Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Best LR scope under $1500, article

Agree or disgree I thought it might interest some.

Best Long range scope under $1500

"10x is great if all you're doing is ringing steel at long range... but when you want to take that same rifle after some coyotes, you might see that fixed 10x isn't that great of an option."

Interesting quote from the author...

He wasn't shy about pimping things that literally have not been out for a full year yet (Athlon)... how could they possibly be vetted?

I guess he did give himself an out by kiboshing the notion that mechanical precision isn't a big factor... "use the reticle!"... but that in itself makes me suspicious of his cred. Is he known as a highly skilled LR shooter?

Ridiculous to write off SFP scopes, too.

Thinly-disguised mashup of google-fu is my opinion.

He shoulda got a reference from Formy before talking up Vortex..................

MM

Vetted?

What does that matter if the mfr provides Lifetime Transferable warranty and does warranty repair in KS?

About HALF of what you pay for Leupold, Burris, other Big Names is to cover warranty claims... Scopes break. How many have glass etched reticles? Leupold mk4 for sure, All Athlon from Talos BTR up, and some Vortex, for sure the Razor, and NightForce, maybe Sightron?? Who can remember?


If the author had been an Athlon fanboy rigging the deal, he would have bumped the bar to $1800 and included the Cronus BTR which has ALL The Features of Top Build and Component Quality since Light Optical Works of Japan makes them 100%.

I am an Athlon dealer. Bought the Cronus BTR for longterm evaluation and demonstration purposes. Pay $3500 or more and you won't get anything "better" unless a super nice paint job or battery compartment on the side of the rear tube matters to you? Maybe you prefer the NF ocular bell that incorporates the magnification dial? Never did like that myself. Had one of those 8-32x NF NXS and a 2.5-10 24. Both were highly praised for their optics, but the 8-32x was NOTHING Special. Boat Anchor heavy and dull optically. None any better than my Leupold mk4s. Sold the 8-32x NXS after 5mos and felt lucky to lose only $600 on the deal...

I have tested Argos BTR 8-34x which sells for $390 for FFP illum side-focus etc and the scope was super clear and crisp, plus delivered 20mils/72 moa of elevation range and was accurate per my boresighter with grid. Maybe precise is the better description? The Argos 8-34x was crisp and excellent out to 1100yds. Started to decline a bit after that or maybe it was just the Cronus BTR never showed any degradation... For $390 it is a a must see.


I sold 2 Vortex Viper PST and replaced with Argos BTR mil-rad. Better optics and features, plus great value. Also sold several better grade Leupolds.

The Cronus BTR is a Superb Value. Crisp and color accurate at excess of 2 miles. The Argos 8-34x was superb out to 1100yds when tested at my local airport. The Cronus BTR was crisp even on 1" diameter power line which was 1600yds or further distant. Scoping a distant mountain meadow, snow covered in early April, the Cronus BTR was like a spotting scope in terms of clarity and identification. I have watched sheep move with the sun on mountain meadows at over 5mi distance. The 4.5-29x Cronus BTR is very exceptional.

Back to this "vetting" thing... Every scopesight, these days, is an entity to itself. They're all complex, they all break and you might get one with factory defects. It took Burris 3 - 4 weeks to even inspect the recent Tac-30 1-4x I returned to them because the illum reticle was lighting-up on its own, and the reticle was seen to move on diagonal. About 5wks later I heard the scope had an O-ring fail and water damaged the internals. The scope was never around any water much less out in the rain, it was like new... Point is, you're on your own when it comes to "vetting". You best have your own testing gear like the Bushnell 74-3333 boresighter-collimator. You best regularly evaluate your scopes and test a new one thoroughly.

You best also have guarantee that whoever you're buying from isn't selling you a scope returned from a previous buyer. Brownells sent me a Vortex that they got back in return. Not what you expect from the people you've trusted for years.

It's a new world out there. Athlon IS worthy of your consideration and comparison.

"Vetted? What does that matter if the mfr provides Lifetime Transferable warranty and does warranty repair in KS?"

This attitude drives me nuts. I've had scopes die on a couple different hunts and the warranty meant nothing at the moment (I've been packing backup rifles, bows and optics on my trips for decades now). Most of the low end optics we've been inundated with carry lifetime warranties.... The scopes I've had go bad were immediately sold after repairs because nothing would restore my confidence in them. Sorry for venting but I buy things banking on their functioning.

I've looked into some of the higher end new brand scopes and view them like new model American made vehicles: I'll let others help the company work the bugs out for a year or two before sending my money their way.

Yes, all things mechanical can break--I've had it happen even with some top shelf optics.

The idea you pay a lot for a name brand company's scope means nothing about longevity. I would trust a Tasco before I would trust a Swarovski. I never had a Tasco fail and had a Swarovski need to be repaired twice in two years. I don't want something with a good warranty. I want something good.

Sig. line material here.

I have learned to let others be swayed by the siren calls of New Cheap Optics. Athlon is just another unproved quantity at this point.

