I was always of the belief that one should spend up to but not over the cost of the rifle. the other day I got a diferent reaction from one of the girls at P&D. She said people usualy spend mor on the optics than the cost of the rifle. So what do you do? More than the rifle or less?
How much to spend on optics?
- Thread starter Moe
- Start date
Totally depends on the use of the firearm..I like having more than one optic for one firearm, but as for price I don't limit myself to how much the price of one compares to the other.
On the other hand, I know many guys who have NO optics. Just rifles and shotguns.
On the other hand, I know many guys who have NO optics. Just rifles and shotguns.
I spend what I can afford, weather it be $100 or $500. I personally don't need $500 or $1500 optics to see the target, my eyes are not that bad yet. It is a sport like bass tournaments, you don't need a $40.000 boat and about as much gear to win tournaments. It's up to the knowledge and skill of the person to do their part!
JMHO
JMHO
I spend about $1.00 to $1.50 per yard of where I want to shoot at on optics. Example: If my expected target range is 200 yards then I pay $200 to $300 on optics. Of course, if my expected range of target is 500 meters, I will likely pay $750 - $1000 on optics.
Gun price is not relevent to me.
Gun price is not relevent to me.
ultimate_monkey
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- victoria BC
Depends on the gun for me , my 22s under 500. my long range stuff gets top shelf , such as Schmidt and bender .
I used to spend all I could afford on the rifle then almost as an afterthought mount a cheap scope on it.
Until one day when I was convinced by a gun store clerk to put quality optics on my gun (they do give good advice sometimes). Since then I have become a believer in decent optics. (Decent being subjective to each shooter and thier economic situation)
With a budget rifle I can upgrade the trigger, bed the action, customize the stock, replace the barrel, etc all as the money gets saved (then spent). However the scope is a sealed unit that can only be mounted and removed, nothing else is in my power to do.
So now I buy more scope than my gun can use, but as I save up I bring the gun up to realize the scope's full potential.
Until one day when I was convinced by a gun store clerk to put quality optics on my gun (they do give good advice sometimes). Since then I have become a believer in decent optics. (Decent being subjective to each shooter and thier economic situation)
With a budget rifle I can upgrade the trigger, bed the action, customize the stock, replace the barrel, etc all as the money gets saved (then spent). However the scope is a sealed unit that can only be mounted and removed, nothing else is in my power to do.
So now I buy more scope than my gun can use, but as I save up I bring the gun up to realize the scope's full potential.
My rifles almost always cost more than my optics, but that certainly doesn't mean that I use low cost optics. My optics generally range in cost from $800 to $1500, but my rifles generally range between $2000, and $3000.
Requirements dictate optic budget. You need to ask yourself a few questions in order to determine how much you need to budget for an optic:
-What sort of rifle?
-What are you using it for?
-What is your maximum range?
-Are there any specific features (e.g. parallax adjustment, target knobs, illuminated reticle, etc.) that you know you want?
A hard and fast rule is too inflexible. For example, a big game rifle and a varmint rifle may sell for the same price, but an equivalent quality optic for the varmint rifle will be more complex and thus more expensive.
-What sort of rifle?
-What are you using it for?
-What is your maximum range?
-Are there any specific features (e.g. parallax adjustment, target knobs, illuminated reticle, etc.) that you know you want?
A hard and fast rule is too inflexible. For example, a big game rifle and a varmint rifle may sell for the same price, but an equivalent quality optic for the varmint rifle will be more complex and thus more expensive.
My optics are selected more by suitability of purpose than ratio to rifle price. Most of my hunting scopes cost about the same as a Remchester rifle but the rifles vary wildly in price. That can lead to some seemingly strange combos like a $300 Vanguard packing a Mark 4, or a incomeing $4000 Cooper screwed to $600 VX3. In either case the rifle and scope are both suitable for what its being used for.
- Location
- New Brunswick
That's a good post. I lot of my rifles are <300 meter 3 moa rifles, and a 10x scope is wasted on such a gun. I find some of the cheaper options like bushnell trs-25 and lucid hd7 are great choices, particularily if I retain the option to use irons. A good bolt gun is a different story.
How true! This is a question that is impossible to answer without asking a lot of other questions first.
But I'll try. I take the cost of the rifle, add in the maximum expected range in meters, divide by the caliber in mm (rounded down to nearest .1mm), subtract the maximum bullet weight that I expect to use, and then multiply by the average weight of the game being taken, in kg.
This results in the perfect price for the optics, in rupees. Then just find the current exchange rate, and convert. Easy!
Now, for back-up scopes...
That was f-en funny. Thanks guys for the feed back. I asked a specific question in another thread and got little response as to what to put on my Savage 93FVSS in 22 mag. By my old rule I would be limited by a cap of $330 so wondering if my old rule was out to lunch. Thus this thread and poll. I see a lot of real good advice (and humour which is good as we need that too). I use to use cheap scopes 20-30 years ago then one day a buddy bought a Bushnell 3200. He convinced me and since I have bought 2x 3200's a 6500 and a Nightforce as well as an Eotech. I have had luck with cheap scopes but usualy not. I have since been more trusting of better made scopes. It's just that, that quality of scope will be 2-4 times the price of the rifle and wondering if that is wise. Thanks again guys. Your thoughts.
Moe
Moe
