Cheap scopes, DAMIT!

Republic of Alberta

Republic of Alberta

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I had bought a new rifle some time ago and hadn't gotten around to shooting it. I figured it was time to try it out so I grabbed a new 3X9 Bushnell trophy scope I had sitting around for a few years and put it on just to get the rifle out to the range.

First shots were on paper and a 2" group. Kept shooting the rifle a bit more fiddling with action screw tightness untill the gun was consistently shooting in the 1.5" range or better. Suddenly the gun shot 3" groups, tried messing with the action screws again, made no difference. Being through this type of thing before I clicked the scope a few clicks on both up and left/right adjustments and the gun went back to shooting 1.5" groups. A few shots later same thing, 3" groups, a few clicks on the scope and now my groups were 1" More shooting and 3" groups appeared, a few clicks and back to 1" groups again. Repeat, bang head on table. Repeat, punch your own balls. Repeat....Last group I shot was 1/2 inch I am going to have to put a real scope on to see what this rifle will actually do.


I have gone through this same thing with the Bushnell Trophy scope, before that a Bushnell Legend and before that a Bushnell banner. I have also seen it happen with a Simmons.

So why??? why??? do I keep ending up with these cheap ass scopes AND THEN actually trying to shoot groups with them?????


Geez I am a sucker for punishment.

Anyways learn from my mistakes, even if I can't:D
 
Yeah, I'm in the same situtation. Try and go cheap first and kick yourself in the nuts later....Although good scopes now are at a decent price, not everything needs to be $1500 to work...
 
For my rimfire I picked up a $40 NcStar and so far it's treated me right and accurate. I just couldnt bring myself to buy a scope that costs as much if not more than my .22 :D
 
Exactly why all my rifles wear VX III or VXL Leupolds that cost as much or more than the rifle in most cases, cheap optics are a pain in the a$$, binos, scopes, spotters, camera lenses, I always buy top drawer kit. I used to be amazed when I worked a gun counter how many high end rifles went out the door with crappy optics and more often then not came back cause "I can't get it to shoot".
 
scopes

Republic of Alberta said:
I had bought a new rifle some time ago and hadn't gotten around to shooting it. I figured it was time to try it out so I grabbed a new 3X9 Bushnell trophy scope I had sitting around for a few years and put it on just to get the rifle out to the range.

First shots were on paper and a 2" group. Kept shooting the rifle a bit more fiddling with action screw tightness untill the gun was consistently shooting in the 1.5" range or better. Suddenly the gun shot 3" groups, tried messing with the action screws again, made no difference. Being through this type of thing before I clicked the scope a few clicks on both up and left/right adjustments and the gun went back to shooting 1.5" groups. A few shots later same thing, 3" groups, a few clicks on the scope and now my groups were 1" More shooting and 3" groups appeared, a few clicks and back to 1" groups again. Repeat, bang head on table. Repeat, punch your own balls. Repeat....Last group I shot was 1/2 inch I am going to have to put a real scope on to see what this rifle will actually do.


I have gone through this same thing with the Bushnell Trophy scope, before that a Bushnell Legend and before that a Bushnell banner. I have also seen it happen with a Simmons.

So why??? why??? do I keep ending up with these cheap ass scopes AND THEN actually trying to shoot groups with them?????


Geez I am a sucker for punishment.

Anyways learn from my mistakes, even if I can't:D
Click to expand...

What do you do, bounce these scopes off concrete then mount them. I have had every cheap Bushnell product that there is and they shoot just fine on all of my rifles. I have the $50.00 3-9 Rimfire, I have a 3-9 Sportsman on a CZ. A trophy on my 22 Hornet, a Legend on my 222. I have lots of other scopes as well none of which have ever failed. FS
 
i just had the same luck with a banner as well, brand new and i was on a .22!
shooting 5 round groups, then all of sudden one shot was either 6 inches out or right off the paper and thats at 50 yards!!
 
Fassteel said:
What do you do, bounce these scopes off concrete then mount them. FS
Click to expand...


I just have bad luck with cheap scopes. That trophy I was having fun with was really really cheap and I bought 2 new for less than the normal cost of one. One went on a Parker Hale 303, that gun will shoot 5 shots in that 1" range, never had a problem with that scope, the one I put on the shelf and forgot about for a few years is a turd, Oh well, I got one good one out of the 2



Pretty much every scope I own is a Leupold, just for the fact of that great warranty. I have broke 3 and eveyone was fixed free of charge even though it was always %100 my fault for breaking them..
 
I busted their "Good" ones too. Eventually you learn that life is too short to play with junk. Very seldom will I bother with anything less than a VX111 or now the VX3. I'm sure it's cheaper in the end, as well as being less frustrateing in the present. Took awhile to learn that one myself.
 
Have to admit that I've had pretty good luck with cheap scopes. I've got a $5 4x on a .22 rifle and an $18 red dot reflex on a pistol (both from some guy in Hong Kong who sells on EBay.) Both of these have been in use for 2 years with no problems whatsoever.

I've also owned the Bushnell rimfire scope and am currently using a Bushnell Banner on my silhouette rifle. Again, they work fine, hold zero and are sufficiently bright for the purpose.

Maybe I'm just lucky, or treat the scopes more gently than some, but there it is. I'm not sure that price is that good an indicator of scope quality. Most of the low end to medium grade scopes are made in China anyway. The price gets stepped up by wholesaling, distribution, advertising, transport, duties, retailing, etc. I bet there's not a scope made in China that costs more than $100 direct from the factory. Sometimes you can get around some of those costs and get a genuine bargain.

I use higher end optics on my bench rifles, but for a lot of purposes an el cheapo serves just fine.
 
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