What's a scope?

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ablack

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I am looking to get a Remington 700 SPS DM 7mm Rem Mag. I will be using this primarily for hunting deer from fields and will be making longer shots when I get good enough.

I am looking to top it with a 3-9 variable, and want to keep it under $100 if possible. Not really knowing anything about optics and being new to hunting in general, I am looking for suggestions as to what type of scope, if there is anything half decent out there in my price range, and where I might be able to pick up a scope at a great price.

Thanks, and any other advice is appreciated.
 
you can probably find an older used Weaver for about $100. troll around some pawn shops or check the EE here.

ablack said:
I am looking to get a Remington 700 SPS DM 7mm Rem Mag. I will be using this primarily for hunting deer from fields and will be making longer shots when I get good enough.

I am looking to top it with a 3-9 variable, and want to keep it under $100 if possible. Not really knowing anything about optics and being new to hunting in general, I am looking for suggestions as to what type of scope, if there is anything half decent out there in my price range, and where I might be able to pick up a scope at a great price.

Thanks, and any other advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
I really hate to brake your bubble here, but a 7mmMag and long shots with a $100.00 scope.:eek: The 7mmMag is substantial recoil which demands a well constructed scope that will hold zero. Long shots require good optics and put even more demand on the scope's capability to hold zero at longer range. Unless you can find a superb deal on something used, I'd really suggest that you give up a few other luxury items and expand your scope budget. You owe at least that much to your quarry.

To sum it up..NO, there is absolutely NOTHING in a new scope available for $100.00 in a 3-9 variable that is not crap.
 
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Honestly, if you can swing the budget, listen to these guys and really try to spend some money on good optics and save yourself some trouble and wasted money. I recently destroyed a cheap $100 scope with only 12 shouts from my .30-06. I now have a Nikon Buckmasters on it, and have been very happy. Even though the cheap scope has a lifetime warranty and they will send me a new one, it will just sit at the bottom of my drawer...money wasted.

I picked up the Nikon Buckmasters 6-18x40SF for $286 USD including shipping from ebay.
 
Figure out what would be the very most you want to spend, the add about $200. Buy Cheap-Buy Twice when it come to optics.
 
When one considers the materials, expertise and labour that goes into building a rifle, and compares that to what goes into making a scope, I would expect the scope to cost more than the rifle. I am amazed that the cost of optics is held as low as it is. There is more to a good scope than just the optics. We require the seals to hold through a wide temperature range to prevent fogging. We expect the reticle to stand up to the recoil of powerful rifles without failing. We expect the adjustments to have some predictable and repeatable value and we expect those adjustments to be weather proof. We expect the tube to be light yet strong enough to shrug off the rigors of hunting. I think $100.00 is about right for the cost of a good set of rings, but a new scope three times that much could let you down in one of the areas I've mentioned.

So what is a person with limited funds to do? First, forget about getting a variable, the more the scope has to do the more complex the mechanism and the more delicate and expensive the product. A good fixed 6X glass is a good long range hunting glass. Big game animals are large targets. Most hunters find that they have more use for a low power scope than a high power job, and you would probably end up missing opportunities if you chose a fixed 10X or 12X scope. Conversely, if you hunt wide open country, a fixed 1.5X would be lacking, but 4X scopes have accounted for a great deal of game.

Every once in a while a good scope for a very reasonable price comes through the EE, and you might want to subscribe to the Canadian Access to Firearms published in Whitehorse.
 
A good rifle with a crap scope is a crap rifle. I've gone cheap before and regretted it at the worst possible times.

About the cheapest you can get is into the 150-200 dollar range - Mueller optics has some offerings that are worth it for about 150 bucks, (my favorate less expensive scopes), and bushnell banners are not that bad all things considered. But seriously - you can't cheap out on glass and expect to get good results. Unless you snag a hell of a used scope deal, you're going to have to spend more than 100 bucks.
 
Thanks to all for your experienced advise. After much research and thought, I have decided not to get the rifle after all, and have instead purchased a bow. Not very practical for long range hunting, but I have been told that watching a deer come up close enough to hit with a bow, and then nailing him with that silent death that only a broad-head can impart is better than fornication. Bambi is going down.
 
ablack said:
I am looking to get a Remington 700 SPS DM 7mm Rem Mag. I will be using this primarily for hunting deer from fields and will be making longer shots when I get good enough.

I am looking to top it with a 3-9 variable, and want to keep it under $100 if possible. Not really knowing anything about optics and being new to hunting in general, I am looking for suggestions as to what type of scope, if there is anything half decent out there in my price range, and where I might be able to pick up a scope at a great price.

Thanks, and any other advice is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favour and at least put a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm or a Leupold VXII 3-9x40mm on it. Maybe 3-4 times what you want to spend but you'll be glad you did... ;)
 
I tell people to plan on spending as much for the optics, rings and mounts as what you spend on the rifle. It is a fairly good rule of thumb and it usually leads to a happier purchase. It is the buyer that spends $1000 on the rifle and finds out what glass and mounts are worth after he has no money that leads to horror stories.
 
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