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Hunting scope season - the best of the cheapest?

I would lean towards vortex but look for a used scope on the classified section here or on eBay or GunBroker to find possibly a higher quality used scope for less money
 
I had a store in remote Alaska for a while the guys out there use rifles harder then anywhere. Travel is different and much harder of rifles/scopes.
I only sold leupold and some vortex mostly leupold. It was a small store probably only sold 30-50 a year but I only had one leupold freedom come back for blurry on high power and one vortex come back didn't really ever focus on any power.
In this area exposed turrets didn't work for guys traveling on a snowmobile.
 
Nikon's scopes have decent glass for the money, and include a lifetime guarantee. Same for Vortex I think. Not sure about erector reliability, so if they're dropped on the day of the hunt all bets are off. As an aside, I have seen scopes advertised as "shock-proof".
Nikon is no longer in the rifle scope business. They quit make rifle scopes almost three years ago.
 
Simplicity is your best bet in this price range. Tactical style turrets, fancy reticles and other "cool" features add cost and complexity which comes at the expense of quality in this price range.

Stick with capped elevation/windage, duplex reticle, and a 1" tube from a reputable mfg and you should be good to go. Something like the Leupold VX1/VX2 series of old (don't know what they call it now). Had one (a 3-9x40) on my first rifle, held zero for ages of abuse and knocked down plenty of animals over the years.

Me personally? I'd borrow a rifle for a year and try to save another $300 ahead of next season, puts you in a much better price range.
 
If all Vortex Crossfire II scopes are like the one I have, don't ever recommend them to anyone. I know they are an inexpensive scope and all that but mine will not focus at any distance like the one mentioned above. I bought it to replace one of those "comes already mounted on the package gun" scopes. It is better than what it replaced but nowhere near a Leupold Freedom 4-12 that I have on a different rifle as far as clarity goes. I can't speak for their warranty or either one's durability as they both have seen limited use so far.
 
I bought the Fullfield E1. It's sitting on top of a hard hiking M77 in 7/08 (I.e. recoil like an -06).
I've already shot a full MTM box through it and it still tracks perfectly. Best $180 I've spent in a long time.
People speak highly of Vortex. However, I only know three guys with Vortex scopes and two have sent them back for service.
I have other low end scopes, but they aren't even in league with the E1.
I'll be putting it up against a S-TAC in a week, so will see how it compares with that.
Edit: I posted a link to the E1 on Amazon but the forum redirected it. Hence, I deleted the link.
 
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See if you can find a used Leupold maybe with a scratch or scrape on the objective lens. You will never, ever notice the scratch and the "damage" lowers the sale price of a perfectly functional more expensive piece of glass.

Leupold stands behind their scopes and for the money, they are pretty tough to beat.
 
See if you can find a used Leupold maybe with a scratch or scrape on the objective lens. You will never, ever notice the scratch and the "damage" lowers the sale price of a perfectly functional more expensive piece of glass.

Leupold stands behind their scopes and for the money, they are pretty tough to beat.
Get a 10x fixed power SWFA , good scope and can take the abuse . Made in Japan , not a Chinese piece of junk . Not a lot too go wrong from what I understand the fixed power SWFA scopes are the same quality as there variables.
 

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