got a reach out and touch it rifle , how far can you realistically hold a 6 inch group at every day , actual you have shot that far more than once know the dope off the top of your head and on any given day you could put 5 shots inside 6 inches in the wind up to 15-20mph

at what range does your load drop sub sonic ?

I will give you my example

308 win not exactly real far reach out but works for this purpose
300 yards is my max shot currently that I know I can hold 6 inches in the wind to 20mph
1000 or a few yards past is where the load falls sub sonic.

magnification is the killer of light
a 9x you can still see well at well enough to see 6 inch letters at 400 yards in good light ,
12x is enough that you can read a stop sign at 880 yards 1/2 mile in daylight.

in that last 10 minutes of legal shooting , 150-200 yards is probably going to be about as far as you can see although that last 10-15 minutes varies alot , if you have clear sky and snow on the ground in a field you could shoot 10 minutes past legal easily in a cedar swamp on an overcast day you can hardly see 25 yards with 15 minutes left.

whats the farthest shot you have where you hunt?

do you get close shots inside 50 yards ?

if 3-400 is your max you probably don't need an 18X

Thanks for responses so far!
I got a 6.5 creed 3yrs back for those sits when I'm looking at 200-400yd shots. It has made them shots. It has dropped them. I love it.
When I'm in tight, I bring the ole terty-terty. When I'm not, the 6.5 creed comes along. I hunt a LOT.
I was never a big scope guy but I did put a 2-7 Redfield a few yrs ago on the 30-30 when the eyes started to not be as good as they used to. It performs fantastically all the way up to last shot.
The 6.5 has a vortex crossfire ii on it. It performs very poorly even on 6x starting 15m before last shot to the point where I straight up don't pull the trigger. I always just dealt with it. I'm looking to upgrade it. So my personal experience is with 2 scopes and 1 is a no good for prime-time, the other they don't make anymore and leuopold just replaced the 1 & 2 with the vx-freedom.
Distance and magnification will obviously diminish the light "pass thru".
Just would like to know what scopes you have used that perform well all the up to last shot.

'

To answer your questions -
I hold 6" group at 600yds.
I shoot at those distances monthly.
I know the compensation required for all shots inside 400yds cold
I will realistically only pull the trigger on a deer sized game at a max distance of 400.
Longest shot i've taken on a live target to-date is 336yds and right through the boiler room
I have stands that have 500yd+ views. Based on bedding areas, corridors, thermals and property lines make a closer stand not ideal. Other factors involved. I hunt 6 different properties and all have different scenarios.
I don't need an 18x. I just like it a lot I don't expect that magnification to work until last shot, I do expect 6x to not be a cloudy, milky mess tho.
thanks for taking the time to reply initially.

If you want to see down to the last legal minute, a GOOD quality 40-44mm will do in a pinch. 50-56mm will be even better but problems come with mounting a scope that high even though its never bothered me. 30mm tube is always better, more adjustment range for target shooting at very long range and a bit better light transmission. To get one scope and never want to replace it down the road you probably need to spend $500 or more. You get what you pay for on optics for the most part. There is an old saying, if you dont spend as much or more on glass than you did the rifle you are wasting a rifle. That holds true for the most part. For me on a good scope i look for nightforce or leupold. Nightforce has the SHV series and you can get them for about a grand. I have a 4-14x56 and its an AWESOME scope. I would recommend the illuminated reticle because their reticle is very fine and it disappears quickly in fading light. IM gonna be ordering a TC compass tomorrow and im a bit perplexed on what glass i want to put on it. It seems awfully silly to put a $1000 scope on a $300 rifle but that very well may be what i do. Im also gonna seriously consider the vortex diamonback or strike eagle scope they are $4-500 and may be all i need for that rifle but im gonna have to do some thinking. If funds allow i will just go straight to the nightforce and never worry about it again.

Ive wasted wayy too much of my life hunting with cheap scopes and im just not gonna do it anymore. Stupid things fog up and get bumped off too easily.

The scopes i currently own are leupold, nightforce, kahles, and a few primary arms 1-6 and 1-8x for my ARs. The primary arms scopes are decent little scopes with alot of features for the price. I havent had much trouble from them when mounted in good leupold mounts. i like them on my ARs since they go to almost true 1x for close up work and moving targets. and you can get a little maginification if needed. When you crank em up to full power you can start seeing the imperfections in the glass but 1-4x they are pretty clear.

x2, make sure it will clear the barrel/stock, higher mounts add parallax error.

what is your current optic on the 6.5 ? if it isn't a 50mm objective that will help your objective in mm divided by power of magnification determines exit pupil light cone

98% is about the best you can get in light transmission but that is always figured at the lowest magnification adding magnification decreases your light.

the trade off is figuring out how low of a magnification you can shoot at at 200 yards

https://www.opticsplanet.com/howto/how-to-choose-a-riflescope-light-transmission-and-eye-relief.html

I have a 3-9x50 vortex and it is basically putting out the same light my 2-7x32 is

32 divided by 2 = 16
50 divided by 3 = 16.6

on a gun that shoots that well I think your going to want to up your budget and get a nicer scope with a larger objective and a bigger tube 30mm with a 44 , 50mm or larger objective

some ideas
https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-diamondback-tactical-ffp-4-16x44-moa.html

https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-optics-viper-hs-4-16x50-30mm-tube-waterproof-riflescopes.html

https://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex...hunter-riflescope-w-v-brite-reticle.html

your also probably going to need a cheek riser

Leupold vxR has a red dot in center of crosshairs. If you can see the silouett of what you want to hit just put the red dot where you want to hit. Game over