cheap scopes

[alsaqr]

You get what you pay for.  Had a Simmons 4X shotgun scope on my two different muzzle loaders for about three years.  It served me well until yesterday when I was checking the zero on my Encore.  Now it will not hold zero.  It will join 11 other cheap scopes in a box in the attic.   There are couple of non-click Weavers, a couple Bushnells, three Simmons and a bunch of Tasco scopes in that box.   Got to re-zero that rifle with a new scope today while I should be pig hunting.   

My Encore got a new Leupold FXIII 6X42 scope put on it last evening.  No more cheap scopes for me. 

[Willie496]

I have a Cabelas  premium 3x9 x40 who knows who built it scope on my .243
 It's clear,very good in low light however the local self proclaimed master hunters say it's to cheap for them. They must have Nikon or Leupold on there cheaper guns. My H&R ultra varmint also considered cheap!! Go figure!! I can still shoot 1" @ 100 yds not bad for a cheap set-up for under $500.00

[SDS-GEN]

Would anyone here go on a big game hunt, hike far into the wilderness, hunt hard for days, finally line up the scope on an elk, moose, bear, or whatever, only to find the scope fogged up, or miss because the scope got bumped and changed zero?  Then say to themselves, "I sure am glad I didn't spend $300-$400 on the scope for my hunting rig."  You don't go out of state on expensive big game hunts?  How about wounding an animal on your buddies farm?  Scopes have come a long way in a very short time, but in my opinion there are some brands to stay away from, they are all inexpensive.

[plumberroy]

I have a simmons 3x9x32 39.95 in 91-92 when I bought it (all I could afford back then) that has been on my 45-70 handi since then it has seen many miles in the hills of W.V been droped ,hauled all over hell anf half of Africa . it was sighted in back then  since moving to ohio it doesn;t get used as much after sitting on the rack with out being fired for three years, I took it out to where I had been seeing a groundhog in a harvested bean field last fall  and ruined that groundhogs day at 121 steps  I have moved the settings on that scope to shoot some Big cast bullits counted the clicks and put it right back
Maybe I'm just lucky? I have another one just like it, after A tour of duty on a 22 then  a 35.rem then a buddys 870 it ended up on an ultra slug hunter After 7-8 years on that gun the crosshairs moved rotated about 1/8 of a turn ( I have this bad habit of groundhog hunting with my deer gun) it still held zero sent it back to simmon and the sent my a new one I did tell them how i was using it I do try to stay away from the china specials though
Roy

[jamaldog87]

i would have ghost rings or a peep sight put on for a back-up for any scope. steel never fails. i saw a good one on a airgun somewhere that was only 50$ and i works very well( got to put some rounds down range with it).

[Hairtrigger]

Simmons won't repair their Aetec scopes.... that was not one of their cheep ones
That tells me something

[youthpastorjon]

So what are your thoughts on BSA scopes and yes I am the same guy that said you get what you pay for.  Unfortunately, I can't afford super high quality optics.  My change jar isn't big enough.  Speaking of the change jar, the next change jar project is a Hawken rifle kit. (I always wanted to build one, not that it has anything to do with cheap scopes)

[beemanbeme]

SDS-GEN, What you outlined could happen with ANY scope.  The fact you paid $1000 for a scope doesn't make it indestructible. 
The way to guarentee it not to happen is to take a scope exactly like the one you have on the rifle, mount it in QR rings, sight it in for your rifle and keep it in camp as a back up.  I did that all the years I didn't pack two rifles and it works. I never needed the back up scope.    For the record, over the years, I used Leupold, Weaver, and Burris scopes.  Not cheap but if I was going to spend $1500-2000 for a trip to Colorado, I sure as hell wasn't going out there with a $50 handi rifle and a $30 scope. If I had, there would have  been a back up $30 scope in my duffle.
Now if I was hunting behind the house, I just might take the handi rifle and $30 scope. 

Re: BSA's  From what I've seen, I think you get a lot of scope for the money. They have been making an aggressive push into the market. 

[persistentprogrammer]

I just got rid of my Leupold, I hated it. Light, clarity, and parallax were terrible. I replaced it with a Nikon, I now have 3 Nikon's and plan on adding at least 2 more. I'd stay in the $150-$350 range, look at new Nikon's and Burris, then look for those models selling as used to get a great deal with a lifetime warranty.

[30-06man]

i would have ghost rings or a peep sight put on for a back-up for any scope. steel never fails. i saw a good one on a airgun somewhere that was only 50$ and i works very well( got to put some rounds down range with it).

You say steel never fails. It will and I have had steel sites fail. As far as what defines cheap there is no set definition. In lets say someone who buys all $800 Leupold's a cheap scope to them is a $200 Nikon but to some one like me who hasn't paid over $500 for a scope a cheap scope to me is from $50 to $100. No matter what scope you buy or how many hundreds you spend on it the chance is always there for it to fail. I personally like the Bushnell's and Nikon's. Bushnell makes a good scope and they range in prices from $50 to $800 with their new line (6200 series I believe) and Nikon is the same.

