I've read enough to believe I know what the very best scopes available lately and presently are. I don't need a $3000 scope, though.

Over the last couple of years I decided to get more adventurous and try different optics, partly because I found that the complaints against lower-tier Leupold products for tracking issues to be valid and partly because I wanted to see what I was missing by sticking by Leupold as long as I did. Before I stop mentioning Leupold, I have to acknowledge the fact that optically their scopes are very good. In fact, they kind of spoiled me.

Currently I own a single Leupold, an older VX-II 1-4x, and I plan to keep it. Other than that, everything is now Weaver, Sightron, Bushnell, and one Tract.

The Busnell's are NItro 6-24s. I have found them usable in general on the range but haven't shot with them much so I have no strong opinion one way or another.

The Sightron's are a mixed bag. Some are SII 3-9x42s, and they are okay but I find the optical quality just a little short of my wishes. On the other hand, my SII BIg Sky scopes are fully satisfactory in 3.5-10x and 3-12x flavors.

Surprisingly enough, my Weavers are the ones I like the most. All are either Grand Slam or Super Slam varieties. The adjustments seem to be *right there* and optical quality does NOT disappoint. It's a real shame they aren't made anymore.

I'd have to say the Weaver Grand Slams and Super Slams are the most underrated scopes of the recent past...just my opinion, though.

What's yours?

Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40 was one of the best scopes running….if I could go back in time I’d bought a pile of them for the future…

Leupold M-8 4x.


Okie John

3-10x40 duplex Grand Slam…

VX3 1.75-6x

The original Nikon prostaff for me.


As for an underated scope in current production. Burris FF2s

The old Prostaff was terrible for flare.

Weaver classics.

The $399 zeiss conquests.

I can remember the ads in outdoor life or whatever.

I do have a swift scope that served it’s purpose on a 30-06. Then a muzzleloader. Then a 45-70.

Back then swift had an over the counter warranty. ( or least that’s what salesman said ).

Prolly made in Philippines.

SWFA fixed powers.

Weaver Classics. Lightweight, Japanese, made by LOW. Sold for $125-$150.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t really find them (except by mail order). Don’t remember seeing any “on the shelf” for the last 10-15 yrs of production.

Yeah, the Grand Slam’s were “better”, but the were twice the price, and the later ones were fugly.

Minox ZA 5 series scopes.

Had them for years on various rifles.....always worked fine for me.

YMMV.

This

Weaver Super Slam/ Nitrex TR2 3-15x42
.

I'd have to say the Weaver Grand Slams and Super Slams are the most underrated scopes of the recent past...just my opinion, though.

What's yours?

I have a good number of those scopes on my rifles.I have to agree,they are some fine scopes

I have always loved the Grand Slams. I have had a few, and I still own every one. I should move them to guns I use more regularly. I also have a handful of the Ziess Conquest 3-9.... great optics.

That doesn't look like the original Prostaff.

Remember these?

Meopta Artemis, to add to the list.

I also agree with the Burris FFII, Bushnell Elite and Zeiss Conquest.

Burris FF II
Redfield Revolution

Come to think of it, now that you post that, you're right. I had one of those on a 452 22WMR years and years ago. But I still don't remember ever having any trouble out of it. I remember they would sell for 149$ and you could usually find them much less. Either way. The scope I posted above and the one you posted are both long gone. But I remember being impressed with both in optical clarity and retaining zero.

Leupold is the most underrated scope of the last decade.

Here's my preference for rifle scopes.

Schmidt and Bender,
Swarovsk, Zeiss then Leupold.

If money was no object....since it is I have Leupold on several guns.

I have no desire to use a cheaply made Asian copy on one of my guns.

Ziess Conquest 3-9x40 Very good glass, 15.1 ounces. 4" of constant eye relief. forgiving eyebox, rock solid adjustments, good classic looks, good price, plenty of mounting length for long actions. What scope made today has all of these characteristics? NONE. I have 3 and one 4x32. RJ

^

+1

I bought all I could afford when they were going for $100 or less. They are not the best scopes, but they are extremely good for the $’s, in my opinion.

