The best scopes I own are Leupolds I bought about 20 years ago and I still find them to be exceptional. I recently bought a scope for my AR, an Sig Sauer Tango-MSR and the glass is nearly as fine as my admittedly older Leupolds.
Scopes? When is good enough acceptable?
- Thread starter Mobuck
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twriggen
Blackhawk
My brother-in-law and I were walking back to the truck after a long day of "taking the rifles for a walk". It was towards the end of the day and shooting light was pretty much gone when we saw a whitetail doe down this long opening in the trees. My brother-in-law's rifle sported a Leupold VariX3 3.5-10X50 while I had a much smaller 3-9X36 Swarovski. He swore it was a doe while I could clearly tell it was just a good-looking stump. We swapped guns so I could prove to him it was a stump.
The time to compare optics is in the worst-case scenarios. Comparing a $100 to a $500 scope on a beautiful sun shiny day is worthless. The true test is when the weather is bad, and then you get what you pay for in optics. I have owned that Swarovski for a couple of decades and it has been mounted on more than a few rifles in that time. Yes, it was a large investment at the time but one of the best investments I've made when it comes to my hunting rifle. I prefer to be out in the woods taking my rifle for a walk in beautiful weather but unfortunately when you hunt in Montana that is very seldom the case. The last place I want to be is out hunting and miss an opportunity to harvest my animal because my scope wasn't clear enough to give me confidence in my shot.
When I was working at gun counter years back, I would tell customers to set their budget and at least half of that should go towards their optics. No one makes an inferior rifle for hunting purposes but that is not the case with optics. I'd rather have a Savage with a Leupold than a Weatherby with a Tasco.
The time to compare optics is in the worst-case scenarios. Comparing a $100 to a $500 scope on a beautiful sun shiny day is worthless. The true test is when the weather is bad, and then you get what you pay for in optics. I have owned that Swarovski for a couple of decades and it has been mounted on more than a few rifles in that time. Yes, it was a large investment at the time but one of the best investments I've made when it comes to my hunting rifle. I prefer to be out in the woods taking my rifle for a walk in beautiful weather but unfortunately when you hunt in Montana that is very seldom the case. The last place I want to be is out hunting and miss an opportunity to harvest my animal because my scope wasn't clear enough to give me confidence in my shot.
When I was working at gun counter years back, I would tell customers to set their budget and at least half of that should go towards their optics. No one makes an inferior rifle for hunting purposes but that is not the case with optics. I'd rather have a Savage with a Leupold than a Weatherby with a Tasco.
Shamus2022
Single-Sixer
If it was fresh last week you drink it. The test is: are there green fungi islands floating in it.FWIW (and maybe because I've had too much coffee this morning ;^), a couple of principles apply to most of my firearms-related purchases:
AFFORDABILITY - if I don't have the money to buy it, or replace it if it's lost down a mountainside/run over by a truck/confiscated by law enforcement, I don't get it. And if I have to choose between two chamberings, and one is $5 a round from limited sources, and the other is $2 a round with ammo & components everywhere, you can guess what I generally go with.
PERFORMANCE - if something can do what I want, I don't see a need to buy something 'better' just because it's 'better'. Sure, if I stumble across something on clearance & 75% off, I may pick one up (everybody likes a 'great deal'! ;^). But in those cases, I may just pass it on to somebody who's into 'name brands' and 'the best of the best of the best'. So, I own Ruger & Savage bolt actions (that do what I want), mostly older Japanese-made scopes (that also do what I want), and don't figure I'll ever get a .277 SIG Fury because a .270 Winchester would work fine for me.
Not suggesting that any of the above applies to anyone else (just IMHO & YMMV).
And now it's time for a more important decision - do I dump what's left of the coffee, or drink it just because it's there?
If the cost is keeping me from doing the shooting that needs done, it's too much.
I'm of the buy once cry once tribe, and understand that there is such a thing as not good enough. I drive a common man's F-150 I've not walked an inch due to a mechanical failure in my 47 year driving career. Any number of more expensive vehicles, or more highly regarded.
Suitable for purpose as the Brits say.
I'm of the buy once cry once tribe, and understand that there is such a thing as not good enough. I drive a common man's F-150 I've not walked an inch due to a mechanical failure in my 47 year driving career. Any number of more expensive vehicles, or more highly regarded.
Suitable for purpose as the Brits say.
