High end optics. Real world opinions.

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Adammeek

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Stoney plain, AB
Looking to buy my first big boy scope.
Going to be mounted on a 338lm for a weatherby accumark. This is primarily used in field at target. But under circumstances could be used on a hunting application.
I would love to keep scope below 3000 but not 100% that will happen :) I would really like a lower power availability with large magnification so somewhere in the 3-15 4-20 is what i would preffer. First Focal plain also.

Scopes I have been looking at
US OPTICS LR-17MIL 3.2-17X I like the magnification of this scope little over budget of 3k
Nightforce F1 ATACR 4-16x42 with ZeroHold Riflescope I really enjoy the small objective of this scope as long as it is not to restrictive in performance
March F 3-24x42 Riflescope I really hope someone chimes in with personal info on march because on paper this looks to be a very appealing optic for the price!
Steiner T5Xi 3-15x50 Again I don't believe that this is available in Canada yet. But with a promising price point could be a very nice piece of gear.
And to just blow all price points in the garbage and splurge
Schmidt & Bender PMII 3-20x50 Looks as it would do everything and anything i could possibly ever want to do!

Thanks for your info
Adam
 
I own $180 Bushnells and $1000 Swarovski scopes.The quality of the glass (purity) and the lens grinding technique is what you pay the big bucks for.Most high end glass is from Germany or Japan (been doing it a long time right)the rest is hit and miss China,Korea,Russia.The real test is under a moon-lit night see which scope you can hunt with.I'll give you a hint, in Germany you can hunt at night legally:Slavex:So your pick is up to you.
 
All are excellent choice and will perform over and above most shooters skill and actual requirements. Look through them, see what reticles you like and go from there. There is a noticeable difference between an nightforce glass and a S&B glass. But is there 1100 dollars worth of difference? I don't know. I haven't looked through March myself yet, but they are being bragged about by some guys with rather exclusive taste.
 
LouF said:
How about a Canadian made scope ?http://www.tangenttheta.com/about-us
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You're also blowing the $3000 price out of the water there. My recommendation would be to look into the Vortex Razor gen 2 lineup. They have a 3-18x50 for right at $3000. The 4.5-27x56 is $3399.

And when you start paying that much for a scope, you're paying for a lot more than just glass. You pay for the mechanics of them, making sure they track perfectly is probably just as important as glass quality.
 
I have the March 3-24x42mm. If the 3-24x52mm had existed at the time, I would have bought it. I've owned a USO 3.2-17x. It had a lot of problems and most that I have seen have. A lot of people on the hide are reporting issues with the Steiner, and the NF F1s aren't out yet.

If money was not an object, I'd get a Tangent Theta as I already have three Premiers and they've served me well. My second choice would be the Vortex Razor II. S&B have served many people well. I just prefer the reticles and the turrets on the TT and the Razor II.

Edit: the highend Bushnell scopes are also worth looking at.
 
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Adammeek said:
Looking to buy my first big boy scope.
Going to be mounted on a 338lm for a weatherby accumark. This is primarily used in field at target. But under circumstances could be used on a hunting application.
I would love to keep scope below 3000 but not 100% that will happen :) ...

Thanks for your info
Adam
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In the real world, I'd get an old truck.
 
Have a look at the Bushnell Tactical Elite 3.5--21 X 50. You will be surprised by the quality, and the value for money they offer.
 
johnl said:
$1500 for a Bushnell, I feel queasy.
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I will admit I was hesitant at first also...but after reading the reviews on SH, and seeing how many top PRS shooters use them, it is a no brainer for the price.

Made in the same factory in JAPAN as Nightforce glass. Totally different breed than other Bushnell scopes.
 
Adammeek said:
Looking to buy my first big boy scope.
Going to be mounted on a 338lm for a weatherby accumark. This is primarily used in field at target. But under circumstances could be used on a hunting application.
I would love to keep scope below 3000 but not 100% that will happen :) I would really like a lower power availability with large magnification so somewhere in the 3-15 4-20 is what i would preffer. First Focal plain also.

Scopes I have been looking at
US OPTICS LR-17MIL 3.2-17X I like the magnification of this scope little over budget of 3k
Nightforce F1 ATACR 4-16x42 with ZeroHold Riflescope I really enjoy the small objective of this scope as long as it is not to restrictive in performance
March F 3-24x42 Riflescope I really hope someone chimes in with personal info on march because on paper this looks to be a very appealing optic for the price!
Steiner T5Xi 3-15x50 Again I don't believe that this is available in Canada yet. But with a promising price point could be a very nice piece of gear.
And to just blow all price points in the garbage and splurge
Schmidt & Bender PMII 3-20x50 Looks as it would do everything and anything i could possibly ever want to do!

