Author Topic: Which Scope????? (Read 1376 times)

Lawful Larry · « **on:** March 25, 2004, 04:10:28 AM »

This is driving me crazy. I can't choose which scope to put on my barrel. Should I go with a variable or fixed scope? I have a 2.5x TC scope on my .22LR barrel and like it. However all my other scopes on my other rifles are all variable.

I want to go with a Burris, but don't want to have to take out another mortgage on the house for it. A 2x Burris goes for about $155, give or take a few bucks. I also don't want to skimp on quality either. How about Weavers and Simmons scopes. Are the quality as good as the Burris?

Oh yeah, I will have to get two scopes, one for the .375 JDJ and also a .30-30 Win. Should I go Burris for the JDJ and maybe a less expensive for the .30-30?

Help?

?? :cry:

LL

Mayor of Hobbs Knob · « **Reply #1 on:** March 25, 2004, 05:08:50 AM »

Hey Lawful, with scopes I really think you get what you pay for with the possible exception of Leupold. I think you can get close to Leupold quality at a much lower price. Ed's Contender, an advertiser on this site (see Home Page) will sell you a T/C variable for $190 plus $5 shipping. Lifetime warentee. Hard to beat the price or quality in my book. Just my thought. I probaby own a dozen T/C scopes and never had a problem. Not afraid to buy them used either. If broke, T/C fixes them. That's what I'm told. Never had to try!

kbee · « **Reply #2 on:** March 25, 2004, 06:38:42 AM »

I 2nd the T/C scope...as well. I would also look at the Bushnell 2x6x32 Trophy. I have never had a problem with any of these scopes. I have also heard good reports about the 2x6x32 Simmons Pro-Hunter. I have had Burris and I don't care to spend that much for such a crap scope. All four burris scopes I'v had failed on me. Their customer service sucks too.

flyfisher · « **Reply #3 on:** March 25, 2004, 06:51:54 AM »

I will agree with cknight...the Bushnell line of scopes is a good one...very dependable, tough, not too awfully pricey. Never had a T/C scope, but with the replies here, I may try one in the very near future.

For the larger calibers and deer-sized game, I prefer a fixed power, namely the 2x, for the close to mid-range stuff.

crawfish · « **Reply #4 on:** March 25, 2004, 11:30:04 AM »

I have Leupolds, T/C, Burris, Nikon, and Bushnell scopes mounted on my Contenders and revolvers. The only change I would make would be to change ALL the 2X scopes for 4Xs or 2X7s'. All are just as clear, the Leupold is the touchiest about eye relief, and the lighted feature of the T/Cs' was most useful during pig hunts in some real thick dark stuff sighting against an almost black piggy. None of them have given me any trouble. They are mounted on .22Lr up to 45-70 and a few high-end wildcats. Just remember LOC-TITE for screws, lap the rings or apply a thin coat of silicone on the bottom part of the rings, and apply something like Gorilla Glue to the base when you screw it down.

Moe · « **Reply #5 on:** March 25, 2004, 11:34:12 AM »

Bushnell 2x6 Trophy. Have two and love them. Have had several Burris, 5x and 2x7. The 2x7 sucked. Also have a 2.5x7 TC. Its ok but not as good as the Bushnell. Heard good things about the Weaver and Nikon also. Haven't tried one myself.
I believe ED's TC has used Bushnells for 125.00 I have one of his updated lists(about 6 weeks old) and he shows several on it.

Bullseye · « **Reply #6 on:** March 25, 2004, 02:27:56 PM »

Ones I currently have, T/C 2.5-7, Leopold 2x. Ones I have had and sold, Bushnel 2x Trophy, Burris 2-7x, Nikon 2x. My favorite for deer hunting is the Leopold 2x, comes to my eye the easiest and plenty bright. My favorite for my long range guns is the T/C. The Nikon & Bushnell was okay, I just thought the crosshairs were to hard to see. The Burris is way to heavy and way to critical to see through above about 4x in my opinion. I would also look at the Weaver, they are a little cheaper than the T/C's and look awful similiar if you know what I mean. I bought my T/C's at Eds, he is the cheapest by far on them.

