Cabela's Alaskan Scope

Ridgedrifter · Jul 8, 2004

The Cabela's 3-12x52 scope looks great according to the specs. Anyone familiar with this scope? The glass comes from Japan; does anyone know what company Cabela's teams up with- Nikon, Pentax?

RELH · Jul 9, 2004

Ridgedrifter;

I can not answer your question. You need to get hold of Rangercon on this forum and he should have an answer for you. He has very good knowledge concerning rifle scopes and what is a good buy or not.
RELH

Ridgedrifter · Jul 11, 2004

Thanks, I'll try to find him.

RANGERCON · Jul 11, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Jul-11-04 AT 09:02PM (MST)[p]I "think" those scopes were contracted out to Celestron. Which is to say that the glass is Jap. I have never personally seen one. That said, I havent heard anything negetive either.

I have heard that the Alaskan bino's are really nice too. But, I have not seen them.

I'm sure the glass will be good enough. The mechanics of the scope may be a differant story. What caliber of rifle are you going to mount it on??

My favorite Jap scope now is the Nikon Gold Monarch.

RANGERCON · Jul 11, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Jul-11-04 AT 09:20PM (MST)[p]After I posted. I went to Cabela's website and looked at the scopes. Well, after I read the review section and saw that Ian McMurchy gave them a favorable review....That's good enough for me.

Ian and I have emailed each other a few times, (he like me is a avid Sako nut), and Ian is a true gentleman and an rifle/optics expert in every regard.

You can find Ian over at Longrangehunting.com, and I'm sure he could tell you more than I. Small world!!

Ridgedrifter · Jul 11, 2004

Thanks for the info. I will mount the scope on either my Rem. 270, or Tikka 7mm mag.(which I plan on buying soon)

RANGERCON · Jul 11, 2004

The only thing I would caution you on this scope, is the fact that you have only 3.1 inches of eye relief, according to the specs. Good luck. And please report back and let us know how you end up.

Ridgedrifter · Jul 13, 2004

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it turns out. One more quick question; what is considered "good" eye relief?

RANGERCON · Jul 13, 2004

4 inches is considered exceptional. 3 1/2 inches is "my" minimum on a high recoil rifle. 3.1" is not a lot of ER for a 7mm mag.

Some guys, including me a times, in the heat of the moment tend to "crawl up the stock" to get a good sight picture of the animal.
Also, the higher the power setting, the less ER one will have.
If you are like me, I generally hunt with my variable power scope on about 5-6. I save the higher power settings for the range, or a very distant target. Which is not common in the Carolinas where I hunt mostly. So you can manipulate the ER on most variable scopes by turning down the power setting.

Lower power settings give me quicker target acquisition, better ER, and a broader FOV.

Though I'm not a huge Leupold fan, they have got the eye relief feature down pat.
Now if the ER was fixed instead of variable, and they would get rid of that deplorable wire reticle, I would be more of a fan.

Ridgedrifter · Jul 14, 2004

I live in Arizona, and have taken some pretty long shots. Maybe I'll place the Cabela's scope on my 270. Thanks.

milkie62 · Aug 3, 2004

Not to get off the cabela's subject,my buddy had his leupold vari-xII next to his nikon monarch out in the field and looking at some deer in the distance he said the leupold could not hold a candle to the clairity of the nikon.