What would you buy? Limited budget here, 150 is the max I can swing. I am not opposed to buying used. Will be going on a 30-06, used for hunting and fun at the range. Max yardage is 500 at the range, hunting probably max of 400 yards. I like extra "hash marks" to estimate holdover, am not a guy that dials scopes. So in those parameters, is anything even possible? Or am I pretty much out of luck with that small a budget? Along with that, would I be better to avoid Nikon since they are getting out of scopes?

Be ready for some really insulting replies.

With the current 29% rebate on Bushnell Nitro Scopes there's a couple of options that, after rebate, will be only $142.00

Look for a used Leupold Vari-x-IIc 3-9x40. The Vari-x-IIc has about twice the amount of adjustment as a Vari-x-II

Lots of closeout Nikons right now at various vendors. Most of them have the BDC reticle.

Burris Fullfield II is a nice scope in that price range.

I am... But when you don't make much money, and you are working on paying off the mortgage, options are limited. It is what it is, and I need to work with what I've got!

Burris FFII is how I would skin that.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one of the Bushnell Elite scopes! Some of the 32 and 3500s can be found used on ebay, gunbroker, armslist, etc in the neighborhood of $100-150 or so, just gotta keep your eye out for them. I'm not sure how they compare to the newer Forge and Nitro lines though... but IMO they definitely look better and were made in Japan vs China FWIW.

Thanks for the heads up! Don't know much about the scope, but if the normal retail price is any indication, it should be a really decent scope, esp for the price.

Is buy a used M8 4 or 6x off of EBay and mount it up. Chances are you may like it! Find them all the time for around 150 bucks.

^ This ^

I’d sell you this Athlon Argos 2-10x40, with 600 BDC reticle for $150, shipped.

Surprisingly nice glass, outstanding eye relief, very easy to use bdc reticle, tracks well, lifetime warranty.

It holds its own quite well against anything at that price point.

FC

I understand and support your effort completely. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the replies.

Redfield Revolution, Leupold Rifleman or VX-1 class scopes can be had for under $150 used. Hard to beat for set and forget scopes with good eye relief and light weight.

This is a good strategy.

What he said.
Ronnie

Burris FFII Close thread!!!!





Take care, Willie

You can get a Burris Full Field II on Amazon for $158.77 right now.

Burris FFII 3-9x 40mm fo sho!

Ah yeah, forgot about that devil. Best dealing going for 150 bucks with the ballistic plex!

BTDT Many guys here have had money so long they can't fugging relate to not..


Burris FFII without hesitation. Or the used fixed Leupold...

Jevyod: I would seek out a nice condition used Leupold 3x9 variable scope with Du-Plex reticle.
Good luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I am with varmint guy, a used Leupold.. I have several Burris scopes in full field and I am selling them for 100$.. I don't like them and would not recommend them to anyone else.,,

Be careful of counterfeit Leupolds!

Mike

Burris FFII with Ballistic Plex

Bushnell 4500 with DOA600

If you don't need holdover points, then used Bushnell Elite 4200.

I'd go here.....

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1009294016?pid=684941

+1

Exactly what i was going to post.


There's more than a couple counterfeit leupolds, and there have been 27million different models to keep track of. Their nomenclature has been a bit assinine as well. Something to consider.

I have The Burris for sale but doesn’t sound like you’re interested.
If you can spend extra 50. This Nikon is what I’d get. I actually ordered a 2nd one just to have one for my next rifle.
The moa reticle has jumped up 100$ since Christmas.
Here is the mrad for 199
https://www.eurooptic.com/Nikon-M-TACTICAL-Riflescope-3-12X42SF-Matte-MK1-MRAD-16520.aspx

EASY winner.

I bought a Nikon Prostaff 5 2.5-10x40 BDC on closeout for about $100 a couple of years ago. And I'd probably buy it again. With or without warranty. It's a bit chunky though. And not the lightest in class. But very nice to look through with a wide FOV.

Some of those Bushnell's at Cameraland look like some good deals.


Natchez always has something marked way down also.

More game is killed with cheap over the counter stuff
than Alpha, custom, pride of ownership gear.


Bubba my be a lot of things, but he is a big majority.
And he kills stuff with his gear.

Another vote for the Burris FFII

Another vote for the Burris. You might have to skip a couple of lattes to swing the ballistic reticle. I paid $159 IIRC.

Definitely checkout the deals on some of the bushnells and nikons. Maybe a used loopy. I have bushnell banner dusk to dawn shotgun scope, its decent in low light, and stood up to 3in slugs, and my 450 bushmaster ar. Should be able to look through a few of these options if you have a big box sporting goods store around.

