jmfa1957

Ryncam, think of it in these terms. If you are one of the lucky people for whom going hunting is no big deal, meaning you can inexpensively find a place to hunt and the game is plentiful, then I wouldn't worry too much about what other people thought of my scope. Heck, when a cheap scope breaks (they will) you're not out too much of an investment. You can always trot out, buy another, get back to hunting quickly and that's that. Maybe you don't hunt in nasty weather, and your scope won't fog up on you.

Suppose, however, that your circumstances are like mine. I live in crowded, gun-unfriendly, hunter unfriendly southern California. For me, hunting on public land is a waste of time. The sucess rate for hunters on public land is something like 3% to 10% maximum. This means I have to spend some money and hunt someone else's private land (I don't own any land besides the dirt under my suburban house.) For me, a hunting trip even for a doe is a BIG deal moneywise, and an infrequent one as well. I just can't afford to risk an expensive, infrequent event to be put at risk by low cost, low quality gear. I am not too dissatisfied with a Bushnell Trophy scope for under $100, but I am a whole lot more comfortable with my Zeiss Conquest scopes, because I know that they are built solidly, have outstanding optical qualities, work well in low light, won't fog, have a lifetime warranty and give me a very clear, crisp, distortion free image. The same can be said for the better Leupolds. Why risk a once a year event costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a thirty dollar scope? What if you're on the elk hunt of your dreams in the Rockies, or up in Alaska, or looking at the biggest old corn fed whitetail buck in the county, and your equipment breaks on you? Bummer, no?

When you get a few dollars ahead, try comparing a cheap scope with a really good one at your local gun store. Once you've looked through good quality glass you won't want to go back. You have to actually see the difference to understand.

trailer

I buy a good quality scope for reliability, quality and peace of mind knowing that it will work when the time comes. We can have some pretty nasty weather up here and last thing I want is for my scope to fail.

stubblejumper

A good scope will be bright,clear,won't fog and will hold zero when the magnification is adjusted and when exposed to recoil andrough handling as oftenhappens in hunting conditions.To accomplish all of this a scope manufacture must use a solid design and good components as well as precise manufacturing standards,all of which cost money.

StrutnBPS

I guess I am one of those who "got lucky" and didn't have to buy one of the top four brands to get a good scope. As I stated in another post on here.

All of the scopes mentioned above are great scopes, but don't think that you have to pay $1,000 or buy one of the top four brands to get a good one. I got bashed when I posted that I would put the Tasco World Class Plus that I have up against $400 and $800 scopes.But I knew that I would. I mean, who wouldn't want to jump the gun and bash a scope that out does theirs, but costs 1/3 the price?

I guess what I am trying to say is that quality is often measured by price tag and not QUALITY.[&o]

Go with what you feel comfortable with and if it doesn't work then you've learned your lesson. If it does, then you saved a lot of cash.

2ndtimer

Actually you pose a good question, to which most have given good answers. I think we all understand that a cheap scope is a failure waiting to happen. If you are on an expensive hunt or in a remote area, and you fail to bag that trophy of a lifetime (or fail to take an animal cleanly because your cheap scope won't hold zero or got bumped or fogged), you will certainly wish that you had spent more for a more reliable tool. But that doesn't mean you have to spend $500 or more, either. There are some reasonably priced (around $200 or so) scopes that can be reasonably relied on to do a decent job. I have a pair of Burris Fullfield II 3x9 scopes that so far have worked fine. I wrestled choosing between the Burris, the Leupold VX-1, Nikon Buckmaster, Weaver V9, Sightron SII, and the Bushnell Elite 3200. All of which are around $200, the Leupold a little more, the Weaver and Bushnell a little less. Any of them would probably work fine. If I could afford it, I would love to have a Leupold VX-III or a Zeiss Conquest. I am sure they are very nice, but I can't justify the 2 or 3 times the price of a "decent for the money" scope.
On the other hand, I read someone else's signature line that said: "If you buy quality, you only cry once." And another friend told me shooters would be better off with a $100 rifle and a $1000 scope than the reverse. It makes quite a bit of sense. You can't shoot what you can't see. And if you aren't aiming your barrel where your scope is pointing, you aren't going to hit your target.
Bottom line is that we should buy the best scope that our respective budgets permit. And if necessary, I would agree that a used scope from the group mentioned above would be preferable to a Simmons 8 point, a BSA or a Busnell Banner, or similar. Nothing against the "Uber Scopes" with 30mm tubes, European names and 4 digit price tags, I am sure they are great. But only if one can afford them.

