high value low cost optics, scopes binoculars, spotters ect.

[mildot1960]

Quote,Benchracer...No matter how you slice it, a $99 Tasco is NOT a long range instrument. It can get a person started and be a platform for learning, but it won't get you there. It is a first step. That is not snobbery, it is physical and economic fact.

Well I would Agree with you on the steiners they are very good indeed, I have the 7x30 Navigator and they are very surprizing and although they are Dark Blue in color I doubt if theres much differance in Quality to the Green Military versions,

As for the comment about Tasco, this is not quite right Because they do have Over 90 MOA of Adjustment, add to that A 20moa Base and you have a heck of alot of lift Add to that A .270 win or any other flat shooter you are going to be getting your self ready to start shooting long Range, Then you might need to start getting into the Hi end gear, The Tasco 2.5-10x42 has the 90moa Which makes it a good all purpose scope and an Ideal scope to use as a Stepping Stone for when you are ready to upgrade ready to shoot Long Range,

You have some great Deals in your list, there is more reasonable gear than I thought, You seem to like the Nikon's are they that good???

John

 

[benchracer]

I used to consider the Leupold VX III as the beginning of scopes for serious use. The Nikon scopes have taken that role for me now. I think they are a better value for the money. I feel that you don't get as much scope for the money with a Leupold as you used to.

I am not saying that the Nikons are the be-all end-all. I do think that they are an excellent "bang for the buck" value. I REALLY like my Zeiss Conquests, but at more than twice the price they really don't offer a discernible advantage over the Nikons. They have GREAT glass and they are sweet to use, but that's it.

I have shot my Nikon, Zeiss, and SWFA scopes out to 600 yards so far. The Nikon does just as well as the other two. It is less than half the price of my Zeiss scopes. It was about the same price as my SWFA, but I got variable power and more magnification out of the deal. With a 20 MOA base, it should be able to take my Swede to 1000 yards and change.

The SWFA is a very good scope as well, but the fixed power kind of limits its utility. A variable from them is double the cost, but would enable me to play the ELR game. That will probably be my new baseline when I outgrow the Nikons.

 

[mildot1960]

I'm having Trouble finding the SWFA scopes over here (UK) but when I get back home I will have a good look at them seems theres quite alot of people who like them but not many folks talk about them, Arn't they the SS scopes that have been posted on here??

John

 

[MudRunner2005]

Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5-20x50

I paid $99 for mine. This scope is big and heavy and has to be mounted pretty high. At the top end of the magnification range, eye relief gets critical and resolution degrades. The absence of turret adjustments is a minus. Still, it can be had with a Mil-dot reticle, has precise and repeatable adjustments, and is provides surprisingly clear images through most of its magnification range. This is a clear, robust scope. It has its weaknesses, but it is a very good scope for the money. I had mine mounted on a varmint rifle. It was a good scope for that purpose. I believe it would have worked just as well on a .308 or 30-06. When I replaced it with the BSA, I gave it to a friend of a friend. He mounted it on his .22 and loves it!

My other scopes include a Meopta, a Kahles, and a couple of Zeiss Conquests with Rapid-Z reticles. They are all superior optical instruments and a joy to use, but they offer very little practical advantage over the Nikons on my other rifles.

I have one of the Simmons Aetec Whitetail 6.5-20x50's with the Mil-Dot, and paid $124.99 @ Midway last year. It has been an excellent scope on my .17 HMR for shooting squirrels and varmints, and it is an excellent scope for the money. Yes, like you pointed out, I have noticed the same flaws in mine. I have 2 older Simmons Aetec Whitetail Expedition scopes 4-12x42's, and they have been going strong for 15 years, as well. One of them was on my old tang-safety Ruger 77 skeleton/stainless 7mm RemMag and it finally shook it enough to knock the reticles around... The scope works great on my other .17 HMR, but I had to put something heavier duty on the Ruger, so I swapped on my Nitrex TR One 3.5-10x50 on it and so far, so good. The Nitrex was an excellent scope on my 7mmSTW for a couple years and handled that recoil fine. That little Ruger 7Mag is so lightweight (scope and all weighs near 6.5 lbs) and is LIGHT. Recoil is pretty nasty, but doesn't bother me since i've been shooting it for all these years.

