Opinions on a good straight up hunting optic for $500-$700 dollars

[Possum Cop]

Cscal just listed a Leupold:
In great condition. B&C reticle. Matte black. Asking $450 TYD. Thanks.

 

[73driver]

I just put the Leupold VX-3i 4.5-14X 40mm Boon & Crockett reticle on my Howa 6.5C. With this set up you can use the Strelok Pro ballistic calculator to find out where your reticle marks hold for out to 500 yards. This Leupold at Midway USA meets budget and weighs 13 ozs. The Swarovski Z3 3-9x36 or Z3 3-10x42 come in on budget and 12 ozs, I hunted many years with the 3-9x36 atop my light rifle and have been very pleased with it.

 

[Bravo 4]

US Optics website says 18.11oz. I'm guessing optics planet is wrong

Yeah that's almost half what they had listed. I want to hear FEENIX's impressions of it?

 

[Kpknifemaker]

All transparency, I am a Zeiss guy. I have multiple guns with Conquest HD5 in the 2-10 and 3-15. Love them in the thick woods dialed down or maxed out for shots across large openings. Low light and clarity are great! Bought a Conquest V4 recently. This is the low power scope, so not what your looking for but the quality is par with my HD5s. There are 3-12 and 4-16 models. Weights are 21.5 and 22.6 oz, respectively. See what deals you can find on HD5s or these newer V4s.

 

[tnek13]

Lightweight go for a Leupold your choice depending on price desired - go with oned that has the CDS system you will thank me later

 

[jlvandersnick]

Get a used leupold Mark 4.
Incredible low light glass. And lite weight.
Their low light glass is better than leupolds newer HD models
Some people knock their tracking. I have several, and in my experience...if they are off...it is only by .25 moa... all of mine with one exception track perfectly.
At 500 yds .25moa is 1.25 inches

 

[planetwaves]

Hey guys, what all your opinions on a good hunting scope to go on a tikka t3x lite in 6.5 creed? Trying to keep the overall package around 8lbs scoped. This will be my 0-500 yard whitetail rifle and will also be for my boy when he goes hunting next year so I dont need anything fancy. Looking for something in that 3-15ish power range with an easy to use reticle. Illumination is nice but not a must. A low profile exposed turrent is a bonus. I've seen a few but just cant make up my mind. Trying to keep in around d 500-700 bucks

I have a Leupold VX-3i 30mm 4.5-14x 40 CDS with windplex reticle on a 270 win. Have taken two elk with it. Both within 450 yards. Tested very accurate to 600 yards (the longest shooting range available to me). Excellent light transmission at dawn and dusk. CDS works great. Got mine for under $500. They are on sale at Cabelas for $530 but you can probably do better if you look around at other reputable vendors.

 

[Wyosam]

Hey guys, what all your opinions on a good hunting scope to go on a tikka t3x lite in 6.5 creed? Trying to keep the overall package around 8lbs scoped. This will be my 0-500 yard whitetail rifle and will also be for my boy when he goes hunting next year so I dont need anything fancy. Looking for something in that 3-15ish power range with an easy to use reticle. Illumination is nice but not a must. A low profile exposed turrent is a bonus. I've seen a few but just cant make up my mind. Trying to keep in around d 500-700 bucks

A little below you preferred magnification, and no exposed turret, but I have the Maven RS2 on the same rifle. Comes in at 7# 6oz (mounted in Talley lightweights). I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[Quintus]

I just went through the same exercise on a Model 70 CRF in the 6.5CMR. I found a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x50LR with the Boone and Crockett. That reticle goes very well with the .260/6.5 CMR and 125-140 grain bullets. My kids all shoot that combo and it is very effective to 500 yards. If you have a place to shoot it out and verify the marks the Varmint Hunter reticle is also very effective and easy to use but it is a little more work to verify the and learn the impact points. Really a versatile reticle though.

 

[Bman940]

I'm another one to jump on the Meopta Optika6 bandwagon, and not just because I do some freelance work with them. They make one heck of an optic for a very fair price. I have an Optika6 3-18x50 FFP MRAD on my 6.5CM rifle and I couldn't be happier. Very nice glass, edge to edge clarity, and excellent repeatability. Fits right into your budget and won't leave you wanting more.

 

[Dvldad]

Leupold has released their vx3i with the zl2 turret. That will be my next scope.

 

[zach_destroys]

If you are planning on dialing it out much just be wary of the vx3i's. I've personally had return to zero issues with mine. If I zero it and leave it alone it holds true. But if I dial in and out a lot at a time, it will be off when i dial it back in.

 

[zach_destroys]

To add to this, I will probably be getting an optika6 next. I have a 257 right now that needs glass. I'm running any swag 3-15 on my 300wsm. They are a little heavy and dont have the features of some other scopes but all reports say they always track.

 

[skipglo]

Hey guys, what all your opinions on a good hunting scope to go on a tikka t3x lite in 6.5 creed? Trying to keep the overall package around 8lbs scoped. This will be my 0-500 yard whitetail rifle and will also be for my boy when he goes hunting next year so I dont need anything fancy. Looking for something in that 3-15ish power range with an easy to use reticle. Illumination is nice but not a must. A low profile exposed turrent is a bonus. I've seen a few but just cant make up my mind. Trying to keep in around d 500-700 bucks

Take a look at both Athalon and Hawke. For the money you are talking you would be happy with either