ORIGINAL: Folically Challenged
ORIGINAL: homers brother
... Realistically, you're not going to gain a lot replacing a $75 scope with a $150 scope, though. ...
I have to disagree with you on that one.
In my experience, I've found the
biggest differences in scopeswhen going from the <$75 scopes to the $150-ish scopes. It's when you start going from the $150/$200 scopes to the $300/$400 scopes that the differences get much smaller. There's one hell of a big difference when moving from a Barska/BSA to a Bushnell 3200/Buckmaster. Going from the 3200 to the 4200, however,doesn't show nearly as big a difference.
It's often put forth that one should spend "as much as you can" on a scope. I'd temper that by saying, "spend up to the point where
you personallycan't see much of a difference by spending more."
That's your perogative, since PERSONALLY, I don't see any difference between a <$75 scope and a <$150 scope, whereas I see a world of difference between a <$75 scope and a >$150 scope. Are you better off going:
1) from a Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x (@$50)to a Bushnell Banner 3-9x (@$150)?
OR
2)from a Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x (@$50)to a Bushnell 3200 3-9x (@$220)?
My point remains that you can spend <$75 on a scope, and you're going to have to more than double that to get into something like a Bushnell 3200. No, you don't get a lot more for your money after that, but considering what's available under $150 these days (not eBay, not closeout sales), you're not gaining anything appreciable over the <$75 you already spent. So,hunt with your <$75 scope until you can save up for something in the >$150 - <$300 range.
Now, I DO agree that you're not going to gain much going from a Bushnell 3200 to a Bushnell 4200 for what you're going to pay.