Scope reviews...

Magnum Wheel Man · July 15, 2013, 07:39 AM

I have a nice collection of center fire bolt action rifles ranging from 17 Fireball, to 416 Rigby, & it's come time to do some "serious casual" shooting, so I'm going through & replacing scopes as needed, & adding some to rifles I got, that didn't have a scope...

most of my shooting is done with aging eyes, for relaxing, & shooting at ranges from 50 yards to 300 yards on my personal range...

I have a thread explaining more about what I'm looking for here...

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=528522

so right now I'm going to review each scope & decide if I want to keep it on the existing rifle, move it to another rifle, or send it down the road at the next gun show... I'll be reviewing both new & old scopes, as well as some cheaper, & some up to Burris & Luepold in quality ( I don't currently have anything I consider better quality than Burris or Luepold, but I do have a dedicated & purpose built long range rifle in 6.5 X 284 that I'm building, in which my budget for a scope may go a bit higher...

1st scope being reviewed is on my custom Remington 700 chambered in 17 Fireball ( 2nd one down on the left side )... the scope was on the rifle originally when I got it, & the rifle was originally chambered in 17 Remington, but the throat was eroded enough, that a change was needed... the scope is a "vintage" Redfield 4-12X with adjustable Parallax... & a plex reticle

Condition of the scope... obviously used... light dents dings & scratches showing lots of use, but no real abuse...

Clarity... is just "OK"... fading around the edges at the higher magnifications, it was able to focus well for me with both glasses & without glasses... Parallax works fine, a little stiff around the 50 mark, but smooth at the rest of the rotation

Function... I thought I remembered I had sighted in the scope... 3 shots went into a 4" dot at 100 yards on initial firing of some factory ammo I had to shoot up, turret adjustment is easily accomplished without tools, however there is no audible or felt clicks when making adjustments, & they are not resettable to zero

Repeatability... on all these scopes I'll be performing box tests... in this case, I started with 10 lines ( since the adjustments don't click ) up, then 10 lines left, then 10 lines down, then 10 lines right, with the goal of ending up right where you started... box test function was perfect... there was no marking saying how much adjustment a "line" was... I assumed it would be a 1/4" but 10 lines netted me a 5" box indicating 1/2" adjustments per line

Final Thoughts thumbs up or down... despite the optics IMO, not being as good as a modern scope, & the fact that the turret adjustments don't "click", & that the adjustments aren't resettable to zero, the perfect score on the box test, & the power range, I think I'll keep this scope, on this gun... I think it'll work fine for my intended use of this rifle... I doubt I'll ever shoot a 17 caliber over 300 yards, when I have better calibers for that purpose... I'll likely try to find a way of marking the turret position, so I can adjust for wind & elevation, & return it to it's original position...

please feel free to add your own scope reviews here, as you may effect what I purchase in the future, & I'll keep adding mine... I have a Vortex 4-16X coming, that will get put on my 22-250, but my next review will likely be a Burris 3-9X that's mounted on my custom fast twist 22 Hornet Ruger 77... then the next, another vintage Redfield 6X that's on a heavy barrel Remington 700 in 223

Magnum Wheel Man · July 17, 2013, 02:54 PM

Nikon PROSTAFF 5 Rifle Scope 3.5-14x 40mm BDC Reticle is the next new scope I ordered today... I got the Vortex mounted on the 22-250, last night... I'll probably do 2 reviews over this weekend... my 3-9X Burris fullfield ( which I hope will box out OK but I may move to another rifle in another group, because the turrets aren't resettable to zero, & the scope is not parallax adjustable ) I'm finding that I think I really want those 2 features on the rifles in this group, & probably the Redfield straight 6X scope on the heavy barrel 223... then the new Nikon will go on either of these two, if I don't like the scope enough to keep it mounted... if both pass, then it'll go onto the 25-06

chiefr · July 17, 2013, 03:49 PM

Dicussing scopes can be a very sensitive issue as I have seen on other forums. I can remember that practically every scope I looked at was a Redfield, Weaver, Leupold, or Bushnell, Things sure have changed.