What model Kahles do you have? I have a Helia KX, and it is phenomenal! It sits atop my Browning A-Bolt II 7Mag as my main whitetail hunting combo.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Quote,Benchracer...No matter how you slice it, a $99 Tasco is NOT a long range instrument. It can get a person started and be a platform for learning, but it won't get you there. It is a first step. That is not snobbery, it is physical and economic fact.

Well I would Agree with you on the steiners they are very good indeed, I have the 7x30 Navigator and they are very surprizing and although they are Dark Blue in color I doubt if theres much differance in Quality to the Green Military versions,

As for the comment about Tasco, this is not quite right Because they do have Over 90 MOA of Adjustment, add to that A 20moa Base and you have a heck of alot of lift Add to that A .270 win or any other flat shooter you are going to be getting your self ready to start shooting long Range, Then you might need to start getting into the Hi end gear, The Tasco 2.5-10x42 has the 90moa Which makes it a good all purpose scope and an Ideal scope to use as a Stepping Stone for when you are ready to upgrade ready to shoot Long Range,

You have some great Deals in your list, there is more reasonable gear than I thought, You seem to like the Nikon's are they that good???

John

I agree. I've dropped whitetails at 400 yards with my 7mm-08 and Tasco World Class 3-9x50 combo on several occasions.

Granted, it is not a high-dollar scope, but it CAN be used for longer range shots if need-be.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Price point versus quality.... Last fall we were in NM for a Mulie hunt and one of our trio had a pair of EL Swaro bino's. I had my cheap Tasco's. Looking through the Swaro's and the Trashco's I could see no difference in view or clarity of image. I did see a vast difference in price.

I'll keep the cheap pair. If I accidently loose them over a cliff or they bounce off some rocks, I'm not out that much.

Now, will someone give me an S&B?

 

[benchracer]

What model Kahles do you have? I have a Helia KX, and it is phenomenal! It sits atop my Browning A-Bolt II 7Mag as my main whitetail hunting combo.

The Kahles I have is a Helia KX 3-9x42. I think it is optically an excellent scope and of high build quality. I originally bought it to put atop a Ruger #1A in 7x57. My plan for the Ruger was (and still is) to use it as my light rifle in Africa. That's why I spent the money to put high quality glass on it.

The Kahles now resides on top of my son's .243. I am hoping that we will be able to hunt together this fall and get him his first deer, with a bit of luck. He loves the rifle and scope. Being a kid, he has no idea what he really has. He just knows that he likes it.

 

[benchracer]

Quote,Benchracer...No matter how you slice it, a $99 Tasco is NOT a long range instrument. It can get a person started and be a platform for learning, but it won't get you there. It is a first step. That is not snobbery, it is physical and economic fact.


As for the comment about Tasco, this is not quite right Because they do have Over 90 MOA of Adjustment, add to that A 20moa Base and you have a heck of alot of lift Add to that A .270 win or any other flat shooter you are going to be getting your self ready to start shooting long Range, Then you might need to start getting into the Hi end gear, The Tasco 2.5-10x42 has the 90moa Which makes it a good all purpose scope and an Ideal scope to use as a Stepping Stone for when you are ready to upgrade ready to shoot Long Range,


John

I think we agree on this more than it might appear at first blush. You hit the nail on the head when you referred to the Tasco as an ideal scope to use as a stepping stone. I believe this applies to low end scopes in general and quite a few of the mid-range offerings.

Both of the low end scopes I cited as being good values would fall into the same category as the Tasco, in my thinking. Most of the time I mention the BSA, I get a lot of grief in much the same way that grief is being given over the Tasco.

We may differ, however, on what we feel a "stepping stone" scope is for. IMO, any given tool should be matched to its intended purpose and understood with respect to its limitations. A "stepping stone" scope is fine for a rimfire rifle or a varmint rifle in an appliation where you are punching paper or popping varmints or even predators. The shooting is not particularly demanding and the consequences of failure are very mild. A "stepping stone" scope is useful to get trigger time and learn about bullet drop, doping the wind, and marksmanship fundamentals.

I wouldn't trust either the Tasco or the BSA on top of a big game rifle. The Simmons I mentioned I think would be OK on a rifle up to .308 level recoil at normal hunting ranges. You might be able to get away with the Tasco or the BSA at woods ranges from a treestand in the southeast, but neither one of them are legit LONG RANGE scopes for big game.

It costs a certain amount of money to build something from materials of sufficient quality to be repeatable, reliable, and robust and to do so with anything approaching consistent quality control. Add in the fact that there still needs to be some room for profit and, even at Chinese slave labor prices, there is no way that you are getting a quality optical instrument for $100, let alone a legitimate LONG RANGE rifle scope. Anyone makng claims to the contrary is living in fantasy land.