KYODE · « **Reply #7 on:** March 25, 2004, 04:04:38 PM »

:eek: holy cow! "the burris 2x7 sucks" :shock: :?
:gulp: drivin me to drinkin :wink:
i love the 2x7 burris! the absolute best out there for deer huntin eastern woods. 21' wide field of view at 100 yards on 2x. the widest field of view i know of on any handgun scope. very clear also! wouldn't trade it fer nuthin :wink:
got 5 or 6 burris ler's with no problems. the 3x12's are excellent also.
scopes are like anything else, a matter of personal preference i guess. good n bad in all, and it takes a little luck to have no problems with em.

got a simmons 2x6 pro hunter on my 14" 44mag. not a bad scope so far for the money!
had a 2.5x7 TC scope once upon a time. liked it too.
2x burris on a 44mag redhawk. excellent! many hundreds of full power loads, and it also has the wide 21' field of view.

Hopalong7 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2004, 01:42:55 AM »

Fixed power vs Variable power to me is a finction of the application. There are certainly advantages to both. In general my barrels for specific purposes (ie thick woods deer hunting, etc.) have fixed power scopes...anywhere from 2X to 10X. Favorite brand in fixed power is Leupold with Burris a close second. Even got a couple of old Tasco's that have served well for a long time. Now barrels that I consider more versatile (ie. 6.5JDJ) carry variable power scopes. Favorite brand here is easy...BURRIS. In second place here is a tie between the TC 2X7, the "old"Simmons 2X7, Nichols 2X7. All very good scopes for the money and actually all the same scope as best I can tell. To me the biggest

is fixed or variable...Brand? I gotta line up w/ the KYODE man...I just can't find anything wrong with BURRIS. Bushnel?, I have heard good about but no expierance since the old Phantoms and Lobo's. It was a easy choice then. They were the only thing we had. GOOD SHOOTIN', Walt :grin:

Raven · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2004, 04:17:48 AM »

I have only had two handgun scopes, first a Buris 2x7 and the scope that replaced it, a Leupold 2.5x8. I could never get the reticle to focus on the Burris, it had some type of black particles on the inside of the lens, and it had somewhat of a hitch when turning the power ring. I got rid of it and replaced it with a Leupold and have been happy ever since.

Gregory · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2004, 11:41:56 AM »

On my handguns I use Nikon 2X scopes in favor of Leupolds. I have owned Leupold EER 2X and 4X scopes. The Nikon 2X is brighter and has a larger field of view. I've not tried the Nikon EER variable, but I would like to. I have two Burris 2-7X variable EER scopes and although the optics are fine, one had to go back for repair after 10 shots on my TC 44 Mag. I've never had to have a Nikon or Leupold repaired.

Lone Star · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2004, 03:31:34 PM »

Quote

I could never get the reticle to focus on the Burris, it had some type of black particles on the inside of the lens, and it had somewhat of a hitch when turning the power ring. I got rid of it and replaced it with a Leupold and have been happy ever since.

Like Leupold, Burris has a lifetime warrany for all their scopes - I'd have sent it back for repair. I did this with a Leupold and got a new scope back....can't fault either company for quality. I've used Burris and Leupold on many of my T/C barrrels ( 26 barrels over the past 31 years ) and enjoyed both brands. I can't say the same for the Simmons and Bushnell scopes I used - except for the Simmons 2.5x7. While the latter wasn't the clearest nor did it have the field or quality of the Leupold or Burris, it stood up to everything I used it on, including .35 Remington, .44 Magnum and .45-70. The low-power Sommons were jokes - broke two after firing only a dozen rounds under each out of my .357 Maxi barrel. :roll:

rickyp · « **Reply #12 on:** March 26, 2004, 04:16:56 PM »

right now I have one t/c rail mount in 2.5-7, one redfield 2.5, two Bushnell magnum phantom rail mount 2.5, two 2x Leupold, two 2x20 tasco.
I have had some Simmons and no-name ones I got off Ebay.

Out of all the ones I have and have had in the past My favorite is the 2.5 redfield the cross hairs look thicker and everything is brighter , my next one is the 2.7-7 T/C. I do not care for the Leupold The tasco are OK on my ruger mark II and 22 lr barrel.
I am looking at the Bushnell Elite 3200 scopes and think I may try one

Javelina · « **Reply #13 on:** March 26, 2004, 05:59:36 PM »

Hello Lawful Larry,

I have to vote with everyone who likes the Bushnell 2-6x Trophy scopes. I have quite a few and I've never had one go south on me yet. They are reasonable in price, clear when you look through them and they look good in my book. I've got scopes that cost a LOT more, but I don't have any scopes that work better on a technical basis. If you can't tell any difference, I'm not so sure it's worth paying extra for the big money Burris and Leopold scopes. I know they're nice, but are they really better? My jury is still out.