There are those who swear by high dollar scopes such as a Nightforce, Leopold, Zeiss etc.
There are those who like Simmons, Tasco, & Barska etc because they do not want to put a $1500 scope on a $700 rifle.

There are some who like the middle such as Burris, Redfield, Nikon etc. I must say I am very pleased with the Nikons and Redfields. IMHO, Looking through these scopes is no differnet than looking thru a top of the line Leupold.

Magnum Wheel Man · July 17, 2013, 04:03 PM

really any more, Luepold has become a mid priced scope ( yes they still make scopes costing in excess of $1,500.00, but the bulk, or a good portion of them are less than $500.00 )

my main concerns ( for my purposes ) are repeatability, having an adjustable objective, & reasonable clarity...

I do have some rifles I'll be wringing out, in this group, that do have some magnum recoil, but about 1/2 are 25-06 or smaller... on guns like my 338 Win Mag, I have expectations of trying to shoot further with down the road, so I'll be pickier with that & or the 7 mag rifle's glass than the guns that will max out at 300 yards... some of these will get hunted with, but the bulk are just for relaxed casual shooting off my bench

I may find some scopes I'm changing their purpose... for example, I have a nice Burris signature 4-16 posi lock on my 338... served it's purpose well, as a hunting only scope, but the posi lock is not conductive to shooting various long range targets, where turret adjustments are needed...

... not to worry, as I have plenty of other rifles in other "groups" that I can mount a good hunting scope like that one on to

Magnum Wheel Man · July 22, 2013, 06:48 AM

took out 2 rifles this last Sunday for some testing... the Remington 700 heavy barrel 223, wearing a vintage 8X Redfield ( sorry KRAIG, or anyone that may have caught this rifle in previous threads, as I was thinking it was a 6X ) 4th rifle on left side ( above pic )... I was shooting some older factory 50 grain hollow points... did a 5 shot "quick" group ( 30 seconds or less ) that measured 3/4" at 100 yards & then performed the box test... I had one shot that was off about 1/2" but since I ended up where I started, the 1/2" may have been my fault ???

Redfield 8X scope

Condition... obviously used, but also not abused...

Clarity optics are reasonably clear, the parallax adjustment has a locking ring, was able to focus with & without my glasses on

Function... this scope was already on the rifle, assuming it was sighted in was correct, minor adjustments needed for these 50 grain bullets... turrets are not resettable, & there is no audible or felt clicks... box test went "ok" final shot ended up where it was supposed to, but after moving the scope right, I noticed that shot went 1/2" higher than the previous shot ( may have been the shooter, rather than the scope )BTW... the turret adjustments ( not marked ) worked out to 1/2" adjustment per line

Repeatability... box test ended up where it was supposed to be, 5 shot "quick" group ( 30 seconds or less ) netted a 3/4" group with factory ammo, & the group was at correct point of impact following the box test

Final thoughts, thumbs up or down... I'm actually thinking about how much I like the turrets resettable to zero, after playing with the new Vortex, so the earlier reviewed 4-12X & this straight 8X while both are good functional scopes, I'll likely send this 8X down the road, or move it to a vintage rifle, & move the 4-12X Redfield to a more hunting type rifle... when shooting variable distance targets, it's really nice to have turrets set to zero at a starting distance

Vortex 6-18X Crossfire scope

review later or move to a different rifle

the other rifle was a Remington 700 in 22-250, with a new Vortex Crossfire 6 - 18X... I have a bunch of handloads inherited from my FIL in 22-250 & have 2 rifles in that caliber, this Remy, & one custom... I'd suspect that these reloads were done up for the custom rifle in 22-250, as they were tight in the chamber, & they did not group well, with a "quick" group measuring 2.5"... this rifle was wearing the new Vortex scope, I had hoped to wring out, which optically was pretty nice... I tried to do a box test, but I think the group size foiled my attempts, as I went 10 clicks 1/4", & got 2 shots in the same hole... I'll look for either some factory ammo, or another load, in my supply, to see if I can find something that shoots better groups, to re-run the box test on my new scope... another possibility, is that the throat is getting shot out on this barrel... so the next goal here, is to see if I can find a load that groups good enough to test the scope... or if the chamber throat is suspect

603Country · July 22, 2013, 08:35 AM

What you are doing is very interesting to me. Keep it going....

