Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics $100 rifle scope

So, tell us Czech1022, what did you decide to get?

GunsAmerica has a Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40mm for $55.00.

Just received my 2.5 X 20 gloss Weaver K that I paid 105 for at Natchez. It is a sweet little scope. Under half a pound. Very quick and generous eye relief. I'm putting it on a 308 or 260. Weavers are a solid scope for the money. However, I would not put them on heavy kickers - your 06' should be fine.

Plus, I think little scopes make guns look better... :-)

I like small, light, low mag scopes. I may get a couple more... Beats a reciever sight in spades for most purposes.

I usually buy L's, but this was too good to pass up and I have had very good results with all the V-16 Classics I own.

I think any of thheir K series scopes would do fine. The 4x is around $130 I think.

TM

Oh, and I forgot to torture you all with my prejudices...

I wouldn't touch anything but a B'nell Elite... preferably 4200 series aka B&L... ordered a mil dot trophy 3x9 once on special - what a piece of junk... it went into the "experience box" I could not sell or even give it to somebody in good conscience..

Nary a Simmons (cept maybe my old handgun scope) had a reticle come undone once in my misspent youth...

Tasco - no go (however, I do have a very old, to me, Golden Antler 3X9X50 that seems sound...) it sits on a relatively harmless 7.7 jap custom, heirloom Arisaka. Might put a Weaver 2.5 K on this gun...

Redfield?? Dunno - my cousin tells me they used to make good scopes, back before I was playing around with 7/8 inch 22 scopes.

BSA - lowest common denominator in my opinion

I think you might be surprised at the quality of some Cabelas branded scopes... never tried them, but they don't brand crap merchandise

Sightron - indifferent (ordered one once - never received due to stocking issues)

Germans - I find first focal point retiicles intriguing but not that much, not enough to support their union fees...

Burris is fine - don't like where their ocular focus ring is located - interferes with flip up lens caps for me.. otherwise great scopes. "Forever" warranty... Have a 3X9 Bal Plex that will live happily on a custom 10/22.

Nikon - yeah I'd go with a Nikon on reputation alone, but I'd probably buy an "L" instead...

Leupold, what can you say... they are what they are - great. Sent one back with a mysterious blur circling the reticle and got an equally mysterious paper back from them purportedly explaining what went wrong along with a fixed scope pronto.. the lifetime warranty is for real...

This is my first foray into Weaver K's. A fixed power handgun scope got returned due to rediculously critical eye relief, but this 2.5 seems like a winner.

TM

TM45 I like the Burris warranty bit, just yesterday called them on a 2x5 camo question, asked them if it would hold up to the jolt on my BAR lighweight 30-06, Burris, 'it will outlast you using it'. Wish I would have know you can custom reticles form burris, the ballistic plex works well.
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Burris tells me they will put a custom reticle in any scope.
I asked about a Ballistic Plex in their 6x40, and they said, "Sure!"

I think is it funny the way people become adamantly prejudiced about scopes they never owned, or even about entire brand, based on one incident in their very limited experience, or the fact that they never owned but a few scopes of one brand.

I have a Tasco Titan 1.15-4x24 German #1 in 30mm tube that was made in Japan, in the same factory as Nikon. It is on a .375 H&H. When I asked other shooters about it, several replied that they had them on .416s, loved them, and wanted to know where to buy another. One PH had one on a double rifle.

So many scopes are made by the same contract manufacturers to the brand specs, to meet a price point. Your or I could start a scope company tomorrow and subcontract the work, and build the equivalent of a Leupold VXIII or Nikon Monarch Gold right out of the gate.

Well, I like German 4 reticles. May have to have them set me up with a couple for my Ruger Number One's.

TM

Good point.

JB's point about a fixed power scope is, naturally, spot on. The cost of manufacturing the fixed power scopes is lower, so they naturally sell for less (with Leupold's 6's being the dubious exception here--for no good reason whatsoever other than some folks will pay the price! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> )

I have a discontinued Busnell Trophy fixed 4 x 40 which I'd gladly put up against any fixed power scope the other side of 100 bucks--durability-wise.

Magnum handgunners have come to recognize the Bushnell Trophy handgun scopes as solid performers; as tough as they come.

I do love my old steel Weavers, but there's no guarantee any longer and repairs can be costly.

Unless you're a great iron sight shot, it would be downright foolish to forgo a decent fixed 4X scope and wing it with the irons.

And for one last glaring truth: [b]The odds of a 25 dollar Bushnell 4X from Walmart failing and ruining your hunt are no greater than the plane you go out there on "letting you down."

Don't overthink this. Just get something you can afford, go get a nice animal or two, then come back and tell us how it all went. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dan

[/quote]

And for one last glaring truth: [b]The odds of a 25 dollar Bushnell 4X from Walmart failing and ruining your hunt are no greater than the plane you go out there on "letting you down."

