Anyone use BSA tactical scopes?

[Ducatiman]

The problem is, nobody makes a decent scope under $200.
So you are putting a $20 saddle on a $10 horse.

Personally, I have a BSA Huntsman 4-12 x 50mm on my Savage .270 and have had ZERO problems with it, but that's just me. I am not going to say most of the scopes mentioned are not better, but mine holds zero, magnifies and doesn't fog, so.....

If I had a mind to, I would go plunk down for a Swarovski or Zeiss or something, but if I were doing that, I guess I would be shooting a handmade rifle too.

Buy the best scope you can afford, but don't be ashamed to buy what you can afford regardless of the cost.

[Eric in NC]

The problem is, nobody makes a decent scope under $200.
So you are putting a $20 saddle on a $10 horse.

Personally, I have a BSA Huntsman 4-12 x 50mm on my Savage .270 and have had ZERO problems with it, but that's just me. I am not going to say most of the scopes mentioned are not better, but mine holds zero, magnifies and doesn't fog, so.....

If I had a mind to, I would go plunk down for a Swarovski or Zeiss or something, but if I were doing that, I guess I would be shooting a handmade rifle too.

Buy the best scope you can afford, but don't be ashamed to buy what you can afford regardless of the cost.


A Ducati guy that has a thought about cost??!??! What is the world comming to?!?! ;)

[82boy]

The problem is, nobody makes a decent scope under $200.


There is a couple of company's making great scopes for under $200 bucks. Check out Vortex, I would put them against any Leopold. The 6-24x50 runs in at $160. and they have many other scopes for more or less money depending on what your looking for.

[psharon97]

I know someone is going to cuss me out for this, but I own 2 Barska 4-12x50 one on a savage 223 and another on a 308 winchester. both hold zero perfectly. They aren't as perfectly clear as a Leupold but I like mine.

[Marlin]

Ever try a Super Sniper from SWFA? I have two, a 10x and a 16x and have been VERY pleased with both scopes on my tactical rifles. All this in spite of the fact that their parent company is Tasco (Trashco)! They are NOT a Nightforce or an IOR Valdada but they are very good scopes, especially considering the price.


Not all Tasco's are bad. The ones made before K mart went bankrupt and pulled Tasco down the tubes, and forced them out of business, and another famous brand name bought the Tasco name, the old Tasco's were excellent scopes, especially the made in japan scopes. If you look them up on e-bay you will find they will bring a premium price used. The world class plus scopes will bring 200 to 300 bucks used, as long as they are the older japan made ones. Now Ithat I am done hijacking this thread, now lets get back to the topic.



I really had no basis to call Tasco's Trashco's because, with the exception of the Super Snipers, I have never owned one. I beleive that Tasco still assembles the Super Sniper scopes for SWFA but I know that SWFA owns the name and all rights to the scope. It's just that I never heard any really good feedback from people I know that own them (Tasco's, that is). I didn't mean to step on anybodys toes by trashing Tasco.

[82boy]

I really had no basis to call Tasco's Trashco's because, with the exception of the Super Snipers, I have never owned one. I beleive that Tasco still assembles the Super Sniper scopes for SWFA but I know that SWFA owns the name and all rights to the scope. It's just that I never heard any really good feedback from people I know that own them (Tasco's, that is). I didn't mean to step on anybodys toes by trashing Tasco.


Your not stepping on anyone toes, I agree that the new Tascos are trash, but it is sad because some of the old timers remember when tasco was good. Tasco has went out of business, the new name is different than the old company, (This is why I hate K-mart, they had millions of dollars worth of tasco scopes on hand when they went bankrupt, and forced Tasco out of business.) my guess is super sniper is its own company now working out of the old Tasco Japan factory.

[Ducatiman]

I stand corrected that there are good scopes under $200 then. I will have to take your word for it as I have never owned a Vortex, in fact, I never heard of them until last year so and before that the buzzword was "Mueller", another newcomer as far as I knew.

In any case, I'll keep my BSA until it breaks, then I'll take your advice and look at one of the suggested brands.

Eric, I don't own a Ducati. I've owned/ridden just about every brand out there EXCEPT Ducati. Always wanted a Paso. That's the joke between my buddies and I.

[rscotth]

+1 for the Super Sniper (the real ones not the E Bay crap). I am a big fan of the fixed 10X since it was what we used in the military. I am also very impressed with the Millet TRS-2 and it holds zero consistantly- only thing that I don't like is the 1/8"th moa instead of 1/4". It can make for a lot of "dope dialing" that doesn't always seem nessassary.
psharon97 mentioned the Barska and I currently own the swat version in 3.5X10 and it was a great scope until I looked through the Millet. I am slowly outfitting everything with the TSR-2 and only need two more. I have been buying them for $309.00 through a LEO dealer and the optics aren't so bad- It's not a Schmidt and Bender or and IOR but for the price it's not so bad.
RSH

[Flatlander.54]

