Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting I'll never settle for a cheap scope again!

Well guys, feel free to line up and tell me "I told you so!" I scrimped on the scope for my boy's deer rifle-a nice little Model 7 chambered for 7mm-08. Money was tight, so I settled for a Tasco World Class 2-7 x 32. Eric hunted the gun for the first time last year, and though he never got a shot, the scope worked fine. This fall, the gun shot nice groups at 100 yards, and Eric was excited for the coming hunt. He drew a tag for a special youth hunt, which we did two weekends ago. Sunday it rained all day. Fast forward to this past weekend-the reuglar Minnesota deer opener. Guess what? The Tasco "World Class" had fogged internally. What a joke! The scope's been used lightly for 2 seasons, and this happens! Never again. I'll wait 'till I can afford quality glass! Leupold will look better on that nice little rifle any way!

Good plan,


SPAD

Buckaneer,
Sorry to hear about the scope,hope it did'nt
mess up the hunt. Luckally my Pop is a Leupold
slut from way back,so...I've never hunted with anything
else. Cheap lesson for you.
Bart

I won't say it. I had a Worldclass 2x7 and it was a decent scope for the money but it was an older one. Any scope can fail and at bad times (Murphy's law) so I take a second rifle to camp with me.

The only reference fo "world class" Trashco should make is "world class junk".

Tony

I can commiserate with you on a Tasco going south in the field. I had a new World Class 3x9x50 come unhinged when I dropped the hammer on the largest whitetail I've ever put a crosshair on. The 140 class 10 pointer was standing broad side at about 225 yards in the middle of a pasture. I was in my favorite ambush site-- prone on a big flat rock on the edge of a patch of broom sage on the ridge behind my grandpa's place.

The previous afternoon I had used this same rifle( Remington 700 SS .300 Win Mag. Shooting a 165 grain Sierra BTSP) to neck shoot a big goat horn spike for the freezer. I was so confident I finally had the drop on this big bugger (I had been after this critter for 3years) I watched him thru the scope for about ten minutes, I could almost taste the tenderloins. I slippped the safety off, got my breathing right, eased the cross hairs into position just behind his shoulder and gently caressed the trigger.

The big .300 bellowed and to my utter amazement ( no other deer had ever moved out of its tracks when I used this rifle) my long sought trophy raced across the field, cleared a 5 strand barbed wire fence and disppeared into a thicket.
My dad and I scoured the area for about three hours but never found any blood sign or any other trace of the buck.

After getting back to my grandpa's house, I immediately went to his range to check the rifle. All the mounts and screws were tight but when I test fired it the rifle printed 7 inches high and about 5 or 6 inches to the right at 100yards. Thinking I must have whacked the scope and knocked it out of kilter I tried rezeroing it. The adjustments simply spun free. They would not budge the crosshairs. Needless to say I have never used another Tasco scope.

Sorry one go you too <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

HBB

I'm sorry it had to happen to you and your boy. I see it time and time again when customers bring rifles into my shop. A firearm that costs anywhere from $400-$1200 has a $40 scope on top. Earlier, I've been guilty of it myself. Never again. The majority of the scopes on my centerfires are all Leupolds, with one Burris filling in the field.


Hope you get your situation resolved quickly. Best to you.

A few lessons learned. Backup scope or iron sights or gun would be a good deal.

Any scope can come apart. Every Bushnell I ever had did eventually. Only about 30% of Tascos. Have shot one TAsco on a 50BMG and last I heard it was still doing great(but that was a special scope.....) A buddy lost a leupy on a 223!!. I had a Zeiss fail on the first shot out of the box.

But all lessons learned-- I still would rather stick with a cheap single shot handi rifle and put the money into good glass. Than the other way around....

Best, Jeff

It is hard to beat those Handi's.....we have 4 of them....tell you about a scope that does not get any notice is the Catseye....have one for 3 years now on the varmint rig that has been through hell and back...never lost zero and is very clear and clean and functionable....then again hard to beat a Leupy. Sorry bout you scope issue.

