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

One refers to price, the other to quality

I have two Japanese Tascos that are still running strong. Made by Haako. Great scopes.

We also had great luck with the older Bushnell Banners. The new ones, not so good. I have one now that is only suitable for pounding tent stakes.

Hello,

I have had Weaver Micro Tracks (2,5x and 4x) and like them. Not great optically but strong enough for more than 300 shoots each in a .375 H&H.
But my absolute favorite old (now cheap but not originally)scope is the Redfield Bear Cub 1" tub, or the earlier Stith or Kollmorgen Bear Cubs. They all are great scopes even by today standars. Mecanically for sure but also optically ! Very wide an flat fields and resolution on par with my Zeiss Diatals (old non centered reticles), new Zeiss Victory and Schmidt&Bender. May be not so bright but equal on resolution, indeed.

Regards,

PH

Sorry,

I forgot to say that I was talking about 4X fixed scopes Redfield 1" and Stith/Kollmorgen 26 mm.

Regards,

PH

They were quality made. Too bad the bunch that started making the Wal-mart scopes trashed Tasco's rep forever.

In this day and age, it's about productivity not quality. Virtually every scope line has suffered and will continue to suffer until Quality changes. Every company via Asia, Euro or US is doing more with less and we as customers are now the inspectors/quality control department.

I have the following inexpensive scopes that have never been sent back for even a cleaning.

(3) 3-9X40 World Class Plus (Japan)
(2) 4X Tasco 20+ years old (Japan)
(1) 2.8-10 Aetec 15+ years old
(2) 3-9 Banners 20+ years old
(1) Fullfield USA

The 3-9 Banners were on a Savage 210F and Browning Bolt slug special, these 2 were used for slug development for the better part of 7 years after doing duty as loaner scopes. 1 still resides on the 210F and the other is now on a Thompson Omega Laminated Thumbhole .50 and has seen many days of load development and both are still going strong.

Both the Tasco 4X area on Mossberg 185's that I converted to smooth bore slug guns. Barrel change, bend the bolt handle and drill and tap for bases. These have seen many years of 20 gauge slug reloading. These are still doing duty and loaner slug guns for friends and family and still see some reloading duty's.

The Aetec has been on more than 10 of my rifles and can't count the amount of others it's been on. As of now it's on one of my son's 17HMR's.

The World Class Plus's have been on about everything from a Lott down to a rimfire. These are still mounted on various guns. 1 is on a 7mm Rem Mag 700 BDL SSDM with factory porting that's a loaner gun, 1 is on a .270 700 BDL SSDM that has seen over 2000 rounds in it's life time. Last one is on a 10/22 with unknown loads ran through it.

Most of the Testing was done with Lead Sleds or something very similar that I built and used before the Lead Sleds came out.

YMMV

My favorite cheap scopes are the little 2.5X Bushnell Banners from quite a few years back. They make great scopes on 22's and I had one for years on my Remington 760 .35 Rem. They're light and just don't break.

I have two Japanese Tasco 3x9 scopes from the mid 80s. I had one of these mounted on a 30-30 as a kid and then on an Interarms Mauser 30-06 for 10 years. I can't imagine a scope taking as much punishment as this Tasco got from me. I'm now in my late 30s and I put the Tasco back on the Interarms becasue my dad bought both for me and I wanted it back on for sentimental reasons. I carried it for two days in 2008 and it finally gave up with a case of scope fog. I have a few Simmons scopes from the mid 90s that have done well.

In general I've found the hard way you get what you pay for.


That being said there is normaly a small expection to the rule. For examply in bolt action rifles there are several makes/models out there that perform way above their price. The Marlin XL-7, the Stevens 200, the Savages and so on.

In optics big money will get you great glass such as the VX3s the Zeiss Conquest and so on. BUT on the opisite end of the spectrum are some killer deals to be had. Here is my list of great buys from personal experience:

The Bushnell Banner series of scopes. Specifically the 1.5x4.5x32 I have had this model on several big bore Marlins and trust me 45/70 recoil will tear up a crappy scope. This model has never shifted POI or fogged up on me. Optically to my eyes they are just as good as the VXI scopes from Leupold, maybe as good as the VXII as far as brightness and edge to edge clarity. I currently have a fixed 4x Banner that is my backup scope. Its probably going to get mounted on the 7600 I have on layaway. These scopes cost $70-80 and perform as good as scopes twice to three times that price. The guy that got me hooked on the Banners has over ten of them mounted on various Marlin leverguns, with a good bit of them being on 444, and 45/70 - that is a lot of field testing. His handle on most websites is RanchDog.

