Buy the most expensive scope you can afford?

[zukiphile]

Originally Posted by jeff2222

I've been looking to buy a scope for a rifle I've recently purchased. Almost everything I've read essentially says buy the most expensive one you can afford. But I am having a hard time figuring exactly why this is true.

Maybe it isn't. "You get what you pay for" is more optimistic than wise. It misses the possibility that some products are overpriced, or that some people may spend more on an object to get the aura of a premium status rather than a more tangible benefit. You will see this in wrist watches.

Some people are cheap. I am often cheap. For some things I know that there are higher quality versions, but I don't care if the thing I buy is good enough for my purpose.

Some people are very knowledgeable customers. They understand what is important for a product for their purpose, what the market offers, and can still make a frugal choice that serves their ends.

Some people seek the status of having a premium consumer product. They may not be interested in an important quality of the object other than that it is known for being expensive.


Beyond those basic categories, we have the narcissim of minor differences. People can argue about whether the right choice is a $1,000 scope or a $3,000 scope, yet compared to iron sights a solid and simple $50 scope can be a huge improvement.

[alaskabushman]

Some people are cheap. I am often cheap. For some things I know that there are higher quality versions, but I don't care if the thing I buy is good enough for my purpose.

Preach it.

[godale]

The bushnell elites are good scopes . Maybe their lower end stuff isn't real good but if you got a little 22 or 17 hmr and are just plonking what's it matter . Now I replaced two banners that I was using for 300 yard shots with elites . I could tell the difference then .


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[AverageJo]

It's kind of the same train of thought as when you are purchasing a car or truck. Say you have enough money to get the car for $100k. Some people go for car that costs $15k and say to themselves I don't need the one for $100k. Some will go and get the car $100k and say why not, I deserve this. Both cars do the same thing but the one for $100k just does it better and every time the guy/gal drives it they smile. So if you want to be like meahh it's just a car get one for $15k. If you want to smile or get your hurt rate up when you drive it, get the car for $100k. If I can afford it, I get things that make me smile. :0) good luck.

[ed308]

When it comes to scopes, I'll open up the wallet for a scope that allows me to shoot better. And lately, I'm opening up the wallet a lot more than I did 20 years ago. My eyes aren't what they use to be so I need to spend more money just to be able to see the target clearly. Seeing the target clearly makes me smile.

[cw308]

ed308
I'm in in the same boat. I shoot bench rest only with a Bushnell variable 24 power that is always on 24. Should have went with a Weaver T36 fixed power

[DPI7800]

My eyes aren't what they use to be so I need to spend more money just to be able to see the target clearly. Seeing the target clearly makes me smile.

So I'm at a the opisite end of the spectrum, at 44 I still have 20/10 vision and low quality glass just irritates the heck out of me. I want high end glass to allow my good eyes to see everything possible and not impede any visual information.

[Cheapshooter]

When it comes to scopes, I'll open up the wallet for a scope that allows me to shoot better. And lately, I'm opening up the wallet a lot more than I did 20 years ago. My eyes aren't what they use to be so I need to spend more money just to be able to see the target clearly. Seeing the target clearly makes me smile.

But $$$$ isn't necessarily always the guarantee. Case in point, my Ruger 10-22 Takedown. Putting the package together I chose a Simmons 22-Mag "cheap" scope. With a $30 rebate, it cost me a cip f coffee or two over twenty bucks. First range trip, and new gun shakedown resulted in a hole the size of my thumb nail made by 10 rounds @ 50 yds. To see ho.w well everything went back together, I broke down the rifle, removed the scope via QD rings, then reassembled it. Loaded up another mag, and put another ten rounds in the same thumbnail hole. All with a twenty dollar scope!
Still on it, or in the carry bag, and still making tiny holes.

[hooligan1]

I like to spend wisely.
I own 5 Vortex scopes, 3 HS, a Crossfire, and a Diamondback.
The Diamondback has been a great scope for the 200.00 I spent on it. The HS scopes all deliver what I paid for.
No problems yet with any of them, and I will definitely look at them in the future, and I would never pass a great deal on an older Leupold, they seem to last.

[AverageJo]

You should do whatever makes you happy! With scopes you really do get what you are paying for. My $200 scopes are ok meah till I looked and used nightforce or S&B. Now I look back and see that for the last 10 years I have 6 new scopes with the expanse of $14,000.00. Soo there is that. :0) and I never look back. Get the best you can afford.

[Elkins45]

If I need a wrench for a job I need to do once, I will shop at Harbor Freight. If I need a tool where the consequence of poor quality is significant I will buy a good one.

If I know a rifle will be used only to fling cheap bullets at rocks across the hill, who cares if the scope breaks...but if scope failure might cost me a trophy buck or a freezer full of meat, the extra $100 spent on a decent scope is an investment.

In the moment when old mossy horns steps out into the clear and you discover your scope is fogged, you won't congratulate yourself for having saved a few pennies.

I have a box in the garage with 6 or 7 scopes that have failed somehow over the last 30 years. They are Tasco, Bushnell, Simmons, BSA and the like.