[Brithunter]

Now that I have had a good giggle reading this let's get serious ......... cheap to one person is not the same as cheap to another. For instance what is cheap to Bill Gates would probably be out of reach for the guy working MacDonald's counter, it's all relative. Also the price charged often has little to do with the cost of manufacture as pointed out about sneakers. The thing is that good quality optical glass does not come cheaply to anybody. Yes scopes of the low all magnify the target and some of them even clearly however unless by luck low priced new optics will have faults and errors in the lenses.

I learned the hard way about "cheap" optics whilst hunting, it was a Roe Deer hunt in the south slopes of the South Downs in Sussex, England and a sudden heavy thunder storm blew in off the English Channel making the sky very dark and the rain fell in buckets. we had stalked up to a small group of Roe Deer but with the Nikko Sterling (Japanese) 4-12x44 scope the rifle had on it I could not make out which way the Deer was standing. I could see the body but nor the head or neck so refused to take the shot. The Der was about 60 yards away and Tony using his Zeiss binoculars could see the Dee quite clearly but the budget Japanese optics could not cope in the poor light and heavy rain.

 Since that time I have been trying to upgrade the optics on my rifles to the highest quality I can get. so far I have only brought one new scope of this quality and that's a 6x42 Schmidt & Bender all the others I have picked up used. I rather like the Pecar Berlin scopes and have 3 of them now 2 of their 3-7x36 scopes and a 4x36 but also have a Lisenfeld 3-9x42 which of of the lower end of the German made scopes, a Meopta 7x50A from the Czech republic, a Khales 4x alloy tubed scope and have a couple not mounted like a Zeiis 4x32 on claw mounts I got off E-Bay and a 4x Hendsodlt ally bodied scope which I got for a rifle that the dealer then took a higher offer on so i missed out on it.

I recntly brought another Nikko Sterling Gold scope, it's a 3.9x40AO that I wanted for load testing at the range. I wanted some higher magnification and didn't need the higher quality or heavy reticle I use for hunting and the scope was on close out. It will serve it's purpose on the range and I doubt it will ever get used for hunting.

I do have some older Nikko Sterling scopes from the 1960's which are on classic rifles from that period but these are also not used for hunting as I also collect sporting or if you prefer hunting rifles so they fit in with the time period of the rifles they are on. These rifles are not shot now, not that I would not like to occasionally but they are on my licence for "Collection Only" the Police here are stupid like that. But I will swop around those that I can shoot on my licence every so often so they will get shot every few years. Just means more paper work and costs for the Police as if I do "One for one" swops it doesn't cost me.

Oh here in the UK the normal thing that Stalkers (Deer Hunters) are advised is spend the most on the scope not the rifle as you cannot shoot what you cannot see.

[cybin]

I have a Bushnell 4x on a 30-30 that I bought in 1970 when I came home from Vietnam. It has never even needed adjustments in all this time, and it gets used every year--some times many times a year for deer hunting. I have it mounted on look under mounts--that many people dislike because you have to hold your head a bit higher. The rifle shoots 1 inch groups with either 170 or 150 factory shells, 150 shoot one inch higher than the 170's at 100 yards. I believe that I either paid $20. or $25. for this scope--it was cheap even back then. I own other scopes on other rifles-{Burris, Weaver, and Bushnell}, but the only scopes I have ever had fail were the scopes made just for .22 rifles. Now I only mount a 1 inch tube scope on a .22--and lo and behold--no more problems--at least for the last 25 years or so.
As for using this "cheap" set up on a hunt a good ways from home. I used this scope/rifle to hunt deer in the bad lands of South Dakota some years back on my late cousins ranch. If something would go wrong--the open sights on this rifle work real well--probaly better than my old eyes can use them anymore.

[torpedoman]

I do custom barrel work and proof test them for group before they are sold so my scope gets adjusted 10-12 times a day 2 or 3 day every week and i have a Natchez shooters Simmons prairie master and its still ticking right along after over a year no problems with it at all and it is a nice clear scope with good optics. not many of the high dollar scopes will tolerate that kind of use, inexpensive does not mean cheap.

[DalesCarpentry]

A whole pickle jar. Now that will buy a nice scope

Unless the wife got into it. Seems like when she gets done there are only pennies left. Dale

[rebAL]

My son & I both have Bushnell Banner variables.  Mine is 3-9X40 "Dusk & dawn" mounted on my 45/70 and I paid under$80.00 for it 5 years or more years ago.  I believe it is made by Bausch & Lomb with Japanese optics.  I am very happy with it and nether my son nor I have had any issues with them.