BSA scopes must really be a hit or miss item on quality. I personally have owned two BSA scopes and have had no problems with them. The first was a 6-24 Target scope that I put on a customized heavybarreled Ruger 10/22. That scope and gun combo was amazingly accurate, wish I had kept that one. Just for kicks, me and my boys would set at a picnic table with a target/backstop 40 yards away, smear some honey on the target, and literally shoot flies with it. Try it sometime..its a hoot.
The second BSA came on a used Savage 10FP .223 that I currently own. Its a 4-16 x 40 Mildot Illuminated Reticle Scope. At 100 yards, all the Mildot measurements are what they should be. 1 mil = 3.6", 2 mils = 7.2. 5 mils = 18", and 10 mils = 36". The view is very clear at all power settings, the clicks are solid and repeatable. The scope will return to zero after shooting a "round robin" target. I really cant compain about it at all. But, keep in mind that these two scopes were mounted on low recoiling rifles also, maybe the harder recoiling .308 and up are too much for the BSA scopes? Common sense has to tell you that theyre cheaper in cost because they are not built as strong internally. But for a low recoiling rifle up to .223 I wouldnt hesitate to mount a BSA on it.

[rjtfroggy]

Ever try a Super Sniper from SWFA? I have two, a 10x and a 16x and have been VERY pleased with both scopes on my tactical rifles. All this in spite of the fact that their parent company is Tasco (Trashco)! They are NOT a Nightforce or an IOR Valdada but they are very good scopes, especially considering the price.

Not true any longer. They were originally Tasco but SWFA bought the rights to them and now have them made for SWFA using the military specs.
The reason they are inexpensive is because there are no middlemen, only sold direct from them to you, and Bushnell is the contracted repair facility.
Very nice scopes, I own 4 myself, some people compare them to $800 scopes or more. I personally am considering replacing all my scopes with them sooner or later.
Give a look www.swfa.com you can also due a lot of research at www.opticstalk.com

[huntin1]

I've had one of the BSA tactical scopes, put it on a Ruger 10/22 custom. Kept it for about a month, pure crap, I wouldn't even try to sell it, threw it away. Replaced it with a Nikon Buckmaster.

I do not own one of the Super Snipers but have heard good things about them, everyone that I know that has one is happy with it.

I have had good luck with Nikon, currently have several Buckmasters and a couple of Monarchs.


huntin1

[5spd]

I have had a BSA platnum target scope (6-18x44) on one of my .223s for 20 yrs and have never had a single problem with it. Its been in pouring rain, snow, mud, dropped more than once, & still tracks perfectly. Yup its still on the gun.

[Southern Shooter]

I have a 6x24 BSA Platinum Jap mfg and a 6x24 BSA Chinese mfg right about when they changed from Japan to China mfg(about 2002)-both still work flawless.Even though i am a Mueller fan and have a few,i just bought a new model Catseye in a 4x16x44 side focus($98+tax) I saw them at Academy Sports,once you handle it and look thru it you won't be able to put it down-i couldn't.Put it on a DPMS bull barreled AR and went to the range,and i'm totally impressed,so was everyone who looked thru it-even some of the high dollar scope owners that were present.Don't judge all BSA's by the few garbage models they have turned out,because they do have some good stuff out there at a good price.Read the reviews on any model of scope you buy-saves a lot of heartache in the long run.

[keeki]

i bought a 3.5x10x50IR bsa catseye from the sportsmans guide just to throw on a rifle and i have to say that i was impressed. not the best scope i have but certainly not the worst. i have scopes from at least 10 different companies and for 69 bucks it is unbeatable. buy what your budget allows you to buy and dont worry about all the hype. if i can buy a cheap scope and shoot 1 inch groups or an expensive scope and shoot .5 inch groups on a hunting rifle i would buy the cheap one. if i was shooting competition then optics mean a lot more, but on a hunting rifle i would rather have two rifles and two cheaper scopes than one rifle and one expensive scope. at least then i would have a good reason when your shooting better than I am.lol

[keeki]

by the way, for the money the simmons AETEC was probably the best scope i ever had and the worst scope for the money was probably any leupy in my safe. before everyone beats me up for saying that I did say "FOR THE MONEY"

[GaCop]

Maybe BSA has improved their quality control to some degree. The ones I've tried on two 22 rifles gave up the ghost in less than 6 months. Having been given two chances, I'll not be burned a third time by them.

[ICUDIEN]

I have a 36x Target and It's not the clearest but it holds a zero and tracks well. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one if the price was right. I also have Leupolds and Vortexes. But the only reason I bought one was it was on sale for $60 and I am pleasantly suprised.

[wsmitty01]

I've had really good luck and very clear optics with Mueller,,great value for the price.

[verminator]

I was told a long long time ago," When you buy the best you only cry once " I don't wanna step on any toes here, but I could never understand how somebody could put a rifle together with the latest and greatest stock, big dollar bbl, aftermarket trigger and top it off with a ten dollar scope ? When I buy Glass it usually costs more than the rifle, That way you don't get any suprizes down the road.

[GaCop]

I see it all the time at the gun and pawn shop I work in. A guy will walk in with a Tikka rifle mounting a Barska high magnification scope complaining about the lack of accuracy and wandering zero wanting me to fix it. I try to educate them on quality glass, sometime it works, sometimes not.