Stefan Fouché tested the 3GS reticule
on Hercules Louw’s .416 Ruger
rifle during a Safari & Outdoor DGS
competition.
Lynx LX3 1-6x24 G4i
Bryan on the
shooting range
testing the LX3
I
paid Mike a visit at his office in
Johannesburg and after a nice cup
of coffee he showed me the new
model. What surprised me was that
Lynx requested the actual model I
tested so that they could inspect it in
their factory. Remember, there was
nothing wrong with the scope and
everything worked perfectly as per the
last test by myself and Hercules; a box
test done at 50 m.
Upon closer inspection, after disassembly of the scope, the factory identified a ‘possible’ problem that may be
encountered after many years’ use on
a big-calibre rifle, and they decided
to improve the design anyway. This
simply entailed changing the position
of a small screw in the magnification
mechanism, but this shows just how
dedicated this company is to deliver a
top-quality product.
The new LX3 is basically the same
scope with the same magnification
and the same objective lens diameter.
However, the lenses are now of an
even better quality than before (not
that any of us who tested the LX2
model felt this was necessary). They
also made some adjustments to the
German no 4 reticule after some good
advice from Hercules. The ‘improved’
reticule is a little thinner than the previous one and the illumination on the
inside was also changed to a bigger
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Being a big-game enthusiast and owning a couple of very
suitable calibres for this type of hunting, Mike Rogers
and Hercules Louw contacted me in 2014 to help them
test the Lynx LX2 scope, model 1-6x24. The scope was
sent to me and after a thorough test of endurance and
accuracy on my .450 Rigby rifle it passed with flying
colours. Since then Lynx has contacted me again. This
time Mike was almost ‘overexcited’ about the new LX3
model. This is how the test went.
green cross instead of just a green
dot. Lynx also added an additional
reticule option called the 3GS, specifically aimed at the tactical market
shooting the 5.56mm Nato round
(.223 cal) on all the different AR-type
platforms. Personally I think that Lynx
is very innovative with this decision
as the tactical market is expanding
rapidly and it is good for any business
to be part of such a growth spurt.
I offered to test the new LX3 model
in the field where I felt I could add
the most value to their product – the
large-bore department! I also asked
for the G4i (German no 4 illuminated)
reticule because I believe that most
hunters would opt for the traditional
option instead of the fancy, new,
tactical one. I was actually pleasantly
surprised when I used Hercules’s .416
Ruger rifle in a recent Safari & Outdoor Dangerous Game Shoot, fitted
with the 3GS reticule with red illumination. I used the rifle under pressure,
shooting a charging buffalo event
as well as a simulated lion charge,
both with huge success! I even beat
Hercules with his own rifle on the buffalo range, shooting a full score with
all four shots hitting the brain within
17 seconds. I was totally amazed at
how easy target acquisition was with
the help of the red circle. This reticule
option will not only work well on the
GAME & HUNT APRIL 2016
The Lynx LX3
on top of my
.450 Rigby
with quickdetachable
Warne mounts
shooting range but also in any hunting
scenario.
Back to the model I was testing. I
again decided to use my .450 Rigby
rifle but on this occasion I pulled out
all the stops in terms of pushing the
scope to the limit with regard to recoil.
Shooting a 550 gr Woodleigh soft at
2 300 feet per second (fps) would be
a true test for any riflescope competing in the big-game hunting category.
I invited Bryan Betton to the shooting
range when I sighted in the scope
to get his opinion as well. Bryan is
an avid trophy hunter with a number
of buffalo, hippo and giraffe in his
hunting photo album. He was very
impressed with what he saw and experienced on the range, handling and
shooting the rifle fitted with the LX3.
Testing the new LX3 in the field
After quite a painful shooting range
session, zeroing the rifle I called two
friends to join me for my field test. We
would hunt three blue wildebeest bulls
near Rust de Winter and we would
all use my .450 Rigby fitted with the
Lynx LX3 1-6x24; hence the rifle was
zeroed at 100 m. With the day breaking just after 5 am, we were waiting
at the gate for the farm owner. After
having checked the zero, we were on
the hunting vehicle and quickly spotted a herd of bulls. We disembarked
and with the vehicle continuing along
the dirt road, we were hoping that the
animals would focus on the vehicle
instead of on us. The plan did not
work; we were in for a tough stalk with
almost 60 eyes watching us! At 130 m
I made the call and we opened up the
shooting sticks. The sound of the rifle
spitting out the heavy bullet shattered
the silence, waking the entire bushveld! The bull was hit hard with a perfectly placed heart shot and collapsed
within 40 meters.
went down within 60 m and the bullet
was recovered in the left hind leg (see
‘Bullet Talk’ on page 22).
Lourens owns a wide variety of
calibres and has hunted all over South
Africa, Namibia and Botswana. He
was also very impressed with the optical clarity of the scope. One point that
also stood out for him was the long
eye relief. Despite the huge recoil, the
scope did not hit one of us – a very
good attribute of the LX3.
Reticules
I tested both reticules, one on the
Optical clarity
shooting range during a big bore
I was very impressed with the opticompetition and the other in the field.
cal clarity of the scope. The green
illuminated cross could be placed
perfectly with the scope set on the
The author
maximum 6x magnification. We
with the blue
hunted on foot the rest of the day
wildebeest that
and Jason Mclean shot a young bull
he hunted in the
at 100 m. Jason is a riflescope salesearly morning
man in the Pretoria branch of the
Safari & Outdoor group and he was
very happy with the way the scope
performed during his hunt. Lourens
Kilian hunted the third bull and by
then the mercury had passed the 40°
mark. We bumped into the herd and
by judging the speed with which they
left off we knew catching up was
going to be impossible. Hoping they
would turn, we figured out the best
way of approach and set off. With no
animals in sight we decided
to take a ten-minute break.
The right horn of
While still standing in
Lourens Kilian’s bull
the shade, chatting, we
measured 15”.
heard animals approaching upwind. We hid behind
some cover and set up the
shooting sticks for Lourens.
It was a herd of blue wildebeest. They passed about
80 m in front of us, and with
a gap of about 6 m in the
thick bush, we decided that
the first big black body with
a scrotum would be taken.
The next few seconds felt
like a slow-motion replay
in an action movie. Out
stepped one of the biggest
blue wildebeest bulls I had
ever laid eyes on in terms of
body and horn size. He was
dark in skin colour and one
horn was broken off, a true
old warrior. Lourens took off
the safety and hit the bull on
the right shoulder. He also
Scan here to see the video of the range test.
WILD & JAG APRIL 2016
In my opinion this scope can be used
on any bushveld calibre up to shots of
200 m with no problem whatsoever.
By fitting a scope like this onto your
.375 or even .416 calibre, you can
turn your rifle that was only used for
big-game hunting into an everyday
working rifle. The 1x magnification
also means that the scope can stay
on your dangerous-game rifle and be
used in the thick stuff at the closest
of ranges. By hunting normal plains
game with your big bore rifle you also
build up a great deal of confidence
in it – a valuable asset when hunting
the Dark Continent’s most dangerous
beasts … 3
Jason took this young
bull in thick bush with
the .450 Rigby and LX3
combination.
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