Magnum Wheel Man · July 22, 2013, 08:54 AM

Thanks... next week I think I'll take out my fast twist 22 hornet, & my custom 25 -06 the hornet wears a newer Burris 3 - 9X & the 25-06 wears a new Nikon Prostaff 5... that is, unless I find some better ammo for the 22-250 ???

Magnum Wheel Man · August 19, 2013, 07:22 AM

sorry it took so long to update...

Finally got the Vortex Crossfire 6-18X review done... this scope has now been on 2 different rifles, was purchased from Midway, for $220.00

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/120...-reticle-matte

Condition... new, mounted on 2 different rifles, 1st rifle, barrel was shot out, & wouldn't group, so moved it to a heavy barrel 223 Remington 700 to test

Clarity optics are the clearest at high power of any of my scopes ( most of which are mid priced... less than $300 scopes, but include several Leupold, & Burris, the scope is parallax adjustable I was able to focus with & without my glasses on

Function... turrets are resettable, & there are audible or felt clicks... box test went "ok" final shot ended up where it was supposed to, but controls are not as precise as I'd have liked, the printed parallax adjustments are way off, from actual distances, eye relief is very generous

Repeatability... box test ended up where it was supposed to be, shot this rifle to 300 yards, adjustments made on the scope turrets are not what is marked, but are consistent, & end up back where you are supposed to be, when returned to zero

Final thoughts... thumbs up or down... for me, I'll keep it, but won't buy another for this use... when shooting variable distance targets, it's really nice to have turrets set to zero at a starting distance, but the scales not being very close are a little frustrating, scope is super clear, almost amazing... In fact I used this scope as a spotting scope while my buddy was shooting, & it performed as well or better than his 20X spotting scope... I think for a varmint hunting gun, or another long range hunting gun, the scope would be great, but I don't think I would be happy with the scale errors in the turrets & the parallax... the Vipers are quite a bit more money, but I think for shooting variable distance targets, the Crossfire is not quite what I'm looking for ( I'll keep this one, but won't be buying another for this use... it does have great clarity for the price though )

Magnum Wheel Man · September 3, 2013, 06:58 AM

Finally got the chance to shoot my new Nikon 3.5 -14X Prostaff 5

shooting didn't go all that well, but the scope is nice...

mounted on a custom 25-06, with a Redfield base & windage adjustable rings... I only had 20 rounds of ammo 120 grain ( heavy for caliber as far as I'm concerned )... put a target at 50 yards & didn't hit the paper... tried the 4 corners thing, didn't see a fresh hole in my 55 gallon drum target backer, so had to move up to the pistol targets... got it sighted in, & moved out to 100 yards...

Condition... new, mounted on this custom 25-06 ( should make an adjustment to the windage base, as it took 3 full turns on the knob to get the scope sighted in )

Clarity these optics are the clearest at high power of any of my older scopes ( most of which are mid priced... less than $300 scopes, but include several Leupold, & Burris, this & the Vortex tested above are similar in brightness & clairity... the scope is parallax adjustable with a side focus knob, & I was able to focus with & without my glasses on

Function... turrets are resettable, & there are audible or felt clicks... I wasn't able to do a box test, but controls are much more precise than the Vortex, & seemed to be right on, with the distances for parallax, I was not able to make a good judgement of accuracy of turret adjustments, with the amount of ammo I had... the eye relief is very generous

Repeatability... will have to be tested when I get some more ammo

Final thoughts... thumbs up or down... for me, right now this may be my favorite scope... more testing is needed, but adjustments seemed to be as marked, the scope is super clear, almost amazing... looking forward to trying the BDC crosshairs, when I get more ammo...