When I started into precision rimfire shooting, I listened and observed the optics used by the other shooters. I ended up getting an Arken brand scope for $500.00. It had the "bells and whistles" they recommended and used. I will say my scores improved significantly but would another, less expensive option have worked as well? Very possibly but I was totally satisfied.
The features were:
Front focal plane
Mil rad measurement
6 X 24 X50
Zero stop
I hope you find this helpful.
The features were:
Front focal plane
Mil rad measurement
6 X 24 X50
Zero stop
I hope you find this helpful.
like leupold AR series 6x18 ,3x9, hard to beat the clarity or the life time warranty. i agree young eyes can suffer cheap scopes. i put strike eagle 1x8 on ar 10, 1x6 on ar 556. like the illumination horseshoe/dot option. holosun green and red on pistols for focus/age difficulties. cheap scopes are ok until they are not. leupolds are a good investment , with a good base and rings mounted on a fine accurate rifle--an heirloom a treasure to be enjoyed long after our eyes see no more
yes mobuck, bifocals are no good for cheek weld. if they could move the magnified area closer to the nose piece then you wouldn't have to raise your head, downside you 'd probably be crosseyed. i just use cheap readers and adjust the objective and distance as best ican off the bench
My experience with scopes might be more limited than some of y'all's. Back in the 90's I bought a Tasco World Class 3-9x44 from Wal-Mart for my model 70 .30-06. It was clear & always held zero. Back around 2012 a buck walked out crossing a logging road in the national forest just after sunrise. He was due East from me. When I brought my rifle up & looked through the scope all I could see was light. Shortly after that I put a Vortex Diamondback 3.5-10x50 on it. It has been fine for my purposes.
I have a Burris Fullfield 2 3-9x40 on an old .22. I would not hesitate to use it on a centerfire. I am planning on picking up a rifle for my son to use soon. I am planning on picking up another one of these to use on it. They are an excellent value at under $200. Around here unless you have somewhere to hunt on a farmer's field all shots will be less than 300 yards. Most will be much less.
I have a friend that has a 300 yard rifle range on his property. Last year I sat up an AR-15 with a LPVO to use when I go there. I was getting frustrated using irons & a red dot with my eyes. I bought an inexpensive Tru-Glo 1-6x24 scope that has turrets with bullet drop compensation for 55 grain 5.56 or 168 grain 308. The only cons I see about that scope are that the eyebox is bit less forgiving than some other scopes I have & 1x on the scope is really about 1 1/2. Again it is fine for what I am using it for.
I know there is better out there but everything I have works for what I do.
I have a Burris Fullfield 2 3-9x40 on an old .22. I would not hesitate to use it on a centerfire. I am planning on picking up a rifle for my son to use soon. I am planning on picking up another one of these to use on it. They are an excellent value at under $200. Around here unless you have somewhere to hunt on a farmer's field all shots will be less than 300 yards. Most will be much less.
I have a friend that has a 300 yard rifle range on his property. Last year I sat up an AR-15 with a LPVO to use when I go there. I was getting frustrated using irons & a red dot with my eyes. I bought an inexpensive Tru-Glo 1-6x24 scope that has turrets with bullet drop compensation for 55 grain 5.56 or 168 grain 308. The only cons I see about that scope are that the eyebox is bit less forgiving than some other scopes I have & 1x on the scope is really about 1 1/2. Again it is fine for what I am using it for.
I know there is better out there but everything I have works for what I do.
Paul B
Hunter
Probably the most expensive scope I own is a Minox 2.5x10X that retailed for $600. I got mine for $300 when Minox upgraded that particular model and the dealer was clearing them out. The only scopes that ever gave me trouble were one 4X Leupold and three 3x9X Leupolds. The 4X is hard to describe as when you look through it, the sight picture looks drastically reduced. A very sharp but small picture. It's one of the longer tube models that I understand Leupold no longer repairs due to lack of parts. The 3x9s have all had reticle failures, two at the range so no big deal and one on a hunt. A 350 yard laser measured shot and at the shot the elk died. I quickly jacked another round into the chamber and sighted on the elk and where in the hell did the crosshairs go? The good news is the 225 gr. TSX bullet from my .35 Whelen broke the elk's neck at the base of the skull. I was aiming for a lung shot Nothing but sheer very good luck let me take that elk to the butcher shop. I replaced that scope with a Nikon but the only problem with that one is if it craps out, Nikon won't honor their warranty. They've been that way since they went woke and quite making rifle scopes.
