Is this a good starter scope?

[Charlie]

Leupold, Burris, (American +/-), Japanese, German,etc. No Chinese! I've found that the "better" the glass, the less top end magnification you need. Just my opinion.

 

[oldag]

I shoot 1000yds with my 10x Leupold Mk4. The clarity is amazing. I can see the target better with that Leupold at 10x than I can with my Nikon Monarch at 16x.

At 1000 yards, I would not be able to spot the target to know which way to point the scope!

 

[40Arpent]

At 1000 yards, I would not be able to spot the target to know which way to point the scope!

Same here. At 300 yards, my 10x Nightforce barely gets the job done.

 

[rushthezeppelin]

Leupold VX Hog Rifle Scope 1-4x 20mm Pig Plex Reticle Matte Great glass, great reticle, great price , no frills.

 

[IXLR8]

Way more thna you wanted to spend at $338.02, but the best reticle I have ever seen.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0049E2WAKDC0P9JE7BJZ

Lucid 4-16x44.

Simply awesome. Yes I have one.

Lucid is one of the few companies that you can speak with the owner, and designer.

 

[Savage20]

Same here. At 300 yards, my 10x Nightforce barely gets the job done.

I'm not saying you can track your holes at 1000yds. Not even close. But I can ring a stop sign sized piece of steel with regularity.

I've taken shots at medium game out to about 300yds with my 1-5 Weaver. I didn't feel like I was lacking in optics. A lot of it is personal preference; by no means am I saying I'm a better shot than anyone, because I'm not. lol

 

[40Arpent]

I've taken shots at medium game out to about 300yds with my 1-5 Weaver.

Well, you obviously have the eyes to be a better long-distance shot than me, equipment being equal.

 

[Savage20]

I have squinty eyes so it's like a natural zoom effect.

 

[oldag]

I'm not saying you can track your holes at 1000yds. Not even close. But I can ring a stop sign sized piece of steel with regularity.

I've taken shots at medium game out to about 300yds with my 1-5 Weaver. I didn't feel like I was lacking in optics. A lot of it is personal preference; by no means am I saying I'm a better shot than anyone, because I'm not. lol

I was not being critical of anyone at all. I am just saying at 1000 yards, my old eyes would not be able to see the target. Forget the holes... I can't see those at 25 yards.

 

[Major Kong]

Don't overlook Primary Arms stuff.

They are a Texas (Houston) based company, and I have read/heard nothing but good things about their scopes. They ain't that expensive neither.

Sent from a B-52 flying over Russia.

 

[rushthezeppelin]

Don't overlook Primary Arms stuff.

They are a Texas (Houston) based company, and I have read/heard nothing but good things about their scopes. They ain't that expensive neither.

Sent from a B-52 flying over Russia.

If you want a well built, affordable red dot this is the way to go. Otherwise spend a bit more if you want a variable, you will thank yourself for the purchase when you are shooting/hunting at dusk to have the good glass.

 

[57K]

For a little more $ than the Bushnell you can get the Nikon P-223 3 - 9 x 40mm BDC with zero resert. Excellent scope for the $.

 

[TX69]

I have a drawer with a few of those cheap starter scopes. Found out the hard way to "buy once Cry once" IMO

This ^^^^.

 

[TX69]

Don't overlook Primary Arms stuff.

They are a Texas (Houston) based company, and I have read/heard nothing but good things about their scopes. They ain't that expensive neither.

Sent from a B-52 flying over Russia.

These guys are good and have a ton of stuff at their store. I would look at buying a used Leupold 3x9x40 Vari-X 2 They start around $300 new and used they should be around $200 or a little less depending upon how many dents and scratches it has. As long as the tube is clear of dents the appearance shouldn't matter. I've seen guys that have bought top dollar glass that previously had the body all scratched up for pennies because it didn't look good. Get a can of epoxy paint and camo it or something. Then go look for a ARmalite base/mount with the correct ring diameter (there's a difference between 30mm and 1") on eBay or wherever and you're GTG. ARmalite makes one of the toughest and true scope mounts on the market with no need to lap.

Make sure to come back and post what you did.


Armalite Mount 1 Piece Base Fits 1" Tube Medium Rings Matte Finish EX0027 | eBay

They're $89 buck straight from the factory(!) and you can pick exactly what you want. Look through the rest of the site since something might be on sale. ARmalite has sales where they slash prices on select items for a "loss leader" way of getting people to loo through their website. I have picked up some awesome stuff on sale for 50% off. I especially like their brakes when they are 50% off and have outfitted many rifles with them Very affective muzzle device.

Scope Mounts

 

[wile-e-coyote]

I'm a little late to the party but I'd like to throw in my (inflation adjusted) $.02


Bushnell as a brand is fine. Their glass is competitive with other glass in the price range. I like their Elite 3200 & 4200 scopes a lot. Do you smell a......


....but I would not ever buy a scope marketed as "tactical" that uses tactical turrets for anywhere near this price. Here's why: Sure the glass may be clear and bright looking (until you compare it to a real LR/T scope) in the store, but what are you looking at? Probably something no farther away than 50 yards, if that. Look at objects at 500 yards and you see why the scope is so cheap. Then there are the turrets. It takes high quality engineering, machining and metals to make a turret that you can twist up 5 to 10 feet of bullet drop on AND return to the starting point and still be on zero.


These two reasons are why people pay $1000 and up for good glass. It's because the cheaper scopes just don't do what they need them to. If they did, nobody would buy the expensive glass.


If you just want to zero at 100 yards and never shoot at anything farther than 300 yards, you can absolutely get by just fine with a budget scope, but forget the tactical turreted models, they're just for posers

 

[benenglish]

OT Warning

I was not being critical of anyone at all. I am just saying at 1000 yards, my old eyes would not be able to see the target. Forget the holes... I can't see those at 25 yards.

I spent two days in a shooting class with Brian Zins (multi-time U.S. pistol champ) about a month ago. The guy could see all my .22 bullet holes at 25 yards without optical aid. He'd stop, tell me the shape of my group and why it was the way it was, then move on down the line. I'd look through the scope and see exactly what he had just described.

Some are blessed.

 

[Mexican_Hippie]

I can see my .22 pistol holes at 25yds without optical aid.

Unfortunately it looks like a shotgun, lol

 

[GDWTX]

I have two of the "AR" type busnhells. They are very bright and clear, adjustments are better than the Leupy VX3 that I have. Don't have a lot of rounds shot with them, but so far they are holding zero. One is on an AR, the other on a .17 HMR, so not exposed to a lot of recoil. Good starter scopes? Yes, but save your money and get something better down the road if you want,,,,and you WILL want,