Looking for advice: Best long range tactical rifle scope

Hey everyone,

I'm in the market for a quality long-range tactical rifle scope and could use some recommendations from the community. I've been doing research but there are so many options out there that it's getting overwhelming.

**My Setup:**
- .308 Winchester bolt-action rifle
- Planning to shoot out to 800-1000 yards
- Mix of target shooting and hunting applications
- Budget: ideally the most budget friendly but 1000-2000 range (flexible for the right optic)

**What I'm Looking For:**
- Reliable tracking and return to zero
- Good glass clarity in low light conditions
- Durable construction that can handle field use
- First focal plain
- Variable magnification, thinking 4-24x 5-25x 7-35x range

**Scopes I'm Considering:**
- Vortex Viper PST Gen II
- Arken El-5
- DNT "the one"

Has anyone here had experience with these models? Any other brands I should be looking at? Please don't suggest Schmidt & Bender and Zeiss. Yes I'd love to own one, but I'm not there yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I appreciate everyone sharing
 
Hey everyone,

I'm in the market for a quality long-range tactical rifle scope and could use some recommendations from the community. I've been doing research but there are so many options out there that it's getting overwhelming.

**My Setup:**
- .308 Winchester bolt-action rifle
- Planning to shoot out to 800-1000 yards
- Mix of target shooting and hunting applications
- Budget: ideally the most budget friendly but 1000-2000 range (flexible for the right optic)

**What I'm Looking For:**
- Reliable tracking and return to zero
- Good glass clarity in low light conditions
- Durable construction that can handle field use
- First focal plain
- Variable magnification, thinking 4-24x 5-25x 7-35x range

**Scopes I'm Considering:**
- Vortex Viper PST Gen II
- Arken El-5
- DNT "the one"

Has anyone here had experience with these models? Any other brands I should be looking at? Please don't suggest Schmidt & Bender and Zeiss. Yes I'd love to own one, but I'm not there yet.

Thanks in advance for any advice. I appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge.

Jer
I have the pst gen 2 5-25×. Im just causal shooting and its more than capable for 1000+ yard shots. It been amazing for its use and im perfectly happy with it.

if i were to do it again id honestly get a match pro ed and save the cash for more ammunition/range time.
 
For 1000 yds, a 16x magnification will be more then enough. Anything above 24x will cause problems with mirage and reticle shake.

For hunting, you want a minimum magnification of 4x or less. A base mag of 7x is way too much for hunting.
Absolutely this I rarely go above 12-15 power in any type of shooting beyond load development or shooting groups
But the low end for hunting is a must at 7x you have 15' ish FOV at 100y vs 35' with a 3x
 
You wanna get a high quality long range scope - sorry guys but that answer you won't find in this Forum.
This is wild info to be throwing out there homie.
:) which part you agree or not what I said earlier?

My longest hobby is photography, started in mid '70's, along my way I learned what a good glass means, where to look for and what it costs.
Long range sniper scopes - if the guy have not swap at least a half dozen Tier1/Tier2 glass, he's recommendation doesn't worth more then a amazon review.
Not many people have done that in this Forum, and who knows what I am talking about those people mostly sitting quiet don't bother answering.
Testing scopes - you start with placing a business card beside your 100 meters BR target, look through the scope and read it.
All starts from there.
If you cannot see your 308 POI holes @ 500 - you wasting your time with that glass, no matter how deep your pocket is.
 
You said,

"Best long range tactical rifle scope"​

Schmidt & Bender PMII series in the 3-27 to 5-45 magnification range.

Tangent Theta Professional series in the 5-25 to 7-35 magnification range

At a lower price point;

March Optics. Their scopes offer up to an 80X magnification.
 
Appreciate all the info
For up to $2000 in CAD you will probably getting about a mid to higher range Tier2 scope if you shop around for a BNIB. The Canadian market is expensive, I will not comment further about that.
Shopping from UK or EU will open some new wider options, especially if you can be satisfied with less known Brand names, You still getting a higher quality for a less money. Forget about the hassle with US ITAR regulations.
I am not suggesting not to support the local dealers and resellers, only saying open the box and look around.
 
What does Tier 1 optic even mean?

Does that mean the optical everything is literally the best in the world? Or does Tier 1 mean entry level and its actually tier 56 that is the best?

I'd be inclined to think a "tier 2" anything would be better than tier 1... but seems some people use the term like power engineering, where class 1 is better than class 4. But... you go up in tiers...or Grade A is better than grade B... or double or triple grade A. Tier 1 to me means a 1x fisher price piece of crap coke bottle for glass. That's tier 1.

Who defines the tiers of optics? Seems like a pretty fast and loose and meaningless terminology.

Give examples of what T1 T2 T3 optics would be...etc.
 
