BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
10-17-2005, 08:58 PM
#1
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Join Date: Sep 2004
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Posts: 29
BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
Hey Guys,
I was wondering if the the BSA 3-9 40mm illuminated recticle scope was any good. I plan on useing it for deer and night hunting coyote at 150 yards or less. Is the glass any good and will it hold target (non-jumping cross hairs) and are the cross hair fine enough for small targets? I don't want to aim at a target at 100 yards and have the cross hairs cover 3" on the target at 9x
Thanks,
I was wondering if the the BSA 3-9 40mm illuminated recticle scope was any good. I plan on useing it for deer and night hunting coyote at 150 yards or less. Is the glass any good and will it hold target (non-jumping cross hairs) and are the cross hair fine enough for small targets? I don't want to aim at a target at 100 yards and have the cross hairs cover 3" on the target at 9x
Thanks,
10-17-2005, 09:20 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
I had a catseye BSA with the illuminated reticle that was pretty nice. I gave it to a friend that was really fond of it. It was on my inline ML for a little while with no problems. I don't know what model you are talking about for sure though.
Mine was as nice as a simmons 44mag in build and optics. It was a 3.5-10x50.
The only thing I didn't like about the Catseye was the reticle. It has a military post type reticle with fairly thick cross hairs. They were easy to aquire, but not real great for target type stuff. Of course that is not what the scope was made for either.
Now I had a buddy that got one after seeing mine and it was messed up out of the box. Just wouldn't hold a zero. That is sort of the chance you take with chinese optics like that. However he called BSA and they said send it in and they would replace it. They didn't have that model so they told him to pick any other scope they had available instead. He picked some crazy big varmint type scope I guess. I haven't seen it yet. Then when the model scope he had became available they sent him one of those as well. They told him to keep both scopes for his trouble. That is pretty decent customer service in my opinion.
I have had 3 or 4 BSA scopes, maybe 5 if you include my red dot. I have personally not had any trouble with any of them. Other than some of the cheaper ones didn't have real great optics in them. The Catseye was pretty nice, but it was not that cheap really.
What model do you have out of curiousity?
Paul
Mine was as nice as a simmons 44mag in build and optics. It was a 3.5-10x50.
The only thing I didn't like about the Catseye was the reticle. It has a military post type reticle with fairly thick cross hairs. They were easy to aquire, but not real great for target type stuff. Of course that is not what the scope was made for either.
Now I had a buddy that got one after seeing mine and it was messed up out of the box. Just wouldn't hold a zero. That is sort of the chance you take with chinese optics like that. However he called BSA and they said send it in and they would replace it. They didn't have that model so they told him to pick any other scope they had available instead. He picked some crazy big varmint type scope I guess. I haven't seen it yet. Then when the model scope he had became available they sent him one of those as well. They told him to keep both scopes for his trouble. That is pretty decent customer service in my opinion.
I have had 3 or 4 BSA scopes, maybe 5 if you include my red dot. I have personally not had any trouble with any of them. Other than some of the cheaper ones didn't have real great optics in them. The Catseye was pretty nice, but it was not that cheap really.
What model do you have out of curiousity?
Paul
10-17-2005, 10:02 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
Ok, I did some checking. Do you have the 54 dollar BSA illumanated reticle scope? If you do I will wish you luck, you may need it. That price for a 3-9x40 with IR seems a bit too good to be true. And you know what that usually means. It looks like it has the same reticle as the Catseye as well, so it might be a little thick for small targets at long ranges.
In referance the BSA Catseye 3-10x44 with IR has almost the same specs and is almost 3 times the money. I would be curious to see both side by side to see if there is a big build quality difference.The BSA's I have owned for under 100 dollars have not been overly impressive in build quality or optics.
What kind of rifle are you putting it on? I'm not saying it will be a POS and you will have problems with it. It might serve you very well, but I wouldn't be shocked if you posted within the year complaining about it. It may also have fogging issues in crappy weather. I had a contender that wasn't worth a flip in cold wet weather. Of course it really wasnt made for that kind of stuff, so maybe it lacked the proper coatings?
