Scope for my Henry Classic 45-70

[tcpip95]

I'm going to be putting a scope on my new Henry Classic 45-70 rifle. I'm planning on using the rifle itself for < 200 yard shooting. With that as the background, I'm going to go with another Leupold scope. I currently have a VX-5HD 3-15X44 CDS-ZL2 SIDE FOCUS HTMR on my Browning 30-06. What I'm going back and forth about is whether to put the same scope (except this time with a Firedot reticle) on the Henry, or to put the VX-3HD 3.5-10X50 CDS-ZL ILLUM. FIREDOT TWILIGHT HUNTER on it.

I'm leaning towards the VX-5 vs the VX-3, but would like to hear from others on what you would recommend. Is the 50mm objective on the VX-3 worth the trade off vs the better overall optics of the 40mm objective on the VX-5? Thanks.

[Travlin]

Remember the 45-70 has a rainbow trajectory so I would not go with too much power on the scope or it could give you the illusion of a flatter shooting round. I have Marlin Guide Gun and it has an old Weaver K-3 on it because I don't plan on shooting anything that is extremely distant so I don't have to guess at the bullet drop.

[MuddyWaters62]

I put a Burris FulField 2x7x32 scope on my Marlin 1895 rifle with the 22 inch barrel back in the early 90's. Have not had a problem with that scope. I don't know how many East Texas deer and hogs I have killed, but I could fill a flat bed trailer! I do know that I don't shoot any load above 1400fps. For factory loads I found the Remington 405gr JSP to be shear havoc on anything that walks on 4 legs. This includes elk in high country of Colorado. I prefer coated 405 gr boolits. That is what shoots best in my gun. YMMV.

Muddy Waters 68

[Hatchdog]

When I had a 45/70 (Marlin) I put this Leupold low power scope in it. What attracted me to this scope is the 4.9” of eye relief. I didn’t want to wear a scope rash on my eye. Not even close to what you are considering but do check the eye relief on whatever you decide.


https://www.leupold.com/fx-ii-ultraligh ... riflescope

[tcpip95]

Well, after reading everyone’s input, I’ve decided on the Leupold VX-3HD 1-5x20 Firedot. Your points about it being <200 yards, smaller size, still able to use it as a backup to my larger scope all made good sense.

https://www.leupold.com/vx-3hd-1-5-5x20 ... ght-hunter

Thank you to all of you.

[tcpip95]

I’ve decided that I’m going to try a Skinner sight as well. They have a setup where you can run with just the peep sights or express attach a scope.
Can't seem to post an image here, so here's the link to a pic.

http://www.skinnersights.com/images/HEN ... UNT_A.jpeG

[Stray Cat]

I like your scope choice; not sure you'd need the peeper. Can Leupold set up the CDS for you out to 200 yds? I placed a Leupold VX3i 2.5 x 8 x 36 on my H010 with Warner Maxima base and rings. My shots are limited to about 100 yards where I hunt in heavy cover. On the low power setting, the field of view is so good that I can easily pick out a deer in low light against the gray background of the woods. edit...I had to add the extender to get unobstructed access to the hammer using medium rings. I also had to remove my rear sight as it conflicted with the scope.