Cheapest, decent quality scope for distance shooting??

[BOVindy]

BDC reticles are designed for (roughly) specific bullet weights, going at specific velocities (from specific barrel lengths). If you have a rifle that matches these then a bdc can be a great thing. A good scope is a decent investment though, so the versatility of being able to swap scopes, if you every upgrade or change rifles, is a desirable trait for me. Mil or moa reticles can work for all guns if you do a little math. I also reload, so any bullet weights or different velocities wouldn't work for a bdc reticle. This is just my own experience and opinion.

 

[natdscott]

This this this. I also love the reviews where the writer has no experience or any other competition to review it against. Snipercentral has reviews on a ton of scopes all done in the same format going back years. He is a legit shooter and I've never been lead astray following his reviews and advice.

So you liked Mel and the forum back in the day? Not what it once was, unfortunately.

I always wished we could combine the sex appeal, membership, and brand of the Hide with the civility, bona fides, and dampered ego of SC. At the end of the day though, Galli and Mel are about as far apart on the personality scale as you can get. Mel's a real dude.

Reminds me though...

What WAS the best entry-level scope was the Mueller Tac II 3.5-10x44.

Damn solid scope for $200, and made equivalent BushLeupIkon glass look like ****, much less Simtastic or Trashco.

I kinda miss that scope in a way. It was basic, but I shot the hell out of some stuff with it.

It should NOT be confused with the rest of Mueller's line.

 

[Deuce]

I'm curious why not BDC as well. It would seem that if used properly a BDC reticle would be advantageous to have...but obviously if I knew what was advantageous to have in a high magnification scope, this thread probably wouldn't exist. Lol

 

[42769vette]

I'm curious why not BDC as well. It would seem that if used properly a BDC reticle would be advantageous to have...but obviously if I knew what was advantageous to have in a high magnification scope, this thread probably wouldn't exist. Lol

People say avoid BDC because MOA, or MRAD is better. MOA, and MRAD can do everything a BDC does. A BDC can not do everything MOA, and MRAD do. That said, in your budget, BDC is exactly what you want. Its going to have an advantage over plex, and quality measuring reticle scopes just dont exist in your price range.

 

[seedubs1]

This thread has been fun

1) Get something that tracks. If you’re shooting distance and it’s not a set it and forget it scope where you’re using holdovers, it has to track.....or it’s worthless.
2) Don’t buy Chinese scopes
3) Make sure it has enough internal travel based on your ballistics to get you to the distance you want to shoot
4) I’ve never regretted spending a bit extra on a scope to get what I need. This really is buy once / cry once stuff
5) I put this last because you mention “Cheapest.” Get a reticle that works for you, and make sure reticle and turret clicks match (ex.- moa reticle and moa adjustments). This is absolutely not as important as 1-4 above

Cheapest I’d look at are:

• SWFA fixed power scopes - made in Japan. Reliable and proven, but no bells and whistles
• Vortex - only the Philippine and Japanese ones (Diamondback or better)
• Bushnell Elite - made in Japan, solid and proven scopes
• Weaver - t series or grand slam and higher
• Sightron s3
• Nikon Black - I wouldn’t consider anything else from Nikon, but the new Black series is looking to be solid. I talked to them, and they confirmed a lot of their old issues are solved - ie plastic guts and tracking
• Sig Tango 4 or 6 - lots of ridiculous deals on these, and these scopes work

All of those have metal guts and no plastic garbage. They will track, and if something is wrong, the manufacturer will fix or replace it.

Some people mentioned Athlon. The Athlon scopes in your budget are Chinese and I wouldn’t touch them.

 

[Twangbanger]

Good-tracking scopes are available in the $200 range, even ones made in China. They are not my preference, but they do exist. The problem is that most of what's available for that price, which meets the need, are used Japanese scopes, and you're buying a pig in a poke. Smarties who spend a lot of time on the internet will recommend all kinds of these things. If you have the ability to discern the quality of used scopes - or the ability to spend $400 - the task of finding a good-tracking affordable long range scope is actually quite easy.

