7 x 57

[CorditeCrazy]

Oh for sure, I always load heavy for calibre, only issue I have is with my 308, can't load heavier than 180gr

[Wesley]

Hey Guys.

I bought myself a CZ550 7x57 yesterday. I was looking for a .308 for my first hunting rifle but could not find stock. My very experienced hunting/shooting mate said I should go for the 7x57. Good all rounder and I am not anticipating taking very long shots or shooting very large animals(newbie). Not further than 150m. My question is; Is a scope neccesary for hunting at these distances? Everybody says so, but I think with a bit of practice the open sights might just be a lot more practical.

Lets hope the licensing process goes quickly...

Regards
I enjoy reading all your posts.

[TStone]

Hey Guys.

I bought myself a CZ550 7x57 yesterday. I was looking for a .308 for my first hunting rifle but could not find stock. My very experienced hunting/shooting mate said I should go for the 7x57. Good all rounder and I am not anticipating taking very long shots or shooting very large animals(newbie). Not further than 150m. My question is; Is a scope neccesary for hunting at these distances? Everybody says so, but I think with a bit of practice the open sights might just be a lot more practical.

Lets hope the licensing process goes quickly...

Regards
I enjoy reading all your posts.

Congratulations on a good rifle in an excellent caliber.
If you can stalk to within 100 metres a scope is not necessary. I have hunted sucessfully with open sights on a .54 muzzleloader, a .357 handgun, a .222 rem/12ga combo and a Musgrave k98L in 7x57 at ranges up to 100m.

However, using open sights, you are going to have to pass up on a lot of shots you could have taken with even a low power scope, and that includes close range shots.

An animal standing in deep shade is almost impossible to take with open sights, light conditions in early morning and late afternoon (prime hunting time) make the use of open sights very difficult and in thick bush you often do not see branches, or other obstructions, between you and your prey that would have easily been seen with a scope.

If you are a newbie, rather mount a scope untill you've done a good bit of hunting and then, if you feel you need a challenge, start using open sights. The fastest way do spoil your enjoyment of hunting is to lose a wounded animal and, while this will almost certainly happen if you hunt enough, the chances of it happening when hunting with open sights is a lot higher.

I did it the other way round and if I could start again I'd certainly start hunting with a scope.

[Wesley]

@ TStone

You make a whole lot of valid points. The guys at the club tell me that they hardly ever shoot with a magnification setting of anything above 6x. I saw a compact scope the other day of which the objective lens is only 24mm. Would that suffice for hunting at those ranges? I find that the scopes we have on our PCP rifles with objective lens sizes of up to 56mm are unneccesary and a lot to lug around.


Thanks for your input.

[TStone]

@ TStone

You make a whole lot of valid points. The guys at the club tell me that they hardly ever shoot with a magnification setting of anything above 6x. I saw a compact scope the other day of which the objective lens is only 24mm. Would that suffice for hunting at those ranges? I find that the scopes we have on our PCP rifles with objective lens sizes of up to 56mm are unneccesary and a lot to lug around.


Thanks for your input.

You could mount a 1-4x20 or 1.5-5x20 Leupold (both are light and compact scopes without an objective bell) and shoot at any range from 5m to at least 200m.

[Messor]

@wesley , I don't believe such a small magnification scope is the way to go. If you say you are a newbie you are going to spend a lot of time at the range. Believe me a 4 or 5 times scope is ok in the hunting field but shooting targets at 100m it will only frustrate you. You can pick up a Leupold 3-9 x 40 vx1 for about R2500. If i were you i would try and do it right the first time. I grew up shooting open sights and while it was fun back then a scope is the only way to go, it is a more ethical way of shooting an animal i believe because margin of error is smaller.