Home Nikon Tips for Best Riflescope Buy

Tips for Best Riflescope Buy

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Who is Ron Spomer
For 44 years I’ve had the good fortune to photograph and write about my passion – the outdoor life. Wild creatures and wild places have always stirred me – from the first flushing pheasant that frightened me out of my socks in grandpa’s cornfield to the last whitetail that dismissed me with a wag of its tail. In my attempts to connect with this natural wonder, to become an integral part of our ecosystem and capture a bit of its mystery, I’ve photographed, hiked, hunted, birded, and fished across much of this planet. I’ve seen the beauty that everyone should see, survived adventures that everyone should experience. I may not have climbed the highest mountains, canoed the wildest rivers, caught the largest fish or shot the biggest bucks, but I’ve tried. Perhaps you have, too. And that’s the essential thing. Being out there, an active participant in our outdoor world.

All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.

Produced by: @red11media

Disclaimer
All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not modify any cartridge or firearm beyond what the manufacturer recommends. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.

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43 COMMENTS

  5. 30 years ago (longer than i care to admit, lol) i worked for 2 years at a large hunting and fishing store. We carried a lot of optics, incl Leupold Vari-X2 and Vari-X3 lines, Burris, Weaver, Bausch &Lomb Elite 3200 and 4200 (now Bushnell), Nikon, and Zeiss and Swarovski. You couldn't see much difference in the bright fluorescent lighting of the store. Tame them outside and look east toward the mountains, and you could start to see some differences. I felt Zeiss and Swarovski were a little overblown. One pf their big points was that they made their own glass. Pffft. So what. A $200-300 Leupold or Burris (at that time) was about as good as a $500 or $600 Zeiss or an even more expensive Swarovski. The Nikons abd B&L's seemed roght behind them, and the Weavers (pre- Grand Slam) seemed okay too. I did love the Swaro binos though. With those you could definitely see some difference, and u darn well better for $1000 back then. I mountedcand boresighted scopes after a couple of months, and we sold tons (literally, i think) of Leupold. The Vari-X2 3-9x was the most common, because it often went on sale for $20 or $30 off. Don't recall ever hearing of one failing, nor a Vari-X3. Never really heard of anything failing, and some months near the season, we probably sold a couple of hundred scopes per month. If anything, the quality is probably even better now due to CNC machining and more advanced optical coatings. Rob makes excellent points. Expect to spend at least $200-300 for a reasobably good scope that will work for you. And if you want to spend 3 times that and can afford it, knock yourself out. Pride of ownership is a factor. Choose carefully, because it is a lifetime investment. You should only buy it once

  12. I never buy new scopes. I have A LOT of scopes. I can buy high quality scopes for 1/4 of the new price. I have not dealt with the new companies at all so I can't speak about them. All of mine are Leupold, older Weavers, a few Burris', one Sheppard and several of the German/Austrian brands that are actually built there.

  13. A bit of history about how scope buyers use to perceive optics years ago.

    People would buy a Remington 700…Ruger 77’s…Winchester 70’s…even Smith & Wesson (Yup…these were very good rifles made in Japan) etc..but wanted to cheap out on optics because a $30 Tasco was AOK using cheap Weaver mounts and rings.

    Well…I worked on that concept with many and finally succeeded in getting quite a few to start using Leupold and maybe Burris at that time.

    Leupold made excellent scopes back in the 70’s/80’s. VariX 2’s in 4…6….and 2×7 power and VariX 3 in 2.5×8 or more were just top notch for hunting. Tough…kept POA even with 300WM and 7RemMags.

    Then Leupold began to slip. The VariX 2’s digressed to friction adjustment instead of click….I sent back “2” Leupold scope back to their factory for warranty..a 3×9 and a 6×12 dot. Twice. And twice the scopes came back as no issue. Except my shot groups were all over the target even though my scopes were mounted correctly..rings lapped/aligned correctly/decent quality rings and mounts etc etc. Still my shot groupings were all over the target.

    I visited a Sportsman Warehouse and decided to try an experiment. I bought a Bushnell 3×9 3200 Elite w/40mm objective. Mounted correctly checking for alignment….my grouping on my 06 immediately shrank to a consistent 3/4” moa..and still does with that same rig after all these years.

    I traded the 6×18…sent the Leupold 3×9 back to Leupold again with the sight in target using the Bushnell 3200.

    I call Leupold after I knew they had received the scope….was trying to make CSR understand there was a mechanical problem with that scope..he got pissed off about me ragging about the Leupold and hung up…..!!!!!!!! Yeah I called back and made a complaint etc etc etc….I finally just washed my hands of that scope as well and sold it off fairly cheaply.

    My point. Scopes are expensive these days. I’ve now 5 Bushnell Elite scopes and all function well and do not lose POA..period! But if you’re just mounting an expensive scope using junk rings and mounts and without checking for proper scope alignment sitting in the rings and all screws torqued down to factory specs…you can spend 2 grand for a scope and you’ll be wasting your $$$.

