Current Decent Scope Brands

I figured I'd poll the MDS brain trust again on another subject - rifle scope brands, and in particular, decent scope brands and models for more budget-minded folks like me. I'm aware of brands like Zeiss, Swarovski, Nightforce, Schmidt & Bender...those are just a touch out of my budget for any project I'm currently working.

Of course there's the ubiquitous Leupold - particulary the VX II line - but I'd always considered the Burris Fullfield II line to be of similar quality. Apparently it isn't? It seems with Burris it's either love/hate - some folks seem to have all good things to say while others will vehemently proclaim they'll never own another.

Nikon scopes seemed to get a lot of love on here for a while, but they seem to have been discontinued completely, and apparently Redfield is no longer my Dad's Redfield - is Redfield still decent?

With all of that in mind, what are decent brands going today for rifle scopes, and are there any specific brands/models to steer towards or away from?

Vortex scopes seem to be of decent quality. Their prices are going up like they are anyway.

I'm not an expert on scopes, but it would probably help guide the feedback if you narrowed it down to a price range, rifle platform, and purpose.

John from MD said:

Vortex scopes seem to be of decent quality. Their prices are going up like they are anyway.

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When I was shopping for a prism optic for an AR, I looked at the Vortex Spitfire, but ended up going with the Primary Arms version - it reviewed better, and I think it had an adjustable diopter while the Vortex didn't. In any case, it's a pretty solid optic, and ran me under $300.

I'm ok with AR Optics - I know certain brands like Sig, Vortex, Primary Arms and Holosun, but for this thread I'm interested more in optics one would put on a bolt action gun - I know that both Vortex and Primary Arms makes those as well, but I'm not quite sure what's what - I haven't had the chance to really dig in and learn about them yet.

todbiker said:

I'm not an expert on scopes, but it would probably help guide the feedback if you narrowed it down to a price range, rifle platform, and purpose.

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Bolt action rifles, hunting/varminting, and I'm looking in the sub $300 range.

trickg said:

Bolt action rifles, hunting/varminting, and I'm looking in the sub $300 range.

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The vortex crossfire series is pretty good for the money. Increasing to about double your budget opens up the features and quality quite a bit.

gwchem said:

The vortex crossfire series is pretty good for the money. Increasing to about double your budget opens up the features and quality quite a bit.

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I'm not sure what I'd really need though - out of a scope I need only a couple of things:

1. Holds zero under recoil
2. Decently accurate

I know that more refinement goes into more expensive optics, but consider, most pretty much every scope I currently own was made before I graduated HS in the late 1980s - I'd tend to think that just about everything modern is going to be at least equivalent to everything I currently own.

I've always liked Burris...always found them uniformly excellent...same with Leupold. These days though so much is either completely made overseas or the lenses are. Few major brands are what they used be in that regard no matter how good they might be.

Weaver and Redfield...both longtime stalwarts in the scope field are today little more than a name owned by another company. You can find some nice scopes but they've basically become discount lines of larger brands. You can find some good Weavers and Redfields on eBay if you're patient.

I am going to buy an Arken next based on the turret tracking tests I’ve seen and the price. That just fits my parameters though shooting from 100-300 steel. Hunting or all around I’d probably choose differently.


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trickg said:

I'm not sure what I'd really need though - out of a scope I need only a couple of things:



1. Holds zero under recoil

2. Decently accurate



...

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For the price range, rifle types, and criteria that you've mentioned, I typically shop for Leupold, Weaver/Bushnell, Nikon, and Vortex. I like Primary Arms, but not for the applications that you've listed.

Weaver had a great line, called the Grand Slam, that was discounted for a long while and provided excellent value to price. With many Weaver products being absorbed in their parent company, I don't know if they have an equivalent now (sold under the Bushnell brand).

Similarly, Nikon had some solid lines (Monarch and budget ones) that performed well. Sorry to see them out of this business.