Thanks for your info
Adam
Click to expand...

After doing a lot of research and comparing most of the scopes you have on your list(all of them actually) I was down to the NF ATACR F1 4-16 and S&B PMII 3-20 Ultra Short. I'm a big fan of the ATACR F1 5-25, have one on a 338LM and it's been very impressive and stacks up well to the PMII 5-25. I think NF had a great idea with there 4-16 F1 ATACR but the lack of good MIL reticles was the deal breaker for me (I'm not a fan of the MIL-R) I ended up ordering the PMII 3-20 Ultra Short with a H2CMR reticle. If your a MOA guy it would be hard to beat a 4-16 F1 ATACR with a MOAR reticle.(IMO the MOAR reticle is one of the best MOA reticles I've seen)
 
The new Bushnell scopes are not like the scope on your grandpa's hunting rifle. I have a Bushnell XRS Tactical Elite 4.5-30x50 G2DMR reticle and its a very nice scope. It has some nicer features than my Nightforce NXS 8-32x56 which is a very nice scope as well. Both have excellent turrets but the first focal plane on the XRS is a nice feature. There are good reviews on both scopes. The Bushnell XRS is about $2600 and the Nightforce NXS about $2300.
 
I recently got a March 3-24x52 and had compared the same scopes you are looking at. The March scope is the lightest and weighs 23.5 oz (non-illuminated) for just the scope, and 29.5 oz with NF ultralite medium rings w/ level, the sunshade, and front scope cap. Which is about what the next lightest scope would weigh by itself.

The reticles are nice, not very special but if you don't care for a christmas tree reticle than they are probably exactly what you want. As far as reticle size I was worried about the 3x being really small and being unusable but that is not the case. I have the FMA2 reticle and like it, it's not to fine or to thick. If you go with the MOA versions you get 25 moa per revolution. I have it on a 20 moa base and have about 77 moa of elevation left with a 100 yard zero.

The parallax is a little different than others, most of the parallax is from 10 - 100 yards, and about half an inch of the knob is 100 - infinity. This makes anything past 100 yards very sensitive to adjust and can be difficult to find the sweet spot but it also can make adjusting the parallax quicker.

Overall it is a nice scope with good glass on par with my Nightforce competition. This scope really is a jack of all trades, is a little heavy, but light enough to be used for hunting. If I could only own one scope this would be it.

I don't think you will be disappointed with any of the scopes on your list.
 
I remember going to Cabela's in Michigan a few years ago.The variety of scopes they had, mounted on fake rifles ,were in a dimly lit room so you could see the difference in light gathering properties for different makes.Just a little FYIcou:
 
One thing i can tell you, if you get yourslelf a S&B scope, you wont be able to buy anything else and be fully satisfied, it is a very addictive game, i totally became addict of them, any rifle i like, get one... JP.

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And so on... JP.
 
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Some observations with the same gun:

The Weatherby MkV stock is a terrible design for shooting in the prone position due to the amount of drop it has at the heel. By mounting a large objective scope on it you only exaggerate this issue. I have a Nightforce 3.5-15 F1 mounted on my 30-378 Accumark. When shooting this rifle in the prone position the top of the recoil pad is at the very bottom of my shoulder pocket and The cheek weld is non-existant. If you do your hunting without the muzzle brake on the gun you are going to have second thoughts about shooting prone.
A scope with a smaller objective may help with the above situation (if only marginally). The 4-16 ATACR or the 3-24x42 March would be good choices and are both more compact in size.
Reticle choice will be important because on an FFP scope the reticles can become hard to aquire quickly at low magnification. if you go with a reticle that is too fine it will be of little use at 3-4x as the crosshair will be so small/fine that it will be easily lost against heavily shadowed backgrounds and when looking against trees/brush. As an example, the Gen2 XR comes to mind. A buddy has this reticle in his Premier and while its a terrific reticle to use at 25x shooting at 900m it is all but useless at 5x trying to shoot a running coyote in tight (IMO).

I think you should focus on size, weight, reticle and a mid-magnification range. Realistically the Accumark is a hunting rifle and you will not be able to sustain long strings of fire with it. Your scope choice should be focused more on the field use rather than the target shooting end of the spectrum.
 
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