But if you want to keep it to $200 and buy "new" with a lifetime warranty that protects you as a buyer, Vortex and Athlon are the only choices I'm personally aware of. You will have to do your homework, figure out what adjustments and reticle types are important to you, figure out if your rifle's receiver will accommodate a MOA base (if needed) to get your chosen scope/rifle combination to your chosen distance, and go from there.

​

I'll offer a differing viewpoint on Athlon, based on actual personal experience. They make a $180 Talos 4x16 with side-adjust parallax knob. There are different models but mine is a 1" 40mm mildot scope with 20 MIL of vertical and horizontal adjustment range (or more than 60 MOA of adjustment). I have seen nothing like it at the price. I have used it for a year, even had it attached to a rifle for one 1,000 yard NRA match (which I'm a beginner and suck at), and I recommend it and like it very much for the price. It was able to adjust a 6.5 Creemoor rifle with 22" bbl to 1,000 yards with a 20MOA base, and I can shoot rimfire to 200 yards with no MOA base. Highly recommended and I have won and placed in rimfire silhouette matches with it. I have proven the adjustments of this scope to track and have used it on multiple rifles.

If you're willing to spend a bit more, Vortex HS and the new Diamondback tactical are a couple-few hundred more but very good. I went for the new DBack tactical but have not tested it extensively yet. There are others out there (Weaver Grand Slams, old Japanese Tascos, etc.) which can do a good job if you find one used for cheap. However most of these "good finds" are not current catalog items, so again you will not be able to plunk down your credit card and find them new - with warranty - for $200.

Honestly, distance isn't the limiting factor here. It's adjustability, repeatability as mentioned above, and optical quality. Do you need features like first focal plane? Maybe not, if you tend to set your scope to one magnification, leave it there, and "dial-in" your impact points instead of holding off to hash marks. Do you want bullet drop compensation? To me, I have no use for it. I count clicks and check my zero at every distance. That is the way serious precision shooters do it. In my opinion, BDC reticles are for people who are not serious riflemen. It is the optics industry's accommodation for people who do not want to "count clicks," which is the essence of serious rifle shooting, or who are not going to put in the work to collect data on their rifle's impact at different distances. But if your accuracy criteria are measured in "Minute of Deer," or every single scope you own will be attached to some kind of AR, it might be for you.

As for magnification - you often don't need as much as you think, but it all depends on how small a target you're shooting, at which distance, and what is your accuracy criterion? You will need enough magnification to be able to call shots based on the movement of your reticle against your target image, at the time the shot went off, within the accuracy criterion of what you're trying to hit. You can use a 4x scope perfectly well at 400 yards, if the target you're trying to hit is 4-5 MOA in size and regularly-shaped. On the other hand, if you're trying to hit an irregularly-shaped 2-3 MOA-sized target at 200 yards, you may find that 12 MOA is just barely enough to make good shot-calls.

 

[Deuce]

Thanks for all of the great info fellas! I ended up finding this vortex crossfire II 6-18×44 under my budget and pulled the trigger. Fingers crossed it'll be decent enough or else I just wasted 180 bucks..

 

[seedubs1]

Good luck with that Chinese junk

 

[Hohn]

SWFA 10x Should probably always be the answer to this question. Cheap doesn't blend well with variable power imo.

QFT. There's not a $300 scope on the planet that can run with it. I have one in 12x and another in 10x. Made in JAPAN and tracks very well through a huge range (100MOA). Surprisingly good glass and excellent Reticle you can range with.

Just finished my DDm4V11pro w/ 10X SWFA on it. I'll add the piggyback RDS later.

 

[NyleRN]

Ben, you mention twice to avoid BDC reticles. All things equal as to quality, etc ..., what is it about the BDC that makes it a no-go? I'm not a long range shooter, but shooting squirrels with my 17 HM2 at distances over 100 yards, I've found it helpful.


