question why pay so much for a scope?
 

my dad wants to know and im kinda wondering why pay so much for a scope like 175.00 for a scope seems like alot but i was wondering what so important about a scope?

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

So you don't have to buy another one next year, and not have to constantly have to adjust them. Also so you can actually see the animal your shooting. Lastly, so it won't fog up so you can actually see the animal in nasty weather.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

how much should i pay for a scope i got one last year for 30 dollars seemed to work fine but everyone seems to want a buris fullfeild or bushnell for like 175 or leopold whats the diffrence

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

If you are using the scope on a hunting (not Plinking) rifle you should not take any shortcuts with the scope. More than likely you will be buying a new one or find the scope will not hold point of aim.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I would say $175 for a scope is even cheap,I'd also say a scope for $30 is either a toy or a problem waiting to happen,and probably at the worst time.You know about old Murphy right?;)

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

i dontno i got my first deer with the 30 dollar toy lol but ill probly go with the burris fullfeild 2 or the bushnell 3200 but i only got 575.00 and i need to get a new 30-06 and a SCOPE

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Everything Big Country said is true! A thirty dollar scope IS going to fail you, SOONER, rather than later!

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

ryn, you will probably do the same thing we all have done. Buy cheap cause thats what you can afford. Seems to work, and then you might or might not have a problem. Upgrade to fix that problem. If it still isn't fixed keep upgrading. Then one day you might upgrade cause of namebrand or recommendations or cause you want the "best". But sooner or later you will fall into a place where you are comfortable with a certain amount of quality.

For me, I started with a cheap tasco. The recticle fell. I then got a simmons. Can't remember the model. It fogged up. I then got a 8-point, and the POI kept shifting. I then at 25 got a leupold. For the past decade, I have bought dozens, and been happy. But recently have asked the same quesiton you ask. So I tried a bushnell 3200 and was shocked and happy. But didn't like the eye relief. So I went with a 4200. Very happy with a little cheaper than the Leupold. I think I found my comfort level of quality price and all. Some people don't stop there and go to the Swarski (not sure how to spell), and some go further for even more high dollar.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I like Leupold and have one on all of my rifles and some of my shotguns. I think that Nikon makes great scopes too and they are cheaper than the Leupold, by a hair. I did however hunt for years with a Tasco, and it never "broke" but I really have learned to appreciate the better quality glass and clarity in the Leupold.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

i have a cheap tasco pronghorn on my 30-06 but i gave that to my dad on my 30-06 and he gave me his ruger mini thirty and im selling that for a new 30-06 and a scope probly get the savage combo with simmons scope but i might upgrade the scope or get diffrent gun if im getting a scope its a toss up today my first day posting and ive been asking lots of question about 30-06 and scopes thanks for the help ne more suggestions or nething

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Ryncam, think of it in these terms. If you are one of the lucky people for whom going hunting is no big deal, meaning you can inexpensively find a place to hunt and the game is plentiful, then I wouldn't worry too much about what other people thought of my scope. Heck, when a cheap scope breaks (they will) you're not out too much of an investment. You can always trot out, buy another, get back to hunting quickly and that's that. Maybe you don't hunt in nasty weather, and your scope won't fog up on you.

Suppose, however, that your circumstances are like mine. I live in crowded, gun-unfriendly, hunter unfriendly southern California. For me, hunting on public land is a waste of time. The sucess rate for hunters on public land is something like 3% to 10% maximum. This means I have to spend some money and hunt someone else's private land (I don't own any land besides the dirt under my suburban house.) For me, a hunting trip even for a doe is a BIG deal moneywise, and an infrequent one as well. I just can't afford to risk an expensive, infrequent event to be put at risk by low cost, low quality gear. I am not too dissatisfied with a Bushnell Trophy scope for under $100, but I am a whole lot more comfortable with my Zeiss Conquest scopes, because I know that they are built solidly, have outstanding optical qualities, work well in low light, won't fog, have a lifetime warranty and give me a very clear, crisp, distortion free image. The same can be said for the better Leupolds. Why risk a once a year event costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a thirty dollar scope? What if you're on the elk hunt of your dreams in the Rockies, or up in Alaska, or looking at the biggest old corn fed whitetail buck in the county, and your equipment breaks on you? Bummer, no?