I do want a scope to be vetted before I drop serious money on it. I've seen guys buy a particular Vortex only to have it fail,be replaced quickly,and fail again just as quickly. What difference does it make if a manufacturer replaces a POS with another POS? A lifetime replacement warranty doesn't mean a thing if they are all crap.

I don't know a thing about the Athlon scopes. I hope they are good scopes. I might be willing to be the first on a $500 or under scope but I won't spend north of $1000 on anything unless it has a history with folks I can trust. That's just the way it is and the reason it's so hard for any new manufacturer to break into the business with a premium line.

Well, i read the article and i still use a flip phone and i still use a standard Mil/Mil Front focal plain Mildot. I cannot get excited over a Chinese or Philippine made tactical scope with all the bells and whistles regardless of the cost!

Best LRScope.....One that above all is reliable. Been said before that a great warranty is almost worthless when your hundreds of miles from home on top of a mountain in bump ass no where.

In 2010 a had a coveted mule deer tag that took years to get. I put a new scope on my .260 in early spring and shot the hell out of it all summer..all good!
When the season opened I backpacked into a area I had scouted all summer. About a 4 1/2 hr pack in & rained the whole way in. Next morning out before first light to a basin where I had been seeing 2 really good bucks most of the summer. Sure enough they were there. got within 350 yards set up waiting for a little more light and WTF could not see through my scope. Totally fogged. I thought about trying to center the deer in the scope and trying a shot but thought better of it. Decided to back out and see if I could get the scope cleared up. At camp tried to unscrew the eyepiece..no go. Warmed it up a little and just made the fog turn to droplets. Screwed! Put my pack on, left my camp and hauled down the mountain. Got in the car drove 75 miles to my house got my other rifle. By then it was late so stayed over nite got up and hiked back up there. Surprisingly I bumped into another hunter who also had a high country tag. He just "missed" a huge buck in the same basin 1/4 mile from my camp.. Hunted the rest of the week, passed some smaller bucks and ate tag soup.

Sent the scope back and it was repaired and back in 2 weeks..great but....

My .260 now wears a Nightforce and I have not draw a high country mule deer tag since 2010.

So much for warranty's

LC

+1 This.

When we were kids, we'd go out with Grandpa to his cabin on the lake. The boat would sit tied to the dock during the day, getting used here and there, and if a storm came up in the early evening, we'd hurry and take the boat out to the buoy, where it could ride the waves instead of bashing into the dock all night long. On many occasions the evening rolled around, and there'd be clear skies and the prospect of a nice, calm night. Grandpa would ask us to take the boat out to the buoy before we went to bed. In my young mind, this made no sense. Putting the boat on the bouy was what we did when we expected a storm, what's the point of putting it out there on a calm night? So I asked Grandpa why we always put the boat on the bouy, even in clear skies. His answer stuck with me and often comes to mind, even all these years later. "So we can sleep when the wind blows," he'd say. He passed on recently, but I'll never forget that lesson he taught me as a boy.

I've gone away from LW scopes, even on my LW rifles, which, while a bit heavier, now wear scopes renowned for rugged durability/reliability, so that after I've backpacked in 10 miles to get to my sheep mountain, I can sleep when the wind blows.

Good post Jordan. More people should heed the advice of some of those older folks.

Gents:

You definitely need to include these Zeiss V6 in this discussion:



I had a chance to wring them out at the FTW Ranch, and there was a whole lot to like about 'em. The teachers there are retired snipers, know their [bleep] cold, and EVERYONE was impressed with these things.

Made in Germany, all the bells, whistles and coatings on the optics, this model (3-18x50) has 103 MOA elevation, and, last but not least, repeatability was impeccable.

I will personally own one of these as soon as they arrive in US markets, which is slated for early summer.

These are the real deal.

I can dig that zmoa reticle.

Good looking scope that I would definitely like to own. The only caveat would seem to be tube length is short enough that a rail would likely be a necessity. No different than most of the newest designs. Not a problem but something to consider.

RickBin,

Can you tell me how this scope's performance is in low light? I have this scop on order, but I'm very curious to know how it performs in low light. I have only read 2 reviews from 2 individuals that were at the FTW all were positive but they said the low light performance was ok. I would have thought it would be good, since this scope is using the same glass used in the Victory Scopes from Zeiss. Just would like another opinion before I purchase this scope. If not I may go with a Z5

The Zeiss above is their conquest v6 line correct? I wonder what the price point will be.

The HD5 did not do the conquest line justice in my opinion and I still don't know what Zeiss has against a 42mm version in the 2-12 range.

A 2-12x42,44 with low profile and truly repeatable turrets would be an end game for me. I could go FFP or sfp on that one too so long as the reticle was worth its salt in low light. Just stay under 20oz.

Yep. Why would it matter that the device you use to aim actually works.....?

Do you think about what you write before you type it out, or just throw it up there to see what happens?




As for the article- the world is full of people that have never done what they are talking about, but can't wait to tell you all about it.