I do a lot of target shooting with my ar15 varmint, and decided I wanted an Ar15 or carbine that will serve well as a target and medium-game hunting rifle. Since I will have to go with a 6.8 spc or .308 I will have to find a good budget optic for now. I can place it on another rifle when I upgrade.
Here are my guidelines. I want a variable scope with a minimum of 3-6x. I would like target knobs if possible for my target shooting days, and a Mil-dot would be a plus. Below I have picked a decent bottom end scope, and a top end scope.
Tasco Target Varmint 6-24x42 $59
I have this scope on my girlfriends ar15 and so far it seems pretty decent and well worth the money.
Bushnell Elite 3200 5-15x40 Rifle $299
With Target Knobs and Mil-Dot
I have the bushnell Elite 3200 10x40 that is just like this scope but fixed and I love it to death, but this one is pushing my budget limit.
So what are your suggestions that fall between these two scopes and price ranges? I’m considering the Bushnell Banner 6-25x40 as my mid-priced scope. It has a mil-dot but can not tell if it has target knobs. It does have some bit caps over something
I also am looking at a low priced leupod and then spending $60 on stoney point target knobs for it, but I hear bad reviews on the knobs.
I just recently got the long range marksman bug. I shot a friend’s gun with a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20X scope and it was soooo nice. But I can’t afford a $1200+ scope. I spent three days going through Cabelas, Midway, Opticsplanet, sniperhide.com and emailed a few buddies. It literally made my head hurt trying to decide between a $100 variable (offered by at least half a dozen makers) to higher cost and supposedly better quality scopes.
I had imposed a budget of $500 max on the scope and ended up after three days of searching with ordering a Nikon Buckmaster 6-18X with mildot reticle and side focus feature. The Nikon is $300. I think it’s a compromise and will suit me for my first entry into long range marksmanship.
Does it have target knobs on it? My biggest complaint is many scopes give you little information about whats under the adjustment caps. The bushnell banner I was looking at had 1" tall adjustment caps and said resettable zero. I don’t know what that means lol. Is it a target knob, or something I don’t have experience with, guess I might need to call and ask them.
I wouldn’t think of putting that on a hunting rifle even if I could afford it, all I need is for it to fall out of a tree stand and by by $1,500. I want something I won’t have to be too concerned with, but will be dual purpose.
You’re singing my tune. I am getting a $500 rifle and that left me with only so much budgeted for the scope and other accessories and still can afford to shoot. If I win the lotto then I’ll get a Leupy, a Nightforce and an S&B.
Here is my scope, I’m not sure if it has the “target knob” you referred to. I’m still learning.
I have a super sniper scope, that I really like, but has a bit to much power for the hunting areas I would be in. I also would probably rather buy a another bushnell 10x40 if I wanted a fixed 10x.
Tasco World Class aren’t bad, and Nikko Stirling Nighteaters are quite nice as well. Now…I’m not gonna trade my Leupold Mk 4 3.5-10x40 LR/T M1 for either, but you know…
I’ve seen many of the Nikko’s, and I really like them for a couple hundred bucks.
If the scope is indeed worth $1,500, then it will survive falling out of a tree! For even more money, it should be even more durable. That’s part of what you pay for in the “get what you pay for” of optics. There’s a thread over at the Hide with a slideshow of a bored Schmidt & Bender owner entertaining himself with torture tests of his $3,000 scope–dropping it from ladders, driving nails with it, towing down the driveway behind a truck–with no effect.
When you get a scope, be sure to box-test it now and then, that is, fire a shot at point of aim, then raise the elevation 10MOA and fire a shot, add 10MOA windage and fire a shot, return elevation to zero and fire a shot, return windage to zero. You should have pretty close to a square, meaning that your adjustments are holding. Wandering zeros are not unheard-of in bargain basement scopes.
Thanks. I will do my best to scope out the best prices when I get closer to a decision. I used opticsplanet a few months back, and not only do they have good prices, but often their ebay item prices are even lower than their website prices.