The new panthers look nice though.
Oh, and I never used my illuminated reticle. It looked cool though. I would never pay extra for a scope that had it. Then again I don't hunt in the dark. I do have a few scopes that I can see perfectly in the moon light. Mostly lower powered ones.
Good luck,
Paul
In referance the BSA Catseye 3-10x44 with IR has almost the same specs and is almost 3 times the money. I would be curious to see both side by side to see if there is a big build quality difference.The BSA's I have owned for under 100 dollars have not been overly impressive in build quality or optics.
What kind of rifle are you putting it on? I'm not saying it will be a POS and you will have problems with it. It might serve you very well, but I wouldn't be shocked if you posted within the year complaining about it. It may also have fogging issues in crappy weather. I had a contender that wasn't worth a flip in cold wet weather. Of course it really wasnt made for that kind of stuff, so maybe it lacked the proper coatings?
The new panthers look nice though.
Oh, and I never used my illuminated reticle. It looked cool though. I would never pay extra for a scope that had it. Then again I don't hunt in the dark. I do have a few scopes that I can see perfectly in the moon light. Mostly lower powered ones.
Good luck,
Paul
10-18-2005, 08:26 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
That might be ok then. I used to own a sks as well. I wouldn't put a high dollar scope on one unless I had money to burn. Unless you got lucky and ended up with a really accurate one. They sure are fun to shoot though
I was worried you were putting it on a slug gun or high powered rifle with a fair amount of recoil to it.
My suggestion is if you are going to order it, get it from cabela's. That way if you don't like it or something goes wrong you can just trade it in on something else or get your money back without a hassle. I have one near where I live and the return policy is VERY generous.
If you plan on shooting it alot I would spend a bit more and get a different model. Honestly it doesn't matter what brand you buy, if you get a 50 some dollar scope it will be a chinese scope with low quality control and cheap glass. I would look for at least a Bushnell Trophy or Banner scope. Or something simular. If you see a scope that offers all kinds of options but is much cheaper than simular scopes with the same options then they are cutting corners somewhere, or decieving you somehow. Good optics cost money and require tight quality control.
Something else you also might want to consider is the eye relief you will need. Some of the mounts on these rifles don't let you set the scope back very far. You may need a shotgun scope or something that gets you in the 4 inch eye releif range. Also keep in mind the lower the power the better field of view you will have, and the better the scope will look in low light. I honestly don't think you will need 9 power with an SKS with the type of hunting you will be doing. A 4 or 5 power should work fine, or even a fixed 6 power.
Good luck, and let us know what you get.
Paul
I was worried you were putting it on a slug gun or high powered rifle with a fair amount of recoil to it.
My suggestion is if you are going to order it, get it from cabela's. That way if you don't like it or something goes wrong you can just trade it in on something else or get your money back without a hassle. I have one near where I live and the return policy is VERY generous.
If you plan on shooting it alot I would spend a bit more and get a different model. Honestly it doesn't matter what brand you buy, if you get a 50 some dollar scope it will be a chinese scope with low quality control and cheap glass. I would look for at least a Bushnell Trophy or Banner scope. Or something simular. If you see a scope that offers all kinds of options but is much cheaper than simular scopes with the same options then they are cutting corners somewhere, or decieving you somehow. Good optics cost money and require tight quality control.
Something else you also might want to consider is the eye relief you will need. Some of the mounts on these rifles don't let you set the scope back very far. You may need a shotgun scope or something that gets you in the 4 inch eye releif range. Also keep in mind the lower the power the better field of view you will have, and the better the scope will look in low light. I honestly don't think you will need 9 power with an SKS with the type of hunting you will be doing. A 4 or 5 power should work fine, or even a fixed 6 power.
Good luck, and let us know what you get.
