Playing with hi dollar scopes

[seanhagerty]

I went to Cabela's in Austin last night. It was late evening and they were not very busy, so I decided to check out their scopes a bit. I always hear about this brand or that brand and how much better they are. I figured I would check it out myself.

The guy behind the counter let me pull out any I wanted to look at and mess with them for as long as I wanted. I do not remember the specific models, but we grabbed: a Nikon Monarch, a Zeiss Conquest, a Leupold Mark 4, and a Nightforce.


In order to check out the glass, we found a fish mounted on the far wall, and lased it at 100 yards. We set all the scopes to 10X and checked them out.

First thing I did not like was the BDC reticle on the Nikon and the Zeiss had a mildot type reticle, except it had lines instead of dots. I did not care for either one. The Zeiss reticle just looked too busy. The Leupy and Nightforce were nice, but I got a different mildot reading on the fish we sighted on.

The glass in descending order was Nightforce, Leupold, Zeiss and Nikon. The Nightforce seemed to be more clear than anything, hands down. The Leupold had a huge eye relief that was very forgiving. It seemed like this would have had to be mounted way forward on the rifle to get it set optimally. Both the Leupold and the Nightforce were clear out to the edges. Both the Leupold and the NF had 30mm tubes, so this may have given them an edge, but they sure were clear.

The other thing I looked at was the elevation and windage adjustments and how sure the adjustments were. Of the lot, I liked the adjustments on the Nikon best, very sure and firm with no mushiness at all. The Zeiss was dissapointing, I had a BSA that it reminded me of, mushy and very loose. The NF was second best with the exposed turrets.

Price points were roughly: Nikon $500, Zeiss $1100, Leupold and NF about $1500.

Of the scopes looked at, the Nightforce seemed the best of the lot. Now to find $1500......

[42769vette]

my guess would be the reason you got diffrent mil dot readings between the nightforce and the luepy is that both scopes are sfp and the nf is calibrated at 22x. im not sure what the leupy is set for. on 11x with the nf if you read 1 mil its actually 2mils due to it being sfp. on 10x it would have been 2.???? but you get the picture.

out of all of those scopes i agree with you. i have no clue why nikon uses aiming circles. i hate aiming with circles and thats the main reason i wont even look at their scopes.

[Blue Avenger]

Some day when it is not busy, see if the will let you go outside. Turn them up and look at 300+ yards. That will really start separating them.

[seanhagerty]

This was a real learning experience for me. I have always tried to "get by" with teh cheap scopes I could afford. I think I will save up for good glass in the future.

[Txhillbilly]

You really can't tell much from looking inside a store.Go some place that will let you look through the scopes outside,and then you can really see the differences between the quality of each brands optics.

[03mossy]

This was a real learning experience for me. I have always tried to "get by" with teh cheap scopes I could afford. I think I will save up for good glass in the future.

Don't do it!!! lol. I was fine with lower end scopes. I harvested deer every year and hit what I was aiming at with my cheap scopes. I then saved up and bought a high end scope, now I want to replace all the lower end scopes I have... Looking back I should have never bought that expensive one as my eyes didn't know the difference, now they do.

[bquillin]

I agree with 03mossy once you look at good glass its hard to go back for instance had a swarovski spotting scope looked through my friend in the HD version couldn't look at mine the same lol

[Don - LongRangeSupply]

Too bad they didn't have an S&B, IOR Valdada HD glass, March or a Premier Reticles scope on hand to do your comparison test.
They are a notch above the Nightforce but hold on to your wallet!

[fgw_in_fla]

I have to agree with the guys saying stay away from the hi dollar scopes ESPECIALLY if money is tight or you need other things first.
And, y'all hit the nail on the head. After looking thru a Barska for a few hours at the range, then look thru my leupold... wow... no comparison. Its like looking out of your just cleaned picture window.