The Nikon Monarch 4x40 fixed is a great scope.

The Sightron 2.5x32 fixed is a great scope.

Focusing on "past" production scopes, I consider those two very underrated.

I have Leupolds, haven’t caused me any grief.

The Bushnell 3200 / 3500 / 4500 series scopes are very under-rated IMO. They have good optics, they tracked well, and were reasonably priced, if there was an issue with them it was only that the eye relief was a bit shorter than I like.

drover

Nikon pulled some monkey shines with model names some years back. Early on the Prostaff was their entry level scope. At some point the Prostaff and Buckmaster swapped places, the Buckmaster became the entry level and the Prostaff became the much better scope.

I have a Bushnell 4200 and Sightron that have been rock solid

And those older buckmaster scopes were damned good scopes too. I still have 2 of them. One on a 444 Marlin and one on a 22WMR. They were clearer and brighter than the many Leupolds I’ve had.

Agreed. I have a couple of 3-9x40 Conquests. This would be the ones made back before they came out with the inferior Terra line of them. If I had a time machine I go back and buy a sack full of them. Absolutely everything you could want from a hunting scope.

I agree with all of the above, what a simply great scope to mount and get behind. The eyerelief is splendid. I also like long actions.

Weaver Classic ( Japan) K2.5x
Sightron Big Sky II 3.5-10x ( or 3-9x). Big Sky III glass quality in a 1 inch tube.

Both were so underrated, under appreciated, ( and under sold), they are no longer being made. Very sad. They were / are gems.

I have both of them. Both have 4" eye relief, and crystal clear edge-to-edge glass. Mine are NOT for sale.

Another scope I have is that needs mentioning is from the 1980's ( not from "the last decade" criteria of the OP), is highly underrated. It is the Bushnell Banner (Japan made) 6-18x AO x 40 mm , with covered target turrents. It has bright, clear glass, and great tracking. It is a an under-appreciated, strong-perfoming, scope for not a lot of money.

Yeah, the above scope(in 3.5-10) might be my all time favorite.

I have a Weaver 6x38 on my 6.5CM (AU$330). It is quite clear and bright. When sighting in, it adjusted more reliably than a Meopta 6x ($500) and one Z3 3-9x36 ($1190).

My vote.

Either of you want to sell one of those Big Sky 3.5-10’s?

Before many caught on to their quality, I went almost exclusively to Bushnell Elite 4200's and the Elites that Bushnell made for Browning on all my rifles. Their performance is much above their original pay grade!

Weaver Classics by a country mile. I have a bunch on rifles and some NIB ones waiting for homes.

The V16 4-16 is one of the best all around scopes, ever. I've got them with Duplex, fine cross hair, 3/8" dot (my favorite) and Ballistic X reticles.

The 40-44 series Weavers are also darn good.

Good shootin' -Al

Yep, all the Weavers mentioned by various people already--especially the Super Slams. Made in the same Japanese factory as various highly regarded "dialing" scopes of other brands, and in my experience perhaps even tougher than some of the others.

I have herd a lot of complaints on leupold
Tracking but have never experienced it my self and I have mostly leupold probbly 25 of them all
Ages and configurations
I give the nod to leupold myself
But I have to agree with weaver I got one on a rifle and never bothered changing it out as I kinda like it
I will add I have a Nikon on my old Ruger boat paddle 223 truck tractor gun. That thing gets a lot of abuse riding around the farm only reason I bought it at the time was they were the only camo
Scope on the market. I painted the rifle for coyote calling That was 25 years ago or more. I have never adjusted the scope is always dead on.

