Top best & worst rifle scopes

[atiq.massan]

Please try fixed power 10x SWFA scope. I am sure at 300 bucks u just cannot beat the quality it is offering.

[WallyM3]

For the value: Leupold.

For the quality: Schmidt & Bender.

[fatnhappy]

My favorite is Leupold followed by Nikon.

Exactly my feelings. I'd rate Bausch and Lomb Elite scopes equal to Nikons.

[Hannibal]

Might I humbly reinforce what has already been stated previously - a scope can not make a rifle group smaller. But, It can certainly cause it to appear to group larger. Shoot your guns so that you know what you've got.

[WallyM3]

I humbly might take the contrarian reasoning, since I have a well grounded appreciation of progressively fuzzier sight.

Good fighter pilots, like good shooters, share one characteristic (of course, among some others), that of unusually good visual acuity. The better the lens (both human and "glass"), the greater the potential.

I love that 34mm tube.

[edctexas]

I have tried many pistol scopes and the only ones that hold up under 44Mag, 30 Herret, 30-30, 454 Casull, etc. is Leupold. I have used Redfield, Burris, Simmons, but feel that Leupold and NXS are much better glass and more reliable. The old Redfield variable I had was reliable, but had poor adjustment and only average glass.

I would say that you need to be on the plus side of 400$ to feel comfortable with your scope for hunting. If you are a sniper or a LR competitor, then your looking at $1.5k- 2.4k.

Ed C

[WallyM3]

I just got bitten by the TC bug.

Thanks, edc. I will truly keep that in mind because I will be needing scopes.

[triggerhappy243]

EXPANMAN......... I too beg to differ about a better set of lens. I shoot long range prairie dogs on 8 cattle ranches. my E.D.R had a nikon 4x16 scope. I changed it to a burris 8x32x44 scope and my groups shrunk from 12 inches at 600 yards to just under 4 inches at 600 yards. better glass with higher magnification has opened my work to a whole new realm.

[Ickisrulz]

The best rifle scope for any amount of money and for all purposes is the made in Japan Weaver Classic K-series 4x38mm. A fixed power scope that sells for about $160.

I like mine anyway which has sat on my 338 Win Mag Model 70 for hundreds of rounds. The scope has also gotten overwhelmingly favorable reviews on MidwayUSA and Optics Planet. I find mine as clear as my Leupolds.

[Hannibal]

triggerhappy - I can only speak to what I have seen. If what you have is working, then DO NOT CHANGE IT, BY ALL MEANS! Good shooting to you.

[dk17hmr]

I'm a scope snob that shoots long range...a lot...1000 yards is warm ups. Best advise I have every read or heard about scopes is to buy one or two excellent scopes, not cheap to middle of the road scopes but high end scopes that fit your style. Put them in quick detach rings and put picatinny rails on all the rifles you plan on using a scope on.

I really like Leupold scopes and have a handful that get swap between several of my rifles depending on what I am doing.

I always read how great one companies warranty is but I need my stuff to work not go back every other week to be fixed. I would expect the warranty to be dang good on the stuff I buy because it usually involves a lot of thought and saving before I order it, but the only scopes I have ever had trouble with are from when I was younger and didn't make quiet as much money.

[Lead Fred]

It would depend on what your using it for. My scope is for very long distance shooting. So I only buy:

http://www.snipercentral.com/ss1042.phtml

http://www.swfa-ss.com/

Ive out shot darn near every brand listed here. Up against the Leopold Mk IV class scope, the SS beats it hands down.

As far as Vortex goes, not impressed at all, had a mildot, the turrets went bad, they replaced it with a BDC reticule.
it sucks butter milk, compared to the mildot. Good Elmer Fudd scope.

[UBER7MM]

As posted above, you get what you pay for. I've also heard that you want to put as much quality glass on your rifle as you can afford.

I bought budget scopes in my youth. IMHO, by far the worst of the worst is the BSA Contender series. The eye relief distance was extremely small, so that if my head wasn't held at exact distance from the glass, my whole vision through the scope would go black. Very fatiguing. The elevation adjustment broke by me just turning it. I felt it wasn't worth the $15 service fee to get it fixed. Never again.

