Toughest Long Range Hunting Optic?

[bigngreen]

I know not many people here like him, but Jim Shockey has done more "hunt of a lifetime" hunts than anyone else and he doesn't rely on Nightforce for them.

Pretty much every mid level and greater scope made these days will hold zero during hunts and falls from horses...we aren't jumping out of helicopters with our hunting rifles.

Besides, no matter the scope, if you hit it hard enough that you think it got knocked off zero you should test fire it before shooting at an animal anyway.

There is video of one of his Leupolds gutting itself in the middle of a shot!! Leupold has to have stock in UPS their optics spend so much time on the brown truck!!! Their unusable in accuracy shooting because they move so much unless frozen, most middle level optics will move zero each shot and many high end too.
I've seen so many of these guys show up and shoot an animal with their favorite rifle then shoot a bunch of video with sponcered gear after words!!

 

[Canhunter35]

I've used a mark 4, vx3i lrp, and a sightron stac extensively, they've all been banged and dropped and dialed to their max and they've worked flawlessly.
I know guys say they've had trouble with all of them, but I can't say anything bad about any of them.
I also use the aluminum mark 4 rings and they've always worked

 

[FURMAN]

When other companies start bashing their scopes against nails and tent stakes and then proving zero did not shift I will say maybe they can compete with NF. The fact is many of the hunts a lot of us go on are expensive or even worse, they take years to draw. Why chance it? I would be willing to bet that most people never even notice their scope zero is shifting because either they or the rifle is not up to par. The fact is very few scopes actually hold zero from shot to shot let alone taking a tumble. The real question is how much do they shift and at what point is it going to cause problems.

 

[adamjp]

Three I would trust...

Hensholdt
Schmidt & Bender
Nightforce

they are in order of preference (generally) as all three brands make scopes that are good, and each make a scope or two that are really good.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

the SWFA is not that although a good choice it does not have the most robust turret system, and is middle of the road for turret function. !

thanks for the feedback.

 

[HARPERC]

Three I would trust...Hensholdt... Schmidt & Bender....Nightforce
.......they are in order of preference (generally) as all three brands make scopes that are good, and each make a scope or two that are really good.....

The thing about this post is they all may be top of the heap, but most of us are fortunate to have experience with just one of these brands. If I've even seen a Hensholdt I don't recall it.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Hensoldt is rare. So is a 195" mule deer. You would know one if you saw it.

 

[HARPERC]

........Hensoldt is rare. So is a 195" mule deer. You would know one if you saw it.......

Once I would have bet on it, cracked my head a couple of times since then.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Hensoldt is rare

Its because their high end stuff is $8k. That means it would have to be twice as good as Tangent Theta. Kind of surprised nobody has brought up TT. There tracking is the best in the business. Maybe not a reputation for toughness?

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Its because their high end stuff is $8k. That means it would have to be twice as good as Tangent Theta. Kind of surprised nobody has brought up TT. There tracking is the best in the business. Maybe not a reputation for toughness?

TT electronic? I wouldn't trust anything as high tech as that.

There's also Zero Compromise, but I have a big ZERO experience with them.

 

[bigngreen]

The Kahles has been holding and tracking better than most high end optics from some of the tests some are doing, I would like to add one with a left side turret for right handed shooters, but I have not really heard much said to their "toughtness".
I have personally seen a couple S&B gut themselves but they had a bad stretch with turret issues.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

What does gut themselves mean? I understand they failed but what is the mechanical failure?

 

[bigngreen]

I'm not one to look at PRS as much of anything meaningful to myself but they are hard as heck on scopes and NF, Kahles, Vortex and S&B are the top four in that orders.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

TT electronic? I wouldn't trust anything as high tech as that.

There's also Zero Compromise, but I have a big ZERO experience with them.

Tangent Theta (TT)