Buying optic without looking through?

Czarface

Czarface

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Hi everyone, I’m looking at purchasing an Apex rival 4-32 based on the simple fact that they are Canadian and cost and apparently they have great glass and can stand with the 4-5 thousand dollar scopes but problem is I haven’t seen through one… Should I just pull the trigger on this? Thoughts 💭 please
 
I would wait until you can find someone who has one and can see through to make sure this is something for you.

Plus there is only one youtube video review since the last time I googled, which surprised me. Nobody seems received it from the pre-order yet.
No see through comparison photos at all.
 
I've had a chance to look/shoot through a demo one, overall its pretty nice glass for the money. Turrets are nice and tactile, reticle is well thought out, I like the included throw lever and caps, but am not super crazy about the orange colour they use.

We had it on the line with Athlon Cronus and Ares Gen 2, Minox LR, Vortex Venom. It compared very nicely with my Cronus Gen2 in my opinion.

There's two guys shooting Northern Rimfire Series who are sponsored Apex shooters who should have production models in hand to demo now.
 
Those were the pre-production scopes, the production ones are much nicer, and you can definitely ask the Team shooters for check them out. In fact it's encouraged!!
 
Did that with a Tract and a Delta, no stores carried them, both are made in by LOW in Japan, Delta has Jap glass, Tract has German. Wasn't disappointed in either one, Tract has better turrets than the Gen 2 Delta Stryker though. Remember that the Apex is just a competitor to Delta, Athlon (Cronus), Trijicon (Ten Mile), Nightforce, Zeiss (V4), Tract, Bushnell, Sightron, and probably a few others, who get a series of scopes built by 2-3 different Jap scope mfgrs for a rough price point, and are all very similar scopes. Variables are the reticles or maybe turret specs on them. Just be careful on the reviews, in that some have been updated in or since 2020, make sure which generation you are looking at as to the model, and some reviews go back to 2015. Delta has a gen 3 out, Trijicon went from an Accupoint to the Ten Mile, Athlon has at least a Gen 2 out now, etc.
They are all a good product for the dollar, and I would not be scared to buy an Apex sight unseen.
 
Czarface said:
Hi everyone, I’m looking at purchasing an Apex rival 4-32 based on the simple fact that they are Canadian and cost and apparently they have great glass and can stand with the 4-5 thousand dollar scopes but problem is I haven’t seen through one… Should I just pull the trigger on this? Thoughts �� please
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Your buying a pig in the poke and only you can decide if that s worth the chance/choice.
Just my thoughts on this ...
Rob
 
I would say be careful of YouTube reviews. YouTubers often say nice things about crappy stuff so dealers will send or give them things to review.

If you can find someone who is not kissing up to the dealers and manufacturers you will be best off. (but how can you tell?)

I would also suggest that you yourself are the only judge of what is acceptable to you. An example of my own experience was the use of a Kahles 624 vs Nightforce ATACR... You will find plenty of love in most places for the ATACR, but I personally cannot stand the thing. The Kahles 624 is superior in all respects as far as I'm concerned. There may be people out there who disagree, and that's exactly the point. My opinion is the only opinion that matters to me, as it should be. I was at a match a couple weeks ago where a guy was on a rant ripping on his ZT, so even in that price range people find things not to like.

I might also suggest that you confirm the return policy before you buy. Some dealers are willing to take back returns as long as it was not mounted... Some dealers (like coretac) have a hard no returns policy and I would advise that you avoid such with extreme prejudice.

At least if you buy it and don't like something, you can return it with reputable dealers.
 
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Unfortunately you take a risk. Even “looking through it” doesn’t mean SFA. You aren’t going to know whether it’s any good until you’ve used it for a while.
I got screwed on a Sig Sauer Whiskey 5. All the YouTube reviews were positive but that didn’t mean much. The scope ended up being one of the biggest POS scopes I’ve ever owned. After the second warranty claim I gave up.
 
Czarface said:
Hi everyone, I’m looking at purchasing an Apex rival 4-32 based on the simple fact that they are Canadian and cost and apparently they have great glass and can stand with the 4-5 thousand dollar scopes but problem is I haven’t seen through one… Should I just pull the trigger on this? Thoughts 💭 please
Click to expand...

Sad thing about scope buying,you don't know until you try.ive purchased a bunch new only to turn around and sell for a discount,generally about $15 per $100.ive got major back and kneck injuries so I'm looking for real comfort behind the scope to achieve that just right feel lol.so now I'm trying the ee more and more to cut my losses.one really easy scope for me to get behind are the bushnel dmr 2 and 3 with the ed glass.only drawback is the tunneling at 3.5 to 4 but I only use that for finding the target.alot of reviews have not lined up with my eyes,so take them with a grain of salt.i bought a new cronus gen 2 btr after being equivalent to the razor gen 2,but was not in same zip code.but it was sent back for warranty and recieveing new scope 5 days later(great warrany service)at athlons.so trial and error is the only way to find out.
 
Like coleman said, you dont know what you have until you use it a while.
I've had OK luck buying sight unseen, but not perfect.
The Bushnell XRS 2 and DMR 2 Pro I picked up had both been around for a while, and the reviews on both had been very consistent. Both were purchased back when Bushnell had their yearly 30% off MIR sales, and I wish I had bought more.
Bought a 5-25 Athlon Midas Tac sight unseen as everyone and their donkey called it a gen 2 PST killer. I have a gen 2 PST, that I like, but hoped i could save $300 for similar quality. Nope. The Midas Tac is a step down in glass quality and resolution. The blue fringing/chromatic aberration at 12x and up is pretty awful, which was surprising. Mechanically it's been great, but the glass didn't match the hype.
I've been thinking of getting an Arken EP5 for the 457, but the shills grotesquely overrated the SH4 so I'm wary. I may up my budget and go with a more known quantity.
My Apex Rival was another sight unseen purchase, but I'm not expecting a Theta. I'm just hoping that it at least shows well compared to other $2k scopes. Based on the last email I should find out soon.
The longer I stay in this sport the more I understand why people save up and buy S&Bs, ZCOs and other alpha scopes. No guessing on quality, almost no chance of disappointment.
 
Is interesting that there is a thought that "looking through" a scope tells you much useful for it's job? Is not a telescope for star gazing, or spotting scope - where optics are about everything - a scope is a sight - does it withstand recoil? Are the turret settings repeatable? Does the reticle stay in a fixed place after multiple rounds, or does it jiggle off to a new position? Does the reticle / target alter places as the power is turned up or down? Can not tell that by "looking through" - have to actually use it, test it, to know. Is perhaps what you get from on-line reviews? - people who "looked through" but have no concept how to test for waterproof, or what "shooting a square" on a target might show, or perhaps who have received a benefit for their review?

FYI - about one of best "look through" scopes that I have is a Hensoldt - so like 60 years old - most of the newer Leupold's that I own are close to "just as good" for view. But the Hensoldt does not even have a windage turret! So is the "old-school" thing - but they certainly could deliver a "view" in those days, if that was the only measure!!
 
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