Paul
10-18-2005, 11:21 PM
#7
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blissfield MI USA
Posts: 5,293
RE: BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
After owning more than a few of both I would take a BSA over a Trashco any day.
Pretty much any scope in the 50 dollar range is made in the same place, doesn't matter what name they put on it. There really are not that many big optics manufacturers in the world. Many brands of scopes come from the same places, just built to different specs. A 30-50 dollar BSA is not going to be any different than a tasco, simmons, bushnell, barska or anything else for teh most part if they have the same features.
All the BSA's I have seen in the 100-200 dollar range have been just as good as any simmons or bushnell for the same price that I have seen. I even have a friend that bought a catseye to replace his bottom end leupold after he saw mine.
I have actually had really good luck with bushnells when buying cheaper scopes to be honest. And some of the cheaper scopes work really great if you treat them nice. Just don't be suprised if it fails on you eventually. That is the chance you take. Of course I have seen 500 dollar scopes fail as well.
My dad had a redfield on his marlin lever action forever. It was this little 1/2 inch tube or something and you could barely see thru it. It kept it's zero for more than 15 years though. After that I put some cheap bushnell (25 bucks maybe?) on it for fathers day when I was a kid. It's still on there, probably been 20 years or so. Too my knowledge it still works.
Paul
Pretty much any scope in the 50 dollar range is made in the same place, doesn't matter what name they put on it. There really are not that many big optics manufacturers in the world. Many brands of scopes come from the same places, just built to different specs. A 30-50 dollar BSA is not going to be any different than a tasco, simmons, bushnell, barska or anything else for teh most part if they have the same features.
All the BSA's I have seen in the 100-200 dollar range have been just as good as any simmons or bushnell for the same price that I have seen. I even have a friend that bought a catseye to replace his bottom end leupold after he saw mine.
I have actually had really good luck with bushnells when buying cheaper scopes to be honest. And some of the cheaper scopes work really great if you treat them nice. Just don't be suprised if it fails on you eventually. That is the chance you take. Of course I have seen 500 dollar scopes fail as well.
My dad had a redfield on his marlin lever action forever. It was this little 1/2 inch tube or something and you could barely see thru it. It kept it's zero for more than 15 years though. After that I put some cheap bushnell (25 bucks maybe?) on it for fathers day when I was a kid. It's still on there, probably been 20 years or so. Too my knowledge it still works.
Paul
10-19-2005, 04:32 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location:
Posts: 29
RE: BSA 3-9x40 mm IRS ?
Hey Paul,
Thanks again for the detailed info. It is true that a cheap scope is a cheap scope but, some are slightly better than others (not by much though...lol) The scope that I am replaceing is a Tasco Pronghorn 4x32mm. It worked great till the ejecting shells went verticle. It was funny though cause my groups would be 3" at 100 yards then out of nowhere I would be high then low then back to 3" with a few X's in the mix. It drove me nut'z till I caught a glimpse of the bottom of the scope. It looked like I had banged it with a hammer.
The SKS is no competition rifle but, just fine for plinking and hunting at 150 yards or less, the key is good ammo. So I figure if I had some more magnification on the scope I could get my shot group down some more and I wanted an illuminated recticle for night hunting. Now if I can get that combo at a reasonable price......
Thanks again for the detailed info. It is true that a cheap scope is a cheap scope but, some are slightly better than others (not by much though...lol) The scope that I am replaceing is a Tasco Pronghorn 4x32mm. It worked great till the ejecting shells went verticle. It was funny though cause my groups would be 3" at 100 yards then out of nowhere I would be high then low then back to 3" with a few X's in the mix. It drove me nut'z till I caught a glimpse of the bottom of the scope. It looked like I had banged it with a hammer.
The SKS is no competition rifle but, just fine for plinking and hunting at 150 yards or less, the key is good ammo. So I figure if I had some more magnification on the scope I could get my shot group down some more and I wanted an illuminated recticle for night hunting. Now if I can get that combo at a reasonable price......
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