I had a Leupold 2.5-8 fail me. Three of us bought them from the same dealer, and all three failed the same year.

It happens. Spending more money is not always a guarantee of success. I've had scopes from Weaver, Redfield, Leupold, Nikon and Bushnell fail, with the last two going south this year.

Redfield, Weaver, Tasco, Leupold.... I've had equipment from all of these go south at one time or another. Fogging has been the biggest issue and typically caused by one or two days in constant rain accompanied by changes in elevation of several thousand feet. I suspect the elevation shifts push some water into the units as one goes down slope. The best answer is a backup rifle if one is not out and about in the back yard. I too still stick with Leupold though, because their warranty and service just can't be beat. In a couple of instances I've shipped units on Monday and had them returned on Friday. 1Minute

Let me know if you want to sell a 3200 badly. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I love my new Elite with RainGuard.

pepaw

dang right! that leupold will look better on there & it won't let you down.
Just a thought, maybe not worth mentioning but I was on my way back from an elk hunt recently & stopped by a Cabelas in....... Sidney Nebraska? Anyways, I strolled through the "bargain cave" real quick and took notice of these factory refurbished nikon pro-staff 3X9 40mm scopes for like 75 bucks if I remember right? not certain on the price, but it was right in that $75 area. As you probably know, the pro-staff is kind of the entry level for the nikons but I would think it would be far superior to the tasco that gave you trouble. I don't have a pro staff, I do have an older nikon, a few burris & leupold, I like them all and wouldn't settle for any less then what those 3 generally offer in the $200 range.
Anyways, just thought I'd mention it.
Dave

I guess my luck runs the opposite of most here, because I've had more Leupolds fail me than any other brand. For years now I have been a big fan of the 3000 & 3200's, I refuse to buy another Leupold and have purged them all out of the collection. I really like Zeiss and Doctor Optik and have zero failures with both brands. BSA I fell for their sells pitch and bought 3, all 3 failed on their first use, yes they replaced them, just like Leupold, but I won't buy again. I've had a Tasco WC on a 7mm Rem. mag for 25 yrs. no issues, other Tasco's on various calibers with no problems. Simmons nearly the same as Tasco, did have a whitetail classic that failed a few years back, sent it back and within 2 weeks had a brand new Aetec as a replacement, the WTC was no longer offered. If money is available I try to go with Zeiss or Dr. Optik, but don't hesistate to grab a 3200. I think as long as you don't buy the economy model, but stay towards the upper end of a brands offerings you stand a good chance of being happy.

Two years ago, had a new camp members new scope fog up (two of us to confirm this). It was a Simmons, but one of their lower end units, 8-Point series. We always kept an old 4x Weaver at the camp just in case, and mounted it on his gun. End of problem. Took the fogged scope inside to warm it up, fogging gone. Took it outside in the cold and it did NOT fog up. Tried for several days in various weather conditions to see if we could fog it up but it never did. However, the guy did not want to mount it back up and is keeping the Weaver on.

I feel for you, unfortunately I had a Piece o S*** Simmons fog up on me when I had a 10 pointer in front of me 2 years ago. I swore off cheap scopes for good after that. Too bad we gotta learn the hard way. They are great for 22's and plinking but leave em home for big game...

Had a Bushnell fog on me, and had a Leupold go haywire. Those are the only two scopes I have had fail. Well...I did have a crap Simmons and the coating on the lense was coming off somehow.

Keep the Trashcos, Bushnells and Simmons for plinking on a 22 or something. Don't trust them for a hunt you waited all year for.

I have had Leupolds on my rifles and nothing else. I had a 4x fog on me when it was 10 years old and I sent it in. I got it back in a week and have had it on various rifles since then. That was in 1978 and never another problem...I have shot them on many diferent calibers and use them for work without any other failings. You might spend a little more but the warranty, although little used, is the best in the business.

With scopes you truly get what you pay for!!!

Huntr