When you get a few dollars ahead, try comparing a cheap scope with a really good one at your local gun store. Once you've looked through good quality glass you won't want to go back. You have to actually see the difference to understand.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I buy a good quality scope for reliability, quality and peace of mind knowing that it will work when the time comes. We can have some pretty nasty weather up here and last thing I want is for my scope to fail.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

A good scope will be bright,clear,won't fog and will hold zero when the magnification is adjusted and when exposed to recoil andrough handling as oftenhappens in hunting conditions.To accomplish all of this a scope manufacture must use a solid design and good components as well as precise manufacturing standards,all of which cost money.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I guess I am one of those who "got lucky" and didn't have to buy one of the top four brands to get a good scope. As I stated in another post on here.

All of the scopes mentioned above are great scopes, but don't think that you have to pay $1,000 or buy one of the top four brands to get a good one. I got bashed when I posted that I would put the Tasco World Class Plus that I have up against $400 and $800 scopes.But I knew that I would. I mean, who wouldn't want to jump the gun and bash a scope that out does theirs, but costs 1/3 the price?

I guess what I am trying to say is that quality is often measured by price tag and not QUALITY.[&o]

Go with what you feel comfortable with and if it doesn't work then you've learned your lesson. If it does, then you saved a lot of cash.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Actually you pose a good question, to which most have given good answers. I think we all understand that a cheap scope is a failure waiting to happen. If you are on an expensive hunt or in a remote area, and you fail to bag that trophy of a lifetime (or fail to take an animal cleanly because your cheap scope won't hold zero or got bumped or fogged), you will certainly wish that you had spent more for a more reliable tool. But that doesn't mean you have to spend $500 or more, either. There are some reasonably priced (around $200 or so) scopes that can be reasonably relied on to do a decent job. I have a pair of Burris Fullfield II 3x9 scopes that so far have worked fine. I wrestled choosing between the Burris, the Leupold VX-1, Nikon Buckmaster, Weaver V9, Sightron SII, and the Bushnell Elite 3200. All of which are around $200, the Leupold a little more, the Weaver and Bushnell a little less. Any of them would probably work fine. If I could afford it, I would love to have a Leupold VX-III or a Zeiss Conquest. I am sure they are very nice, but I can't justify the 2 or 3 times the price of a "decent for the money" scope.
On the other hand, I read someone else's signature line that said: "If you buy quality, you only cry once." And another friend told me shooters would be better off with a $100 rifle and a $1000 scope than the reverse. It makes quite a bit of sense. You can't shoot what you can't see. And if you aren't aiming your barrel where your scope is pointing, you aren't going to hit your target.
Bottom line is that we should buy the best scope that our respective budgets permit. And if necessary, I would agree that a used scope from the group mentioned above would be preferable to a Simmons 8 point, a BSA or a Busnell Banner, or similar. Nothing against the "Uber Scopes" with 30mm tubes, European names and 4 digit price tags, I am sure they are great. But only if one can afford them.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I have used every kind of cheap scope there is I think. Killed many deer with tascos.....but I was always having to be careful about putting my hand close to it in the rain so it didnt fog. It finally just started getting real foggy around the edges. I started shopping around and really really really like the Nikons for the price. Believe me..go ahead and buy a good one...it will be much cheaper in the long run.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

thanks for all the advice ill have to look into some scopes and figure out how much money im going to have after i get my gun