[Pathfinder45]

I say: Buy the best quality you can afford that corresponds to the importance of the need. Keeping in mind that I have never spent more than $150 on a used Leupold. I can see spending more if I had to. But for my purposes, I have been able to meet my needs for less. I trust Leupolds and older Weaver K-4's if they are in good condition. The steel Weaver K-4 is simple and rugged, which I appreciate more than something with all the bells and whistles.

[ThomasT]

Maybe having iron sights as a back-up in case of scope failure was the right idea the whole time after all......

My favorite post of all. Now that I have had cataract surgery and once again have excellent long range eyesight I am once again in love with open sights.

For 200 yard target shooting a $100-$200 dollar scope should work if you do a little homework.

When I first started hunting I bought nice rifles and inexpensive scopes. Scopes that were under $100 bucks. I have only had two scopes that failed and never from abuse or while on a hunt. But I did used to spend time on the deer stand wondering if my cheap scope may have lost its zero.

I have replaced all the cheap scopes over the years with better scopes like several VX 1s, Nikon Pro-staff. Burris and Millet and Weaver. My cheap scopes are in a box and go on 22s or are given away to new shooters who need a scope on a 22 rifle.

So do you need the most expensive scope you can afford? Probably not but if you can spend the bucks then a pricey scope is OK. You only have to make yourself happy.

[Don Fischer]

Somehow I think the term "cheap" is garbage. Just because the scope doesn't cost $500+ doesn't make it cheap, simply inexpensive! I get inexpensive scope's. Why? Because they work!

[Cheapshooter]

Somehow I think the term "cheap" is garbage. Just because the scope doesn't cost $500+ doesn't make it cheap, simply inexpensive! I get inexpensive scope's. Why? Because they work!

Exactly!
It's also a relative term. To some, even the lower priced Leupold products are cheap because they don't cost a thousand dollars. They would be embarrassed to have such a cheap product be seen by their friends. To others, a $200-$250 would be considered high end, and something to be proud of.

[LOLBELL]

A high quality scope sure won't make a cheap rifle perform better, but a cheap scope can sure make a high quality rifle preform poorly. Any fire arm is only as good as the sighting system it wears, unless you're using it for a club.

I try to pair the scope to the gun for it's intended use. I have a RPR in 6.5 Creedmoor that wears a $1,000 Black Diamond, the jury is still out on that scope, haven't had it long. My hunting rig wears a VX-3. It's 30 some odd years old. I have had no need to have the turret caps off of it since it was first sighted in. I have a 22 mag with a Prostaff on it, and a Super Blackhawk Hunter with a Leupold on it. That's the third one. The first two would not hold up to the recoil.

[katonahjohn]

Figure out what you want to do with the gun and buy a scope that fits the purpose. Buy a good to better grade scope, and you can keep moving it to better and better rifles. And as many posters have pointed out, the eyes get worse as your years go up..

[the possum]

Last year I aquired some rifles worthy of decent scopes, and began researching them myself, for really the first time in my life. I was overwhelmed because it seems everybody has several different product/quality lines, and I couldn't figure out how they all compared to the rest of the industry. I found this article extremely useful: http://www.chuckhawks.com/recommended_riflescopes.htm

Five-Star Scopes
Leupold VX-6
Schmidt & Bender
Swarovski Z5, Z6
Zeiss Victory series

Four-Star-Plus Scopes
Bushnell Elite 6500
Leupold VX-3, FX-3, VX-R
Sightron Series III (SIIISS)
Swarovski Z3
Weaver Super Slam

Four-Star Scopes
Bushnell Elite
Leupold VX-2, FX-2
Minox ZA
Nikon Monarch 3
Pentax Lightseeker
Sightron Series II Big Sky (SIIB)
Vixen Sport Optics line
Weaver Grand Slam
Zeiss Conquest

Three-Star Plus Scopes
Burris Fullfield E1, C4
Bushnell Legend Ultra HD
Leupold VX-I, FX-I, Mark AR
Sightron Series II (SII)

Three-Star Scopes
Burris Fullfield II
Bushnell Trophy XLT
Leupold Rifleman
Nikon Buckmaster
Redfield Revolution
Sightron SI
Weaver Classic V-Series and K-Series, Rimfire

Two-Star-Plus Scopes
Nikon ProStaff, Rimfire
Pentax Gameseeker
Redfield Revenge

Two-Star Scopes
Bushnell Banner
Mueller Optics line
Simmons Simmons ProHunter, 44 Mag
Weaver Kaspa

"Now, hopefully, you will not feel compelled to write a letter to the editor to ask what we think about the "Brand-X Super Scope." We reiterate, if it's not listed here we either don't care for it or don't know enough about it to have formed an opinion. In any case, the scopes that are listed here represent a reasonable assortment and range of prices from which to choose."

[the possum]

We have to use shotgun slugs for deer here in IL. I had a cheap Simmons scope on my slug gun, and the crosshairs broke loose. I told my dad and brother how I planned to send it in for repairs, and asked if they wanted me to box up anything & mail it for 'em while I was in the mood. They each brought me a broken scope, and then I realized that all 3 of them were Simmons. Take from that what you will.

