Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Rifle scope $$$

Let say someone gives you $1,000 to buy a bolt action hunting rig.............how much of that $1,000 will you spend on a scope?

My track record....$300-$450.

It all depends.

I might spend $100 on some ol' piece-o-crap rifle to satisfy my benefactor and spend $900 on a scope. Or if I find a super premium rifle that I think is the cat's meow for $900, then $100 gets spent on the scope...and then the musical scopes game begins anew in either case.

If you can't see it you can't shoot it. Minimum 50/50 - A lot of great used rifles and optics out there. Good Luck

$800-$1000

Depends on how much of a deal I get on the rifle...probably $3-450.

You didn’t specify new or used, so I’m assuming new. With $1k I’m buying a sale priced tikka t3x, an swfa ss 6x, and a set of sportsmatch rings.
So ... final answer ... $299.95

Tikka T3x lite $489 euro-optic
Vortex razor LH 2-10 $349 sportsman warehouse

Leaves some money for a yo-davey trigger spring and some rings.

scheet I might just do that myself.

My own $1000 version
Tikka T3x SL $700
Nikon M 3-12 and Talleys under 250

I would be buying used to maximize my investment value- so $300-$450....

Get a Leupold MK4, excellent glass and capabilities. Spend it all and get the best, you deserve it.

$700ish on the rifle and the rest of a used Zeiss Conquest or Cabelas Instinct 3-9x40 and mounts.

Depend on what I intend to do with the rifle. But in most cases, the scopes that I buy start at $500 and go up. That is for new scopes.

Agree with some above, a $700 rifle and a $300 scope.

If y'all are like me (and most of you are) I have new scopes siting in the safe.....just for this occasion, so $1,000.00 on rifle or what RiverRider said.

Just checked online, Sauer 100 XT in 8x57 looks to be about $750, $250 for an optic it is.

Catch a Tikka T3x on sale, paid $600 for mine in .270. Contact Doug and he’ll hook you up for a great $400 scope. I bought a shot show sample Zeiss 3X12 for $600 so a bit over your budget but you can find a good scope for $400

The scope should cost at least as much as the rifle.

I have some great scopes and have done very well with then but I only hunt coyotes any more and call them so a 300 yard shot is about all I the farther I shoot. I have $69. scope I just had to try and it's been killing coyotes for a couple years and is great.

Win Model 70 222 Rem Weaver 1-4x24mm duplex
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I do tend to buy closeouts and open box specials when they come up. I've been shooting scopes for 45 yrs and haven't had one fail yet. I did predator control work in the 1970 with a Weaver 4x, it is still killing deer on my nephews rifle.

My German drillings I've taken the Euro scopes off and replaced them with Leupold VX-1 1-4x20mm and a Weaver K-1.5, They work better for me.

I just bought a couple of Konus M-30 1.5-6x44mm and am impressed with the glass on them, ones on a custom Rem 600 in 6x45mm and the other on a custom AR in 223 and 20 Practical and a Meopta Artemis 1.5-6x40mm on a bolt 20 Practical all work well for called coyotes. I have less than $500 in the three scopes.

To each his own.

Don't own a scope over 300 bucks, I buy almost everything used, my eyes are terrible, and I can't see the difference between a VX3 and a VX1 in glass quality. I use lower end decent glass, love the redfield revolution, love the Burris ffii, love me some Leupold VX1s, all can be bought for 125-175 used.....just my opinion and we all hevem, like an azzhole.

Always a pleasure to "meet" and assist the members here. Give a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss options

For a hunting rig and a grand, I'd buy a Tikka T3 Lite in .7-08 or 6.5 Creed and top it with a SWFA 10x...

at my age $1000.00 ain`t enough to purchase a good rifle ,mnts. and a excellent scope more like $2500.00 for a good hunting rifle with a scope mounted. don`t sell yourself short on your hunting rifle buy the best you can afford or get a part time job for a great rifle. good luck,Pete53

You tell em Pete...

It would be tough to have a better set-up than that right there even if you had some extra coin to add to it. You could hunt a lot of critters with that combo!

I'll probably spend between 3 and 5 hundred on the scope, but probably not when I buy the rifle.

I always have one or two center fire rifle scopes in stock, and only buy additional scopes when they are on some kind of yearly sale.

Willingness to wait on legitimate sales will reduce to scope cost by between 30 to 40%.

Either I'm way overspent on rifles or way underspent on scopes. I don't feel limited by shooting various flavors of Leupold, Burris, and Nikons.

$700 rifles with $300 scopes seems to be working fine for me. $1500 rifles with $300 scopes also work fine for me.

Only if you are into cheap rifles.

Couldn't agree more with your philosophy and results. (for set-and-forget-and-go-hunting scopes)

T3, SM, SWFA = easy.

$142 2 weeks ago from Doug. Shop his site.

There's simply nothing in NA that I couldn't or wouldn't chase with a 1k setup.

To answer the OP's question, given this budget, I'd be inclined to go 40-45% on the glass.

I'm not. I like Blaser, Steyr Scout, Volquartsen, Cooper, etc. Same advice.

I have scopes that cost more than some of my rifles.

Never did understand the correlation between rifle cost and scope cost. And even though I and most of the looneys on this site like quality rifles and optics, I never correlate cost of a rifle with how well it hunts unless it is really a POS... I wouldn't have any qualms about hunting anything in North America or Africa with a Remington ADL package rifle, toss the scope, and mount a used Leupold 3-9 x 40 on it- wood or plastic stock. You could get into something like that for around $750 most of the time and it would be as reliable as most $2500 rifles ... wanting is much different from needing, IMO.....

You can get a very serviceable scope for that money.

I did a similar setup. Kimber hunter with a leupold 2.5-8

I'd probably spend it all on a rifle and use a scope I already have.

This is about on the money.

I’d buy a nice L-61 Sako for 650-700, then buy a Leupold 4.5x14. That’s about what I have in these, some less than a 1000. Bought an early L-61 30-06 on GunBroker for 400.00 not long ago.

If buying used, I like hanco's advise given above. I love my Sako/leupold combo. If buying new, You can't go wrong with a Tikka T3 lite and a good used Leupold. Should be able to get either rig in your price range and they are proven accurate shooters.

^^^YEP. Best combo I have found yet.


mike r

I’d spend $4-500 on the scope, Leupold or Zeiss conquest.
I might be cheating, but you can alter the rifle, re barrel, better stock etc at a later point. Buy the scope, that’s what you get.