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

i had a cheap 30$ scope once.....i needed a short scope in a hurry for my mauser to deer hunt with the year i bought it..open sights were like 8 inches high....and a regular scope was too long for the rear sight(which we didnt realize tapped out) so we put on a cheap USED (simmons or tasco) shotgun scope on it......made for slugs and turkey guns...a 3006 recoil wont hurt it.....first year worked fine...second year i was at the range...sighted back in at my normal 50yd range...fired a few at 100(my shots are normally under 50yds here) and this was all on the highest power...4.5x i believe....too hard to see anything any other power at the range....well.....hunting season rolls around......oct youth doe hunt...doe walks down my path..stops...click...BOOM.......runs off.......to make it short......4hr tracking job and no deer......hands and knees for 100yds then nothing.....wtf happend...20yd shot howd i mess that up?? im a natural dead eye and can hold my own pretty decint.....and the fever dont come till after the animal drops for me...wtf happend......rifle season....opening light..HUGE doe..BOOM...walks away....totally missed...WTF......first saturday..another doe....BOOM.....one drop of blood......nothing else anywhere....dad was there and watched all 3 shots....knows i was calm as could be.......and knows i can shot......and knows that isnt like me.....it makes me sick to talk and admit that season period...but ill be honest so you dont make my mistake.......dad can track a deer like noone ive ever seen if its hit good...or bad......blood or no blood i watched him track a deer 100yds without a drop of blood over a hill where he had no idea where it went....no idea how lol...but i QUIT hunting after that..i was sick...told dad to take the scope for his slug gun i quit......he took it and took it to get bore sighted....when you adjusted the power of the scope, the crosshairs moved........i never moved the power on the bench...but hunting i adjusted it to 2.5x from 4.5x at the bench.....made me sick to miss a deer and hit and loose 2 others......cheap scope=problems......sooner or later.....you now find a leupold vari-x II 3x9x40 on my mauser now........and when the mauser barks now something falls!!!!......i do have a tasco 4x on my 22 still.......but i dont shoot deer with it either........its a tack driver....ask all the tree rats i took with it....but it dont go through recoil or the used the deer scope does for me.......ill never buy cheap glass for important rifles..........lesson learned....

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Sorry to vehimently disagree with so many folks but in my shooting career (roughly 107 centerfire guns) I've not found any coorelation of price and quality of scope.

Among the best I've owned and own today are the real cheap Bushnell 4X scopes I bought for $40. Many Tascos are still on my varmint rifles while the Leupold is no longer there. I've had trouble with some of the Simmons stuff and you won't find a Redfield anywhere here.

I have a cheap Weaver 3-9 (Japanese made) on my 300 H&H that I took to Africa....no worries with it as it's a fine scope for me.

As to warranty I damaged a bushnell by dropping it and they repaired it no charge and returned it in ten days. Leupold took another week to return my 12X varminter with the target knobs.

Weaver many years ago repaired a K-6 by refilling it and rebluing it. No charge.....it was my fault for taking it apart.

I once bought a (1" tube) 4X scope new for $5.00 and still have it on a .222. It's still in good shape.

I'm not sure what I'd buy today but when I find those old Tasco 3-12 variable scopes I used to buy foir $60 I buy them.....great scope...light weight and they worked fine for me.

About optics now.....some of the less costly scopes are not a refined as the Swarofski's (sp).....and for good reason...it's expensive to grind that fine. If you must have that quality of optics you must pay for it. I just never failed to see my target thru a $40 Bushnell 4X or a Tasco 3-12 even without the AO. And saw it very clearly.

After forty years of shooting and buying/trading/making/selling guns I still cannot find a good reason to spend $400 on a scope. I've never found quality and price to be commensurate .....no coorelation.

Be your own judge!!!!!

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Even the top end scopes can fail, just generally not as often. On the other hand, occasionally a lower end scope will give years of excellant performance as well. You are increasing the odds in your favor with some of the more expensive scopes, generally get more brightness and clarity as well. I've three rifles with Simmons 8 point scopes on them. After four seasons of use, I noticed the POI on the gun I use the most was wandering. I am rough on equipment and I'm not complaining about the scope, it was well worth the $50.00 or so I paid for it. It'll be replaced with a Leaupold V-II. Would love the V-III, but that is more than I can swing.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Vapodog, I've had two Trashco's fail me! One at the gun range, which was not replaced in time for hunting season. The other failed me in the woods. I thought that I might have just missed, but after going back to the range, I found that the Trashco was once again broken!

I know that this scope horror story could be with any other brand of scope too!
As I have said here before though, quality control costs money, thats just one factor in a scopes cost and/or quality. But the extra expense of quality control, helps ensure that less defective scopes ever leave the factory
Quality control, and cheaper materials are the easiest way for companies to shave their costs!

My thinking these days is that you CAN get a quality scope for under $200.00, and a$1000.00 scope isNOT neccesarily 5 times better than the $200.00 scopes,BUT for under $100.00 you are setting yourself up for a disappointment!And that disappointment probably will come at the worst possible time!