The aforementioned shotgun slugs are not cheap, sometimes costing upwards of $3 per shell. One afternoon I figure I must have blown $80 or $90 worth of different deer slugs trying to get a very cheap scope sighted in, and still doubted whether I was leaving performance on the table. I would have been a lot better off investing that $90 in a better scope.

Sometimes the differences aren't obvious until you can compare them side by side, as others have mentioned. Dad has a Tasco variable that goes up to 24 power. It's so dim and blurry I can't see bullet holes in the target at 100 yards. They're easy to see with my Sightron at 16x.

I'd always leaned towards big scopes with a lot of magnification because of astigmatism in my right eye. The target still looked blurry, but at least it was bigger. Just a couple weeks ago I had Lasik surgery on it, and now I'm seeing better than 20/20. Maybe I should have spent the money on my eye instead of scopes years ago. I'm enjoying a resurgence in shooting irons, since I can finally see them clearly for the first time in decades (I never got glasses or contacts, and just lived with it).

I have seen several thoughts from guys saying they don't really need a $500 scope, and are fine with $300 scopes (or whatever). Don't rule out the more expensive scope right away, because you just might be able to find one in your price range via clearance sales, factory rebates, or buying a used or refurbished one. I've lucked into a couple nice ones that way, but of course I'd have never found 'em if I just scoffed at the MSRP & put 'em out of mind.
At least check out the Sample List first: https://samplelist.com/

[HALL,AUSTIN]

I'm with the leupold crowd. Mine have bever failed or fogged. I hint/shoot on the east coast so my shots, unless down power lines or across hay or soy fields are a max of 200 yards. I use a leupold vx1 3-9x40. My girlfriend has a vx2 1-4 that I got for a steal. If I'm shooting over 50 yards it's wearing a leupold. But I have less rifles than a lot of people so I don't get ate up too bad on costs of optics. BUT I don't see a visible difference between the vx1 and vx2 looking through the lens, so if I had to buy another scope at retail price it'd be another vx1.

[reynolds357]

Buy a good quality scope. I can afford a Schmidt and Bender, but I am not going to put one on my 336 35 Rem. Actually, I am not going to put one on anything, they simply cost too much for me to justify one.
I use primarily Leupold, but they fail just as often as any of the other scopes in their respective price range. I think that by far the best scope for the money right now is the MEOPTA meopro. It sells even cheaper wearing the Cabellas Euro name tag. Cabellas does not hide what it is. They still have "MEOPTA" and the MEOPTA model number on the tube.

[ed308]

Cabelas also has some Vortex scopes that have the Cabalas name on them. I was looking at one that seemed to be Vortex HS. Nice quality too. I prefer Vortex or Leupold.

[ronl]

Lots of good scopes out there for not a lot of money that will do the job. You might want to check out the SWFA Super Sniper 10x scope. Mine has been mounted on many different rifles over the years including a stint on my M1A, and it has held up fine. Some like the idea of a variable scope, but I found the SS to be adequate for whatever I threw at it, and never missed the variable power. It is extremely robust, simple to operate( I prefer the rear focus model), and the glass is comparable to any in it's price(around $300). Another good scope for the money is the Bushnell Elite series. I purchased a 3x9x40 SF on sale a few years ago to use on my varmint AR. I really do like the scope, and while it is nowhere near the top in monetary value , there's just something about the image that really appeals to my eye. It is one of my favorite scopes and I think they can be had for well under $300. Really bright image.
As to buying the most expensive scopes, I really don't hold to that. I have scopes from Simmons, Tasco, Browning( a 2-7 Japanese on a .22 that is clearer than a Leupold VX-1 on another .22) Weaver, Super Sniper, Vortex, Leupold, Horus Vision and Bushnell. I picked the scopes for the job I wanted them to do, and they have all performed adequately without fail. Most fall in the $200-$300 price range. When I bought my scopes I bought them for specific rifles at specific ranges, looked through a lot of glass, compared features and prices and bought what I considered to be the best value for the money. For simple paper punching at the ranges you described there are no doubt hundreds that will fit the bill in the price range you described. What I'd do is look for an optic with fine stadia, reasonable clarity, and enough magnification to suit your eyes. I'd take the time to look through a lot of glass and find the optic that suits your eyes best. Your eyes are the only ones that matter in this case.

[dakota.potts]

Between $200 (the half of your budget you'd like to spend) and $400 you get a big increase in choices of scope size and type, reticle, illumination, and glass clarity. You can get a good scope for many uses from Nikon, Leupold, Vortex, or others for $250 but you'll have more choice in the scope you want up to $400.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

My rule of thumb in a scope's purchasing.
"Purchase a scope & mounts equal or better than the price of the rifle.

I don't own a Swarovski or Zeiss. But I do have quite a few high end Leopold's mounted atop of my Remington 700s and others. Pretty hard for me to complain about my choice in scope/s.