Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Cheap scopes that have lasted

When you think about it, a scope is not that complicated if it gets screwed together right... I know, good glass, bad glass or the best scopes have better innards but I have had but one scope that I sent back and it was broke when I got it new and I knew it.
It was on a Win Mod 70 that Walmart sold for $150 because... the scope was broke. Simmons sent me a new one. Was about three years ago.

g

Bushy 3-9x40 Sportview bought for $55 back in the late 80's. Its on a model 30 Marlin 30-30. Seen 10+ years of hunting and never had to mess with it .... Dat 30-30 needs another trip to the woods soon, but may have a M8 4x when it does ....

There's a very big difference between cheap and inexpensive...

I have a few that have worked out pretty good.

Simmons Aetec 2.8-10 was on my favorite varmint gun and saw a lot of use with no glitches and good glass.

Cabelas Pine Ridge 3-9x this one has been on just about every rifle I own and has performed great. Glass is ok for the price I don't think you can go wrong.

I've had a couple of the older Bushnell Banners, too, including a 4x12x40 that worked just fine and never gave me any problems at all.

I think I spend too much on scopes lately.

Lies, lies, all lies!

(My son's 870 has one of those Tasco Pronghorns on it that doesn't seem to realize just how abusive the recoil is from 3-inch sabot slugs.)

Never had a problem with my Tasco or Swift scopes.

Depends on which side of the tracks yer from.

This is a very good thread, especially for guys looking for a scope that don't want to spend big bucks for it.
My vote goes to two scopes, the Bushnell Scopechief line and the Weaver V-16. Both are "Best Used Buys" when you can find them.
I use an old Scopechief 6-20x as a slave scope for developing loads for rifles. It may not be the brightest bulb on the scope tree, but it sure works in mid-day light at 20x.

I forgot about an ElPaso Weaver 4X I purchased as new in original box years ago. I had it reworked & added a post & cross hair reticle. I mounted on a beautiful Sako 308 with a Mannlicher style stock & gave/loaned it to a young relative. He shoots several Whitetails each year with this rifle & loves to show off the scope. Those old ElPaso's may have obsolete glass but they are brute strong & still work for most general purpose hunting. Its interesting in this age of $500 to $1500+ scopes that game can be shot with older inexpensive glass. Its a wonder the bullets don't bounce off.

I have had great luck with the Jap Tasco World Class and World Class Plus scopes, especially the fixed 6X models, the Bushnell Scopechief is another scope that has shown me good service,I dont think they really were cheap in their time as I never bought one new, one reason I love gun shows, amongst the stuffed Alligators and G I Joe crap sometimes you can pluck a favorite little trinket outta the rubble

Early 80's Bushnell Banner 4x I bought used and a 3-9 Japanese Tasco.

I've got an old 3X Leupold I bought used. It's been on several rifles, a 7X57, a .358 Win., a .25-20 and a .243. It put up with over 250 rds. of mostly magnum rifle slug ammo out of a very light Ithaca 12 ga. And it's still going strong.
I've got a Leupold 4X that I bought new in 83, or 84, that put up with so much abuse I shudder to think about it. Never changed zero.
But I think the all time champ is my old partner's cheap Swift, 3-9X. He broke one leg off of the reticle way back, like over 15 yrs. ago. The thing is still holding zero. I've seen him kill some nice bucks with that thing. Broken reticle and all. E

I had a Kassnar 3-9x40 back in the early 80's. It was all I could afford after buying a new 7mm RM 700 Classic. Worked GREAT for 3yrs until I took a fall that would have wrecked ANY scope.

My son is using an old Swift 1.5-5X 20mm scope on his 10/22 Ruger.
This is the fifth one of these I have owned, the other 4 were replaced as they failed. I can't really fault Swift's warranty, but their product sucks.
Since I purchased the first iteration some 8 years ago, I guess you could make a case for it 'lasting'.

i have a leupold vari-x ii 3-9x40 i bought in 1993-ish for about $200. Not rock bottom cheap but also certainly not terribly expensive. It is now on its 4th rifle. Not the best glass i own, but when i bring the gun to my shoulder i've used this scope so much that muscle memory just makes it feel right. in my opinion it is also better than the 2004-ish vari-x iii 3.5-10x40 in low light. it has taken its share of bambi's through the years.

I have a Swift scope I got from their warranty department as a replacement for a throughly trashed out 4x12 that came on my first Gunbroker purchase: a Stainless Classic M70 308. I remember it came from a pawn shop in Nevada and there was sand under the scope caps. I never had a Swift before, and didn't know much about them, but knew they had a great warranty when the new one came in the mail.

I used that 4x12 AO Swift on any number of rifles to work up loads. Then the time came when it got a permanent home on a 10/22 I tricked out on the cheap with a Boyds/Shaw package deal. It's still there.

After that, a Tasco 6x24 Mag IV filled in for some load work-up work, though I liked the Swift's optics much more. The Tasco handled some heavy customers too and performed very well. They both impressed me in the tough and reliable department.

I have a Swift 4x that has worked out very well. Nice little $100 scope.

In no particular order:

1). 6-18x AO Bushnell Banner (Japan). Crystal clear, bright, sharp image, excellent resolution, reliable adjustments on mini-turrent.

2) 4x Bushnell Scopechiev IV. Excellent resolution and edge-to-edge uniformity, bright.

3). Weaver k4 steel tube microtrac scope. Not as bright as above, but very good overall.

4). Picked up some Lyman All-American Permacenters in the past 10 years, including: 2.5x (2.75x?) post/crosshair; two 8x versions with AO. Flawless scopes for my lever action (2.5x), and woodchuck rifles (8x).

5). Bushnell Banner 4x straight tube .22 rimfire scope. clear, bright. yada, yada, yada.

All scopes were picked up for well under $75 (most under $50).

tbear,

I have scopes from the old Weaver a 2 1/2-10X Tasco up to a NightForce. In the middle are several 4-16X Tascos on big kickers. I bought them for 75 bucks each and they hold up well. The .340 Weatherby and the .375-.416 Rem Mag both had the Tascos on them when we went to Alaska. They are a GREAT value.