I've good experiences with the older Bushnell's "Sportsview" series. These were made in Japan back in the 1980-90's. For the money, I think I've made good purchases. They're out of fashion, being gloss black and not matte.

My Weavers experiences are good too.

[GabbyM]

No one has mentioned Trijicon yet?
Especially the ACOG if that's what a person is looking for.

[lovedogs]

Oh boy! Here we go...one of those subjects that can go on forever. It's like asking what's the best rifle caliber. Probably depends on what you plan to use it for, how much you want to spend, etc. And of course we have to consider Mr. Murphy, how lucky you are and, possibly, which moon phase it is the day you buy it. It would be nice if we could all afford Night Force scopes but that's just not reality. Two weeks ago I watched a guy fight to get a decent group with a new Cooper rifle. After spending a king's ransom on factory ammo he discovered his new, expensive Zeiss scope had gone bad. Another incident several years ago involved a guy who'd left his custom Mauser .270 laying in the back of a pickup in a barn all winter after having shot an elk in a blizzard. In the spring he found his rifle that he thought his father had taken care of laying in the back of the truck. It had been covered with snow and now lay in bloody water. The rifle was ruined. It had a cheap 4X Tasco on it. That cheap scope was all scratched and dented but still functioned perfectly. Go figure. Like they say...the luck of the draw. You can get good ones in any brand and bad ones in any brand. Just for the record my choices are:
Leupold, Nikon and Burris. I've had terrible results with Simmons and Bushnell. Some of the old World Class Tascos have served well but I usually stay away from cheap scopes as they have not done well...for me.

[longranger]

I have a very old Bushnell from the days the company belong to the Germans (Leupold I think

Bausch & Lomb

[fatnhappy]

I have a very old Bushnell from the days the company belong to the Germans (Leupold I think) and after almost 45 years, it is still sterling.

Bushnell is the sport optics division of Bausch and Lomb. B&L has always been an American company headquartered in Rochester NY. Bushnell was never German owned. Leupold and Stevens is also quintessentially Amercian. They say it on their website better than I ever could.

About Us

Leupold & Stevens, Inc., is an American, family-owned, fifth-generation company that has been designing, machining, and assembling precision optical instruments and other products for 100 years. Founded in 1907, Leupold’s® success has been built on our commitment to our customers’ absolute satisfaction, and our commitment to building the best optics for the shooting sports, general and wildlife observation, and the military and law enforcement communities.

Past

It’s a decidedly American story: one century ago in 1907, a young German immigrant named Fred Leupold set up a one man shop at 5th and Oak Streets in Portland, Oregon, repairing optics for surveying equipment. Leupold & Stevens is still family owned, though our focus has turned from surveying to helping people all across the globe survey their environments with the innovative, high-performance sports optics and accessories.................

[45coltnut]

LEUPOLD all the way. I just bought a used vari x II from eBay for $200. Even if its bad, send it back for fix or new one. Like someone else said...you only have to buy them once in your lifetime.

With that said, I've also got a few Burris scopes that are almost as good. But, in my opinion you can't beat a Leopold.

[shoot-n-lead]

I'm looking to replace one of my rifle scopes and was wondering what everyone top 10 best and the worst rifle scope brands are.

In the last 2yrs, I have replaced all but 2 of my scopes...had a safe full of old and dark scopes. I upgraded the entire safe and my son's scopes also, with scopes bought on craigslist from around the country. All of the scopes were Leupold or Nikon and all of them were practically new in age and in excellent condition. Across the board, I bought them for half of the new price and they all had transferable lifetime warranties...so if there had been a problem with one, I would have just sent it in for repair. From this experience, I have made the determination that I will likely never buy another new scope.

You have a lot of options these days for a good hunting quality scope from a domestic brand that will not blow your budget.

[DanWalker]

My 2cents: Go buy a leupold. It'll be the last scope you'll ever have to buy for that gun. Put money into a jar. Skip lunch, do some side work. Whatever it takes. They are worth it.