Reply With QuoteI have a Vortex that so far has withstood 100 rounds out of my 338 Edge with no adjustments after zero'ing in! FYI
For the few extra dollars, NightForce is the best . . . JMO
Hunting, Swarovski, Zeiss, and Vortex
Fellas,
I have a 300 Weatherby that needs a scope. What is a fairly inexpensive scope that will stand up to the recoil. I have a Cabelas brand scope but not sure if it well hold up. Already tore the guts out of a Bushnell. Looking at maybe a vortex viper but not sure if it well stand. Any thoughts and ideas?
12 LRP .204, 200 .243 project rifle. (action), 116 SS action, 200 270
I have a Vortex that so far has withstood 100 rounds out of my 338 Edge with no adjustments after zero'ing in! FYI
For the few extra dollars, NightForce is the best . . . JMO
Hunting, Swarovski, Zeiss, and Vortex
the scope is worth more than the rifle and it is not gonna make one shoot any better either..I think or should I say
I doubt some of these people have a real expensive scope either.Talk is cheap a lot cheaper than some scopes..
350 is my limit..and that is a hell of a lotmore extra dollars for a nightforce..
I'd rather have a $1000 scope on a $100 rifle than the other way around.
Check out the Bushnell Elite scopes. Great glass, tough as nails, great warranty, exceptional pricing. Right now Bushnell is offering a $75 rebate on their Elite scopes. That makes the Elite 3-9x40 an astonishingly great deal. It's a great deal, and the best scope you can get for the price they charge even without a rebate.
Originally Posted by nsaqam
Good advice there!
Buy the most expensive glass that you can afford. More expensive glass will have better light transmission, track better, holds zero better, and can endure the recoil better. I wish someone gave me this advice years ago.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
i would say the the vortex vipers are worth looking at. mine on my 6.5 CM is great and im thinking about another for my 223.
I have a Burris Fullfield 2 4.5-14x42 on a .300RUM. It's been a very good combo and hasn't lost zero. The ballistic plex reticule matches up perfect with my 180 gr load out to 600yds. With the Weatherby having similar ballistics I think it would be a very good choice that wont break the bank.
Make sure you have solid rings and bases too.
A good wife and a steady job has ruined many a great hunter.
Midway has a bushnell 10x fixed with mil dot reticle and matching turrets for 199? Nothing comes close in that price range.
Thanks for all the advice, keep it coming. I should mention that this gun is used for elk hunting so a fixed power I'd not preferred, possibly 3 power at lower end not sure but 9 to 14 or close on top end thanks.
12 LRP .204, 200 .243 project rifle. (action), 116 SS action, 200 270
3x9 Zeiss Conquest. I find them used for the 300-ish range. Check with Cameraland NY and SWFA sample list. Usually have demo's for 3-350.00
I have a burris fullfield II 4.5-14x42 on my .300 win mag. This is my deer season rifle. Has held up great for the 5 or so years its been on there. Decently priced. The ballistic reticle is easy to see in low light. The holdover marks are accurate and are dashes (which I prefer to the cirlces on scopes, such as the Nikon BDC).
I should add I own a Sightron SIII and Vortex Viper. The SIII is great for long range shooting. The Viper is the HS series with the bdc reticle. Very nice reticle but not as easily picked up in low light compared to the burris.
Last edited by hafejd30; 08-22-2012 at 02:28 PM.
All are good suggestions and I'll throw in another one that gets overlooked a lot. Swift Premiers. I have a 6-18x44 on my 338 win mag and it has held just fine. Mine is the model that they call the sur-lok. It has a locking mechanism on it to lock the erector in place once you've made your adjustments so that it doesn't shift under recoil. Kinda like Burris' posi-lock. It works great. JMHO but I think they're hard to beat for under $300. I'm also a fan of the Bushnell elites and plan on getting another one of those in the near future too.
Bushnell elite for hunting scope. Nuff said.
I have had five Leupold scopes of various power and description and have now added a Vortex PST 6-24x50 to the stable. All excellent products with no problems or issues.
I agree with nasqam, the scope is more important than the rifle. You can get really good deals on the Elites lately. Every one wants a reticle with holdovers so you can get the 3-9x40 for dirt cheap and sometimes the 4-12x40 model as well. Vortex is a really good value in optics as well. I bought the plain Jane 6.5-20x50 Viper and to me it falls between myLeupold VX3 30mm tube Varminter 8.5-25x50 and my Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x50 for about half the price of either.
The Daily Special at The Optic Zone, it is tough to beat this one.
http://theopticzone.com/products-pag...0-zplex-matte/
Really hard to beat this price on the 3-9x40 Elite.
http://www.fedtacticaldirect.com/Bus...0_p_33454.html
Or this price on the same scope with the very cool and functional Firefly reticle.
http://www.fedtacticaldirect.com/Bus...6_p_34464.html
The rest of his Elite prices are great too and don't forget the $75 rebate on the Elites right now.
That puts the 3-9x40 Elite with the regular Multi-X reticle at an astonishing $140.18 + shipping!!!!!!
Last edited by nsaqam; 08-18-2012 at 03:31 PM.
