After a LOT of research, I just ordered a Sightron 1.5-6x42 for a Mauser I'm having built with two barrels - .358 Winchester and .260 Remington. The .358 is an ideal deer/elk cartridge out to 250 yds. If your pleasure is elk, you know that they are often found in the black timber or are moving at dawn and dusk, all of which represent low-light conditions. I read recently that the human eye can only let in around 4.5 to 5 mm of light. At the highest magnification (in this case, 6x), the Sightron lets in a full 7 mm of light. To calculate the amoung of light a scope lets in at any given levek of magnification, divide the objective lens size by the magnification (in my case 42/6=7). Of all the scopes I researched in your price range (Nikon, Leupold V XII, Burris, Weaver, Redfield, Bauch and Lomb), nothing let in as much light as the Sightron, bar none, across the full range of magnification. Of course, in the lower magnifications, all scopes allow in more light than the human eye can use. Still, you want to be sure that, at the highest magnification, you give yourself the most light possible...and that's what the Sightron does.
I also chose a 1.5-6 because I hardly ever go past 6x on my Nikon 3-9. For shots out to the max range for the .358 Winny, you simply don't need all the extra magnification. If you want it anyway, check out the other Sightron scopes with more magnification. I'd also recommend that you read the reviews on the Bear Basin Outfitters website for all the brands you're considering. Their webite can be reached at
http://www.bearbasin.com/catalog.htm.
There are a lot of good scopes out there so do your homework. Oh, by the way, Bear Basin sells the Sightron 1.5-6x42 for $249. See my second post on the
How much magnification needed in a variable under 250 yds? below for some more reasons why I selected the Sightron.
Randy Wakeman, on the Chuck Hawks website ("Scoping it Out" article has this to say about Sightron products:
"Sightron touts their 7 layer lens coatings. Ahem. Is 6 enough, but 8 too many? Back in World War II the only optics widely coated at all were the Japanese Navy binoculars. Where uncoated lens lost 1% light transmission per lens surface, the early single-layer coats knocked it down to one half of 1%, a vast improvement. Now, modern multi-coated lenses offer light losses of one tenth of 1% per lens surface. What we are left with is marketing hyperbole over whose multi-coat is "best." More noise than substance, the magnesium fluoride (and variant) coatings from all major scope makers work well. Sightron scopes are made in the good old USA.
I have tested a Sightron 3 x 9 SII, and found it to be one of the best-kept secrets in the industry. Their adjustments are positive, precise, and repeatable. There is something to their "ExacTrack" full-contact internals after all! The scope has excellent resolution, displaying detail in low light that only more expensive scopes can equal or better. Sightron's broadband Rev-Coat 7 coating is more than just noise; it is a superb hunting scope. It is currently one of the best scopes for the money, and worthy of anyone's consideration."Good luck!
