ok, are they really worth it? a $1000 scope better than a $50 scope

[anweis]

I don't have time or money to deal with junk.  Save your money, get the best quaility you can afford with as much versility as you can muster then don't look back.
 

That's exactly the point.

[anweis]

But honest, I was looking right out the store window through a $59.95 3-9X Simmons on a bright sunny day and the trees and cars were real clear. I could even see the people real good, too. Why shouldn't I save money and take that scope with me on my "Alaskan hunt of a lifetime?" Like I said I could see real clear.
(if I knew how to do the little faces there would be a "wink" in this spot.)

I thought that they only sell those packaged in blister packs? They actually opened one for you to look through?
When you hit "reply" click on the winking or growling face of your choice. 

[hunt-m-up]

Groups off the bench do matter immensely if you intend to shoot out to several hundred yards.

I don't intend to shoot out to several hundred yards. I also wrote "one or two inches", i did not write "crappy innacurate piece of junk is ok as long as it has a Zeiss on it". I am not a sniper. I am hunter. If i cannot get within 200 yards of game, i try again and i have a lot of fun doing it. Week-end "snipers" shooting animals at 800 yards with $100 "56 mm tactical scopes" are not ethical, in my opinion. Alas, it's their choice.

Just to let you know, i have a 36mm Swarovski scope waiting for a Sako 30-06. It may be a year before the Sako comes home. That also is fun, waiting, and then developing a handload that it likes, and all the rest. Or maybe it will be a 6.5x55? That also is fun, thinking about it while saving money for a good toy, rather than settling for mediocrity. But someone like you, with instant gratification hardwired into their brains, will probably not understand that.

If you have such difficulty accepting other people's opinions, why do you frequent internet chat rooms? I guess some people need to argue all the time.
 

No difficulty accepting opinions from people who are legititmately trying to be helpful rather than "one-upping" everyone and berating other's choices while making contradictory statements. You assume a lot and understand very little, especially regarding what motivates others' choices in optics and rifles.

[v-man]

Anweis, That's my point. It was still in that clear bubble wrap and even looking through the plastic in between the bubbles it was still just as clear as any Swarovski. I believe it will withstand abuse real well, too as long as you never remove the bubble wrap. 

[yooper77]

A 1500 dollar Swarovski will make you wan to slit your throat if you have to go back to the Leupold afterward.

Obviously, anyone would say that, if they dumped $1500 on one scope.  Otherwise they would go crazy or worse.

I have looked through and shot rifles with Swarovski scopes, not mine of course and they were great, heck they better be.  I feel even if I became a millionaire, I wouldn't buy anything but Leupold's.

yooper77

[Mongrelcat]

I have a couple Leupold's, and they are excellent scopes. I just installed a 2.5 X 20 on a lever gun today......no way to justify a Swarovski or a Kahles on a 100 yard gun for use in the woods. But you are through hunting before dusk because of the glass quality, and the small objective. I still think it was the right choice for the Marlin .35.

One of the things that Leupold did to run me off (well they didn't run me off, but i thought it was borderline usury) was the year they started wrapping a 30mm tube around a 1" scope and raising the price about 400.00 across the board. It's one thing to put in the quality and charge for it......but to intentionally mislead (dupe) folks into thinking they were getting something special  is wrong where I live.

The Leupold's are good, but I really like Austrian Glass. You don't have to be a Millionaire(although I would like to try it) you just have to be patient. I picked up a Swarovski 1.5 X 6 42mm just a couple days ago for 450.00. I was very pleased with the condition of the scope, and feel fortunate to find the deal.

It fit nicely on a short 7mm08 I have been tinkering with. I hope to shoot it soon.

Mongrlecat

[yooper77]

I don’t know about Leupold making 30mm tubes like that, but then again I don’t have a use for them anyway.  One inch scopes and 40mm objectives are all I need.  Furthermore, I don’t fall into the ballistic reticle hype these days ether.
 
I have a lot of patients when it comes to scope deals myself.  I recently bought a new in box Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40mm matte duplex reticle scope for $200.00 and I installed it on my Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight in 338-06 A-Square.

yooper77

[Hairtrigger]

I don’t know about Leupold making 30mm tubes like that, but then again I don’t have a use for them anyway.  One inch scopes and 40mm objectives are all I need. 

I thought the same until I got a deal on a Burris Titanium 30mm scope. It is now my favorite scope.

[slim rem 7]

i held the best scope ive ever seen today..it was hiocc or something like that.. but its raining an gloomy here an the scope pic looked like good suntan weather..at 3 12 it literally beat my best bushnell by double in the clearness department..[point ] i don t own the best bushnell puts out..
 but one day im gonna have a scope like that on a savage 110 an i don t think it can get anybetter than that would be.. mike ,,a friend said with just a litle moonlite he could focus on leaves 100 yrds away at night.. i looked thru the scope an know its true..
 if you want to hear about plus the real name ive forgot... call gods country in albemarle n.c.

[dpastordan]

Going back to the original question - are they really worth it?  Yes...  We could ask the same about cars:  Well, is a Porsche worth it?  Is a Mercedes worth it?  Is a Ford worth it?  It is up to the person who buys it.  Low price scopes do have a place...they teach us to watch our pennies next time when they fail!  When I was young, newly married, I had Leupold tastes but a Tasco budget.  My first firearms purchases were used.  When I did graduate to a new firearm, I saved a bit and bought a Weaver 3x9 that sat on my economy model Stevens 110-E .30-06 for 25 years, lots of hunts, lots of shooting (I reloaded with a Lee Loader kit)...no problem.  My uncle was business man who had the bucks...he had the big name rifles (Browning, Sako, etc) and the better scopes.  Leupolds were his favorites but he also had a few Weavers and Redfields mixed in.  Scopes that failed me were all variables (Bushnell and Simmons). 

If I were to get an opportunity for the hunt of a lifetime, I would probably have the funds as well and spend the extra to get the best scope I could afford.  At a minimum it will be a Leupold 4X (which by the way is under $300 in most places).

[slim rem 7]

if im gonna plan on adjusting a lot id rather have a little higher end scope ..if shes gonna be set an left set...
 150 dollar scope will suit me..