There are still some Nitrex (Weaver) TR One scopes at Natchez ~$150.00 and considered a heck of a deal. That series is the same as the Grand Slam, and are reputed to be robust, have good glass and made in Japan.
Let me preface this by first saying that I have never owned a Vortex, although they're interesting me more and more and I will probably try one eventually. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks this way but it seems to me that I hear so much praise about Vortex's warranty that in a way it scares me away. That may sound strange but here's why I think that way. I'm glad they have a great warranty and customer service and I would expect good warranty and customer service from any optics manufacturer although there are some that leave a lot to be desired. That being said, the reason I'm bothered by it is because almost every time Vortex is brought up, they're warranty is one of the first things praised and the person doing the praising is doing so because they had to send a scope back due to some sort of failure. This makes me think, dang are they putting out that many defective scopes that this many people have so much experience with their warranty? Now that hasn't been brought up in this thread but I have read it in the vast majority of threads I've ever seen about them. Just something to think about. Now I know there are a lot of Vortex fans on here so don't beat me up too bad, I was just merely giving my thought process as something else to think about.
Efm if you look at all the vortex scopes being talked about having been sent back for warranty work you will find almost every one is a crossfire which is the bottom line vortex. As for the warranty how many companys will replace a scope/fix a scope that you break and i am not talking about a defect and do it for free. Once you get away from the crossfire vortex makes a fine dependable scope. I own one that has been shifted around from 338-06 to a 243 to a 223 to a 6.5 grendal to my SIL's 338 federal and it has never missed a lick.
87 I would say get the viper or spend more and get a sightron. I own a Leupold 8.5-25 and the vortex is easier for my eyes to get a quick non-perfect sight picture with while hunting due to eye relief.
Psharon got it right, buy the best you can afford without taking out a loan or selling one of your kids.
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (New King James Version)
efm77 - you just said the exact thing i have been thinking for the past year. I will eventually give Vortex a try. What i personally think is going on people are just repeating what they read on another forum or post that have never actually used the warranty themselves. I have no doubt they do have a good warranty but when people say that the warranty is better than Luepolds, who have had the same no questions warranty for years it kinda annoys me.
Last edited by 03mossy; 08-18-2012 at 09:50 PM.
I know the Crossfire is the bottom line they have and I didn't mean all Vortex's were bad. I was merely stating a thought that's raised to me by hearing it so much all the time. 03mossy you may be right in that a lot of it could be just repetition from others. It is great that they will fix/replace a broken scope free even if it's your fault, but to me that just doesn't make good business sense. Of course maybe there won't be that many doing it but if enough people just purposely did things to their scopes just to get them replaced I could see it hurting the company over time. As I said before, some of their models intrigue me and I will give them a try eventually.
My sole Crossfire lost its whole ocular housing.
They fixed it.
I've really been looking at the regular Vipers lately. I'd probably pay what they cost for one, but I'm not forking out what a PST costs. I can't afford that much scope every time and if I'm going to spend that much it will be on an American made (assembled) scope. Just a personal thing. Also, I feel better with the companies that have been around a long time. Vortex says they've been in business since the early 90's IIRC but I'd never seen nor heard of a Vortex until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I wish them all the success in the world but I'm still a little reserved as to whether or not they'll be around a long time. Sorry for stirring the pot so much.
Vortex has sold a LOT of the Viper PST scopes in recent years. Depending on when you order, there might be a waiting list. Were talking on $900+ scopes, but not the ridiculous $2500+ leupolds.... I tried a Minnox scope (bad idea), returned it and got a Viper PST (4-16x50 FFP). Great scope. I have it on my Savage 12 and I am looking to set that rifle up as a switch barrel rifle (243, 300WSM when able to use it - not in my part of the state).
I agree that putting good glass on every rifle you own gets very expensive. I usually put a fixed 6x38 Weaver K series scope on my shorter range guns (muzzle loader, 20ga rifled shotgun). That too is a great scope and since it is fixed I can use the reticle features for holdover. I have written Weaver and asked them to put a "proper" mill dot reticle in all of their K series fixed scopes (at least as an option). These scopes are mechanically very simple compared to a variable focus scope and stand up to severe recoil well. My muzzle loader has stayed sighted in all of last season, when I shot a lot trying to figure out the ballistics and do load development. For me 6x is about the best magnification compromise when I know that I don't have a lot of money to spend and still have it work in the field. If your vision is better, it might be 4x or even 3x. But I can't shoot a **** with iron sights or 1x optics, not at distance anyway.
The Super Sniper and other 10x fixed power mill dot scopes have too much magnification for any practical use unless you KNOW that you will be shooting at 50+ yards. I tried one on an AR and had a few close up encounters where the critter was totally out of focus, let alone worry about just seeing blurry fur through the scope... Got rid of it, couldn't be fast enough. I think it was a Bushnell Elite 3200 series...
In addition, I have a few Nikon Monarchs with the side focus. Good glass, very reliable turrets but they have caps over them that have to be removed and then not misplaced. I think I have had my moneys worth for about $350 each (3-12x42 Monarch SF). Right now you can get the M223 version with target turrets for about the same price.
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