For around $150.00 BURRIS FULLFIELD 2 is hard to beat. It has good glass and double erector springs holding it’s zero. It’s been around forever and they still make it for a good reason.
SPORT OPTICS has it on sale in Ballistic Plex for $135.00. Seems like a no brainer to me.

For what you want there's plenty of options. There's always somebody on a forum that forgot what it was to be a little poor. Most of us been there done that. I used entry level scopes for 40 years and got an ear full from some people. But don't look back, and besides it ain't their money and it ain't their bills your paying. And there's some that it makes feel big to look down the nose at you. But believe me, we've all or most of us have been there done that.

Also, I don't know what you know about hunting but in my experience you don't need a super scope to kill game. And 400 yard shots are wrather rare. Most game is taken inside 100 yards. Some very cheap scopes take probably 75% of the game that's shot. Maybe more than that. So do what you can and have fun doing it.

When I’m not running NF or other high end scopes, it’s a Burris FFII 3-9x40...currently have 3 and will buy more...Very nice reliable simple hunting scope...My last one was New in the Box for $130 off ebay.

My biggest gripe with the Fullfield II (at least with my 4.5-14x42) is the fact that when you zoom in or out the whole eyepiece rotates. This is a pain in the neck if you use flip-up scope covers, which I do.

Yep. Thats how I roll

Exactly.

Do you already have good mounts? What kind of rifle is it going on?

No I am going to need mounts as well. It is going on an older (mid 80's) Savage 110 chambered in 30 06

Weaver quad lock rings are fairly solid, and under 20 bucks.

I’ve had good luck buying leupold or red fields mounted in old school weaver rings n bases. 15 years ago when I started buying my own I thought if I could afford a leupold that I would have the world by the a**. Now I have moved on to nightforce, zeiss, and Swarovski, but If I had to go back to one gun it would be a 30-06 with a leupold base model 3-9. Worked well and instead of worrying about all the loony sh*t I just hunted. Now it’s a constant search for next best thing. 🤦‍♂️

If I absolutely, positively couldn’t spend more than $150 for rings and scope; I’d scour hard for a Nitrex (by weaver) TR one, I see them go for ~100 every so often. That leaves you $50 for decent mounts. A good scope in crap mounts is frustration and a waste of ammo.

But my real suggestion is to find a way to make another $100 in your budget. At $250 you should be able to pick up a used SWFA SS 6x42 for around $200, and have $50 left for mounts. Assuming your rifle already has bases I’d be looking at Sportsmatch.

I know you said you don’t dial, but it has the reticle you’re looking for and is more reliable than anything near it in price. You may want to dial later.

Sell something.

Sig Sauer Whiskey3 3-9x40 BDC-1 reticle and a set of Weaver Grand Slam steel rings...

Actually the 150 budget is for scope only. I was figuring I could put another 50 towards rings.

Bushnell Legend Ultra HD Rifle Scopes - 3-9x40mm Multi-X Reticle. I have one and it is a very good 3-9 option, great glass for the money. $100 at Natchez with their promo going on right now.

Another vote for the Burris FF II

Interesting thread.

So far Burris 3-9x FFII leads with 19 votes.

Next:
Bushnell, 5 votes
Leupold variable, 4 votes
Leupold fixed, 2 votes
Nikon, 2 votes

All the rest 1 vote, including one for Athlon by somebody who offered to sell his to the OP.

Nikon Buckmaster is in your price range, i bought a 3-9x40 for a 50 cal muzzle loader and it has held up to that abuse, has a graduated reticle. Think about zeroing using maxium point blank range. Makes for quick acquisition. Pretty nice scope for the money. I personally wouldn't recommend something that i didn't try myself.

4-12x40 Redfield Revolution with Accu-Range reticle.

Burris FF II. Pretty good scope

You dont say. Those were just my votes. I probably have 19 hunting rifles with ffII's on them

How many stories out there like that? Start off simple and evolve into Jonesing it. I've got up on the Leupold VX-3 level but enough's enough. I've got too many rifles to be buying thousand dollar scopes for all of them. Hell, I could pay for a nice house doing that. And to think, at one time I was totally happy with a VX-1.

Actually he did 1 better than that. He offered to send it to me and I can try it out, compare it to other scopes, and even mount it and shoot it to see how I like it.!!! So I will be checking it out. I may see if I can find a Fullfield II locally to compare it to.

