Optics

[Rick79]

Someone already brought up binos, but I'll add my 2 cents to it.

Last year on my elk hunt both guides had Swaro ELs, my hunting buddy had Leica's and I had Vortex Diamondbacks. When glassing herds and bulls at distance, everyone could see details but me…. Luckily, his backup pair was a pair of Razor HD's and they smoked my Diamondbacks for clarity.

If you always hunt close to the house and don't need the higher end glass, then don't buy it. If you are going to go on far away hunts that cost a fair amount of saving to do, buy the highest end glass that you can afford. It might make the difference between eating tag soup and having a full freezer.

 

[Rosebud]

I've told all the young people that are getting into hunting the same thing, over and over.
If you have $2000 to buy a rifle and scope to spend 14 to 15 hundred on the scope then buy a rifle with what's left. Then at the first opportunity replace the trigger on the rifle. Just about any Savage/ Ruger American will shoot lights out with a good trigger.

 

[berger21]

Read the reviews on the nightforce SHV. Scheels have them for $1200. Put one on my sons 300wm this fall after fighting a vortex viper ($1100) that would not return to zero when adjusting the turrets back to zero. He shot a bull elk this fall. I also have a $2000 Nightforce on my 300 wm. After failures with other scopes or not adequate glass. A little heavy but you won't be disappointed with the quality.

 

[CoyoteConquest]

I have around 40 rifles. No way I can afford $1000 scopes for all. Most of mine have been $2-500. Some were bought before covid amd inflation.
The $200 have been Vortex Diamondback HPs. Not regular Diamondbacks. They are great for most hunting. I have 8. I also Have Strike Eagles and Vipers.
I have several Burris Signature HDs, and Fulfields along with an RT-6. I have several Leupolds and even Athlons.
The only one I have been disappointed in was an Athlon that the inside of the scope had crinkled metal that washed it out and blinded you when it was sunny out. They replaced it.
The best for weight savings has been Leupold. They have a monopoly on that. The best deals have been Vortex Diamondback HP's. They have the original Viper glass but come in a 1" tube.
There are plenty of good scopes for less than $1000

 

[waveslayer]

I love these threads, you get all sorts of people coming out. They quote your post and repeat what you stated. Please post how many have a scope on almost all their rifles?... id be interested to know that, then total the cost up. You have right there 1-3 top of the line scopes. Buy once cry once. Get a good mounting system, top of the line torque wrench, and move your scope all around. I hear guys saying, lap your rings, its 2024, if you are lapping rings you are buy Chinese crap!
No you won't lose zero! Test it out. Buy a nice glass it will serve you well, check Nightforce they beat their scopes and they work!

Now I feel better. You get what you pay for!

 

[JAYgs8163]

"You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig!"

 

[waveslayer]

"You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig!"

Amen brother! Finally someone gets it!

 

[Crockett12]

I'm 78 years old and have hunted all my life. Packed in -- walked miles -- not anymore but used to hunt hard! As many know, occasionally we take a fall. Over the years, my rifle has rifle has hit the ground maybe twice! I might slip on a steep slope and fall but I always tried to protect my rifle. Maybe that's why I never had a scope problem after taking a fall but I haven't. Then about 15 years ago, I put my rifle in the rifle mount on the front of my ATV and hot footed it to my first morning deer stand because I was a bit late getting started. The desert trail was a rough one and that ride was a lot of jarring because of riding over the rocky trail. When first light came and I looked through my scope -- it was black -- nothing! I couldn't see a thing through it! It was an older high end scope -- at least I'd paid a lot of money for it 25/30 years ago and it was my loyal brand of scope! I'd ridden over that same trail -- and more -- with less expensive scopes of the same brand and never had them go bad, but this one did! The manufacturer fixed it with no charge but opening morning was ruined!
Then I read about drop tests on another forum. Apparently they have scopes donated and they do extensive tracking and drop tests on them. The drop tests consist of mounting the scope on a rifle and dropping them on their side, at varying heights. Most fail! It seems scopes are made to take directional punishment but most aren't made to take those drop tests on their side!
That's when I started to transition from my loyal scope brand (which all fail those drop tests) to a higher end scope brand that doesn't tend to fail. I'm not rich but I put my order in now every Christmas for one more high end scope to replace my old scope to which I've been loyal over these many years!
Buy the scope brands the military uses!

 

[berger21]

I have about 10 rifles. Most don't carry a scope. I have one nightforce that I move to whichever rifle I plan to hunt with. Yes I have several other scopes but seldom used.

 

[doctorjj]

I love these threads, you get all sorts of people coming out. They quote your post and repeat what you stated. Please post how many have a scope on almost all their rifles?... id be interested to know that, then total the cost up. You have right there 1-3 top of the line scopes. Buy once cry once. Get a good mounting system, top of the line torque wrench, and move your scope all around. I hear guys saying, lap your rings, its 2024, if you are lapping rings you are buy Chinese crap!
No you won't lose zero! Test it out. Buy a nice glass it will serve you well, check Nightforce they beat their scopes and they work!

Now I feel better. You get what you pay for!