Doe Dumper

I have used every kind of cheap scope there is I think. Killed many deer with tascos.....but I was always having to be careful about putting my hand close to it in the rain so it didnt fog. It finally just started getting real foggy around the edges. I started shopping around and really really really like the Nikons for the price. Believe me..go ahead and buy a good one...it will be much cheaper in the long run.

ryncam16

thanks for all the advice ill have to look into some scopes and figure out how much money im going to have after i get my gun

mauser06

i had a cheap 30$ scope once.....i needed a short scope in a hurry for my mauser to deer hunt with the year i bought it..open sights were like 8 inches high....and a regular scope was too long for the rear sight(which we didnt realize tapped out) so we put on a cheap USED (simmons or tasco) shotgun scope on it......made for slugs and turkey guns...a 3006 recoil wont hurt it.....first year worked fine...second year i was at the range...sighted back in at my normal 50yd range...fired a few at 100(my shots are normally under 50yds here) and this was all on the highest power...4.5x i believe....too hard to see anything any other power at the range....well.....hunting season rolls around......oct youth doe hunt...doe walks down my path..stops...click...BOOM.......runs off.......to make it short......4hr tracking job and no deer......hands and knees for 100yds then nothing.....wtf happend...20yd shot howd i mess that up?? im a natural dead eye and can hold my own pretty decint.....and the fever dont come till after the animal drops for me...wtf happend......rifle season....opening light..HUGE doe..BOOM...walks away....totally missed...WTF......first saturday..another doe....BOOM.....one drop of blood......nothing else anywhere....dad was there and watched all 3 shots....knows i was calm as could be.......and knows i can shot......and knows that isnt like me.....it makes me sick to talk and admit that season period...but ill be honest so you dont make my mistake.......dad can track a deer like noone ive ever seen if its hit good...or bad......blood or no blood i watched him track a deer 100yds without a drop of blood over a hill where he had no idea where it went....no idea how lol...but i QUIT hunting after that..i was sick...told dad to take the scope for his slug gun i quit......he took it and took it to get bore sighted....when you adjusted the power of the scope, the crosshairs moved........i never moved the power on the bench...but hunting i adjusted it to 2.5x from 4.5x at the bench.....made me sick to miss a deer and hit and loose 2 others......cheap scope=problems......sooner or later.....you now find a leupold vari-x II 3x9x40 on my mauser now........and when the mauser barks now something falls!!!!......i do have a tasco 4x on my 22 still.......but i dont shoot deer with it either........its a tack driver....ask all the tree rats i took with it....but it dont go through recoil or the used the deer scope does for me.......ill never buy cheap glass for important rifles..........lesson learned....

Vapodog

Sorry to vehimently disagree with so many folks but in my shooting career (roughly 107 centerfire guns) I've not found any coorelation of price and quality of scope.

Among the best I've owned and own today are the real cheap Bushnell 4X scopes I bought for $40. Many Tascos are still on my varmint rifles while the Leupold is no longer there. I've had trouble with some of the Simmons stuff and you won't find a Redfield anywhere here.

I have a cheap Weaver 3-9 (Japanese made) on my 300 H&H that I took to Africa....no worries with it as it's a fine scope for me.

As to warranty I damaged a bushnell by dropping it and they repaired it no charge and returned it in ten days. Leupold took another week to return my 12X varminter with the target knobs.

Weaver many years ago repaired a K-6 by refilling it and rebluing it. No charge.....it was my fault for taking it apart.

I once bought a (1" tube) 4X scope new for $5.00 and still have it on a .222. It's still in good shape.

I'm not sure what I'd buy today but when I find those old Tasco 3-12 variable scopes I used to buy foir $60 I buy them.....great scope...light weight and they worked fine for me.

About optics now.....some of the less costly scopes are not a refined as the Swarofski's (sp).....and for good reason...it's expensive to grind that fine. If you must have that quality of optics you must pay for it. I just never failed to see my target thru a $40 Bushnell 4X or a Tasco 3-12 even without the AO. And saw it very clearly.

After forty years of shooting and buying/trading/making/selling guns I still cannot find a good reason to spend $400 on a scope. I've never found quality and price to be commensurate .....no coorelation.

Be your own judge!!!!!

wyomingtrapper

Even the top end scopes can fail, just generally not as often. On the other hand, occasionally a lower end scope will give years of excellant performance as well. You are increasing the odds in your favor with some of the more expensive scopes, generally get more brightness and clarity as well. I've three rifles with Simmons 8 point scopes on them. After four seasons of use, I noticed the POI on the gun I use the most was wandering. I am rough on equipment and I'm not complaining about the scope, it was well worth the $50.00 or so I paid for it. It'll be replaced with a Leaupold V-II. Would love the V-III, but that is more than I can swing.