Well... Picking an optic seems to be way harder than a firearm. help please

bc shredder

bc shredder

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So i bought a 308 fnar 20" barrel. It shots moa or better if i do my part. It Came with a centerpoint 4-16 scope on it which is marginal at best so i am in the market for a scope. I am a really value conscious guy. I don't mind spending a bit of money if im going to get something good but it really chaps my a$$ when i spend money on something that sucks. Therefore here is the info i have so far, correct me if i am wrong please but please only solid info backed with personal experience or relevant factual info. Not looking for "my buddy has a burris and he says it great". Now if you buddy is a professional sniper, competition shooter, industry guy or you have spent some time on the optic, I'd be listening but otherwise please limit the he said she said to experts.

I plan to use this combo for mostly target shooting from 100-1000+ yards and occasional hunting. I like the magnification of my current scope which is 16x so id like to stay around there or higher. My budget is roughly $500 but if i could spend a bit more to get a much better product or save some dough and get an equally good product i would. I am open to used but so far all the used i have seen seem to be priced ridiculously compared to a good deal on new.

What do you reccomend

So far I hear good things about vortex and metopa as far as value and quality for money Sightron?

The burris eliminator and bushnell yardagepro intrigue me for the rangefinding tech but I worry that you loose optical and build quality for for the addition of the tech.

Of course leopold is the old standby but can you get a better product for the same money if you dont care about the name on the side of your scope. i could care less as long as it is good quality and has a good warranty.

I looked though a few ziess and nikon scopes and was impressed but i keep hearing bad reviews on the monarch, why

higher end bushnell?

Im lost what are your thoughts. thanks Colin
 
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I was in the same position as you and went for Bushnell Tactical Elite 3x-12x(44mm). I had to plunk 1k though. I though I had a great scope before and paid 400+ for it. It eventually failed and now I have paper a weight. I have a few Burris scopes on my rifles but I decided to go Bushnell because their optics on the higher end Elites and the new G2DMR reticle they are offered. The reticle was the deal breaker for me other wise I would still be undecided because they are all have very similar in offering and features.
 
I completely understand what you mean when you say its harder to find an optic than a firearm lol..

I have been making a lot of research and looking through as much glass as I could. I am of little help here because my experience is limited.

However I will say this; I had a look at the Viper PST 4-16 and HS 2.5-10. They both did exactly what was advertised of them, and the HS specifically had a very fine reticle that seemed quite suited for long distance precision. I was looking for something short-medium range and the HS-2.5-10 was turned down SOLELY because of that fine reticle.

I'll be honest with you though, I looked through almost all the scopes at this store and even though my vision is fantastic, I really couldn't tell you the difference in clearness between a redfield and a viper pst or a leupold VX-2 or a burris E1. They were all teh same dam thing in the store.

My conclusion from returning to the store and re-viewing and looking again and studying is almost like getting a cologne. It smells good when you get it, but until you field test it, you wont know. Even field testing sometimes is inconclusive. There are a myriad of different marketing key words for scopes, like coated and multi and fully multi, purged, anti-fog, anti-rain, HD, one piece, alluminum, 30mm, eye relief etc...

In the end, I say its best to work with your budget. Stay away from $100 scopes and understand that a higher magnification will have a premium. For $500, there are many options out there that will suit what you are takling about.

Try this;
You know that scope you've been eyeing? That one that you have been thinking about and maybe put on the back burner for a while being open minded? Go to a store and have a look at it. Then compare it to a scope with similar features and twice the price. Can you honestly tell the difference? Is it $500 better?
 
ton45-II said:
I was in the same position as you and went for Bushnell Tactical Elite 3x-12x(44mm). I had to plunk 1k though. I though I had a great scope before and paid 400+ for it. It eventually failed and now I have paper a weight. I have a few Burris scopes on my rifles but I decided to go Bushnell because their optics on the higher end Elites and the new G2DMR reticle they are offered. The reticle was the deal breaker for me other wise I would still be undecided because they are all have very similar in offering and features.
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Great info thanks to everyone so far. Out of curiosity what kind of scope did u have fail at $400. No warranty? I like vipers no fault warranty. Score a point for them.
 
bc shredder said:
Great info thanks to everyone so far. Out of curiosity what kind of scope did u have fail at $400. No warranty? I like vipers no fault warranty. Score a point for them.
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Vortex has a no fault warranty, but don't forget the best warranty is the one you never need to use. I'm not trying to knock vortex but one reason I didn't get one when I purchased my last optic is the PST line has been known to fail on 338 rifles. I wanted to buy a good optic that would hold up to anything I would want to put it on. I chose a Mark 4.
 
bc shredder said:
Great info thanks to everyone so far. Out of curiosity what kind of scope did u have fail at $400. No warranty? I like vipers no fault warranty. Score a point for them.
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Falcon Menace 4-14x FFP. I still need to chase them for the warranty but it looks a very difficult chase because I bought the scope a while back and the supplier I purchased it from does not sell them. My investigation online on trying to find someone to help me seems bleak.
 
