Thanks a lot you guys have ruined me....

I swore to Myself I would just stick to the Nikon that came on my Savage TH package. Right I am sure you have heard that before. One of the guys here posts a Redfield Revolutions 4x12......Dilemma.....I mule over it for a few hours until one of the guys at work asks what is wrong I tell him I am thinking about buying the scope. Of course he asks whats the problem I tell him I don't NEED it. I WANT it and I am having a hard time justifying it. So he asks how much then says well crap man I'll give you $100 for the Nikon to help ease your pain if you mount it and boresight it for me. Well dang that just made it I NEED the scope and don't just WANT the scope. So I bought it and it showed up yesterday. I mounted and bore-sighted it like a kid with his first bb-gun all excited then I take it out back and take a good peak through the scope. There is a reason I don't window shop if I don't know what I am missing I can make due with anything, but the difference between the two scopes in incredible and I thought the Nikon was a huge step up from my $50 scopes I grew up on. So thank you to all you Savageshooters that have now ruined me. Before I got on this site I never needed a fancy stock, special scope rings or mounts, just bought factory ammo and was content to shoot it, and never had more then a $50 scope. :very_drunk:

Welcome to the brotherhood! Its amazing how many times I've logged on here to just browse and ended up blowing a grand on something shiny.

shoot, just wait till you look through some $1k scopes....

While I didn't take notes - I spent a LOT of time at the SHOT show this year looking through various optics that interest me (and that are in my price range) as well as a bunch that I can't see me forking over what the current prices show.

Eye relief and sight picture, on the same or similar magnification scopes from the same manufacture, can and do vary greatly between models (price points, if you will).

Like you, I had a VERY, VERY HARD time forking over $400 for a scope not all that long ago.

Now, I think nothing about shelling out $600+ on a scope for a hunting rifle, except wishing I had more money to buy even better optics.

Enjoy! Redfield 4-12 is a great scope for the money. Only issue I had was 20moa travel wasn't enough adjustment for the rifle I intended to use mine on. Worked fine on my Axis.

SHINEY.
Your nikon IS better than your $50 dollar scope was and as you move up they keep getting better so if your dead set against putting a grand in a scope you don't "need"...DO NOT go looking into them.
Run away, save your self. For many of us it's too late but you may yet make it threw this if you stop now.

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Originally Posted by D.ID

SHINEY.
Run away, save your self. For many of us it's too late but you may yet make it threw this if you stop now.

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Amen to that. It's like when your eyes start giving out on you and you wait until you 55 to get glasses. Never ever look through a Nightforce, Swaro or other high end scope.

Well I can honestly say on the competition side when I went from a SWFA SS that I was doing well at competitions with to a Vortex Razor HD my scores and average placing went up. Now I'm looking at the Gen II line as another upgrade and moving the original Razor to my "practice" rifle lol. It's an addiction that just keeps pulling you further in, but they definitely do make a difference. The worst thing is you never stop looking for something better, so you usually kick yourself in the rear wishing you had just bought the best item to begin with because it really would have only cost you a small % more than you already paid anyways!

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

...so you usually kick yourself in the rear wishing you had just bought the best item to begin with because it really would have only cost you a small % more than you already paid anyways!

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BUY once, CRY once.

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Originally Posted by Rick_W

BUY once, CRY once.

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Yep

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Originally Posted by tufrthnails

There is a reason I don't window shop if I don't know what I am missing I can make due with anything, but the difference between the two scopes in incredible and I thought the Nikon was a huge step up from my $50 scopes I grew up on. So thank you to all you Savageshooters that have now ruined me. Before I got on this site I never needed a fancy stock, special scope rings or mounts, just bought factory ammo and was content to shoot it, and never had more then a $50 scope. :very_drunk:

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And that's just the difference from stepping up to a $200 scope. Imagine the difference you'd see if you stepped up to an $800 one? lol

Seriously though, THANK YOU for posting this as it just reaffirms what I've been preaching on here for years about cheap scopes.
Will a cheap scope work? Of course.
Will it let you shoot and kill something at 100 yards? Sure it will.
But the day you step up to a mid-range or better scope you'll be in for a real shock when you see how much easier it is to see things at greater distances, how much sharper the image is due to better contrast and resolution, how much longer you can look through the scope before you get eye strain, how much brighter the image is, and how much sooner/later you can hunt because of the improved light gathering ability at dusk/dawn when you have good quality glass.

None of us want to or enjoy spending as much (or more) on our scope as we did our rifle, but we do because we've learned that the benefits far outweigh the extra cost when it counts.

Or how about the he joy of sighting in....
It didnt hit me until I put together a rifle from parts to sell, including a super cheap scope I got on a rifle I bought. I went to test fire the gun and sight it in and the clicks weren't distinct and it didnt move .25 moa per click. Without any concrete distance per click your guessing. Add in the fact the scope didn't immediately take the new setting, each shot crept closer and closer to where I dialed.

Seriously your wasting money on scopes less than about $150.

$500 buys a real nice scope for the average guy. Clarity at dawn and dusk is huge difference from the cheapos

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Originally Posted by limige

Or how about the he joy of sighting in....
It didnt hit me until I put together a rifle from parts to sell, including a super cheap scope I got on a rifle I bought. I went to test fire the gun and sight it in and the clicks weren't distinct and it didnt move .25 moa per click. Without any concrete distance per click your guessing. Add in the fact the scope didn't immediately take the new setting, each shot crept closer and closer to where I dialed.

Seriously your wasting money on scopes less than about $150.

$500 buys a real nice scope for the average guy. Clarity at dawn and dusk is huge difference from the cheapos

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Sighting in.....I had totally forgot what a pain that can be with junk optics. Come to think of it......I'm going to try and re-forget it.

LOL! I have't been to the range with it yet but I am looking forward to it. The nikon was pretty good for zeroing but I have chased a few to figure out what the clicks actually were at 100.

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Originally Posted by D.ID

Sighting in.....I had totally forgot what a pain that can be with junk optics. Come to think of it......I'm going to try and re-forget it.

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Yeah, you're right about that initial zero session. And then you wanna run the ol' box test with that "great for the price" (cheesy) scope with all the light, bells and whistles, only to be disgusted when those rounds don't impact anywhere near your turret adjustments.
I was rurnt long ago (about 25 years) when I shot a Steyr Mannilicher .270 with a Zeiss on top. After firing a couple at 100 yds I picked up my 7 mag and looked through my Tasco, and then through the Zeiss. I then looked at the Tasco's objective to make sure it wasn't covered with mud. It wasn't. The rest as they say is...

My first hint was a Nikon Monarch. Then I looked through a Vortex. Then a Nightforce and such. Oh! You can actually see things, not just magnify!

I have a Nikon Monarch on my 10FP, it is a very good scope, crisp and clear optics, turrets track correctly and return to zero. I was completely happy with my Monarch. And then one of my buddies gets a Vortex Viper PST, dang it, I'll likely be buying one sometime this year.

I hear cabelas has the 4-16 pst on sale for $500 right now....can't beat that deal with a sledgehammer

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Originally Posted by limige

I hear cabelas has the 4-16 pst on sale for $500 right now....can't beat that deal with a sledgehammer

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Not according to their website. Maybe a local deal?

Let me check

Yeah pretty sure it is. Doesn't show that price online but the sales ad has it