Always my luck - Caviar Tastes on a BP&J Income

[Admin]

So for the past few months I've been scouring the websites of various optics manufacturers trying to find just the right scope for my AR. I had already decided to get the Aimpoint PRO for my M&P15-22 and it could serve dual-duty on my AR if I ever felt the need for a CBQ option. However, what I really wanted was a scope that would effectively fill both roles of a CQB and a suitable medium-long range optic. I started by looking at the various 1.5-6x options that are available, but I really want a little more magnification on the high end, and ideally would like a true 1x on the bottom end of the scale for zero magnification. I also want a 30mm main tube, a ballistic reticle, and an objective bell no larger than 36mm (20-25mm preferred to keep it small and compact).

Unfortunately for me there are VERY few options out there that meet these specifications.

IOR has a couple options - the 1.5-8x26mm Trident Tactical at $1,700, and the 1-10x26mm Eliminator LTS at just under $2,400.
NightForce has the 2.5-10x32mm NXS Compact that starts around $1,400 but it doesn't offer the low-end I want.
Nikon has the M-223 2-8x32mm with BDC reticle for $380 which is well within my budget, but it has a 1" tube and doesn't offer the low-end I want.
Sightron has a new SIII 1-7x24mm for around $800, but availability is a bit sketchy and it isn't offered with a ballistic reticle.

And then I stumbled across the perfect scope that met all my criteria - the Leupold Mark 8 1.1-8x26mm CQB SS with TMR reticle. Unfortunately it runs about $5,000 which is ludicrous in my book, and even if I could afford it there's no way I could ever justify spending four times what the rifle cost for a scope. Noooo waaaay!!

Then again....I wonder how many pints of blood I'd have to sell to....

[mattm0812]

Simply means your wants exceed the size of your wallet.

[Admin]

No, it means I found a hole in the market someone needs to fill.

[mattm0812]

Their is a hole there because they can't make profit on it

[Admin]

Sure they can - which is made obvious by the fact that Sightron has come out with the SIII referenced above. It's using a 7x zoom lens and selling for under $1,000 so an 8x which is far more popular in the optics world should actually be able to be offered for the same or even a little less.

For decades variable power rifle scopes have almost exclusively limited to 3x and 4x zoom lenses. 3-9 power (3x), 4-12 power (3x), 1.5-6x (4x), 4-16 power (4x), etc. It wasn't until just the past few years that 6x and 8x zoom lenses have found their way into rifle scopes as consumers demand more flexibility and range from their optics. By simply switching from a 4x zoom lens to a 6x zoom lens, the manufacturer can go from having a 6-24 power scope to a 6-36 power scope. While many of these higher power zoom lens scopes are being geared towards the tactical market, they are also slowly starting to trickle into the hunting market as well. Bushnell has their Elite 6500 series (6x) , Zeiss has their Z5 (5x) and Z6 (6x) series, and several other brands (IOR, Leupold, NightForce, Sightron, etc.) have select models using higher magnification zoom lenses.

So it's not necessarily a matter of profit margin, but rather the evolving market and who's keeping up with it.

[earl39]

Jim you can make more money selling plasma. Blood they take, plasma they pay for. Will take a couple of years but just give till it hurts and save your pennies. Expensive things come to those that wait till the wife ain't looking.

[big honkin jeep]

You might give one of the Leupold Mark ARs a try. I have been super impressed with my 1.5-4x20. I know it doesn't have the high end you're looking for but it is a very impressive optic especially since it can be had for under 3 beans. I have had one paired with a Burris PEPR mount for a while now and it has been awesome. On the low end you can use it for QCB scenarios with both eyes open and have excellent field of view and peripheral awareness with fast target acquisition and on the high end popping cans at 200yds is easy and larger targets much further out. It's light, compact and tough. I would highly recommend checking one out and shooting with it. Heck if you were closer I'd let you run mine and get the feel for it. Leupold hit a home run with this carbine optic for sure.

The role you describe could also be filled by one of the more powerful Mark ARs with the BDC reticule yeah it's a 1" tube ,yeah it's a 40mm Objective but with a PEPR mount and a Burris fast fire on top it has proven to be a workable solution to the usage you describe from point blank to way out there. Several places even offer this setup as a combo package.

Yeah it doesn't fit all the criteria you set forth but the Mark ARs are very well thought out.

[Blue Avenger]

Quite wasting your scope money on motorcycles!

[MikeCTX]

Now that's funny, Blue..

[Admin]

Quite wasting your scope money on motorcycles!

Only if you stop wasting your gun money on snowmobiles. lol

[Westcliffe01]

I know it will not do all you are asking for, but the price is even lower than the bottom end you list and it is a quality product

http://www.natchezss.com/Optics.cfm?...eticle%20Matte

This is a Weaver 1.5-4.5 with a 30mm main tube and illuminated (dot) reticle for low light conditions. I have one on my CZ 512 22wmr for night coyote shooting.

It is a really good quality optic, fabulous wide angle view on the lowest magnification and certainly better than no magnification on the high end. 4.5 is better than most red dot magnifiers offered out there and the military does pretty well on man sized targets out to 200-300 yards on the battlefield with similar magnification.

Listed at Natchez for $270. Just add some 30mm Warne QD rings and you are good to go. When your ship comes in, transfer it to a lesser gun.

[scissorhands]

Take a look at the bushnell Tactical line.

[J.Baker]

Ended up getting a Nikon M-223 2-8x32mm.