ORIGINAL: Markymarc
Would you say the 3200 and the prostaff are both better than the Fullfiled II?
Marc
No, I wouldn't say that. I've only ever looked through the 3200 & FFII: not owned them or hunted with them. Still, the optics were impressive for the price (in my opinion), and it's seldom you hear of many people having problems with them, or with the companies who make them. Once you get to spending $150 (US) or more on a scope, the quality issue really starts to fade away. Most scopes at that level & above will hold together for years of tough hunting. I'm not saying that their return rates are 0%; I'm saying that the return rates are much lower than scopes costing less than this amount, & that the companies will take care of you quickly & fairly to keep up their reputation. It really comes down to what
your eyes like best. Everyone is different, so
your eyes need to make the choice.
We all have our opinions, but your eyes are the only ones that will be looking through the scope!
Find a retailer who stocks as many of the scopes as you can find, then go look through them all.
Your eyes will tell you whichscope
you need to buy.
Some suggestions:
1) Go to the store just before dusk
2) Park your car as far from the store as possible, & put a rifle target on one of the side windows
3) Take the scopes outside (with the sales dude), & look to see which scope lets you see best the bullet holes in the rifle target as the daylightfades away
4) Consider the eye relief: do you get a black circle (or total blackout?) if the scope's not at just the right distance from your eye?
5) Consider weight, objective diameter (will yoube ableto mount it as low to the barrel as you'd like?), tube length (will it fit
your rifle's action with standard rings, or will it require extension rings, or maybe a picatinny rail?), etc.
It's a good idea to take your rifle along, so that these things can be sorted-out
with certainty.
6) Have your online pricing printed out & with you. Most stores will bargain with you to get the deal.
If youdo this kindof research, you'll be miles (kilometers?) ahead of those who do nothing but solicit opinions from strangers on the internet. You'll
know that you picked the best scope
for you!
Now, make sure you tell us what happenswhen you go check 'em out! Good Luck!
FC
PS - I just read one of your first posts, stating that you'd like to stay under $300 (CDN?). If you find a store that has any of the Bushnell 4200 3-9x40's still around,you would owe it to yourself to look through that scope, & see if
your eyes think it's worth the price difference vs. the other scopes you're considering. When I was scope shopping,
my eyes told me the 4200 was neck-and-neck with $400 scopes, and it was about $360. These days, some sites have them as low as $249 (US). Just a thought. Either way, establish your budget, then go through the steps above.