I've occasionally referred to myself as the "master of cheapo scopes". I have a Barska that looks from 6x - 24x - w/50 objective. I bought it for $80 WITH a spotting scope. I can't believe how well its held up. I use it on my .270 and it works flawlessly. Only complaint ... well, primary complaint - On 24x you need to be directly in line with the eyepiece or its a very cloudy day thru that scope. Its been a great knock around scope. It even re-zeroes (whenever I change adjustments) within a click or so. When serious shooting is at hand, I swap it out for the Bushnell Elite. Better glass but still not as clear as the Leupy. I would absolutely LOVE to put a couple Swarov's or NF's on my rifles but I'll need to find a new place to live. I'd never hear the end of it...
About Bushnell warranty - I have a Bushnell Banner 4x-16x - 44 I use occasionally. A few weeks ago I used it on my 30.06. After 5 shots, I notice the reticle is on a few degree angle. Few more shots - few more degrees. After 15 or so rounds the reticle is off on a 30 degree angle. Looked more like a "X" than a "+" . I called Bushnell & the guy says "Geez, you only have it less than a year, I'll waive the $10 S&H fee. Send it in". I had a brand new scope in the package 12 days later. My hats off to Bushnell warranty.

[fgw_in_fla]

One more thing...
I'm looking at Vortex scopes. There's a few places where they always seem to have a sale on one model or another.
I'm looking at their (cheapo scope, again) Crossfire model. The next one up looks good, too (diamondback?)

What say the general consensus?
I can't recall anyone saying anything bad about them. How about y'all?

What say ye o shooters of the switch barrel thunder stick?

[jgerrington]

the vortex viper is a good scope, especially at the sale prices. I would compare it to my bushnell elite 4200. My only problem with the vortex viper is the eye box. Its too aggravating to me. The Zeiss conquest is a step up in my opinion. I also have a new sightron sIII awaiting on the 300 rum to get back from cerakote. Its a new savage build I'm working on, pics to come. Haven't mounted it yet, but it looks like it will be my most favorite scope (and most expensive). Maybe one day I can afford a nightforce.

[psharon97]

One more thing...
I'm looking at Vortex scopes. There's a few places where they always seem to have a sale on one model or another.
I'm looking at their (cheapo scope, again) Crossfire model. The next one up looks good, too (diamondback?)

What say the general consensus?
I can't recall anyone saying anything bad about them. How about y'all?

What say ye o shooters of the switch barrel thunder stick?

The only thing cheap about the vortex scopes is the price. I'm very satisfied with the quality of the crossfire. I had it mounted to a 6.5 pound 30-06. Zero never changed.

[GaCop]

Vortex has a fantastic no BS warranty and great customer service.

[BoilerUP]

I've always had "good" optics on my hunting rifles like a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40 and Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40, and my deer rifle has a VX-III 3.5-10x50 which was unbelievably bright compared to my other scopes.

When I got back into recreational shooting last year, I bought a Nikon Monarch 5-20x44 used for $350 which I put on my 260 Remington and really, REALLY liked.

Then I got a used Bushnell 4200 8-32x40 for the same price, and even though it tunneled like a sum***** at 32x and really was too much magnification with not enough elevation, I thought its optical quality was better than the Nikon. Put this scope on a 223.

Then I sold the 4200 8-32 and bought a Buckmaster 6-18x40 for $230 used and put it on the same 223, and thought it was even par optically to the Monarch.

Then I sold the Monarch and got a Bushnell 4200 Tactical 6-24x50 FFP...and I doubt I'll go much below this baseline ever again. I bought a used 4200 Tactical 3-12x44 but turned around and sold it at a slight profit to finance a suppressor, and will be looking for another this spring/summer. I also plan to switch all my scopes (with the exception of my muzzleloader & deer rifle) to mil/mil.

My wife would probably appreciate it if I never got behind a HDMR, SWFA HD, Nightforce, and definitely never behind a Hendsolt, S&B or Premier.

Some folks say "buy once cry once", and I think that definitely saves money in the long run....but progressively upgrading equipment & optics allows one to 1. get out there shooting NOW and 2. really appreciate the features & quality each upgrade provides.

[Jody777]

I would love to have a nightforce, I've shot guns with them and they seem great, but my scopes are Leupold VXIII, Bushnell 4200, and Mueller in that order. All good scopes for the $, and great customer service. I had Burris, but after spending close to $400 on a handgun scope for my 460S&W, and having it crack at the threads of the eyepiece in less than 100rds I sent it back. Burris said I bent the tube? and they would give me so much % off list price on a new one. Since then I've sold all my Burris scopes, and look at customer service, and satisfaction first. I know guys at my gun club that have old Leupold scopes that were abused, sent back to Leupold, and got a newer updated one no questions asked. That's what I look at.