The Nikon Pro Staff line is another good for the money buy. I have a 3x9x40 I picked up for about $140 and its done well mounted on the Vanguard in 30-06 that is our family loaner gun. Optically I'd say they are every bit as good as a VXI from Leupold. That being said I am moving away from Nikons due to a sour experience with their customer service department over a brand new Buckmasters 4x.

The Burris Fullfield II line is kinda a not cheap but not expensive choice for me. Every FFII I have had has been awesome optically, as good as the Vari-x IIIs were. I currently have a FFII 2x7 that is going on a buddie's first hunting rifle. I like that they offer a couple of good recticle choices. I like a post/duplex and you can get a good 2x7x35 with that post/duplex for around $170. Their more expensive lines are really good too FWIW.


Glad others here have had good luck with the Banners too. I noticed several people make the difference between older and newer Bushnell Banners. All the Banner's I've had were new ones and not a problem.


Good subject

I have several Burris Fullfield IIs and a couple of Burris "Short Mag" scopes that have held up well on light rifles and a couple of hard-kickers. I have Simmons, Tasco and Bushnell scopes on .22s. I have a Tasco (Chinese) 6-24 Target/Varmint scope that has been on my go-to .223 Savage and always holds zero. I also have Leupold scopes, B&L Elites (pre-Bushnell), Zeiss, a Nikon or two and a couple of Weavers.

BSA are junk, in my experience. I had a Tasco (Chinese) 1.5-5 that turned foggy and unclear in just a couple years.

I have to admit that I don't have many scopes that cost over $500, though. I doubt that my eyes would discern the difference, as I see little difference (mainly around the edges) between my Pentax binoculars and my buddies' Swaros.

Burris FFII's have been good to me over the years. Not cheap, but inexpensive and a good value, IMHO.

DJ

Bushnell Banner x2 and both still holding up.

I got a Tasco Euroclass on my 264. Never have a problem with it. It was one the gun when I bought it, never saw a reason to switch it.

The older Tasco World Class scopes from Japan were super! Have a 6x and a 3x9 that are still going strong! The old Bushnell Banners from Japan were good also. I am showing my age when you talk about Made in Japan Bushnells, that's been a while back!

I have a couple of Made in Japan scopes that are exactly like the old World Class Tascos that I am going to sell. Ones a 3-9x42 and the others a 4-16x42. Any interest?

I have a Charles Daly 6x40 scope that I have no idea who manufactured, but it's clear and seems solid as a rock. Pawn shop scope for $25.00 which I intended to put on a sale rifle. Needed a scope to sight in a rifle one day and threw it on there and it's been suprisingly tough and reliable. I have no idea who made it, but I'd love to know as it's a heck of a scope for $25 bucks.

I have a Tasco 6x24x40something that I got about 10 years ago when I sent in a DOA Tasco that came on a rifle purchase from Gunbroker. I used it for a while on a 22-250 before picking up a better scope. After that I put it on several rifles while I was working up loads, liking the higher power range. It was on some heavy kickers and always held up fine.

Then I got the idea to move it on. I was done with the heavy kickers after shoulder surgery and was not looking to add to the herd anymore, so I wouldn't be needing it. A guy on the classifieds bought it for fourty bucks and off it went. Shortly thereafter, he contacted me and told me I had mispresented the scope. He had put it through some scope gymnastics and found it wanting in some way. I had no problem taking it back, even though I was a little miffed about being accused of ripping him off, but reimbursed both the fourty bucks and his shipping. Well, it came back and sat unopened in it's shipping box ever since.

Last weekend I wanted to take a Model 70 out and shoot but had just pulled the scope off of it to sell. I remembered the Tasco. I went and unpacked it and put it on the M70.

Yikes! The guy must have been right. What had been a reasonably clear scope was now completely unusable. I messed with it for a little bit and then noticed the AO was cranked way out. Most AO's have stops but not this one and the guy, or a kid, had cranked it about 6 or 7 revolutions beyond the intended range. I'm surprised it didn't come off.

So I got it adjusted properly and went out and shot some good groups.

BSA 3.5x10X50 Cats eye scope put it thru hell and it works great.

Weaver K2 2,5x20

Had it on a 9,3x64 for a long time. No issues.

The Charles Daily scopes that I have been around did indeed work well

Bushnell Elite II 3-9x40 that has been a go to scope on many rifles awaiting funds for a better scope. Never shot better grouyps upon installing an upgrade.
Bushnell Scope Chief 1.5-6x32 made in Taiwan that has been used similarly without missing a beat.