July 15, 2013, 07:39 AM	#1
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	Scope reviews... I have a nice collection of center fire bolt action rifles ranging from 17 Fireball, to 416 Rigby, & it's come time to do some "serious casual" shooting, so I'm going through & replacing scopes as needed, & adding some to rifles I got, that didn't have a scope... most of my shooting is done with aging eyes, for relaxing, & shooting at ranges from 50 yards to 300 yards on my personal range... I have a thread explaining more about what I'm looking for here... http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=528522 so right now I'm going to review each scope & decide if I want to keep it on the existing rifle, move it to another rifle, or send it down the road at the next gun show... I'll be reviewing both new & old scopes, as well as some cheaper, & some up to Burris & Luepold in quality ( I don't currently have anything I consider better quality than Burris or Luepold, but I do have a dedicated & purpose built long range rifle in 6.5 X 284 that I'm building, in which my budget for a scope may go a bit higher... 1st scope being reviewed is on my custom Remington 700 chambered in 17 Fireball ( 2nd one down on the left side )... the scope was on the rifle originally when I got it, & the rifle was originally chambered in 17 Remington, but the throat was eroded enough, that a change was needed... the scope is a "vintage" Redfield 4-12X with adjustable Parallax... & a plex reticle Condition of the scope... obviously used... light dents dings & scratches showing lots of use, but no real abuse... Clarity... is just "OK"... fading around the edges at the higher magnifications, it was able to focus well for me with both glasses & without glasses... Parallax works fine, a little stiff around the 50 mark, but smooth at the rest of the rotation Function... I thought I remembered I had sighted in the scope... 3 shots went into a 4" dot at 100 yards on initial firing of some factory ammo I had to shoot up, turret adjustment is easily accomplished without tools, however there is no audible or felt clicks when making adjustments, & they are not resettable to zero Repeatability... on all these scopes I'll be performing box tests... in this case, I started with 10 lines ( since the adjustments don't click ) up, then 10 lines left, then 10 lines down, then 10 lines right, with the goal of ending up right where you started... box test function was perfect... there was no marking saying how much adjustment a "line" was... I assumed it would be a 1/4" but 10 lines netted me a 5" box indicating 1/2" adjustments per line Final Thoughts thumbs up or down... despite the optics IMO, not being as good as a modern scope, & the fact that the turret adjustments don't "click", & that the adjustments aren't resettable to zero, the perfect score on the box test, & the power range, I think I'll keep this scope, on this gun... I think it'll work fine for my intended use of this rifle... I doubt I'll ever shoot a 17 caliber over 300 yards, when I have better calibers for that purpose... I'll likely try to find a way of marking the turret position, so I can adjust for wind & elevation, & return it to it's original position... please feel free to add your own scope reviews here, as you may effect what I purchase in the future, & I'll keep adding mine... I have a Vortex 4-16X coming, that will get put on my 22-250, but my next review will likely be a Burris 3-9X that's mounted on my custom fast twist 22 Hornet Ruger 77... then the next, another vintage Redfield 6X that's on a heavy barrel Remington 700 in 223 __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust... Last edited by Magnum Wheel Man; July 15, 2013 at 08:11 AM.

July 17, 2013, 02:54 PM	#2
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	Nikon PROSTAFF 5 Rifle Scope 3.5-14x 40mm BDC Reticle is the next new scope I ordered today... I got the Vortex mounted on the 22-250, last night... I'll probably do 2 reviews over this weekend... my 3-9X Burris fullfield ( which I hope will box out OK but I may move to another rifle in another group, because the turrets aren't resettable to zero, & the scope is not parallax adjustable ) I'm finding that I think I really want those 2 features on the rifles in this group, & probably the Redfield straight 6X scope on the heavy barrel 223... then the new Nikon will go on either of these two, if I don't like the scope enough to keep it mounted... if both pass, then it'll go onto the 25-06 __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

