Best scope, $1000 budget

jrcarbine

jrcarbine

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Hey guys I have $1000 to spend on a new scope for my Savage 11 .243 build. Need to upgrade the cheap weaver scope it came with lol. Ill be using it for hunting and target shooting up to 600 yards. I want a decent variable optic. I want something that starts at the highest of 4.5 variable. I would prefer a higher variable (18-30). Right now I am interested in the Bushnell Elite 6500 series, possibly the 4.5-30x50. I never had experience with Vortex optics, but I have heard good things about them. What do you guys think?
 
I just ordered a Burris Veracity 3-15 FFP, $1000. I hope it's as good as the reviews say it is. There is also a Burris veracity 4-20 FFP for about $1050.
 
Vortex Viper PST series is very good. Might be slightly over budget though - unless you can find a used one. I have the Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP and love it. The only thing I'm not happy about is the variable eye relief at different power. I have my gun setup for perfect eye relief at full power, but if I zoom out, I have to move my head to a less than ideal position. I think you'll encounter the same issue with any zoom scope under $3k.

Get the best possible scope you can, and pick up some ATRS precision rings:

http://albertatacticalrifle.com/hikashop-menu-for-categories-listing/product/148-atrs-ultra-light-30mm-rings

these rings are outstanding quality and precision.
 
Brianma65 said:
I just ordered a Burris Veracity 3-15 FFP, $1000. I hope it's as good as the reviews say it is. There is also a Burris veracity 4-20 FFP for about $1050.
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Yes the Veracity is that good. I have two. The glass is fantastic and you'll love the reticle. My only gripe is the turrets are a little soft in the click department.
 
jrcarbine said:
Hey guys I have $1000 to spend on a new scope for my Savage 11 .243 build. Need to upgrade the cheap weaver scope it came with lol. Ill be using it for hunting and target shooting up to 600 yards. I want a decent variable optic. I want something that starts at the highest of 4.5 variable. I would prefer a higher variable (18-30). Right now I am interested in the Bushnell Elite 6500 series, possibly the 4.5-30x50. I never had experience with Vortex optics, but I have heard good things about them. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

That scope sounds good on paper, but 30x is not actually useable from what I have heard. IMHO if you want to use magnification over 16x, you should consider 56mm or larger objectives. The 4-16x50 PST is a good scope to start with.
 
Sightron S3
Vortex
And the Bushnell Tactical Elite are excellent scopes with great clarity and available in FFP, I have 3 of them
As long as you have low end power I have never had anyone ask for less magnification.
I use a 6-24x50 Bushnell Tactical Elite FFP on my 308 hunting rifle and love it.
 
I was not impressed with my vortex ffp4-16 viper luckily there's lots of fan boys so it was a easy sell I like the bushnell tactical line there was a used 3-12 hunter version on the ee for a decent price.
 
Newbie to scopes. Considering a new scope that my 223 bolt and K31 can share depending on the season. I would like something lightweight but damage proof. Super high magnification isn't necessary, just something robust for all around hunting. Anything out there I should consider?
 
I went to my local gun store today to look at some scopes, and I think I'm going with the Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x42. It is a very well built optic with great glass! Plus the warranty is amazing. I know I said I wanted something up to 18 power, but I like the fact that it starts at 2.5x, just encase I need to take a quick close shot.
 
jrcarbine said:
I went to my local gun store today to look at some scopes, and I think I'm going with the Bushnell 6500 2.5-16x42. It is a very well built optic with great glass! Plus the warranty is amazing. I know I said I wanted something up to 18 power, but I like the fact that it starts at 2.5x, just encase I need to take a quick close shot.
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I had one of those and found the glass a bit hazy on 16 power. Compared to my Zeiss3-15 hd and Nightforce 5-20 SHV. That I used to have.
 
freezer filler said:
That scope sounds good on paper, but 30x is not actually useable from what I have heard. IMHO if you want to use magnification over 16x, you should consider 56mm or larger objectives. The 4-16x50 PST is a good scope to start with.
Click to expand...

Having owned 4x Elite 6500's, two in the 2.5-16x42 and two in the 4.5-30x50 I can say with absolute certainty that the 30x is not only usable but is extremely nice. Being able to see exactly where you hit without having to use the spotting scope is wonderful. I replaced my Elite 6500 m-fine 4.5-30x50 with a Leupold VX-3 in 8.5-25x50 and there are occasions where I miss the extra magnification despite the Leupold being a bit clearer. I replaced the mil-dot 4.5-30x50 with a Vortex Razor HD Gen II in 4.5-27x56 "just because" as I was upgrading the rifle and figured I'd do optics at the same time. The 6500 series are a lot of scope for the money IMHO. My only gripe would be the thickness of the bloody reticles on them is excessive.
 
for 1k budget, you have a lot of scopes to choose from.

i went with the sightron s3 6-24X 50 mil/mil and the only thing that i'm not totally in love with is the plain mildot reticle. I would have preferred a mil-hash or even the new reticle in the ffp line.

do you want a "plain vanilla" hunting style scope or a tactical one?
how far will you shoot, should influence how much magnification you choose. You dont "need" huge mag. to shoot accurately.
covered coin slot adjustments? covered target turrets? exposed tactical turrets?
reticle choice? lots of them out there for both hunters and tactical shooters.
adjustable objective dial (yes you do)
first focal plane or second focal plane?
zero stop?
matching mil/mil or moa/moa reticle and turret adjustment? or the old mil reticle and moa turret adjustment
 
Make your budget $1150 and buy a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42, the glass is pretty amazing to my eye.

I was looking for a scope at about $1000 a little while ago, and after reading a lot and I realized I didn't need/want ranging reticles, illumination, target turrets, etc... Once I decided that a quality mattered more to me than gimmicks I decided to look at "premium" brands like Swarovski, Zeiss, NF, etc... Then I realized for just a bit more than my original budget I could get into a nice simple and light scope. I went with the Swarovski Z3 as suggested above.
 
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