Paul B.
Paul B.
OP
I'm still not following the comment about 'needing more magnification'. 4X is still the same now as 20-30-40 years ago and newer scopes are most likely clearer than 40 year old production.
I rarely use more than 3-4x while hunting unless I'm trying to pick a shot between tree branches or something or making sure of which animal in a distant group I want to shoot. For longer shots, I will turn up the power to utilize the 'holdover tics' on the scope's crosshairs.
I rarely use more than 3-4x while hunting unless I'm trying to pick a shot between tree branches or something or making sure of which animal in a distant group I want to shoot. For longer shots, I will turn up the power to utilize the 'holdover tics' on the scope's crosshairs.
instructor
Single-Sixer
Some of are the opinion that the optic should cost as much as the rifle itself but have not found to be a reality.
I have several scopes with 4 of them being Leupold for hunting rifles and for the range as well. When Leupold was offering scopes from their custom shop I bought two of the FX3 6X with custom elevation/windage turrets and they work well out to 600-yard targets. Other Leupold scopes are a 2.5X with German post reticle and the other is a VX 3 3.5-10 power. When SIG announced early on, I bought one of them which is a variable 1-6 power, and it came with their picatinny base mount for slightly over $200 and it has served me well on one of my AR 15 rifles.
For a fixed power scope of 10X it is hard to beat the Super Sniper offered by SWFA source. It is mounted on my 40X repeater rifle, and it has had lots of use and some abuse but works every time and bought it used for $200.
Be aware that most professional shooters as found in the military or law enforcement will not use scopes of more than 10 power. Scopes of more than 10X will reflect your heartbeat/pulse rate and leads to a missed target.
I have several scopes with 4 of them being Leupold for hunting rifles and for the range as well. When Leupold was offering scopes from their custom shop I bought two of the FX3 6X with custom elevation/windage turrets and they work well out to 600-yard targets. Other Leupold scopes are a 2.5X with German post reticle and the other is a VX 3 3.5-10 power. When SIG announced early on, I bought one of them which is a variable 1-6 power, and it came with their picatinny base mount for slightly over $200 and it has served me well on one of my AR 15 rifles.
For a fixed power scope of 10X it is hard to beat the Super Sniper offered by SWFA source. It is mounted on my 40X repeater rifle, and it has had lots of use and some abuse but works every time and bought it used for $200.
Be aware that most professional shooters as found in the military or law enforcement will not use scopes of more than 10 power. Scopes of more than 10X will reflect your heartbeat/pulse rate and leads to a missed target.
when testing for reload performance 18 to 24X.i can see the group, see if i called it right. heart is the same 10 or 24x you see it with magnification. some can calm down and shoot between beats. yes, something more to distract but maybe something ese to make your focus better.
I watched my heart beat in match scopes for many years. A No pulse sling was developed, I got 1. they work. But in International competition, rifle scopes and heavy thick no pulse slings are not allowed. Heck international matches have requirements beyond NRA (US) matches on everything the shooter wears or uses. So I had NRA equipment and stuff for those International matches.
Donnieweps
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2018
- Messages
- 116
While I do believe that there are fine and usually expensive optics out there, I think some less expensive optics have excellent performance as well.
I have a Ruger No.1 in .458 Win Mag which has carried a Nikon 2-7 that has dealt with recoil abuse for 46 yrs. The view at all magnifications is crisp and sharp. Don
I have a Ruger No.1 in .458 Win Mag which has carried a Nikon 2-7 that has dealt with recoil abuse for 46 yrs. The view at all magnifications is crisp and sharp. Don
Donnieweps
Single-Sixer
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2018
- Messages
- 116
In 60 plus years of shooting, I've never heard of such a thing.
How about telling us who is the manufacturer? Don
Uncle Howie
Buckeye
Google "no pulse sling," and you'll have reading for your morning coffee.
Here's the first result that popped up for me, just to get you started:
Custom Match Slings
servicerifleslings.com
Google "no pulse sling," and you'll have reading for your morning coffee.
Here's the first result that popped up for me, just to get you started:
Custom Match Slings
Sold by Creedmoor sports: Gehmann No Pulse sling, currently 180 bucks. Gehmann is a top- high end competition shooting equipment company. I owned their slings, gloves and the best thing an adjustable polarized rear sight Iris added to on the rear sight currently 454 bucks. Not standard shooting equipment.
