IS ITJUST ME?

You can view scopes as an aiming device and be happy with reasonably prices offerings. My suggestion is do not spend much time behind really good glass if you're not willing to open the wallet wide. It will let you know really quick what you were missing.

It can be overwhelming when considering all the options. I start narrowing down the field based on my own preferences.
1. I buy from companies that stand behind their product.
2. I buy from companies that are friendly with the USA.
3. I am realistic with what I am going to use and need the scope for. If my primary use is hunting where I will be doing a significant amount of walking, weight is a key factor.
4. Set a budget limit and enjoy the search.

Mark37082 said:

You can view scopes as an aiming device and be happy with reasonably prices offerings. My suggestion is do not spend much time behind really good glass if you're not willing to open the wallet wide. It will let you know really quick what you were missing.

It can be overwhelming when considering all the options. I start narrowing down the field based on my own preferences.
1. I buy from companies that stand behind their product.
2. I buy from companies that are friendly with the USA.
3. I am realistic with what I am going to use and need the scope for. If my primary use is hunting where I will be doing a significant amount of walking, weight is a key factor.
4. Set a budget limit and enjoy the search.

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Sounds good to me

tribb said:

Is it just me or is the world just inundated with makers of telescopic sight for our rifles? It's very confusing! What color do you get? what color lighted reticle?what horsepower? Second or first focal plane? Warranty? All over the place with prices. Everyone says theirs is the best. Best for what? what are your thoughts? How do "you" decide? Do you stick with the companies that have been around the longest? let's see what you think?

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I've been trying not to answer, but here it goes. I think you are not getting the choices people make on here.

First and foremost, you have to have a spec. Yes, I'm an engineer….sorry. ….but what do you want based on what you know about shooting with optics? Nobody can really tell you about what you want.

Then there is the whole good, better, best part of selection. Generally you can get what you want in terms of basic features for $100-300. Then you have the same basic features at $700-$1000. and again at $1500-2500. Finally there are the $3500-$5000. That first jump is huge, you really see a difference. The next is better, but by a much smaller increment. ….and so it goes. The increments get more expensive and offer less value. Here is still value out to $5000+ for some folks.

If you truely don't know, i'd take a guess in the $300-600 range and see what you like and what you need to improve. The good thing about optics in this range is that resale is generally not bad if you need to move on.

I think you may be associating much more thought to each of these startups than is due them.

Usually it's just someone with a gift for marketing and a contact with one of the pacific rim oems all topped off with a vauge tie into the shooting sports or tangential optics.

tribb said:

Ain't it so

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Yep we might need to let dfanonymous run for president. He's got it figured out

Well you know it really come down to what exactly what your doing with the scope, than personal preference comes into play.
If your just hunting the woods/short range you really don't need anything exotic or expensive.

Personally I prefer Second focal plan(because I resist change-not many old school scopes were first focal plane),
I like MOA just because inches make better sense in my head
I've set my limit at around 600 yds and have found that I can get by with 4-16x44
I've used everything from old school Weavers, Leopold's, Burris, Nikon, Tasco, Vortex, Nightforce and Zeiss
Currently running Vortex and Zeiss and really like the glass of the Zeiss V4

You can get really nice glass and save some money buying demo scopes, which I have bought from these guys

Just some basic optical principles, tailored to hunting, part I:
Field of view: (how wide an area you can see) is directly related to magnification. No way around it. So at close range, if you want to acquire a moving target quickly, you will need to be down at around the 3-4X range. If you need to bag something long distance, higher mag is more important. You will pay for 'zoom ratio'. That is to say, 3x9 mag is a ratio of 3. 4x20 is a ratio of 5. My personal experience is that you must be able to go down to 4x mag for the close shots.
Elevation adjustments: (how much elevation you can dial into a scope to account for distance) is directly related to the bore diameter of the scope. IMHO, a 1" bore diameter is inadequate for long range shooting, especially since most of the adjustment range is taken up by misalignment of scope to barrel. 30mm is minimum. You can't click in enough compensation for longer ranges with a 1" bore diameter.
Light gathering: Objective lens diameter. IMHO, 50mm is minimum for twighlight shooting, when most game animals are taken. The amount of light you can gather is proportional to the square of the objective lens diameter. Again, simple physics.
Waterproof, fogproof, etc. - an absolute requirement.
Warranty: Gotta be lifetime, no proving purchase, no caveats, no BS. Scope goes bad, send it in, repair/replace and done.
Ranging: Dial in a range for a given load, aim dead on, and shoot: Leupold's CDS system as an example. Send them your bullet trajectory, and they will send you a dial. I zero in such that no adjustments are required for 0-300 yards, then dial in as required.