July 17, 2013, 04:03 PM	#4
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	really any more, Luepold has become a mid priced scope ( yes they still make scopes costing in excess of $1,500.00, but the bulk, or a good portion of them are less than $500.00 ) my main concerns ( for my purposes ) are repeatability, having an adjustable objective, & reasonable clarity... I do have some rifles I'll be wringing out, in this group, that do have some magnum recoil, but about 1/2 are 25-06 or smaller... on guns like my 338 Win Mag, I have expectations of trying to shoot further with down the road, so I'll be pickier with that & or the 7 mag rifle's glass than the guns that will max out at 300 yards... some of these will get hunted with, but the bulk are just for relaxed casual shooting off my bench I may find some scopes I'm changing their purpose... for example, I have a nice Burris signature 4-16 posi lock on my 338... served it's purpose well, as a hunting only scope, but the posi lock is not conductive to shooting various long range targets, where turret adjustments are needed... ... not to worry, as I have plenty of other rifles in other "groups" that I can mount a good hunting scope like that one on to __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

July 22, 2013, 06:48 AM	#5
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	took out 2 rifles this last Sunday for some testing... the Remington 700 heavy barrel 223, wearing a vintage 8X Redfield ( sorry KRAIG, or anyone that may have caught this rifle in previous threads, as I was thinking it was a 6X ) 4th rifle on left side ( above pic )... I was shooting some older factory 50 grain hollow points... did a 5 shot "quick" group ( 30 seconds or less ) that measured 3/4" at 100 yards & then performed the box test... I had one shot that was off about 1/2" but since I ended up where I started, the 1/2" may have been my fault ??? Redfield 8X scope Condition... obviously used, but also not abused... Clarity optics are reasonably clear, the parallax adjustment has a locking ring, was able to focus with & without my glasses on Function... this scope was already on the rifle, assuming it was sighted in was correct, minor adjustments needed for these 50 grain bullets... turrets are not resettable, & there is no audible or felt clicks... box test went "ok" final shot ended up where it was supposed to, but after moving the scope right, I noticed that shot went 1/2" higher than the previous shot ( may have been the shooter, rather than the scope )BTW... the turret adjustments ( not marked ) worked out to 1/2" adjustment per line Repeatability... box test ended up where it was supposed to be, 5 shot "quick" group ( 30 seconds or less ) netted a 3/4" group with factory ammo, & the group was at correct point of impact following the box test Final thoughts, thumbs up or down... I'm actually thinking about how much I like the turrets resettable to zero, after playing with the new Vortex, so the earlier reviewed 4-12X & this straight 8X while both are good functional scopes, I'll likely send this 8X down the road, or move it to a vintage rifle, & move the 4-12X Redfield to a more hunting type rifle... when shooting variable distance targets, it's really nice to have turrets set to zero at a starting distance Vortex 6-18X Crossfire scope review later or move to a different rifle the other rifle was a Remington 700 in 22-250, with a new Vortex Crossfire 6 - 18X... I have a bunch of handloads inherited from my FIL in 22-250 & have 2 rifles in that caliber, this Remy, & one custom... I'd suspect that these reloads were done up for the custom rifle in 22-250, as they were tight in the chamber, & they did not group well, with a "quick" group measuring 2.5"... this rifle was wearing the new Vortex scope, I had hoped to wring out, which optically was pretty nice... I tried to do a box test, but I think the group size foiled my attempts, as I went 10 clicks 1/4", & got 2 shots in the same hole... I'll look for either some factory ammo, or another load, in my supply, to see if I can find something that shoots better groups, to re-run the box test on my new scope... another possibility, is that the throat is getting shot out on this barrel... so the next goal here, is to see if I can find a load that groups good enough to test the scope... or if the chamber throat is suspect __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust... Last edited by Magnum Wheel Man; July 22, 2013 at 01:18 PM.

