Favorite scope brand?

[Clay M]

I have Leupold on most of my hunting rifles. I use the Burris Xtreme Tactical XTR on my .308 target rifles.

[Wolfer]

90% Indian and 10% bow and arrow! I couldn't agree more.
I didn't read this entire thread so I may have missed something. When I was young I got along fine with Tasco's. I could see well enough and they were in my budget. The budget hasn't changed much but my eyes have. Now if I shoot too long a Tasco will blur out on me. I can shoot a Leoupold, Weaver, Bausch & Lomb all day without eye fatigue.
Like Nekshot I've compared a lot of scopes side by side and will sometimes be surprised. Once while comparing a Tasco a Simmons and a weaver at a bush about 400 yds away near dusk the first thing I looked at was brightness. Simmons came in first then Tasco with the Weaver last. On checking for detail, with the Tasco I could see the bush plainly, the Simmons I could pick out individual branches, even though the weaver was dark I could plainly see individual leaves.

Tracking. While I don't tend to adjust a lot so this is not extremely important to me my KT weaver and the ones that say accutrak on them are the best I've got.
The others I lump in the same boat. They track pretty good when their new but 10 years down the road the they need a little settling in.
All that being said if I go to buy a scope for a hunting rifle it will be one of the cheaper Leoupld's. Their clear, reliable and the warranty is second to none. The only one I've had to send back was when another horse kicked my horse and hit the rifle in the scabbard.
I've sent a few Tasco's in for repair ( not holding zero ) and they have always stood behind them 100% so I can't complain about their warranty. I just can't see through them anymore.
I can't afford a Leoupld vari x 3 so all of mine are vari x2s or rifleman. I'm very pleased with them.
My clearest scope is a 5 x 15 x 50 bauch and Lomb. It sets on one of my 223s and I can usually see 22 cal holes in the target at 200 yds. It's a bit bulky to suit me though.
Just some random thoughts. Woody

[David2011]

Not sure what my favorite scope is but the Bushnell Elite Tactical (fixed) 10X is probably the best bargain in rifle scopes. It's bright, sharp and tracks well. The reticle and turret intervals are both in Mil-dots unlike many scopes that have a Mil reticle and 1/" click intervals. It has enough power for shots to 400-500 yards on targets or coyotes but is still useful at 75-100 yards.

I'm also pretty impressed with the cost/benefit of the Redfield Revolutions. My main hunting rifle has a 4-12X and so far I have no issues with it. Leupold accessories fit the front end as an added benefit. I put one of the long sunshades on it because I end up shooting in the direction of the setting sun pretty often and it really helps with flare.

David

[Hawkeye45]

All of my scopes are Leopold (and eo-tec) except one bushnell on an old -06 I got in trade.
No trouble with any of them.

Mr. Ed

[Butler Ford]

US Optics! Like'em better than NightForce!


BF

[Love Life]

I sure miss the good old days when my $25 tasco rimfire scope was all I needed. It came from the factory with bubbles in the lenses, but that scope has been on my 10/22 for over a decade and has always hit where I aimed. It has been dropped, slid, stepped on, and it still works.

I also have a tasco varmint that I tortured on a 308 for awhile. It ate many hundreds of rounds, bounced around on the backseat of my truck, and still works fine. I enjoyed that scope because I won a good bit of money with it on that 308 shooting quite far.

Vortex was a good thing to happen to the scope market as they put a lot of scope makers on their toes. Leupold got kicked off the heap, but are slowly climbing back up.

The mark 4 tactical is still one of the best tactical ninja scopes in it's price bracket.

Ahhhh, good times.

[MTtimberline]

Leupold..Tried some others, than back to Leupold

This is my experience as well. End up with another Leupold when I run out of bad words to call the cheaper one I tried. I gave up on that practice and just save for the Leupold now.

[enfieldphile]

Unertl!