Bushnell 3200/3500 series would get my vote then if we go back a little further say the Nikon Monarch UCC scopes were mighty good too .....Hb

Redfield revolution tac

Small lightweight 3-9x that dials reliably, they are on my backpack hunting rifles

Don’t laugh but Nikon buck master 4-12x low cost but never failed me and have a few on my rifles.

The dummies discontinued these and just brought them back thankfully.

The Japanese Weavers that Natchez closed out were incredible values. I wish now that I had bought more. Likewise, the closeout Redfield Revolution scopes were one hell of a deal.

I stocked up. Still have NIB V16's( fine Duplex and Ballistic), a V24, a matte K6 and a gloss K6. And just last week a local guy had a NIB V16 (Duplex) for sale.

Why people pass on known-good scopes remains a mystery....

Good shootin'. -Al

Darn good scopes. The pre-Monarch and Monarch UCC models are very nice.

The 4-12 A.O. was especially good. I have a NIB gloss finished one that's just crying to go on a vintage 700 Varminter or Sako heavy barrel.

Good shootin'. -Al

Weaver 3-10 tactical that was a Midway exclusive for a while. Mil/mil and made by LOW.

Only downside was 1” tube, but nothing that 20 MOA bases couldn’t fix.

Dave

Bushnell Elites would be my pick for under rated scopes. I only have one and its a great scope for the money.

The Nikon's were my favorite scopes as well. I do have an older FF Burris and it is meeting my needs.

kwg

Sightron S-tac. Amazing to find a $300 scope that tracks accurately and holds zero.

The older Redfields still working for me. Got 2 in 3 x 9's on couple rifles going on 30-40 years. Just sent one to Ironsight and had it refurbished for 100 bucks...just like new again. Bought a 2 x 7 last year that had never been mounted for $125. Great scopes.

1-4 scopes. They would work well for many hunters

^^^This^^^

Those Cabela's branded Meopta's were great. Could find some great deals on them.

Y E S !!!

Underrated: Japanese-made, Bushnell Elite 4200 Series

My old Leupolds have never caused me trouble. My Colorado Redfields have been great. I have a couple of 2 3/4X widefields that need repair. But both got dropped while on a gun. An old Kahles 2.5x in 25MM steel tube that I keep on a double rifle. Son and I have matching SWFA FFPs I think in 3 - 15 X. On PCP guns they reach out and touch pests on the power lines etc. Long range with good optics on an air rifle should be good discipline for long range high power. Still have to use dope cards. I have very few scopes not on a gun. Be Well, RZ.

Another vote for the Bushnell Elites. Likewise, seems anything LOW produced was pretty solid, which can be substantiated by a lot of the responses to this thread.

I don't know that you can say the SWFA's are underated; everything you read about them is favorable. They're so well regarded that they're hard to come by these days.

I had really good service out of a couple USA built Burris Short Mags. Lots of rounds on heavy recoilers and a bunch of pounding around.

Also have a couple Japan Sightron 6x and the aforementioned 3.5-10. Really tough scopes that have stood up well through the years and are always spot on with adjustments. I'll likely never sell the 6x's.

To be fair, had a lot of good service from a lot of Leupolds used in set it and forget it capacities. But also had a good number of them make trips back to Beaverton, and had a whole lot of them not track worth a dang while trying to get them sighted in. It is by far the company with which I have the most experience.

I have no idea if they are actually under rated but I had no idea how good the Weaver Grand Slams were till I got one from a member here


Maybe just under rated by me?

Hank

I wish I had bought a pile of them when Natchez was closing them out. I have a Weaver Nitrex that I love.

I agree on the Bushnell Elites made in Japan.

The SWFAs are well regarded on this site, but I believe they are very underrated by the general hunting/shooting community.

Jordan:

You're likely right on your SWFA assessment. I do see them at the local range once in awhile; however, they're not near as popular as other brands. Hereabouts Vortex has really taken over, as I'm located only a few hours' drive from their HQ. I recall a time in the not too distant past in which one could get all the SWFA 6x and 3-9HD you wanted on pretty good sales, whereas nowadays they're perpetually on back order. To me, this suggests that the word is definitely out.

