Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics What's your rifle to scope cost ratio?

I will spend $4000 on a scope if spend $3000 on a rifle

I've heard arguments that it is far wiser to spend way more on your binoculars/ spotting scope than the "aiming device" on the rifle. That is likely true in many cases. For me I carry around a "memory snapshot" of the sight picture just before the shot breaks. When it is bright and super sharp that is a trophy of the hunting experience I keep with me.

I'll spend and buy the best I can possibly afford and then spend more. In my mind what's the use to have an accurate rifle if I can't see the target accurately.

there shouldn't be a ratio. if the optic sucks it doesn't matter if the gun cost 10k. I could easily see putting a $1000 zeiss v4 on a $399 ruger american. rather look at the intended use. also look at how often you use that gun. or a $300 elite 4200 on a custom rifle that cost 3k. there might be a use where that is just fine too.

Rifle
Tikka T3X CTR 223 $900
Trigger spring kit $20
McMillan Game Warden stock $750
Bed and pillar materials $20
MT rail $60
TPS rings $90
$1940


Scope
Nightforce NSX 5.5-22x50
$1800

Honestly, it has more to do with accuracy. Really accurate rifles rate really good scopes. A $3000 rifle that shoots 1.5 MOA, meh. Might as well stick a Leupold on that one.

I haven’t spent less than ~ $800 on a scope for a bolt action rifle in a looooong time.

My go to hunting rifle is a Tikka T3 lite w/ a SWFA 3-9. It is perfect for my use and are about equal in price.

My ARs wear Trijicon Accupoint 1-4 and an Aimpoint Micro H-2. The scopes cost about 1/2 the price of the rifles.


mike r

Funny...... start buying ocean-capable boats and gear for them, and suddenly, even really nice scopes don’t seem so expensive anymore! Perspectives.... unless you are into it, you likely cannot BELIEVE how much the big outboards cost, for instance. Not that I’m out there spending $25k on a single motor, mind you. But $800 for a scope is like, ouch... $800 towards a boat issue is like, a Tuesday, lol...

According to my math, the average cost of my rifles go around $580.......

My optics are averaging $430 apiece.

I have too many of each.....9 bolt action rigs to choose from.

Hmmm.
Most of my hunting scopes are between $200-500 price point.
Burris, nikon, vortex, Meopta, tract, leupold.

Those rifles are between $300-1000
1 TC, 3 tikkas, 3 Rugers, 1 sauer, 1 kimber,

The most expensive I have right now is a $250 but, I had a Springfield Armory 6.5x-20x- 56mm on a Rem. 40x at one time. It was way more than $250. It depends a lot on what kind of shooting and hunting you do.

Tikka superlite at 750, bushnell lrhs at 966...

If I listed my inventory we would have several makes in common both rifle and optic.

I've never spent more than $400 on a scope of any kind. I never saw the need for it. I've bought Sightron, Clearidge, Bushnell Elites, Leupold and Burris. I've only had to return one Burris for repair. That was a 6X HBR target scope that I could not get the parallax out at 50 yds. It was fixed and returned. I competed in rimfire benchrest and had $3,500 custom rifles which had Sightron II 36X and Burris HBR 6X scopes, which cost then in the $200-$350 range. I competed very successfully against shooters shooting Nightforce, March and the Leupold Competition scopes. I wasn't so much concerned about optical perfection. All I needed to do was to be able to see the target and be able to resolve the scoring rings. What I was concerned about was the accuracy and ease of use of the adjustments. When I wanted to make a 1/16" correction (50 yds), I wanted the one click on the adjustments to give me that. My Sightron and Burris scoped did just that. I achieved Gold level status in the IR50/50 Hall of Fame, won the 2015 Unlimited Nationals and made the US team that competed in the 2011 World Championships using these scopes. I used them for over 10 years and never felt the need to change and never felt I was at any disadvantage. I wasn't out there bird watching, all I needed was to see the black rings on a white paper and a scope that could make and keep very minor but accurate adjustments, when needed. These scopes did just that.

As for hunting; I live in the NE and big game is typically shot at less than 100 yds. most under 50 yds. I don't need a $1,000 high magnification scope to do that. My 2-7 and 3-9 or 3x fixed scopes from Leupold, Bushnell (B&L) and Burris have been able to allow me to see and kill many a whitetail and none have failed, needed repair, or replacement. If people want to count the feathers on a chickadee while deer hunting, then yes I can understand spending thousands on a scope. Or if your type of hunting requires a high magnification range and ultra resolution then maybe. But, I see no sense to any rule of thumb that you should (or need to) spend more on your optics than on a rifle. If all you need to do is put the crosshairs behind a buck's shoulder and have the shot go there, then a $200-300 scope is more than capable of doing that regardless of what you paid for the rifle.

That’s not all my inventory, just saying how most of my scopes are half the price of my rifles vs double. Or what ever the “standard” should be

After 20 years of maintenance, I sold my boat and slip and now I take a charter trip a couple times a year. I could buy a car with the savings, and the guide always knows where the fish are.

1:1 or better... if the rifle and my needs for it matters. Sometimes 2:1 Glass:Weapon

Cheap stuff like beater carbines... much much less. I am fond of the KonusPro on beaters.