[Squeeze]

I have Leupold on almost all my scoped guns, they are proven great scopes with a great customer service and warranty record. Everyone now loves to endorse Zeiss, Swarofski, Trijicon, Nightforce, etc. they may be good, but to me they are not as good as their price would justify any better. I have looked through several display models, and at least to my eye and under store lighting conditions, I can not see the justification. The old standby, "you get what you pay for" Does not always hold true, at least for me. Maybe for those with unlimited funding, But for me, where value is king, I just cant see it. Im willing to spend a bit more for quality, especially for a hunting rifle where I depend on its performance under any conditions. I have several custom built rifles and muzzleloaders all topped with Leupold. Through travel and all sorts of adverse conditions, in any environment, They have proven their reliability to me

[Bullshop]

SWFA in less than a season of coyote hunting went to the top of my list. There may be better but not in my price range.

[Love Life]

SWFA are pretty legit and alot of scope for the money.

[BruceB]

My experience (and opinion) parallels that of Squeeze.

While I own and use quite a variety of scope brands, my hunting rifles and other "serious-purpose" rifles all carry Leupolds, with the single prominent exception of a Bushnell 3200 "Firefly" mounted on a DSA-built FAL. That Bushnell was bought for its particular features for that role, and it has served well.

Many other makes do very well on my rifles, but hard experience has proven (to me, anyway) that rock-bottom brands simply do not pay off in the long run when placed in hard service.

Also, there is much more to a scope's utility than simple optical quality. The best optical glass, light transmission, clarity, coatings, and you-name-it, are WORTHLESS if the scope will not adjust accurately, and most importantly, if it will not HOLD ZERO under severe conditions.

To me, all those "optical quality" factors are far, far less important than the confidence I have that when the time comes to make a difficult shot, my sight will still be in proper adjustment despite whatever rigors it went through on the way to the firing point.

My thirteen or fourteen Leupolds have NEVER, repeat: NEVER let me down in any way. The optical quality is ample for my uses, and the mechanical durability is superb.

(I don't work for the outfit, nor do I get paid for testimonials.... I just REALLY appreciate what the instruments do for me. Maybe that's why I have over a dozen?)

CAVEAT: I just realized that I'm speaking of circumstances which have changed.... many of the rifles stayed with my wife in the recent divorce, so now I'm down to about a measly half-dozen Leupolds. However, my opinion hasn't changed....

[Love Life]

Leupold is legit.

BruceB hit it on the head. Optical quality, while important, is not the end all be all. Not to long ago I sat on a hillside in below freezing tempuratures while it snowed waiting for a song dog to come into my killing zone. After hours of that temp and snow, a song dog finally came trotting in, and came to a stop 400 yds out. I picked the rifle up (snow fell off as over an inch had accumulated on the turrets, body, and rifle) dialed in 1.4 mils, and sent the coyote to his maker. That is what I need from a scope. One that holds zero, tracks true, and whose adjustments don't get all funky due to weather.

For hunting scopes I like Leupold unless I can scoop up a Swarovski Habicht on the cheap. For ninja scopes I prefer Steiner.

For rock bottom scopes I prefer Tasco.

[GabbyM]

I marked Burris.
Also have and like Leupold then old and newer Weavers.

What's frustrating is companies constantly changing models around.

[pull the trigger]

I bought a savage bull barrel 22 and it came with a bushnell that did not adjust at all right from gander hill. instead of taking it back I just took it off and put on a leupold. I figured they would just send me another one that would be juck again sooner or later.

Also traded fro a 3-9x50 vxII leupold for my dad. He had a 3-10x50 simmons that fogged up bad and could not get them to warantee. He was blown away by the quality difference. Plus I felt really good to give my dad something so nice.

[Cmm_3940]

Some of these brands make cheap *** scopes barely suitable for a BB gun along with making decent products in the higher price ranges. That said, my next scope will be a Burris.

[Jr.]

SWFA reliable, repeatable, and cost friendly. Voted other obviously

[Hickok]

Leupold, followed closely by Burris.

[Rotortuner]

Night Force. the amount of come ups in the 5.5-22 NXS is awesome and getting turrets that match the reticle is a must. They are pretty much bullet proof and have good glass. a big step up from Leupold IMO. I have owned both. Sold my mark 4 and never looked back. the turrets on the NF are asesome. super smooth and very accurate clicks.

my 2nd choice would probably be vortex. they are cheaper but a good value.

CJG

[Agrotom]

The new Weaver optics are great!!! I have a couple and would compare them with any scope in their price range..