I am always open to being proven wrong. It might be interesting to campaign one of the aforementioned Tasco scopes on top of a .308 for a season of F-T/R matches. It might be even more interesting to do one of each on a .223 and a .308 and report your results.

Any takers?

 

[mildot1960]

Price point versus quality.... Last fall we were in NM for a Mulie hunt and one of our trio had a pair of EL Swaro bino's. I had my cheap Tasco's. Looking through the Swaro's and the Trashco's I could see no difference in view or clarity of image. I did see a vast difference in price.

I'll keep the cheap pair. If I accidently loose them over a cliff or they bounce off some rocks, I'm not out that much.

Now, will someone give me an S&B?

As I have said before I do have a great Tasco Worls Class spotting scope which cost me about $300 16 years ago, Back then Tasco also made Many differant products under the Banner of the world Class Series which made it hard to work out which was their Prime 1st Class Gear Anyway I wanted a pair of Binoculars with the compass and range finding Reticle in them, And Of coarse I did'nt know that the army ones were made by Steiner So The camera shop looked them up for me and I Ordered them and what I got was a Pair of of Tasco World Class OffShore 54s and they cost about $650 which was pretty expensive back then, You can get them for half that now And I see that everyone who is NO ONE has coppied them, But I wil say that the Quality of them is As Good or Better as NF,Swaro or Zeiss and when I compared them to the Steiner 7x50 they have Better lenses Brightness and the clarity, So Far no one has made anything better, Equal to Yes but not better and the only drawback with them is like the 7x50 steiners is the weight and size, And the only thing That I dont like them is they have bright Red Ruby Lenses,

Tasco do have high Quality Items just Like Leupold or Vortex etc ect which I hold in high reguard, But 95% of People don't even know what to ask for and if you go to their web site you wont find them unless you do a google search for them, there are 3 differant models in the Offshore Range and I think that the newer Ones dont have RED Lenses,lol.

I can under stand people thinking and saying Tasco are junk compared to NF, Swaro etc etc etc, But they are only judging there Lower Range Products.



John

 

[mildot1960]

I think we agree on this more than it might appear at first blush. You hit the nail on the head when you referred to the Tasco as an ideal scope to use as a stepping stone. I believe this applies to low end scopes in general and quite a few of the mid-range offerings.

Both of the low end scopes I cited as being good values would fall into the same category as the Tasco, in my thinking. Most of the time I mention the BSA, I get a lot of grief in much the same way that grief is being given over the Tasco.

We may differ, however, on what we feel a "stepping stone" scope is for. IMO, any given tool should be matched to its intended purpose and understood with respect to its limitations. A "stepping stone" scope is fine for a rimfire rifle or a varmint rifle in an appliation where you are punching paper or popping varmints or even predators. The shooting is not particularly demanding and the consequences of failure are very mild. A "stepping stone" scope is useful to get trigger time and learn about bullet drop, doping the wind, and marksmanship fundamentals.

I wouldn't trust either the Tasco or the BSA on top of a big game rifle. The Simmons I mentioned I think would be OK on a rifle up to .308 level recoil at normal hunting ranges. You might be able to get away with the Tasco or the BSA at woods ranges from a treestand in the southeast, but neither one of them are legit LONG RANGE scopes for big game.

It costs a certain amount of money to build something from materials of sufficient quality to be repeatable, reliable, and robust and to do so with anything approaching consistent quality control. Add in the fact that there still needs to be some room for profit and, even at Chinese slave labor prices, there is no way that you are getting a quality optical instrument for $100, let alone a legitimate LONG RANGE rifle scope. Anyone makng claims to the contrary is living in fantasy land.

I am always open to being proven wrong. It might be interesting to campaign one of the aforementioned Tasco scopes on top of a .308 for a season of F-T/R matches. It might be even more interesting to do one of each on a .223 and a .308 and report your results.

Any takers?

Sorry I missed your/This post,

Yes these lower priced scopes are Great for all round hunting and to use as stepping stones, Its a good point you put up about being able to use them for working on bullet drop etc (a bit like a Training Rifle) and the knowledge from that would go along way to atleased giving a person an Idea what to expect when trying to reach your Target distance's,

Back years ago I put a Tasco 3-9x40 (The Silver version) on a .223 Ruger 77mkII all-weather Stainless (the one with the hollowed out stock sides) and it was so very accurite, it was great for shooting Roo's and Hogs and it was great at the range too, It shot very tight groups at 200yds which is pretty rare for normal hunting Rifles using factory ammo,

As for what you say about Trusting them on top a big Game Rifle I dont have the Answers for that because the Biggest that I have put them on is a 30-06.