Like RickyP I may try the Bushnell Elite 3200 scopes at some point, but for around $150, I just can't bring myself to abandon the Bushnell 2-6x Trophy model.

Good luck on your selection!

Safe and good shooting to you!

Javelina

Lawful Larry · « **Reply #14 on:** March 27, 2004, 12:17:13 PM »

I would like to say thanks for all the helpful hints and thoughts out there on a scope selection. It can be tough and difficult at times with all the scopes to select from. I have never had a scope go bad on me, but there is always a first time for everything.

For now I am going to order the Burris. It will be my high dollar scope. I will put it on the .375 JDJ. I have had Bushnell Trophy scopes in the past and had excellent use of them. I will go with one for the Win .30-30.

Once again thanks for all the help folks. You guys are a great bunch. :wink:

LL

raynor · « **Reply #15 on:** March 27, 2004, 01:11:28 PM »

Little late getting in on this one, but my #1 choice would be a Nikon Monarch in 2x. Crystal clear optics with a warranty that can't be beat. ~~ raynor

Captainkev · « **Reply #16 on:** March 28, 2004, 03:52:53 PM »

I have a 2X Leopold on a sixgun, and Burris and T/C's on my Encore barrels. I have had good luck with all of them.
I would definitely get the T'SOB 3 ring mount on the 375 JDJ though.
I have an SSK 376 Steyr and got the T'SOB mount, and it holds the Burris 2-7 perfectly.

Kevin

savageshooter · « **Reply #17 on:** March 29, 2004, 04:13:04 AM »

You DO get what you pay for with any of these scopes. It comes down to the fact that good precision optics are expensive, and there's no getting around that. Ask anybody who's ever looked through a Swarovski or Nightforce, they know what good optics look like! I use a Leupold 2x on my hunting barrel and a Burris 3-12X on my target pistol. The Leupold is pretty sweet, with good eye relief and clarity. Generally vaiable-power scopes don't have the eye relief and good light transmission of a fixed scope. Good optics reveal themselves in marginal conditions, low light, obstructions, long-distance, etc. For instance, you can't get a spotting scope that's decent for 300yds or greater for under $300, and there's lots of spotting scopes out there for under $300! I'ld say Nikon and Leupold pretty close to even, with Burris a step below, and all the other cheaper ones below that. There'll always be someone out there who's had a bad experience with this scope or that when it comes to production scopes, that doesn't mean every scope that comes out of the factory is bad. If you buy a cheap scope and it works for you in the conditions you shoot, great.

Lawful Larry · « **Reply #18 on:** March 29, 2004, 04:57:31 AM »

I agree with you completely Savageshooter. You get what you pay for. Even if I have limited funds, it still is a better bet to go with the good quality scope. It pays in the long run. That is why I choose the Burris and am waiting for it's arrival.

I also agree with cknight98 on paying beyond what is fair for an item just because of its name. When you have unlimited funds, then that is not a question. I definitely don't fall in that category. :cry:

As far as the Swarovski, I consider it at the top of the heap. But is it a little pricey beyond fair price? Maybe so. :wink:

LL

savageshooter · « **Reply #19 on:** March 29, 2004, 11:07:57 AM »

Yeah, sometimes you do pay more than what some may believe is a fair price, but when a company has a product that few other companies can match, like Swarovski, you can name your own price. I can't afford one either, but if I could I would!

Raven · « **Reply #20 on:** March 29, 2004, 11:33:50 AM »

Lone Star,

As the faulty Burris was a recent purchase, I returned it to the retailer for an exchange. Unfortunately, they were out of the model I was interested in, but had the Leupolds in stock. I was scheduled for a hunting trip within the next week and really wanted to take my encore with me. Having nearly a dozen Leupolds on long guns with nary a problem ever, it was a fairly easy decision to go with the Lupy.

I will say that I would most likely give Burris another try for a future barrel. The Burris had a lot of features that Leupold does not offer in a pistol scope such as a matte finish, ballistic plex, and windage/elevation adjustments with clicks.

skb2706 · « **Reply #21 on:** March 30, 2004, 04:24:33 AM »

Lawful - I have a 2x and a 4x Burris that I would let either go for a good deal if you are interested. Both are in very good condition and have only the slightest ring marks.