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I don't like BDC reticles because they're set up for a certain bullet velocity. If you're running pills at a different velocity then those BDC hashes are no good.

 

[GSPBirdDog]

I have a couple Primary Arms optics as well as Vortex and NightForce. For the money, I would go with Primary Arms. Glass is clear and their ACSS is the bomb!

 

[Hohn]

I don't like BDC reticles because they're set up for a certain bullet velocity. If you're running pills at a different velocity then those BDC hashes are no good.

That's the essence of the problem. BDCs are not a "universal" reticle. MOA or MIL is. You can create a dope card easily for ANY load with MOA or MIL. BDC is one-trick pony. And you can't RANGE with a BDC reticle. IMO, that makes it entirely inappropriate for anything longer range. You HAVE to be able to range with your reticle if you don't carry a separate rangefinder.

 

[Bfish]

My intention is not to completely run the thread away from the OP but does anyone have much experience with the Burris XTRII's? I've not used one side by side with a vortex razor or a night force but honestly I felt like I was approaching that level of equipment when using it however the price is well under. I'm not saying I won't buy a Razor or AMG (I actually really like the AMG) but when you consider you could buy two XTRII's for the price of one of the nice vortex options and have money left it's temping. They are about on par with the viper gen2's in price but seem to be nicer. With that said though I've only played with an XTRII on one occasion and I've yet to be behind any of the gen 2 vortex offerings outdoors to gather an opinion. The biggest thing is that I haven't compared any glass especially side by side I'm curious of people's opinions. I've spent a fair amount of time with a 3x18 razor and it seemed very similar to that but not being able to look through them side by side I feel like you can be tricked with glass "quality." What I can say is that the turrets are super nice. I own vortex stuff and I'm thinking about picking up a razor soon but I've been on the fence about jumping ship for an XTRII, what's anyone think?

 

[Ggreen]

So you liked Mel and the forum back in the day? Not what it once was, unfortunately.

I always wished we could combine the sex appeal, membership, and brand of the Hide with the civility, bona fides, and dampered ego of SC. At the end of the day though, Galli and Mel are about as far apart on the personality scale as you can get. Mel's a real dude.

Reminds me though...

What WAS the best entry-level scope was the Mueller Tac II 3.5-10x44.

Damn solid scope for $200, and made equivalent BushLeupIkon glass look like ****, much less Simtastic or Trashco.

I kinda miss that scope in a way. It was basic, but I shot the hell out of some stuff with it.

It should NOT be confused with the rest of Mueller's line.

I tried to get into the forum, but it never caught on for me. I am on sc homepage regularly and have been a member for a while. I'd love to take a class with them. I learned how to range with mildots playing their game lol. Mel seems like a person id be able to really learn a lot from in a short amount of time.

 

[Deuce]

Who needs luck when you have a lifetime warranty??

 

[Deuce]

I'll do just that...thanks for the advice!

 

[Bfish]

Who needs luck when you have a lifetime warranty??

If the scope they send you is still just as junky then it won't matter if it's a lifetime warranty? However, I don't think that's what he means by good luck.

 

[Deuce]

If the dude that posted his 600 yd shot grouping using a 4-12 Crossfire II can shoot like that with it...it definitely can't be all that bad of a scope. I ain't worried that it's going to be junk and I wasn't after the best scope money could buy in the first place. If you recall I was after the cheapest, decent scope for distance shooting...and the optimist in me says I found it.

 

[Areoflyer09]

If the dude that posted his 600 yd shot grouping using a 4-12 Crossfire II can shoot like that with it...it definitely can't be all that bad of a scope. I ain't worried that it's going to be junk and I wasn't after the best scope money could buy in the first place. If you recall I was after the cheapest, decent scope for distance shooting...and the optimist in me says I found it.

Check out the Hawke line as well. At similar price points, I’ve found I prefer them to Vortex.

 

[Fossil]

You will appreciate an Athlon. Nice quality with good glass.