Mid to longer range scope options for approx 2-3K

gdawg

gdawg

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Hi folks - Looking for opinions and considerations for something from 3x or 4x out to 15x or so. Thinking of spending around $2-3K. This would be for longer range hunting (max 300-400m) and informal target shooting beyond that. Been looking at Leica, Zeiss V4, Swarovski Z5 (or Z5+) but open to other options. The Z5 is quite a bit lighter. Any standouts that fit my criteria? Thanks
 
What are your preferences in terms of feature set? With a fairly robust budget, plenty of good glass is in reach.

If you want something second focal plane, reliable turrets with zero stop in an optic that doesn't weigh a ton possibly the Zeiss V6 3-18 or a similar magnification Leupold VX6-HD. These would be out of your budget retail but certainly good used ones would be within reach. I would also not hesitate to look at VX5-HD as well.
 
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Thanks. This is all a bit new to me. Apart from landing on the magnification range (and even there I'd be open to suggestions), I don't know what would be most useful to have for this use case. I've always just used my father's setups which were nice quality but simple fixed range scopes. What you are suggesting (ballistic turret with zero stop not too heavy) sounds right for my needs based on the cursory research I've done. I would ideally like to keep it at the lower price range (I'm also tempted by a non-illuminated 4-16x Zeiss for 1400), but would consider stretching if it got me something significantly better optically with more capabilities.
 
I dare say the cheaper Chinese scopes have come a long way in the last 10 yrs, stuff like Arken and Primary Arms and Athlon and DNT are a testament to that I suppose, but, alot of it is also features over quality. Stuff in the 15-2500 price zone of the Zeiss V4, and the other Japanese stuff like Apex, Sightron, Athlon Cronus, Tract Toric, Delta Stryker, Trijicon Ten Mile seem to be the best bang for the buck. Lot of people like Vortex and NIghtforce. There are more choices than you can shake a stick at. More a matter of figuring out what features you can or can't live without and learning about the various reticles and their features and uses, and deciding what level of glass you can live with, what kind of turrets you really want on it. When it comes to weight, FFP scopes are heavy, that's life with them. IR quality and features are all over the map, too bright and a lot of glare or not bright enough for daylight. And then you wait for the sales and see what comes up at what prices, watch for the dates in reviews or posts on them, vs updates from mfgrs.
 
209jones said:
I dare say the cheaper Chinese scopes have come a long way in the last 10 yrs, stuff like Arken and Primary Arms and Athlon and DNT are a testament to that I suppose, but, alot of it is also features over quality. Stuff in the 15-2500 price zone of the Zeiss V4, and the other Japanese stuff like Apex, Sightron, Athlon Cronus, Tract Toric, Delta Stryker, Trijicon Ten Mile seem to be the best bang for the buck. Lot of people like Vortex and NIghtforce. There are more choices than you can shake a stick at. More a matter of figuring out what features you can or can't live without and learning about the various reticles and their features and uses, and deciding what level of glass you can live with, what kind of turrets you really want on it. When it comes to weight, FFP scopes are heavy, that's life with them. IR quality and features are all over the map, too bright and a lot of glare or not bright enough for daylight. And then you wait for the sales and see what comes up at what prices, watch for the dates in reviews or posts on them, vs updates from mfgrs.
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That is certainly true with red dots. Maybe I'll be able to find some of the options locally to compare.
 
Leupolds are nice but way overpriced I have a Steiner 4-16 ,30 mm and it’s a really nice scope,should do what you’re looking for.
There’s one on the EE for less than $900 which is an awesome deal.

I’ve had all the scopes you listed and for the price they do nothing that the Steiner can do.
Steiner is probably a few ounces heavier than the leupold but had better glass.
At the end of the day a few ounces won’t make much of a difference
If you’re going to spend $2000 + and ounces are important, then the swaro is the way to go.
 
Imo, you have an extremely generous budget for your needs.

If i was going to get spendy on a hunting scope, it would be a Leupold VX6HD.

Im not a Leupold owner anymore but i must admit, they have some of the best light transmission of any scope I have tried.

Swarovski is top tier glass but I hate their reticles and ranging systems.

Im extremely happy with my razor LHT from vortex. Equal light to the VX5HD and a far better and illuminated reticle.

Anyway, i could go on. We all could.
 
gdawg said:
That is certainly true with red dots. Maybe I'll be able to find some of the options locally to compare.
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Dollar for dollar, it’s hard to beat Arken. I own 4 now, and they have been outstanding for the $. You have to spend $2000 to better, and those are marginal gains for most users.
 
gdawg said:
Hi folks - Looking for opinions and considerations for something from 3x or 4x out to 15x or so. Thinking of spending around $2-3K. This would be for longer range hunting (max 300-400m) and informal target shooting beyond that. Been looking at Leica, Zeiss V4, Swarovski Z5 (or Z5+) but open to other options. The Z5 is quite a bit lighter. Any standouts that fit my criteria? Thanks
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Durability wise, the Leica Amplus would be my pick for a hunting rig.

3-18 is a great magnification range.

Trijicon Tenmile may also be worth a look. 👍

Good luck in your quest, no shortage of choices today!
 
Lots of good recommendations.

Don’t forget warranty and customer service on that side of things.
How long would your wait for repairs be if you should so need it?
 
I have done it several times not only with scopes but many other higher end equipment.
Instead of buying a TIER 2 or TIER3 brand new scope from a retailer, for a same money or less I got myself a nice TIER1 scope from second hand.

I would suggest get or borrow as many scopes you possibly can get to your hands to try out and compare yourself.
Also, don't limit the glass power to some ridiculous low numbers. I don't have anything below x32 but mostly x50 and above.
Grab a high power let say 4x40 or 5x50 or something like that. If you don't need today a higher power that is fine, but you still have it and maybe tomorrow will appreciate the decision.
My benchmark for target shooting scopes is - place a business card out at 100 meter target face, and try to read it.
 
I'm in a similar position while waiting for Tikka T3x Tac A1 chambered in 6.5. I would be shooting this primarily at the range ~200m and occasionally hitting targets at about 1000ft. I'm thinking of these 2 options:

- Zeiss Optics, LRP S3 4-25X50 FFP, MRi Reticle, or
- Apex Optics, Rival-X FFP 4-32x56, CLR Reticle, MRAD

Both of these are around $3k .. and I can't decide which one to go with ..
This will be more like a "buy once, cry once" deal, so any words of wisdom would be helpful.
 
Zeiss is nice, but, pricy, Apex is good product. Also worth looking at Tract to compare to Apex, Toric has German glass instead of Japanese, basically the same scope features wise.
 
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