Since you are going to be using cheaper mounts, make sure that you find someone to help you lap the rings. That Savage is a flat-back receiver, right? I may be able to hook you up with mounts and rings. PM me, if you are interested and I will check to see what I have.

Find a leupold take off at a gun store.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I really got some good advice, and suggestions within my price range which frankly surprised me!

If you plan to shoot at 500, hunt at 400 and prefer a reticle based solution for correction then I’d try one of the Bushnell Nitro scopes from Doug. After rebate you have several options in this lineup to choose from.

These s ones originally retailed at much higher price than the $150ish you can get them for now after rebate. I don’t know how they stacked up at that price, but at the current clearance price I think they’ll do better than most anything you can find that retails at $150.

This is the truth. I rescued one of those circa 1980’s Savages from a pawn store. It had the most misaligned drilled vase locations I have ever seen.

Traded it off to a guy who wanted a project, and he got an ever better deal than me.

For shooting at 500 yards I’d seriously consider a one piece base and good rings, or at least good rings properly lapped.

Burris Fullfield II own 3 of them and love them.

My understanding was scope and rings for $150.Since it’s scope for $150 plus rings,I’d hunt down a used Weaver Grand Slam 3-10x40/ballistic duplex,or secondly a Bushnell Elite/Elite 3500 3-9x40/DOA 600.Mount it with a set of Burris Zee’s...

This thread prompted me to look at Ebay where I found and bought a Nikon Monarch UCC 3-9x40 for 140.00. I feel like I just hit the lottery. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread!!

I'm surprised too. Well done all!

Another vote for Burris here.

For God's sake don't say you want a Leupold, we don't need another thousand page diatribe.



I sent you a PM!

Thanks to all! I got the Athlon that soneone offered to send me to try out. Took it out at dusk last evening and compared it to my brothers Nikon Prosaff 5. I was happy how it certainly held its own. I had compared it earlier in the day to my Sightron SII on another rifle and there again I could tell very little difference. It seemed to be a good scope , so that is where my budget went. Thanks to all the other offers. I had some good ones , and I certainly appreciate the help!

Dumped every Burris 25 years ago was tired of sending them back for repair. Even tho repairs are free still cost $20 to ship.
Slowly over the past 10 years sold off Leupold's. Would send 5-6 a year at one time for repair. Last group of 6 sent back for repair Leupold asked me, they would replace all of the scopes with any model they had. Took them up on there offer and sold them off new in the box. Went and bought Nikon Monarch's, Prostaff 5's and 7's. Have yet to bust one, they are mounted on mostly big bores and slug guns. Nikon has said they will honor there Life Time Warranty, have yet to bust one in 10 years.

Nikon is going out of business. They are not going to honor any warranty.. Plus, when Nikon was in business you weren't going to find a Monarch in the OP's price range ("150").

Yeah, "look for a used Leupold Vari-x IIc 3-9X40". That is laughable, when I just sold one for $325.00. Just slightly over the op's requrirement of "150 max"... Just sayin.

I'm a long time Leupold user (lots of Vari-XIIs, VX-IIs, VX-IIIs, VX-3s, and a smattering of VX3i thrown in over the years), but I recently bought some Fullfield II 3-9Xs. I took the rifles involved to the range yesterday and found that the optical quality is quite good. The Ballistic Plex reticle seems to be about just right. I don't much care for the entire ocular turning for magnification selection and I'm not real sure just how precise the elevation and windage adjustments were (I was not out there to evaluate, but just to sight in). For the price, I think the FFII is damn hard to beat.

Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40 is about as much bang for the buck as you can get for the mission profile you described.

Expat

This.

But the I do have Redfield Revolution with the Accu-range reticle on a T/C Venture that I like a lot.

If I had $150 to spend on a scope......

I’d get a job.

I have $80 scopes and $900 dollar scopes. Some rifles just need $150 worth of glass others get top dollar and yes, I am employed.

Kent

I've had several brands of scopes including Nikons. Maybe I've been extra lucky but have only had trouble with one, a cheap "Simmons" scope. When it happened I had two choices, throw it in the trash or bother with a warranty and decided why bother with wasting any time or frustration dealing with having a scope repaired that I would never be able to have confidence in again. So, if I have another scope break it's a throwaway, unless it so expensive I could sell it after a repair job.

Nikon products usually have pretty good glass. My vote would be to go ahead and buy if you have your eye on one you like. If not my vote for another choice would be save up some beer money until you can afford a Burris fullfield II with the BDC slash marks in the reticle.

This

Does anyone else have experience with this Nikon scope?