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I ended up with around $130-140 in my Pro Staffs.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

The cheap scopes I've owned have not been as good as the more expensive ones. By more expensive I mean Leupold VX-II and above, Zeiss Conquests, Nikon Monarch and Swarovski PH. In my opinion there is a correlation between quality and price.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Why would you spend 400.00 on a rifle and under 100.00 on a scope it just dosent make sense to me..The scope is as important as the rifle being quality.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

My personal experience has been exactly the opposite.

I will say that many many folks disagree with me but I post my personal experience.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Some truth to both sides. If you hunt out a box blind, as is common in the south, where your scope is sheltered, a cheaper scope will often give years of good service. I see a LOT of used rifles, and many I have bought still have cheapy "No-Name" scopes on them that are very servicable. On the other hand, if you hunt humping your rifle up a mountain in Idaho, exposed to rain, sleet, snow, and God knows what else, a cheapy scope will die pretty quick.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Lots of good advice here. One area that hasn't been mentioned is looking for used scopes. You can pick up used Leupold M8 4x33 on ebay for about $125. They will last you a lifetime and are very good scopes. I'm also partial to Weaver scopes and have a number of K2.5 that I picked up for less than $100. I have also seen Busnell Elite 3200s for right around $100 on the used markets.

The heartbreak of a cheap scope failure at the wrong time will last far longer than the pain of writing the check for a better scope to begin with.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

so very true....however: The heartbreak of an expensive scope failure at any time will far outlast the pain caused by a cheap scope failure.

Why are we so bound and determined that just because the scope we bought is cheap it's going to fail us while we're aiming at that trophy elk?

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I'll give you a perfect example of crap scopes VS. good scopes I had a busnell on a 300win mag and was elk hunting w/ a buddy of mine, we both were set up at the edge of a meadow in the dark. as it started to get light I hear this bull bugle. So I cow call and he starts coming my way. I see him, a nice 5x5,and he gets about 60yds out before he looks away and gives me the chance to raise my rifle......I see a big gray blob![:@]![:@]! NOT ENOUGH LIGHT TO SEE THROUGH MY SCOPE!!!ARGHHHH. About that time my buddy shoots it from 350yds. He had a leupold Vari-X III. He clearly saw that it was a 5x5 from 350yds w/ his leupold while I couldntsee at all through that bushnell. You dont have to pay $1000+ to get a good scope, but anything that retails for less than $200 is trouble, but thats not to say you cant get a $300-$500scope on sale for less than 200.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

A scope capturing light has nothing to do with money. VapoDog, they just don't get it do they?

Using my"Trashco", I can stay in the woods a lot later than my best friend who has a Lepoud. Proven time and time again. PERIOD. I shot a buck two years ago when a guy hunting near me was already opening the door to his truck. He was amazedthat I was still in the stand and could SEE.If you want a scope that captures and holds light, hell throw a 56mm on there. I hunt very thick places that get dark a lot faster, so I use a 50mm. Its not hard, bigger hole equals more light. The darker it gets, the lower power you need to have your scope on.

I tell you what. Give Bill Jordan and some of the other celeb hunters a Trashco to sport around on tv with a $1,000,000 marketing budget. And we will see how many Trashco's get put on hunter's rifles next season. Having a Business degree, trust me, I know all of the marketing scemes.

I am not putting down any other scope. I am simply saying that you can pay $150-$200 for a scope that will work just as good and last just as long as the $800 or $1,500 ones.

Is a Lexus better than a Toyota? Is an Infiniti better than a Nissan? Is a Acura better than a Honda?

THEY ARE ALL MADE BY THE SAME COMPANIES!!!!!!!!!! MARKETING MARKETING MARKETING!!!!!!!!!! Can someone say MARKETING!!!!!!!!