Don't overthink this. Just get something you can afford, go get a nice animal or two, then come back and tell us how it all went. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dan [/quote]

Dan:
I approve of your advice. Get something you like, and can afford, and go huntin. There�s no reason to agonize over whether your scope will fail because you didn�t spend an extra few hundred dollars on it.
Smitty of the North

hey, great post!!

after stick had swayed me to the dark side with the 6x42 leupy i have since replace all but one scope i have with fixed powers.

if you have $100 to spend i am betting your best bang for the buck will be a fixed 4x in a used flavor. a new weaver k4 can be had for around $100 so that would get my vote for a new purchase. i put 2 on last year. a muzzleloader and an 06' pump. the have great glass. the tracking was sticky but once sighted in the didn't move....

the used leupy 4x cant be argued with really considering your budget. i vote for one of the two above....

woofer

I'll throw my 2 cents in with the used 4x leupold crowd. It's pretty easy to find a used 4x leupold for $100 or less and send it back to the factory for a refresh. The scope will be returned promptly good as new. I could hunt big game for the rest of my life with a fixed 4x and be very happy.

Good shooting,
Weagle

czech,

I have not read this thread in its entirety, so forgive me if this has been addressed. Going spartan on hunting equipment is not a good idea. I hunt with a dude who decades ago bought an entry level Remington, a 78 I believe. For a bargain rifle, it was a shooter. In fact, it was the exception to my hereinabove admonishment. It shot as good as any factory rifle and better than many custom jobs. I think the only noticeable characteristic defining it as a bargain gun was its finish. I would wholeheartedly recommend that gun. It was quite a bargain.

My buddy turned a great deal into a nightmare by his selection of scope. I want to write that that scope was part of the bargain. He was quite content because his outfit shot under an inch all day long. I politely advised him to dump the scope, its manufacturer being mentioned in this thread. For whatever reason, he refused to do so.

During a good mule deer hunt in Utah, the weather turned nasty, but we hunters consider it ideal. I rustled out of my tent at O'Dark thirty to find my buddy forlorn by a smoldering fire. He was lamenting his fogged & frozen scope. Later that afternoon, as he was looking over my buck hanging in camp, he let us know he was finally able to hunt.

If you have considerable dough tied up in a hunting trip, somehow find the money to buy a decent quality scope lest you vainly spend good money on a hunting trip.

With the exception of a lone Redfield that is about thirty years old and a damn good scope, (I used it to harvest my buck in the above story.) I have always used Leupolds. Thanking God, I have never had any problems with any scope I have used.

BTW, I think Redfield is in business agian. You might want to give one of their scopes a gander.

Good huntin',

Leon

czech,



I did come across this post. Its author wrote it about as honestly and accurately as possible. The really is that there is no such thing as a hundred dollar scope that is reliable. If I were you I'd read this post again and again until its reality sinks in.



My best to you,

Leon.

I have a Baush and Lomb 3x9 that was on a Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight 30-06. The scope is detachable to its bases and can be reattached without losing zero. The guy I bought it from told me this and I would have never believed it had I not tried it!. The bottom of the scope has a rod in it that is spring loaded and detaches and reattaches without any tools. Its a pretty neat set up, however the bases match the scope and has to be mounted on a Model 70 Winchester. The scope itself is in good shape, other than a few scratches on the outer tube, the optics are however still in great shape. I took it off and replaced with the Leupold Vari XII 3x9x40 as thats what most of my rifles wear. I swear by the Leupold, but if its a Model 70 that you are trying to fit I will let this one go for $50, its just sitting in my safe collecting dust.

I've got about two dozen rifles. Several different brands of scopes from Leupolds to Tasco's, and they all work well for me.
I don't own a Bushnell because about 35 yrs ago I bought one, a Bushnell Banner, for my wife, that had about six layers of wrapping inside the box with "inspected by" labels in each layer. That scope had a bubble in one of the lenses the size of a house fly. Maybe it's just me, but I thought this was a little much, hence no more Bushnells.

Some reputable gun dealers and gunsmiths take the scopes off of the rifles that they take in trade and resell them. Most are in great shape. I would check into some of your local dealers and smiths and see if they do this. I have a Bushnell Banner 2.5 I bought for $15 that is a beautiful, bright little scope. I would be tempted to get a used Leupold or Burris fixed power or variable if they are in pristine shape
Old Weaver K series scopes are rugged. I have a K3 on a 358 and a K8 on a .22. The K 60-C series with plex reticles are from 1968- early 70's. I would'nt get a vintage Weaver any older than that.
The lens coatings put on today's scopes will give you a much clearer and brighter image.
The little 2.5 Banner previously mentioned is twice as bright as any of my vintage Weavers.
The modern day Weaver may be worth checking out or if I were going less expensive, I like Bushnell too.
Someone mentioned Cabela's scopes...I agree with that poster...They might be worth looking into.

"And for one last glaring truth: The odds of a 25 dollar Bushnell 4X from Walmart failing and ruining your hunt are no greater than the plane you go out there on "letting you down."

I'd have to disagree with that one. I know dozens of folks who fly all of the time, none are dead yet, but I've actually owned cheapo scopes and known many many people with them that were either junk out of the box or failed in miserably short time. You get what you pay for. Skilled craftsmen cannot possible assemble any kind of decent usable optical equipment for much under a hundred bucks. Junk is junk, no matter what people choose to call it doesn't alter that as fact.

An older loopie 4x would be an excellent choice, if you can find one for a Benjamin or less. The old school steel tube Weaver K3 or 4 would be my second choice. Just check the Weavers over carefully before you buy one.

Are you guys talking to yourselves? After posting this topic one month ago today, the original poster never returned.

Phillip Nesmith,

That was about as well written as could be; I agree 100%.


Good hunting,

Leon