Is the 3.6-3.9 inches of published eye relief....accurate?

What caliber rifle have you put this on?

Was considering mounting one on a CDNN-clearanced Thompson Center LH Dimension in 7mag. 1-9 twist.

Have a spot for safe 960 yard plinking. Not setting up for hunting, just shooting for this one. Cheap shooting rifle.

Wait on a sale for a SWFA 6x........or this one? Opinions....

Mike, I have two of those. Both on 6.5 Creedmoors. One in Warne vertical rings on a rail, one in Talleys. I put them on rifles that my daughters will use for practicing longer range shooting. They were extremely easy to sight in since the adjustments were correct. I have not dialed either yet. The glass is better than expected, the weight is reasonable at 20.5 oz. and the build quality is good. I like that the turrets reset to zero. The focus and SF both work well. 6.5mm holes are easy to see on paper at 100 yards at 10+X. I find the eyebox to be pretty friendly up to about 10X, after that it's tight and takes a little getting used to. I haven't used them in low light yet. Without knowing the reliability I can't say they are wonderful, but impressions are good so far and they are worth $200 if they meet your needs.

I see the Leupold VX-Freedom scopes in the classifieds for around $150, I have a couple of them and the glass is as good or perhaps better, than my VX-2's. Admittedly I do not care for the looks of the angular adjustment housing but I don't see it when I am looking through the scope. I have had one on a 10/22 for a couple of years and have put a few 1000 rounds through it with no issues.

drover

SockPuppet: which scopes are you referring to?

I'd just call Doug. Failing that, I'd probably go with a Burris or Leupold, maybe even a Vortex if I could find a Diamondback on sale.

We ran a sale last week on the Burris Droptine 4.5-14x42mm - G2B Mil-Dot & Burris Droptine 3x-9x50mm - Ballistic Plex for $149.99 for either one. These are great scopes and at $149.99 are hard to find better.

If you call in we will still honor these prices for the members here

https://www.eurooptic.com/Nikon-M-TACTICAL-Riflescope-3-12X42SF-Matte-MK1-MRAD-16520.aspx

I was going to say, for well under $150, a refurb Vortex Diamondback from aaoptics.com would be my choice.

The simple answer, as above, call Doug.....

Always by the phone

Thank you for your response/input.

I spent $100 on a Leupold M8 6x36 16 years ago. It’s still on the rifle. And it’s being killing stuff graveyard dead from archery range to 400 yards. Every year multiple animals.

Lots of time on a horse, decent amount on atvs. I’ve never touched the adjustments.

I’m sure something is actually wrong with it, but I’m still blissfully ignorant.

What rings are on there?

Custom rings by D’Arcy Echols.

I have a VX-1 2-7x33 on a Ruger m77 25-06, let me count. 17 years now. No clue how many whitetail it has taken or how many miles it has rode in my pickup and atv. Great scope, the gloss is about worn off the turret caps.

Its pretty amazing actually.

I called you a couple weeks ago because I had some issues with ordering online.
I was expecting to get a voicemail or another employee and have to explain about online forum, deal, blah blah... You had just posted on 24HCf, answered the phone, took my order, shipped it... and were back to answering quetions online in a flash. Who are you?!

I actually think there are about 35 or 40 Dougs over there.

I don't think there is anybody better, especially if you are on a budget. Last 2 I bought were from Doug. One was a kinda pricey, pretty hard to find, 4x32 Meopta; the other was a solid inexpensive 4x32 Hawke for a back up scope. Both work exactly as expected, and you will get the same excellent service whether you are spending $70 or $450. Just a great guy to deal with.

FWIW, we sell a ton of Hawke scopes. Many guys are unfamiliar with them, however, those that buy them love them and agree they are a lot of scope for the money and usual wind up buying more

I've said this many times, and will be saying it for many years.....

"We are a family owned and operated business since 1957. Pop always taught us that the only difference between us and the other guy, is us. Product makes nobody special. It's all about customer service and product knowledge"

Pop is gone now but we try to do as he always did. Nothing makes me smile more when a child, or grandchild, of one of Pop's customers calls and references Pop and how their family has been buying from Camera Land for decades.

During these next few days/weeks of adjustment my brother Joel and I will be processing and shipping all web orders and answering calls, so please reach out to discuss or buy product. We are here for you and will be cutting deals for you.

Stay Safe, healthy and smart

Did you make a decision?

Yes. Posted it on March 1 I believe! Cant find post number but about a page back I posted. I went with the Athlon

That's never gonna survive the recoil of something like a 300WinMag though!