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I've owned my share of cheapies too. I had a 4x32 tasco that would not quit. I abused this thing. When I gave it away it had maybe 50% of its finish left but still held together. I also had a rem 742 that ate tascos for lunch. Lots of broken reticles. This rifle was a good test of quality. I put a nikon buckmaster on it and my brothers been shooting it for three years. I think there are alot of very functional scopes for $200.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I too have had my share of "cheapo" scopes, I am not saying you need a $1000.00 piece of glass either. What I am saying is that there is alot of difference in light trasmission of some brands. I prefer nikon it seems to be as good as any in that department.I tried and that will never happen agin!!! I havent liked any tasco that I bought, I guess I dont mind paying 200.00 to 500.00 for my scopes.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I didn't see where ryncam16 asked about $300-$1500 scopes. Unfortunately $175 is not a lot of money for glass anymore.

My experience with cheap $30-$50 scopes has been far different than that of what some others have posted here. I went through a series of cheap Bushnells and Tascos that fogged, were not repeatable through the power ranges, and to put it bluntly just plain broke.The weather here in Maine can be sunny to rainy to snow in a matter of hours. For what I ended up spending on cheap stuff, I could (and should) have bit the bullet and bought something better. Good glass can and will save the day.

If your experience is different, great. But after I have spent 6 days in the woods in rain, freezing rain, snow, sleet, and 15 degree weather, I want to be able to rely on my equipment with the greatest amount of certainaty possible.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Everybody has thier right for opinion, but some of this stuff is just too much. My job in life is to test optics. I have been in fiber and classical optics for 10 years. We as a company do not buy lenses, thin film filters for a higher price just because of the name. We will buy on the bases of QA and a little on relationship with the supplier.I can assure you, you pay thru the nose for transparency, back reflection and how close they can match the index of refraction with the air. And the price goes up exponentially. ForBR of -35db, you might pay 5 dollars afiber end. But for BR of less than -60dB, you pay 55 dollars for a component.
I can assure you that all tascos I have owned or looked at was horrible pieces of junk. But I am sure there are good ones out there. First test they have failed that I have yet to see Leupold fail. The box test. How many of you have done this I wonder?

Second was horrible parralax. No excuse for this, but for every scope I see under 100 dollars, it amazes me. And the cheap bushnells and simmons with AO are the worse. How many have ever tested this out.

Resolution. There's a great article in last months american rifleman that explains this pretty well. They even give you a sample sheet from the USAF. Not only is this type of sheet excellent for resolving resolution, assuming lense shapes are neglable, and BR is less than -60dB, but also will show lense quality.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

So do I.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

Well, this all has me intrigued. I am going to Bass Pro later to take a look at these new tascos.

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I'm concerned about them.....they have been bought out and are no longer the company they used to be....

They got dragged down with the K-Mart bankrupsy. Tasco had a zillion $$$ at risk with K-Mart and lost big time in that reorganization. It hurt them so badly that they too went under.....to be bought out by someone else. I don't know the status today and have no experience with the current offerings......sad deal for them....

I don't know what scope I'd buy today unless I find an old Tasco....they just worked for me. The Simmons scopes have left me soured a bit although I hear some are fine....I have a 44 mag by simmons on a varmint rifle and it's a fine scope......6-20 X 50 with the target knobs. BTW it too was cheap!!!!!

RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I thought mead bought them and redfield out?

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RE: question why pay so much for a scope?
 

I am not saying that Tasco is so good or they are so bad. I was just using them b/c I have one and know what it can do. I think that you can also buy other cheaper brands. I also had a Tasco on my .22 that wasn't all that great. Also had a Bushnell on my .270 that was about like using the open sights. I was simply stating that the one I have on my rifle now is as good as the Vari X III my buddy has on his .270 Weatherby Mag. and others that have high dollar scopes. We hunt together and even they will tell you that my cheap-o will do the same thing, just as good as theirs. Maybe I just got a good one. Or maybe they just got bad ones. My best friend let me use his 7mm mag with a Varix I or II ( can't remember which he has), b/c I couldn't find the key to my gun safe one day. ( i know stupid me). I had to get out of the stand about 30mins sooner than I usually get out. I set ALL of my friend's scopes, so I have used and looked through several high dollar scopes and cheap ones. I personally can't tell much difference b/t them and mine. I did set a scope for a guy that had a Simmons on it, ( can't remember which one) and to me, thats the cleariest scope i've ever seen.

Quality doesn't have to be measured by price tag. All I was saying.

I'm gonna give it a rest and simply say, good luck and let us know what you decided to go with!:D