Find my next gopher optic

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adamg

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-I'm currently running a pair of Bushnell 2.5-16x42 Elite 6500 on my 17hmr and 223rem gopher getters.
-I'm fine with the MOA turrets, SFP and duplex reticle. I use mrad and FFP on my precision rifles. Either setup is fine. No mil-dot reticles.
-I require minimum magnification of 3x (and 2x or 2.5x would be ideal), with top end mag of at least 12x (slight bonus for more top end mag).
-I require parallax adjustment on left side turret with minimum distance of 25y (bonus if it goes closer).
-I cringe at the thought of a 1" tube and would have to buy more rings, but if that's the only downside of your proposed scope I would consider it. Prefer 30mm or 34mm tube.
-My only complaint with the Bushnell is the glass quality.
-I really would prefer to keep it at a max of $1500. Don't bother suggesting a $4k Swaro z8i, though that would be a sweet scope, it's just too much money. Same with the $3k Razor Gen3 1-10x.

What suggestions are out there that meet my requirements?

I'm aware of the Bushnell Forge 2-12x50, but the fact that Bushnell immediately discontinued it, disavows its existence, and there are zero user reviews or even marketing material scares me. I'm worried it might not have any better glass than my Elite 6500.
 
I'm going to keep and modify a live list of scopes I need to consider here in this post.

Athlon Ares BTR GEN2 2.5-15×50 APRS5 FFP IR MIL about $1100, poor availability, 27oz
Athlon Helos BTR GEN2 2-12×42 AHMR2 FFP IR MIL about $700, poor availability (very new), 25oz
Athlon Argos HMR 2-12×42 AHMC SFP MOA about $450, 20oz
Athlon Midas HMR 2.5-15×50 about $650, 26oz

Burris various units, mostly 3-15 in the $800-1500 range.

Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15x50 mrad SFP about $1400, 19oz
 
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Athlon Helos Gen2 scopes are brand new 2021. Should get to see a bunch in a week or two.

Specs look good on paper and the glass in other scopes in and around this one are very nice. Pricing is great if they offer similar performance.

There are also new Ares ETR 1-10 and 3-18. I love my Ares ETRs in 4.5-30 so expect the glass in these new ETRs to also be excellent ED quality. And ED glass is what you find in expensive optics.

These 2 would also be below you max budget.

Give me a shout if I can help.

Jerry
 
Have you looked through a NF SHV ? Can be had used ok here for much less than retail. I've been impressed with the glass on mine so far.

Edit- after re reading initial post maybe an NXS 3.5-15 would be a better suggestion in your magnification range.
 
Jerry as always is bang on (pun intended) on his Athlon suggestion.

Knew nothing about them until he told me, did a bunch of research then got a chance to try one. You will be hard pressed to find better value out there, there is a reason why this line is rapidly gaining acceptance with shooters.
 
After owning a few VX-5HD 3-15x44’s on various larger game hunting rigs I can attest to them being a solid performer! I also agree with the above that Athlon has a lot of great options as well. Haven’t looked through many at all, the only one being a Midas Tac 5-25x56 that was quite nice. But on paper the options look good. I would also suggest the Zeiss Conquest V4 line as well. If your willing to give up an extra power on the low side and do a 4-16x44 or 4-16x50 you’ll get an 80 Moa dialable adjustment range, solid zero stop, capped or locking windage, 30mm tube, 10 Yard to Infinity Parallax, plenty of reticle options, and Japanese made scope for in your price range.
 
Mystic Precision said:
Athlon Helos Gen2 scopes are brand new 2021. Should get to see a bunch in a week or two.

Specs look good on paper and the glass in other scopes in and around this one are very nice. Pricing is great if they offer similar performance.

There are also new Ares ETR 1-10 and 3-18. I love my Ares ETRs in 4.5-30 so expect the glass in these new ETRs to also be excellent ED quality. And ED glass is what you find in expensive optics.

These 2 would also be below you max budget.

Give me a shout if I can help.

Jerry
Click to expand...

I’m waiting to hear some feedback on the 3-18X ETR. Be sure to post something!

I do wonder though when Bushnell says they use ED Prime in their Forge line, how it compares to the higher priced Ares ETR? Is there an industry standard for ED glass or do manufacturers just pump their own tires?
 
problem with the optics industry is the wide use of branding, jargon, and marketing. It would be nice if the specs were industry standard so that if we say 'German shepherd' its not someone's "poodle"

There are 2 broad categories of lenses... Reg/Stand/Consumer/HD.. and other names. A very wide range of quality and features so there are fantastic all the way to terrible but the viewing characteristics share similar traits.

Then ED or Alpha or Tier 1 lenses or whatever else they can come up. These lenses have superior grinds, coatings and manf. Their long range resolution and clarity is tangibly better then even the best "hd" lense. These types of lenses tend to be less affected or see through mirage.

Now here is a great example of confusing... Leupold has the V series of scopes and the MARK series of scopes.... all have HD in their name. So for Leupold, HD means nothing to describe the product. You need to figure out that V is the 'reg' lense and MARK are the ED lenses. Maybe for Leupold, HD means heavy duty or something that has nothing to do with the lenses????

Cost used to be a decent indicator but not always.... some NF scopes using quality Reg lenses are more expensive then Athlon and Delta using ED lenses

Confusing ... definitely. Ideally, you would be able to climb behind the scope you are interested in and see for yourself. Each person will see differently so may favor coatings or qualities in one brand of optic over another equally good scope.

for now, there is no standard way to describe what is in the box.

But we do know the cost to get fantastic scope performance is falling.

Jerry

PS... Bushnell continues to change their product lines and looks like the Forge line is now discontinued. I gave up on them when they divorced from Bausch and Lomb years ago.
 
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Great explanation Jerry. Thanks.

It’s tough to get behind some glass in the internet age. To a large degree we’re depending on other people’s experiences. Total crap shoot, and throw in the jargon issues...
 
I ended up buying a pair of the Bushnell Forge 2-16x50 SFP 34mm to replace my 6500s. They are similar in a lot of ways with the Forge just a bit "more" in a lot of ways.
 
I went with a Falcon 3-18 FFP, $700 at Frontier Firearms (I try to buy from a sask dealer first). Its pretty much cheating with this setup on a Savage A17. The magnification is great, im hitting gophers out to 300 yards. The turrets are my favourite part. The tracking is spot on, loud nice clicks with each adjustment.

I had a redfield on before and the tracking was terrible. Id do 11 clicks ‘up’ take a shot and then need 13 clicks ‘down’ to get back to zero… mushy turrets meant to zero once and not touch.
 
gunna bring this thread up again as i have a couple incredible gopher rifle setups.

i use a leupold Vx5hd 3.5-18x44 on a cz 17 hornet and now a vortex razor LHT 3-15x44 on a browning t-bolt speed in .17HMR. The biggest things with these two optics are the weight (15oz. and 19 oz. respectively) and the glass. both optics have incredible glass for finding those critters.
 
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