:wink:
I'm not trying to defend the article that prompted this post, but from my experience I agree with the theory to some degree. Some of you have read this on other sites, it's my personal rant in favor of stretching the budget to between $99.99 - 299.99 whenever you can...
On the subject of scopes, I have been accused of being a little highbrow, but I am a big believer in the "Ya get what ya pay for" school of thought. And as I have said before, I have no qualms at all about putting on a scope (the Targeting System) that costs a good bit of what the rifle (the Delivery System) does. One deserves the other, and I've never had any scopes malfunction except ones that cost under $99.99.
The beauty of the Handi is that you save about $150 - 250 bucks over scads of bolt action guns and, with some tuning, get a decent shooter to boot.
That having been said, I've never bought any scope over $299 either... there are no Zeiss optics mounted on a shoulder rocket in my gun safe. I had posted this list of under $250 scopes I liked a while back, but now a lot of models have changed. These choices are for variable and fixed power big game scopes only; I know next to nothing about high zoom varmint scopes with target knobs...
Here are my personal requirements for even considering a scope.
1) Namebrand reputation. I want something that is easy to get support for, maybe in 25 years. I once bought a Leupold at a bargin price (closeout) and when I realized I had lost the receipt, called and asked how my warranty would work. The customer rep. told me that "That gold ring on the scope bell was ALL the warranty I would ever need. Leupold warranties them for life, even if you buy it used and have no paperwork". You can't beat that.
2) Durability. A major flaw in the scopes under $100 - under the strain of an airplane ride or hard big game hunts, I have had a lot of friends and internet posters bemoan their choice of a $69.95 wonder. I expect no loss of nitrogen seals in a unpressurized cargo hold and a metal-on-metal tracking system. No internal plastic retainer rings or tracking components at all.
3) Size and Weight. After using several scopes that excel in this category, I can't stand it when I pick up a promising scope in a store and find that it weighs a ton for its size or is physically huge for the magnification. I use a rule of thumb baseline of a standard 3x9x40 scope. In my opinion, it should have a length of no more than 13 inches and the weight in ounces should equal the length (13 oz.) or less. Anything else is just sloppy engineering. I sometimes allow as much as 15 ounces of weight, but if you gave me a $1000 scope and it weighed in like some of the 3.5x10x44 monsters I've seen at 15 inches long and 17 - 19 ounces, I'd sell it and buy three $299 ones I would carry.
4) Eye Relief. I insist on at least 3.5 to 5 inches eye relief for the same reason I expect a decent size/weight ratio - anything less is just a bad or cheap design. Most $69 scopes seem to list a 3 inch eye relief, and that is a eyebrow cut waiting to happen.
5) Country of production. This is a personal peeve, and I won't say I don't buy Chinese (you often don't know until you get an item through mail order), but given a choice I buy from other countries of production. Most of your $49 - $99 scopes are made there. In addition, all the scopes that have failed me or my friends were made in China. I hope all the models I list in this rant are still not made there, but more and more are...
6) This is strictly personal, but I like a matte black finish. No logic here - just gut reaction.
Here are few that meet these requirements:
Nikon 3x9x40 Buckmaster at about $199. 3.5 inch eye relief, 12.3 inches long x 12.6 ounces. Japanese made lens assembled in Thailand.
Also from Nikon is the fixed 4x Buckmaster at $149.
Nikon'Prostaff series also meets the requirement's, with the 3x9x40, 2x7x32 and fixed 4x retailing for $139.99, 129.99 and 99.99 respectfully.
Simmons Aetec 2.8x10x44 costing between $140 and 170, depending on where you get it. 5 inches of eye relief, 11.9 inches x 15.5 ounces, but really good optics make up the extra weight. Made in the Philippines.
Leupold VX-I 3x9x40 around $199. Their new entry level line, very much like the old 3x9x40 Vari-X II. Has all the right size (12.3 inches), weight (12 ounces) and eye relief (3.7 - 4.7 inches), All Leupolds are made right here in the USA!
Also in this product line is the VX-I 2x7x33 with good specs as well. 10.9 inches, 10.5 ounces and 3.8 - 4.9 inches of eye relief. Price is about $179.
It would be wrong not to mention the new replacement for the venerable Vari-X II line, even though the new models of VX-II scopes break my $250 price barrier by about $49. The 3x9x40 and 2x7x33 are better than ever; they now have click adjustment instead of the friction style of old.
Be aware that because some of a brands scopes are made in one place, their lower end ones may be from another. Most Simmons, BSA, Tasco, Bushnell and Private label scopes come from China. If I were to pick, I'd say the recent production of Chinese scopes from Simmons and Bushnell has been higher grade than Tasco and BSA. I've personally had a low end Simmons and a BSA just flat out break in the field under normal use. Two friends had used older Tasco World Class scopes for years when they were still made in Japan, then once production moved to China the same models went south. One lost it's nitrogen seal on a plane ride, two others had the reticles break under recoil.
All this info is IMHO of course!
- perklo
