Choosing a scope

[sakorick]

I was strictly a leupold man until a year and a half ago when one of the neighbors put a 4x14 Burris fullfield II, balistic plex reticle on his 270. We started monkeying around with it and some amazing things happened between 200 and 400 yards.  I have built my own range here on the farm and the 400 yard target is at the exact elevation of the shooting deck. Both Ed and I started carving the heart out of the 300 and 400 yard targets. the BP reticle takes all the guess work out of how high to aim on long shots. At the same time, my sako 243 started acting up....long story later, we determined the vari x II had gone bad. Folks, I had to send that scope back twice for repair finally they got it repaired after replacing all the internal parts. That scope had been on that rifle for around 14 years and never been abused....if you believe in reincarnation, you would want to come back as one of my rifles!! I have the Burris on my 7x57, shot a doe a 375 yards this past season right in the 10 ring. I have switched out 4 of the Leupolds and now have 3 of them left, have 4 Burris and a 6-16 sightron on my 220. I put a 3-9 fullfield II on my black powder rifle and the BP works perfect at 100, 150, and 200 yards. If you hunt where long shots can happen I urge you to try one of these scopes...they have great lenses, coating, functionality for paralax, a forever warranty, good eye relief and all the features you need at a very reasonable price. And if you own a big magnum you can take that 500 yard shot with total confidence. Practise a bit, and you will be a happy camper. sorry for the diatribe:) Regards, Rick.

[Rohann]

Thanks for the advice. I am starting to consider Burris more...
Comments on Redfield scopes? According to "Marine Sniper" by Charles Henderson, the USMC put them on their sniper rifles (Win M70 and Rem M700) when they first initiated a sniper regiment (during Vietnam).
 
Thanks,
-Rohann

[sakorick]

The old redfields were made in El Paso....I had a 3x9 on my '06 and it was a good scope. Redfield went out of business some time ago. I don't know anything about the new scopes that are made in China I believe.

[Rohann]

Thanks for the info.
I'm not sure if I would buy one of their new scopes, though if I can find an older one than I will take a look at it.
 
-Rohann

[Bones]

Zeiss Conquest is my go-to scope.

[mudturtle]

I have a Bushnell 4200 on my Savage 22-250.  It has never let me down and gives me a crystal clear picture when varmint hunting, but this is always during the day.  I have a Bushnell Trophy on .50cal muzzeloader.  It is a 3-9x40 and has delivered now for 3 years running in low light conditions.  One set of scopes I don't see mentioned are the BSA scopes.  While these are definantly not a price scope, I have been rather impressed with the 2 I have on 22's.  A Hunting buddy had to replace a scope mid hunt and the only thing available was a BSA Varmint/Target model.  That was 2 years ago and he says he won't change it.  It's on a 220 swift that he uses praire dog hunting and it works great for 400-500 yard shots.  I am thinking of putting one on my 204.  Leupold makes a great scope, but I feel that you can get equal quality and service for less of a price.  Besides, my wife already wants to beat me every time I buy a new gun.

[outdoors-lover-and-hunter]

i have heard good things about leupold

[Ultrahunter]

I do have a testimonial for leupold.  My buddy and I had a little accident last spring and to make a long story short my .243 with a 3x9 Vari X II  spent a week at the bottom of Brownlee resevior on the snake river before we found it with the help of a scuba diving buddy/hero.  Any way that scope was still in perfect condition not a drop of water inside of it.  Made a believer out of me, I will shoot leupold forever.

[ghostrider_tx]

Howdy Rohann

I prefer Leupold. One brand not mentioned was Shepherd scopes. I know of one guy that mounted one on his .22 rimfire,but have not heard how he liked it yet. Does anyone have any knowledge of how these scopes perform??     Jack

[2ndtimer]

How's bout a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40 with Ballistic Plex? i think i'll get one for my H&R .308.

I have two of them, and I think for the money, they are tough to beat.   I take some flak from Leupold loving friends, but when you can get a matte finish 3x9 with Ballistiplex reticle for less than $200US and they throw in a pair of Burris Landmark rubber covered 8x32 binoculars, how can you pass it up?

[sav17]

Hi ALL

Recently bought a bushnell 3200 elite 3x9x50 very nice,i am really impressed with the rainguard coating works really well;)

[buckshot roberts]

I have two old scopes, one is a 4x32 simmmons on a winchesrer model 70, and the other is a K 2.5 weaver in a echo side mount on a savage model 99R, I missed a big buck last year with the model 70, so I've had both laser sighted for this fall, that old K 2.5 weaver  has done very good at takin, coyotes this summer, these scopes were on the guns when I got them, but if I were to by one it would be a lyman alaskan, read so much on them, are they still being made.

[rockinbbar]

Buckshot,

The Lyman Alaskan was a vintage scope often used on the Savage 99 rifle.
As far as I know, there are no further production on them.

One thing I noted about your post above is that you had the rifles laser sighted for this hunting season....
Each to his own, but you know that any type of sighting, wheter it is laser or standard bore sighting is just to MAYBE get you on the paper at 100 yards.

You need to shoot the rifle & fine tune the sights at the range you are zeroing for. Use consistant ammo, as it will impact the target differently with different bullet weights, & sometimes different lot numbers of the same brand of ammo.

I spend a lot of time sighting in before & during hunting season. You have to KNOW where that bullet will hit at different ranges as well.

If you want a really good scope that has the tough, clear, zero holding ability of the Lymon, you might want to check into the Leupold scope lines.
They make 4 or 6 power scopes that are very resonably priced.

Hope this helps some.........

Rockin'

[sakorick]

I am old and opinionated, having said that, the Burris Fullfield II and the Nikon Buckmasters are on par with Leupold and are 200 bucks cheaper.....and the Zeiss Conquest is superior for alot less. At one time, Leupold was king.....not anymore. Regards, Rick.

[Brithunter]

As Rockin has pointed out using a laser sighter or a collimeter will put you normally on a paper target but not always and should not be relied upon to hunt with. Iuse the collimeter to set up a new scope or one which has been swapped around, however I have never found it to be spot on. It just saves ammo by getting you with 12" normally at 100 yards, then it can adjusted normally to get it right.

   A laser points in a straight line unlike the flight of a bullet which is curved, you need to shoot to properly sight in. Oh the Lyman whilst very good in it's day is far outshone by modern scopes in several ways, I like classic scopes and in fact have a couple of them, don't have the Lyman but have an early Meopta 3x meant for the Brno ZG47 rifle and a Hensodlt 4x and I am picking up what I am told is a No32 scope soon but I will not know for sure until I go over to get it. However modern scopes of similar premium quality leave them way behind. Good luck with your hunting.