John

 

[SidecarFlip]

I don't think Vortex is all that hot as far as bino's and spotting scopes. I like their rifle scopes, I have 4 at least count but I've looked through their spotters and bino's and price wise, I'll keep my Tasco's. I too have an ancient Tasco spotter thats been through thick and thin and it's still very clear though the case is looking a bit worn.

I guess for off rifle, I'll keep the Tasco's.

I did buy a late model Tasco red dot and it lasted for 4 rounds through my 44 smith and the ocular shattered. The only optic thats ever held up to the recoil is a Japanese Bushnell pistol scope (that you can't get anymore).

 

[mildot1960]

I don't think Vortex is all that hot as far as bino's and spotting scopes. I like their rifle scopes, I have 4 at least count but I've looked through their spotters and bino's and price wise, I'll keep my Tasco's. I too have an ancient Tasco spotter thats been through thick and thin and it's still very clear though the case is looking a bit worn.

I guess for off rifle, I'll keep the Tasco's.

I did buy a late model Tasco red dot and it lasted for 4 rounds through my 44 smith and the ocular shattered. The only optic thats ever held up to the recoil is a Japanese Bushnell pistol scope (that you can't get anymore).

Does your spotter have the ridges along the lenth of it??


So far their new spotters have a 50/50 split for and against,

That scope your 44 killed is another reason why we have a tough time getting people to agree about the Tasco as a brand, seems like most of their rifle scopes work ok and there older stuff stands the test of time, They seem to try and make everything and thats their downfall instead of staying with what they know best and perfecting just their Rifle and spotting scopes,

John

 

[SidecarFlip]

Does your spotter have the ridges along the lenth of it??


So far their new spotters have a 50/50 split for and against,

That scope your 44 killed is another reason why we have a tough time getting people to agree about the Tasco as a brand, seems like most of their rifle scopes work ok and there older stuff stands the test of time, They seem to try and make everything and thats their downfall instead of staying with what they know best and perfecting just their Rifle and spotting scopes,

John

Sure does. I dropped it last year and broke the eyepiece extension so I made a new one from Acetal. Had a hell of a time gaging the threads. Turns out they are diametrical pitch, no issue, I can cut those. The original was hard plastic that got harder over the years. It was a birthday present to me from my late mom so it's a keeper.

The guy I work for has a Ruger Number 1 in 300 WBY Magnum and it has the old school Tasco 1" tube with a whopper of an objective. I looked threough it onece and it's clear as a bell too.

At least the Tasco on the 44 was cheap so it didn't break my heart. I took it back to Cabelas and got a refund.

Word to the wise.... Anytime you buy anything at Cabelas (in store), make sure the box is sealed and hasn't been opened in less it's in front of you.

I had a good friend and hunting partner buy a Nikon over the counter, last one they had and it turned out the erector sysrem was no good. They took it back but he lives 100 miles from the store so it was a hassle.

I almost believe they put returns out for sale. IMO, it was not an accident.

 

[mildot1960]

Sure does. I dropped it last year and broke the eyepiece extension so I made a new one from Acetal. Had a hell of a time gaging the threads. Turns out they are diametrical pitch, no issue, I can cut those. The original was hard plastic that got harder over the years. It was a birthday present to me from my late mom so it's a keeper.

The guy I work for has a Ruger Number 1 in 300 WBY Magnum and it has the old school Tasco 1" tube with a whopper of an objective. I looked threough it onece and it's clear as a bell too.

At least the Tasco on the 44 was cheap so it didn't break my heart. I took it back to Cabelas and got a refund.

Word to the wise.... Anytime you buy anything at Cabelas (in store), make sure the box is sealed and hasn't been opened in less it's in front of you.

I had a good friend and hunting partner buy a Nikon over the counter, last one they had and it turned out the erector sysrem was no good. They took it back but he lives 100 miles from the store so it was a hassle.

I almost believe they put returns out for sale. IMO, it was not an accident.

IT must be one tough scope to stand up to that 300 wby Mag and a good advert for Tasco.

Yep, you should hang on to things from special People,

John