In my opinion, SWFA could offer minimally changed variants of their popular scopes that are more conducive to the hunting situations I use them for, such as capped windage and a low profile elevation turret. But, I'm still happy with the ones I have and they obviously don't have trouble moving them as is. I've been really pleased with the quality and glass on the HD models I own. As such, I'd really like to see a 2-12HD with MQ that is basically styled after the 1-6.

As I think more about this

Maybe anything Japanese


Hank

This and the Big Sky Sightron

Made by LOW…

SWFA SS

And Leupold 2-7v28mm compact

My vote as well. Just as good as the Zeiss Conquest MC at a lower price.

The only scope I ever bought used ($100) was a Leupold M8 6x36, I put it on a Ruger Zytel stocked 7.62x39. I've sold off most of my collection but I really wish I had that combo back. That was a great little scope for my "camp gun" and the combo was hard to beat.

I did buy some of the Weaver Classics[Japan]: 3-9x38mm, K4, and 1-3x20mm, Some of the best scopes I could for my use. Still have/use 'em save for the 3-9; it's still in the box.

Vortex's Razor line.

Internet optics forum self-proclaimed pundits are quick to malign anything Vortex, with neither first hand experience, nor the knowledge that Vortex's Razor line is whole other levels above and beyond their budget scopes.

Weaver Classic Jap made.

For the money, Weaver Classics.

Weaver classics here.

Weaver classics are good for what they cost

Me too however none of them are used for dialing

I have a 3.8-12X Intensity scope that was supposedly the 40-44 reincarnated. Aside from the duplex being heavier than I like for my particular application, (it's mounted on a very accurate 22 Hornet) it's a good scope, especially considering that I paid around a hundred bucks for it on clearance about 10-12 years ago.

Weaver K3, K4, and K6

Except for the short eye relief, a Swarovski Z3 3x9 or 3x10 with the great 4A reticle is your huckleberry.

For us older guys this is probably it, for many of us they were our introduction in the world of rifle scopes. They were affordable, sturdy and worked well. I am always amazed at how many of the original Weavers are still around after all of these years which says a lot for them.

drover

Simmons Aetec and Pentax

The longer this thread goes on, the more I'm amazed at how often scopes made more than a decade ago (which is plainly stated in the original post) are mentioned.

Both Simmons Aetec and Pentax scopes disappeared over a decade ago.

So did Leupold M8's. The FXs appeared in 2007.

Might also mention that "Pentax" scopes were made by Burris. In fact many were basically the same scope, except for small differences in bell shape, as Burris Fullfield IIs.

But whatever....

Nikon Monarch fixed power and Weaver Grand Slam fixed power.

What scope was the best for a slug gun?

You are correct sir ....Leupold VX3 1.75 X 6..........was one of the best on the market .........I should've bought 5 or 6 of them .............Why they stopped producing them is mystery to me

Have you looked at the Hawke Vantage IR 3-9x40 - Slug Gun SR #14219
Slug Gun / Muzzle Loader / Straight-Wall
11 layer fully multi-coated optics for excellent clarity
Fixed parallax distance of 100 yards / 91 metres
1 inch mono-tube chassis for superior strength
Glass etched reticle with red and green illumination
Rheostat on saddle offers 5 levels of brightness
¼ MOA low profile no-snag fingertip turrets
Fast focus eyebell and high torque zoom ring
Threaded objective/ocular for optional accessories

It was probably more than 10 years ago that Bushnell stopped producing that Trophy I'm referring to. Yeah, they have a current Trophy scope. But this one had a curved bell and it tapered to the power adjustment ring. It had an amber coated objective lens. I had some of those in 3-9x40. I don't remember where they were made but pretty sure they were Japanese. But they had good glass. The got banged around but held zero very well. I had them mounted on a couple of Weatherby Vanguards that I had. They weren't expensive or I wouldn't have been able to buy them back then. Greats scopes. Wish I had a couple more.