    Because I did have one Bushnell scope go haywire on me…I sent it back to Bushnell..Bushnell did not fix that scope..they sent me a brand new upper model scope with apologizes!!!!!!!

    Yes..Leupold makes nice scopes….upper end ones and you’ll pay big bucks. But my days trusting Leupold are long long gone…and Burris? Nope! Don’t do it! Burris scopes were really never that great really. And I wasn’t alone with that view of Burris.

    Buy a middle of the row scope….but don’t cheap out on mounts and rings!! In fact high quality mounts and rings can cost as much as the scope does.

    Lastly…even with high quality mounts and rings..and decent quality scope..if you do not install mounts and rings to be in total alignment…you’re wasting your money and can damage that scope. Why? Because most rifle actions are not square/straight/perfect alignment of screw holes. And yup…I’ve had to really work on some rifles actions via shimming etc etc and proper ring lapping and so one.

    My advice..if you view a YouTube video that just slams a scope on top of a receiver and/or tries to show the use of a Wheeler scope alignment bars…..you’re not getting good advice…these are just trying to get followers or trying to sell products.

    Correct Brownell’s/Midway/Others..??

  14. With my income I'm good for about $1 per yard. If I'm only shooting 200 yards, I'm not really spending much more than $200. If I ever decide to start shooting up to a thousand yards, I could easily see getting a $1000 scope

  15. how do I know if the scope has a good field of view so that I do not lose the animal if it move. most of my shooting his at 100 yard 0r least . I stock most of the game I hunt and call the animal I hunt. the rifle I will be using his ruger gen 2 7mm 08 thank

  18. All good info Ron,
    For hunting my experiences have shown:
    1) in the selection process only consider the worst possible day of hunting it has to perform on.
    Nothing like being in the bush a week and when that moment arrives condensation has rendered your optic unusable…
    2) the KISS principle applies.
    In many cases extra abilities either add weight, complexity or potential failure points and all add cost.
    3) on variables the low number is more important.
    Low magnification with a wide field of view is vital, if you need more due to range you likely have time to dial it up. Run out of dial, get closer…beats a narrow field of view due to a higher minimum magnification.
    4) the cost of quality is negligible given the value of reliability.
    if it has a gold ring (Leupold) you’ll likely die of old age before it fails to perform, and in the unlikely event it does their service is tops.
    I’m enjoying your videos, thanks.

  25. Yep yep yep… I'd agree almost across the board. Have two of the Diamondback 4-16 Tacticals. Have the Arken EPL 6-24 on the long range rifle. Have two Burris scopes including this one and they are very nice for the money. Very clear and bright but as you mention, not the most forgiving box. Have a lower end Athlon Argos II 4-20 used on Mercari though it is a bit big for a general purpose scope but is very decent for the money if you can grab one on sale. And I have a SIG Buckmaster 4-16 which is very decent. It's kind of a mixed design with a 30mm tube and capped turrets. I got a used return on Amazon for $170. It is certainly better than 50% as good as the Diamondback tactical but the lettering looks very cheap. I mostly have older Nikons and Leupolds but these newer ones are very impressive, even though a few feel a bit cheap. The Diamondback Tactical 4-16 is also my favorite recent scope under $500. I also grabbed a 3-9 Diamondback Tactical for pretty cheap though it is 1", SPF and lacks parallax control but looking through it it looks fantastic and is slightly more forgiving on the lower magnification range. Again, half the price of the 4-16 but I'd still ante up for the 4-16.

  27. I use a Leica fortis 6 2-12×50. Nothing can beat it. It is extreamly durable with no rubber or plastic and it has extremly good optical quality and field of view with no tunnelvision at all. It is like an extention of your eyes.

  34. I started with low cost variable power scopes and all of them had issues with holding zero. I have since moved to fixed power 6×42 scopes. I have both Leupold FXIII and Schmidt Bender Hungarian 6×42 mounted on 270's, and both scopes are rock solid, having held zero for over 4 years now. I do prefer the A7 reticle in the Scmidt Bender. All you need to know is your bullet ballistics and have a range finder. With that, you can shoot with confidence out to 500 yards. If I was shooting very long distance, I would spend the extra money on a first focal plane variable power scope so no ballistics adjustments are needed when zooming in on target.

  35. I have always had a general rule of thumb, that I will start out looking at $150-$200 scopes. Then I figure what the average length of my shot might be. If 90% of my shots will be around 150yards or less, I'll spend around the $200 range. If I am going out west and want a new scope, then if I think I might shoot 300-400 yards, then I start looking at $300-$400 scopes. So it basically spend $1 for every yard I think I might be shooting. After 40+ years of hunting, this formula has worked out well for me.

  39. Warning….do not look at the sun through your Scope. It will damage your retina. You would need to have a protective lens (like a welding lens) to look directly at the sun. That's why you can light a fire with a magnifine glass and the sun, which is a lot of what your scope is made up of. You can look at bright object, lit by the sun to compare scopes.

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