What's a good magnification for a hunting handgun scope?

[Coyotefurharvester]

A k6 has about 19' field of view at 100 yards, so seeing the whole deer is not an issue. I had 1.5x Weaver, couldn't see coyote in cover past about 70 yards. 4x probably would be your best option and there are way more scopes available in 4x than 6x.

 

[JSH]

Another big F’ up by Bushnell was dropping their 2-6 Elite pistol scope, just stupid.
Eye relief stays pretty constant, I can’t say the same for many others, maybe the discontinued Nikon.
I am like Snert, deer hunted with a pistol for close to 40 years, have been known to pack a wheel gun along with an SSP.

As far as a straight power 4X Leupold is where I tend to go, a 5X Burris is nothing to turn away from either.

I am still of the thought that everyone’s eyes are enough different that what works for one doesn’t for others. So you should be the judge.

 

[stosh]

I shoot a savage Striker in 308 Win sporting a Leupold 2-8 x scope. I have taken 3 deer (3 shots) at 200,210,150 yds. Love the leupold ! When i baught the gun it has a simmons scope but wasn't clear and image was distorted. Being a varmint hunter i like larger mag in my scopes, the simmons was 4x and just not enough for long shots. The higher power scope does take some practice to be able to aquire target quickly but the way i hunt is to wait till deer stops to take a shot. So it works wery well for me.