Lets take an example from photography lenses.
You have maybe hear about glass quality ratings of - F2.8 - F2.4 - F1.8 - F1.6 - F1.4 - F1.2 and so on.
Smaller the number the prices going up
The prime lenses are already the highest quality glass, but you will see the 50mm in F1.8 you can get for maybe $200 if you lucky, the same 50mm lens in F1.2 will set you back couple thousand. Same 50mm lens but different materials and fabrications.
Lets make it transparent to long range target scopes.
 
That's fair. Sounds like an industry standard for glass quality; I rekcon the glass quality is an exact specified selling feature in camera lenses...similar to diamond quality in selling diamonds... there is an exacting reason for why a 1 carat stone of X quality and costs $28,000, and a 1 carat of Y quality is $899.99. But Hoorah fake scope tiers sells scopes I guess...albiet I dont even know what a tier of scope is.

I dont really think there is an industry standard for scopes... ask 10 different guys what the best scope is you'll get 10 different answers and...I bet theyre all "tier 1." And theyre all $1000 to $8500. Too many people with hard ons for the scope THEY have, and other scopes arent worth the box they're sold in.

Theres a lot of reconizable scope brands out there.... Rhetortically...what makes a Khales cost twice what a vortex razor costs. Or 5 times as much as a pst gen ii. Or 10 times as much as an arken. Or 1.5 times as much as a Schmidt and Bender. Or 3 times as much as a Sightron. Or a Tangent Theta cost 1.5 what a Khales does.

Where exactly does diminishing returns come in? Somewhere around fisher price and needing to meet an exact purpose.

If youre just glancing through the scope shooting milk jugs at 1k... I think a guy can get away with a lot less scope than someone sitting on the X ring all day for score.

IMO, the best scope is the cheapest scope that satisfys the criteria it is required to meet. Probably dont need a tangent theta to pick off a couple milk jugs at 1k.
 
That's fair. Sounds like an industry standard for glass quality; I rekcon the glass quality is an exact specified selling feature in camera lenses...similar to diamond quality in selling diamonds... there is an exacting reason for why a 1 carat stone of X quality and costs $28,000, and a 1 carat of Y quality is $899.99. But Hoorah fake scope tiers sells scopes I guess...albiet I dont even know what a tier of scope is.

I dont really think there is an industry standard for scopes... ask 10 different guys what the best scope is you'll get 10 different answers and...I bet theyre all "tier 1." And theyre all $1000 to $8500. Too many people with hard ons for the scope THEY have, and other scopes arent worth the box they're sold in.

Theres a lot of reconizable scope brands out there.... Rhetortically...what makes a Khales cost twice what a vortex razor costs. Or 5 times as much as a pst gen ii. Or 10 times as much as an arken. Or 1.5 times as much as a Schmidt and Bender. Or 3 times as much as a Sightron. Or a Tangent Theta cost 1.5 what a Khales does.

Where exactly does diminishing returns come in? Somewhere around fisher price and needing to meet an exact purpose.

If youre just glancing through the scope shooting milk jugs at 1k... I think a guy can get away with a lot less scope than someone sitting on the X ring all day for score.

IMO, the best scope is the cheapest scope that satisfys the criteria it is required to meet. Probably dont need a tangent theta to pick off a couple milk jugs at 1k.

You bring up some good points.

All too often you get guys pushing the scope they have as the best there is out there. 1st question to ask them: have you tried any better scopes, and most say: NO! Then how do you know you have the best?????? Most will never even think about paying $5K or more for a scope, so will never see the difference, and to those you just can't explain it to good enough.

I look at it this way for hunting. You spend a few months if your lucky on the weekends getting out to find your quarry, and then you get a chance at an animal, and you can't tell if its a shooter or not, (most places have antler restrictions) and you end up not taking a chance. You might not get another one for a few years. And all this because of pour glass quality???? You need to rethink your strategies if this is you.

You here the term "alpha" glass and "top tier", or "tier 1" and those are usually the best of the best out there. Generally I have found that the better optics are not always about the glass quality, as much as the whole package as well. Weight and actual size, and components used also play a part in the final $$. There is plenty of info out there on how to tell for optical clarity, and many great tests that have been done on all the glass out there, you just have to weed through all the other stuff to get there.

You don't need alpha glass to get out to shoot distance. This is proven all the time. You can do that with $500 optics and still enjoy it, as proven last weekend. You could not wipe off that smile off my daughters face and she will remember that for a looooong time. You will mostly see the difference in low light, cloudy days, in fringe shadows to see crispness that you don't need at the range to shoot 1K meters, but while out hunting you will run into those situations, and that is where you tell apart the scopes as some shine and others, well lets just say don't perform. Its about the weight and $$ that most pick and depends on what the end use is going to be. Are you sheep, goat hunting, or moose hunting. In the hills, bush, or open plains, determines which you end up with and the options you choose. If you have the means to, why not have the best out there, so you have the best chance. No alpha glass doesn't make you a sniper, so in the end you still need to put in the time and $$ to practice.
 
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