The Bushnell Trophy scopes that were made back in the early 90's are by far the most underrated scopes of the last decade. They had great glass, they tracked extremely well and they could take the abuse.

Yes, I miss this scope.

JB:

As usual, you're not wrong; however, I, for one, could've done without the poignant reminder that a decade can pass by much quicker than it otherwise seems.

I do enjoy these type of threads. Always interesting to see what turned out to be the most rugged designs over time.

I'm off to the range. Among other things, I'm going to grab a 325 wsm with a USA made Burris mounted on it. Seems like I just picked it up and set it up not too long ago and haven't had a chance to work with it much, but I guess it might've been awhile.

Starbuck,

It IS amazing how time passes quicker as we "mature"!

The major reason I'm aware of the lifetimes of certain scopes is due to writing about hunting optics for 30+ years, and also noting which scopes were mounted on my rifles in my range notes. As an example, know that Leupold M8 fixed-powers disappeared in 2007 because that's when I first tested and hunted with an FX-II 4x36. The hunting took place in South Africa, on a month-long cull hunt--which is when I learned to dislike the Wide Duplex. But that's another story....

They had the same tube profile, and same power adjustment ring profile, as the Scope Chiefs.

I still have a few of those and thry work well. I wish I would have bought more when they were closed out for under $200.

Most of my favorite scopes are built by LOW in Japan. I love my Bushnell LRHS 3-12's and SWFA 3-9 mil/mils. I started using weaver classics in the late 90's and then moved to the first gen weaver grand slams when they first came out. I remember selling leupolds to buy weaver grand slams back then. You could reset the original GS scopes to zero by removing 2 small screws. I used to use them to dial about 20 years ago because the clicks were accurate.

I also used several super slams and weaver tacticals. Many of my longer range rifles have bushnell flies these days. Mostly LRHS and DMRIIs.

Bb

Minox

Don’t care if they were more than a decade ago and who made them! Both were good scopes you anal asshat!

I have a Pentax scope on my Whelen. I won it at a whitetails unlimited convention. Scope, range finder, and binos.

Tract Toric scopes have been grossly underrated

Zeiss 1.8-5.5x38, as nice as it gets until you step into a Kahles C 1.5-6x43, Victory, or other similar line. I’ve not tried the DL conquest but really want to.

Leupold VX-1 3-9 x 40

+1

My unicorn was the Kahles 2-7x36.

After going through a number of scopes in the last 20 years or so once I figured out my beloved Leupold weren't the end-all, be-all scope I found the Weaver classics V16, which I have on a couple rimfires at the moment. Good scopes for the money and when they first introduced them I and a buddy bought several of them at the $169 price. WIsh I had bought more. They aren't the best scope and the glass is so-so , but they have proved to be very reliable, dial well, focus down to around 20 yards with the AO, and take punishment well...

However, no question in my mind the most underrated scopes the last few years are the Bausch & Lomb/ Bushnell 4000/4200 series Elite scopes. I have had a couple 2.5 -10 and a couple 6-24 on rifles and the glass IMO is superb- way above the price point, and they dial perfectly IME.... I even like their reticles for the most part compared to other scopes I own.
SWFA would probably be in the running if you could even buy any of their scopes any more. Seems like their suppliers have just cut them off or something- I can never find a scope I want on their site any more and I've about given up on them ...

The best thing I'm finding- especially with Doug from CameralandNY on this site is the introduction of a lot of new high quality glass to the market. I bought an Athlon from him when they were on special and I think these are going to be some of the glass we discuss in these threads in the years to come. Lots of other good glass on the market these days for just about any need. It's a good time to be a hunter IMO...

Bob

The older, discontinued Conquests.