Slaymoar said:
Where has this info come from?
Click to expand...

probably from me
last less than 300 shots and power ring came lousse and all kind of débris Inside ( 338LM--viper pst 6-24) next one will probably be a atarc or a premier whenever budget allow


to answer the op questions,

the first thing to check in a longrange scope is does ithave enough clics up to get you from 100 yards to the 1000 you want to go
2--what size of target do you want to shoot at. a clay bird is quite small at 600 yards and 15 power
3--will you use it in low light situation if yes, illuminted retcule is quite usefull. but useless in clear daylight in the middle of the corn field.
4-- will you use it for long range hunting if yes, you will prefer side parallax to get on track faster.
5--is accurate turrets tracking very important (this is where the money is when you pay a little more) millet glass is not bad for clear day light, but turrets may lag and not comme back dead on zero
6-- do you want to use reticule for holdover at diferent distance? if yes, a first plane focal can be very handy. if you plan to use only turets, FFP gets useless.
7-- since you probably buy a scope you have never tried and are not familiar with, I suggest you chose something with a fully transferable life time waranty, just in case you want to chage in some years or month in some case.
8--make sure the reticule and the turetts are in the same mesure unit. moa/moa or mill/mill some scopes have a mill reticule and moa turets t can be a real pib.

if I understood your question, I think this is the kind of anwer you are after

a 308 win doesnt realy kick hard so eye releif is not a real concern. just keep in mind that most low and medium quality scope, the aye releif change quite a bit with power so when you zoom in or out, you have to moove your eye closer or farther in order to keep the proper eye position. if not it can cause something similar to a parrallax error ( this is what happen when peoples claim that poi shift when changing power)
 
Have you checked out the Nikon Monarch 3 or M223 series? <$500 gets you a 4-16x42 or ~$550 gets you the 50mm version. In the same price range there is a 5-20x44 too. I'm personally looking at the 2-8 monarch 3.. buynig when I get the cash.
 
You most likely will get suggestions from forum members with first hand experience they have with their scope, as per some of the posting already made.

When I bought my Tic-Tac 308, I got confused from all the different brands, scope selection & mostly, due to the fact that I was a novice regarding what type of scope really fit my needs & the gun as well.
After much researching & debating, what did it for me was a particular forum posting on CGN regarding scopes where on very experienced member posted a review of his years of persona experience with both low & high end scopes. For my particular need, he mentioned that Sightron III 8 - 32 X 50 LRMOA got his utmost attention, due to the clarity of the glass as well as what it represented both in price & performance.
I ordered mine from Mystic Precision & have never regretted my purchase. This was about a year & half ago & at the time, it cost me with shipping & all about $1050. I mounted it with a nightforce aluminum rings to reduce the weight of the rifle. It has been the best investment I have made in regards to purchasing a scope. If you need more info regarding this scope, I am sure Jerry of Mystic Precision will be glad to help you out.
No matter what you decide to buy, make sure you do your homework & wish you luck.

Here is the forum link in case you would like to review it, which I highly recommend.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...Optics-Review-for-the-newer-Precision-Shooter
 
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I've been living in the same budget range as you are and have tried a bunch of different scopes. In my opinion the lowest quality worthy of doing repeatable long range work are the Bushnell elite tactical, and the Sightron SIII. Both of these are more than 500.00. I don't know of a scope at that price point that will have, a. Enough elevation to get to 1000, b. repeatable, visible, user friendly turrets. and c. Enough mag to see small targets with good optical clarity. The Vortex is the closest thing to your budget but they give up optical quality in the lower product lines.

I currently have and use a 10X Bushnell elite tactical, used paid 185.00. Two Bushnell elite 6-24X paid 750.00 new and 525.00 used. And a Sightron SIII 8-32X paid 1150.00.
I've seen a couple 6-24x50 LRMOA Sightrons on the EE lately for around 850.00. I would snatch one of those up if I were you.
 
If you can stretch your budget, you may be happier in the long run, say around $1K mark. I have owned several Bushnell Elites, Sightron SIII, and now a Nightforce NXS. Bushnell Elites are great scopes, and I would not go further down the line personally, they will stand up to most hard use, excellent clarity, good parallax adjustment, I beleive the Elite line is still made in Japan. I also have a Sightron SIII, 6-24x50 LRMOA, the Sightron lenses are excellent very high quality scope nice feel to the adjustments. I have seen crappy glass in Leupolds, Millet, Burris, NIkon, Redfield, and more, the more you spend the better the glass, and in optics the better the glass, the better the overall experience is going to be. If you have a close look around the edges and see any distortion as you look though the glass, it's bad lenses, walk away. Bushnell has a pretty generous warranty, and they have a reputation to protect too. If you get into shooting .338 or heavy calibers all the time, spend WAY more and just get a Nightforce, or some other UBER MILSPEC super scope that can handle the pounding of the magnum calibers.
 
I have a Bushnell Elite 3-9x40 and it works great, very clear and the rainguard feature really works. The bad news is that the first one was broken right out of the box, the good news is they replaced it with an upgraded version of the same scope, no questions asked, lifetime warrenty. I just now perused Wholesale Sports and they have a Bushnell Elite 8-32x40 on sale for sub $500 not to mention a bunch of other stuff on sale. Take a look.
 
I was just about to chime in on the Sightron as well but I see that I was beaten to the punch. Jerry (Mystic Precision) is a big believer in them and if they're good enough for him then they should be good enough for anyone. Your budget won't allow for a new Leupold, Nightforce etc but you might want to consider cruising the EE and seeing if you can scare up one for a decent price.
 
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