I have right around 100 rifles. Most carry their own scope. Many are 22's or 17 HMR or other non critical rigs. I do not have Nightforce on all of them but I do have 10 different Nightforce, NX8 and NXS. I have Swaro's, Trijicon's, Bushnell Elites, high end Vortex and several high end Leupold's as well as several thermals. I am migrating to basically all Nightforce or Trijicon's. I still lap rings on certain setups. Stacking of tolerances can make the most expensive rings be out of alignment with each other. The rings themselves can be perfect in every way and exactly concentric, but they are 2 separate pieces that are relying upon perfect alignment of screw holes in receivers, perfect surface of a receiver, and/or perfect machining of a rail for them to be perfectly aligned. Nothing wrong with a quick lap, just to even check to see if everything is perfect.

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

The cheap ones work but for how long ?
Run a high end scope then go run a lower end and you'll know why they are lower end.
The guys that put their life on the line in war zones are not using Arken They are using Night Force, and Schmidt and Bender for a reason.
I think everyone should be able to enjoy the hobby so spend what you can and have a good time but I do believe in the saying buy once cry once.

Trm - well those guys aren't paying for them either and working for Uncle Sam all my life I know that the govt does not pay what we would have to pay for the same optic.
I do understand where some of you guys are coming from with "tier 1" scopes though. Now I'm a newbie at long range and have yet to shoot beyond 500 yds. But I'm not new to hunting. Been doing it for almost 60 years now. I've hunted numerous western states for elk, deer (mulies and whitetail), antelope and bear. The rifle/scope combo I carried on every one of those hunts was a basic Rem 700BDL LH in 270 Win topped with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9 scope with BDC. With that combo I've made one shot kills out to over 400 yds without any problems.
I just think we put too much emphasis on optics but like it is often said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
But I must say, now that I've been using "dial up" scopes and knowing where to set the turret for distance, it makes life a little easier when you're focused on the shot. Three of the 4 deer I've taken this year were with scopes I dialed in the distance including one with a smokeless muzzleloader at almost 300 yds.

 

[MW204]

Around 2000 I bought a Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 4.5-14x50mm for my job, SO Sniper, and I used it in training extensively. I twisted the knobs as needed, when needed, and then to my surprised it no longer would hit where I was aiming. Not a very good feeling at all. I sent the scope to Leupold and got it back quickly, and was back in the saddle with it until I left that department. That rifle became a long range hunting rifle, long range for me anyways, 500yd tops. A nice buck appeared out at 300yds, I turned the knob, placed the crosshair, squeezed the trigger, and shot about 1.5' above the buck, there was snow on the ground so I could see where I hit. The buck ran off to 500yds and stood broadside, but I did not shoot again. I took the rifle to the range on the property, it was real high at 100yds, I forget exactly at this point. I dialed it in and then shot it 2-3 times and it was off by a big margin again. I had never dropped this rifle/scope combination, always carried in a padded case, never dropped the case, etc, so why did that scope fail me 2 times, idk, but the first time it could have been disastrous, the 2nd time was when I went on my first out of state mule deer hunt. Not the end of the world, but it was the only buck that I got to take a shot at that year.
My point, Leupold is the top of line and has been for decades and even their scopes can/do mess up. I paid a premium price for it in 2000 or early 2000 so high $$$ do not guarantee anything.
I cannot believe that none of the other mentioned high dollar scopes NEVER mess up, they're mechanical, so please don't try to blow crap up everyone's backside they never fail, do they fail less, I'd hope so with their high $$$ price tag.
I like the old adage, buy the best you can afford, save up for better if you're going for a once in a lifetime hunt, etc, but buy the best you can.

 

[Pro2A]

Am I missing something? I've been looking at some of the scope prices across the board and I just can't justify paying over $1000 for a rifle scope when there are so many scopes for less with excellent glass and features. Arken, Athlon and a few others come to mind.
I'll admit I'm no "glass dnob" (no offense) but what's the scoop?

There is "can't afford" and "can't appreciate" in personal justification of optic value/cost....actually applicable to all our expenditures. Financial position, technical knowledge, true application need/understanding, and even the ever popular good ole fashion "oneupmanship" brand snobbery all come into play in justifying our purchases. Those on the lower ends of "afford" and "appreciate" scales, aka those "don't know what they don't know" crowd, are typically those sending it down range with gusto at those higher up those scales. Just a really old geezer's long time observations......ala "better to remain silent and thought to be stupid, than to speak up removing all doubt."

 

[JAYgs8163]

I think some forget you can sacrifice features for more quality. You can buy some very nice high quality optics that are made in Japan. They may not have Zero Stop, illuminated reticle, very powerful zoom (useless though), etc….. these can be bought for sub $1000 also. Look at the Bushnell for $950 sold by GA Precision, look at some of the Trijicon Credo 6-800, some of the TractOptics 600-800, and if you're not afraid of buying used you can find some excellent deals in the classifieds here and other forums. I recently picked up a 3-15x50 NXS here in like new condition for $1100, scope is perfect, I also picked up HERE again a NX8 2-20x50 that was never mounted for $1225. If you are patient you can find very high quality optics that are excellent, take your time and do the research. Here's another one on sale now…. the Steiner H6Xi or the T6Xi both on sale $1099/1199 depending on which you get and are brand new. So many are driven by the "Mop and Glow" features and are willing to sacrifice quality for 5x25 zoom when 3-15 will do just fine, or my reticle lights up. Slow down, take your time, do research and go look through some of your options, then go to work and find your deal!! There are numerous fantastic buys in the Classified here right now for all Japanese made optics.