July 22, 2013, 08:54 AM	#7
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	Thanks... next week I think I'll take out my fast twist 22 hornet, & my custom 25 -06 the hornet wears a newer Burris 3 - 9X & the 25-06 wears a new Nikon Prostaff 5... that is, unless I find some better ammo for the 22-250 ??? __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

July 17, 2013, 03:49 PM	#3
chiefr Senior Member Join Date: January 27, 2010 Location: AR Posts: 1,401	Dicussing scopes can be a very sensitive issue as I have seen on other forums. I can remember that practically every scope I looked at was a Redfield, Weaver, Leupold, or Bushnell, Things sure have changed. There are those who swear by high dollar scopes such as a Nightforce, Leopold, Zeiss etc. There are those who like Simmons, Tasco, & Barska etc because they do not want to put a $1500 scope on a $700 rifle. There are some who like the middle such as Burris, Redfield, Nikon etc. I must say I am very pleased with the Nikons and Redfields. IMHO, Looking through these scopes is no differnet than looking thru a top of the line Leupold.

July 22, 2013, 08:35 AM	#6
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	What you are doing is very interesting to me. Keep it going....

August 19, 2013, 07:22 AM	#8
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	sorry it took so long to update... Finally got the Vortex Crossfire 6-18X review done... this scope has now been on 2 different rifles, was purchased from Midway, for $220.00 http://www.midwayusa.com/product/120...-reticle-matte Condition... new, mounted on 2 different rifles, 1st rifle, barrel was shot out, & wouldn't group, so moved it to a heavy barrel 223 Remington 700 to test Clarity optics are the clearest at high power of any of my scopes ( most of which are mid priced... less than $300 scopes, but include several Leupold, & Burris, the scope is parallax adjustable I was able to focus with & without my glasses on Function... turrets are resettable, & there are audible or felt clicks... box test went "ok" final shot ended up where it was supposed to, but controls are not as precise as I'd have liked, the printed parallax adjustments are way off, from actual distances, eye relief is very generous Repeatability... box test ended up where it was supposed to be, shot this rifle to 300 yards, adjustments made on the scope turrets are not what is marked, but are consistent, & end up back where you are supposed to be, when returned to zero Final thoughts... thumbs up or down... for me, I'll keep it, but won't buy another for this use... when shooting variable distance targets, it's really nice to have turrets set to zero at a starting distance, but the scales not being very close are a little frustrating, scope is super clear, almost amazing... In fact I used this scope as a spotting scope while my buddy was shooting, & it performed as well or better than his 20X spotting scope... I think for a varmint hunting gun, or another long range hunting gun, the scope would be great, but I don't think I would be happy with the scale errors in the turrets & the parallax... the Vipers are quite a bit more money, but I think for shooting variable distance targets, the Crossfire is not quite what I'm looking for ( I'll keep this one, but won't be buying another for this use... it does have great clarity for the price though ) __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...

September 3, 2013, 06:58 AM	#9
Magnum Wheel Man Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2006 Location: Southern Minnesota Posts: 9,333	Finally got the chance to shoot my new Nikon 3.5 -14X Prostaff 5 shooting didn't go all that well, but the scope is nice... mounted on a custom 25-06, with a Redfield base & windage adjustable rings... I only had 20 rounds of ammo 120 grain ( heavy for caliber as far as I'm concerned )... put a target at 50 yards & didn't hit the paper... tried the 4 corners thing, didn't see a fresh hole in my 55 gallon drum target backer, so had to move up to the pistol targets... got it sighted in, & moved out to 100 yards... Condition... new, mounted on this custom 25-06 ( should make an adjustment to the windage base, as it took 3 full turns on the knob to get the scope sighted in ) Clarity these optics are the clearest at high power of any of my older scopes ( most of which are mid priced... less than $300 scopes, but include several Leupold, & Burris, this & the Vortex tested above are similar in brightness & clairity... the scope is parallax adjustable with a side focus knob, & I was able to focus with & without my glasses on Function... turrets are resettable, & there are audible or felt clicks... I wasn't able to do a box test, but controls are much more precise than the Vortex, & seemed to be right on, with the distances for parallax, I was not able to make a good judgement of accuracy of turret adjustments, with the amount of ammo I had... the eye relief is very generous Repeatability... will have to be tested when I get some more ammo Final thoughts... thumbs up or down... for me, right now this may be my favorite scope... more testing is needed, but adjustments seemed to be as marked, the scope is super clear, almost amazing... looking forward to trying the BDC crosshairs, when I get more ammo... __________________ In life you either make dust or eat dust...