I like Vortex a whole bunch, and their price is very competitive (and warranty is excellent). However you lose a bit of clarity in some of their budget optics and they tend to be heavy.

For what you've described, I typically end up with a Leupold if I can find something suitable at a decent price (recognizing that I will spend slightly more for them). Many of their optics are lightweight and have excellent eye relief. I find the clarity in their basic scopes to be excellent. Their warranty is also supposed to be very good, but I've never had a chance to test it. There is a problem of knockoff Leupold scopes being sold from some retailers (including eBay), so be careful. I've called Leupold with serial numbers when buying used scopes and they have a service where they will verify if it's one of theirs.

trickg said:

Bolt action rifles, hunting/varminting, and I'm looking in the sub $300 range.

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In the last 5 years or so I’ve gone way down the rabbit hole of long range and precision rifle shooting, and scope comparisons have become part of my everyday life. I frequently get scope envy when at Peacemaker and see the rigs some of the top shooters are using. Unfortunately to my psyche and budget, I’ve become a horrible scope “snob”, but at least I can recognize the problem and admit to it.

I’ve nearly permanently determined my list of must have scope features and generally discount most budget optics that don’t have all the latest features that I “need”. With that being said, I did actually seek out a budget scope for a budget AR-10 that I bought on a whim. A cheap Savage MSR-10 in .308, figuring I can hunt with this. It was less than $500, and I’m probably not going to hunt with it all that often, so I didn’t want to go crazy on the optic. I looked high and low for a decent hunting scope that was in the neighborhood of $300.

I first bought a Vortex Diamondback 4-12x 40, for about $200. I mounted it up and found that with the ring placements and the short eye relief made it impossible to use on the MSR platform, I couldn’t get the eyepiece back far enough to make a proper sight picture. I wish this would’ve worked, it lacked many of the expensive features that I’ve routinely shelled out the big money for, but I only needed a scope with clear glass, and a decent magnification range.

I then researched some more and decided that since this was to be a budget hunting rig, I’d take the chance on a budget optic I knew nothing about. Cabelas Covenant series, these scopes have a lot of features found in higher end PRS / long range type scopes. Mil reticle, first focal plane, available big magnification. I chose the Covenant 5 in 3-15 x 50 FFP, which cost $349.99. This scope exceeded my expectations as far as features go for the $$. I don’t need first focal plane but it’s nice to have, it came with a power throw lever which is usually extra, exposed tactical style turrets, side parallax focus, and a large sunshade. With about 100 rounds through the rifle so far, this scope has really surprised me how much I like it. I’ve paid $1,800 to $2,500 for Vortex and Nightforce scopes with these features, and for $350 this Covenant 5 is a real steal as far as I’m concerned. Is it as clear as my Nightforce NX8’s or Vortex Razor HD’s? No, but it’s pretty close.

At the risk of sounding like a Cabelas advertisement, you can’t really go wrong with the Covenant series of optics (which btw I read years ago were actually made by Vortex but is now pretty hush-hush about that). Hope this rambling diatribe helps you in your search.

dupe

There has been quite a bit of activity with riflescope manufacturers in the last few years. And the products of still familiar names can be very tricky to navigate. Buyer beware when it comes to used products, which become both increasingly tempting and especially dicey, as many scopes are of very good quality, but they now have either limited or non-existent warranties.

Nikon is out of the riflescope business since they announced in 2019. They used to have a no fault lifetime warranty. No more, now that they're out of the scope business.

Redfield went bust in 1998, and was acquired by an outfit called Blount. Scopes continued to be produced, then production ceased. Then in 2008, the Redfield name was acquired by Leupold, who produced and would honor Redfield warranties on scopes made under their own Leupold umbrella after 2008, but not on older models. And just this year, Leupold sold the Redfield brand to Academy Sports and Outdoors. What happens with Redfield now is somewhat up in the air.

Weaver, the other renowned name from yesteryear alongside Redfield, was purchased by ATK a number of years ago. Scopes are no longer being produced under the Weaver name, which is a shame because they had some damned nice ones in a couple of their product classes. ATK is also the parent company of Bushnell. From what I hear, Weaver warranties nowadays that were also once lifetime are pretty much limited to a possible discount voucher for a new Bushnell scope.

The Leupold VX-2 that was mentioned is discontinued. Any warranty would be honored, but their used market prices reflect their popularity. Some are crazy high IMO. Their "Freedom" line replaced the VX-2, which as best I know is actually a new line incorporating attributes of both their older VX-1 and VX-2 lines.

Three thoughts with scopes. One, you can't shoot better than you can see. Two, more expensive scopes are more expensive for a reason. With mentioned hunting, not the least of which is low light (and prime time hunting minutes) resolution. And three, your best values on scopes tend to come during product closeouts, many of which may not actually be explicitly announced. This is where your desire for quality at a 300 dollar price point becomes most achievable. You really have to follow this market. Leupold as an example several years ago started discounts on the VX-2, and to a lesser extent on the VX-3. When a company like Leupold, who rarely discounts, starts showing signs of discounting? It's time to start paying very close attention. Sometimes, the reason why is product supersedure. Other times, like with Nikon and Weaver, time will prove that they were saying goodbye. There's oftentimes a catch to a great price.

There is some deep discounting going on at present with Bushnell. Bushnell suffers from a name association image problem IMO from a lot of their lower end Sportview scopes through the years. But they make very good quality also. The supply house to keep an eye on with discounted scopes generally tends to be Natchez. They (in particular) tend to play heavily in this market.

I highly recommend vortex I own several. They always return to zero the glass is clear. I’ve shot out to 1000 yards with them. Plus the warranty is top notch from what I hear I’ve never had to use it.

Look at the AR Line from Tract, I have been genuinely impressed with everything that they sell. https://tractoptics.com/riflescopes/response

BigRick said:

I highly recommend vortex I own several. They always return to zero the glass is clear. I’ve shot out to 1000 yards with them. Plus the warranty is top notch from what I hear I’ve never had to use it.

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Had to send my Vortex Razor HD back 2 months ago. Rifle was in a pretty bad car accident last summer 2020, and even though cased in a hard case and laying flat on the floor of the back seat of the truck, it still took enough of a hit that it apparently was damaged a little bit, and finally completely broke in September 4 stages into the 5 stages at the September Peacemaker Long Range Challenge. I had shot it only a few times prior to September 2021 to make sure it wasn’t damaged. It was acting squirrelly all day when dialing elevation, and then on the 4th of 5 stages I couldn’t dial at all, and had to hold right for a left to right wind. It was done. Called Vortex that Monday, they emailed me a shipping label immediately and arranged for UPS pickup that day. It came back repaired 4 weeks later, with a new t-shirt. Great customer service.

Vortex is my go-to, good range of models, great service/warranty, and a couple places around here have them on the shelf under MAP pricing. Primary arms, Attibal, Swampfox are all good, but I have less experience with them. I have been through a lot of less expensive scopes, and turns out have replaced or regretted most all of them under the $300-isk 1-6 vortex strike eagle. While I might have had a little bit of sticker shock, I have never regretted spending more on a better scope, $600-ish gets you a TON more than $300, and IMO seems to be about the best price range for decent features and glass that is noticeably better.

Vortex, as others have said.

Swampfox is. impressive.

I have a vortex and love it. I also have a $190 scope with the Cabela"s name on it and i really like it. I have had several compliments about the Cabelas scope.

Athlon is hitting it out of the park for budget optics.

Leupold and Vortex have budget lines that usually are good quality. (Most Strike Eagles are not worth it)

Meopta makes great scopes. Not exactly budget but definitely a good value

The next scope I'm buying is an Athlon btr 6-24 gen 2. I'm going to put it on my CZ 457