Need advice on a rifle scope

Way, WAY too much hand-wringing over a hunting rifle scope.
Leupold. Done

You've got to be kidding me with the Nightforce recommendations.
Yes, I know they make great optics, but so do a half-dozen other makers at 1/5th the price.
Am looking at leupold right now boss, just that trying to made sense of different line of scopes they have,shooting rifles are harder than handgun,and am a newbie at rifle.
 
Am looking at leupold right now boss, just that trying to made sense of different line of scopes they have,shooting rifles are harder than handgun,and am a newbie at rifle.
I think you need to make a decision whether this is going to be a "hunting rifle" or your "target/range rifle".
A hunting rifle is perfectly served with a plain-Jane 3-9x Leopold with a duplex reticle. Sight it in dead on at 200 yards. Fill the freezer.

A "target" rifle is whatever you want it to be. Higher magnification MAY be helpful. Exposed turrets MAY be helpful. Fancy reticles with holdover and windage hashmarks MAY be helpful.
But you've got to know how to use them.
 
OK, it come down to these 3 scopes. Now am gona Pic the best one out of 3 . The reason it took soo long because I have next to no free time( job and 1yr old kid ate most of it).
 

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Listen bro, I ain't hating on the poors. If all you are ever going to do is plink at the range, in good weather, a couple times a year, inside 200 yards, and never touch the dials after zeroing, one might be happy with the cheaper scope. However, one must be realistic about their requirements and the cost point to meet them though.

Some companies have a cost to Chinese manufacture a scope that is so low they could warranty it 10 times before they lose money. I can see why that warranty would be attractive to end users. But do those scopes meet the stated requirements?

The OP stated a very different use case. And when it comes to hunting in particular, making a shot on game is not the time to find out your scope doesn't cut the mustard. You don't need the worlds most expensive rifle scope to meet OP's requirements. But one does need to be realistic and if one can't afford to buy something that is up to par, then save your money. Saving is better than wasting. Because cheaping out on something that's not there, in the end, only makes you worse off. Now you're out the loot and you're requirements still aren't met.

Until my career got off the ground, I didn't have 2 nickels to rub together. No Senator's son over here. So I get it. One needs to prioritize meeting these requirements against other things in life. If one can't meet the price point to do that, then maybe they have to compromise on their requirements.


It's not about hating or loving on poors, just me poking fun at myself for being a poor.

I was expecting early 2000's Casco 3-9x32 like what I put on my first POS bolt gun - a Savage Arms Model 93 in .22 Mag. The bolt rusted even when I soaked the f***er in ATF after taking a steel wirebush to get all the prior rust off. However, when I looked through my friends Banshee 1-10x24 LPVO, I was REALLY surprised. It's only 24mm objective, we were using a laser boresight to line it up at 36 yards for his AR, and yet I had no issue seeing through the scope in dying light. The scope feels like it's part of the upper. And if their budget FFP LPVO looks and feels this good, I'm willing to bet springing for their 6-24x50 at $200 is worth at least playing with it for the 30 day unconditional guarantee, and will do everything he could want out of a scope. You aren't even risking your money at that point. Just your time in exchange for experience and knowledge.
 
OK, it come down to these 3 scopes. Now am gona Pic the best one out of 3 . The reason it took soo long because I have next to no free time( job and 1yr old kid ate most of it).
a 6-24x and a 3-9x in the same mix?
ok, this is as simple as it gets. to shoot a center mass of a human torso at 100yds you need a 6x top. a 4x would do too.

to shoot through the same bullet hole at 100yds you need at least 16x to see it, a 25x will let to see it better.
for 300yds to see well a 1" target square you will need a 24x. so hit an 8" gong - 10x is fine. better eyes need less magnification.

do you want a scope to be able to shoot actual something that moves, handheld - or shoot a paper target from a bench in a pursuit of a perfect group? if latter - get a heavier bulkier 6-24x or 5-25x, or, heck, a 7-35x.
if you need a practical scope - even a 1-6x lpvo is ok for up to 300yds, 3-9x or 4-16x is also more than ok.

or just buy them all and see what works for you better.
 
That scope NEW is $200.
I will bet the mount he is selling is sh*t.

Might as well get a new scope + $100 mount.
 
Just posted this in Deals and Steals, but also worth putting it here.

Super cheap 1-10x FFP LPVO, down to $150 with coupon. Youtube reviews are decent. Lots of online comments about them sucking, mostly by people who haven't used them, but lifetime warranty + free shipping = worth the gamble. Also comes with a pretty decent mount.

There is a side by side with a Razr HD 1-10x on Youtube where it holds its own. Not bad at all for a cheap range rifle, or even a hunting rifle.


Use coupon code "AMMOLAND25". Buy the MIL reticle for the larger illuminated circle at 1x (one of the main complaints on Youtube for the MOA reticle).
 
Just posted this in Deals and Steals, but also worth putting it here.

Super cheap 1-10x FFP LPVO, down to $150 with coupon. Youtube reviews are decent. Lots of online comments about them sucking, mostly by people who haven't used them, but lifetime warranty + free shipping = worth the gamble. Also comes with a pretty decent mount.

There is a side by side with a Razr HD 1-10x on Youtube where it holds its own. Not bad at all for a cheap range rifle, or even a hunting rifle.


Use coupon code "AMMOLAND25". Buy the MIL reticle for the larger illuminated circle at 1x (one of the main complaints on Youtube for the MOA reticle).
i am not going to say neither good nor bad but would be interesting to hear from someone about those monstrums.
just remember that is it not just a 'cheap', this is an ultra-cheap category. an every cuttable corner was cut there.

also, probably, uses chinese cut lenses, not japanese. here they all are, i think i only saw a 'spectre' review online, but, go figure what they all are.
1727699487754.png
 
and, if the lowest price segment is desired, rather than to play the roulette with monstrum - this would probably work better, it is also dirt cheap and got options.
and buying it from evil amazon will let you to send it back with no regrets.
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I think you ought to stick to something > 9x but < 20x, for the 400 yard + hunting sorta application (whether it's a 14, 16 or whatever a given model line offers you in the ballpark)..

The hunting part, I do believe 4x would be good, 9x great. Punching paper 9x is kinda weak for 400 yards, to me anyway.

I seriously would spend minimum $500/up. Maybe you find a good deal for $400, but the bottom barrel $200 scopes really tend to be tiring quickly - more a waste of $$ when you get tired of low quality quirks and realize you need something better.
 
I think you ought to stick to something > 9x but < 20x, for the 400 yard + hunting sorta application (whether it's a 14, 16 or whatever a given model line offers you in the ballpark)..

The hunting part, I do believe 4x would be good, 9x great. Punching paper 9x is kinda weak for 400 yards, to me anyway.

I seriously would spend minimum $500/up. Maybe you find a good deal for $400, but the bottom barrel $200 scopes really tend to be tiring quickly - more a waste of $$ when you get tired of low quality quirks and realize you need something better.
Got the vortex viper hst 4-16x pic out.it 400$ ,look good enough from all the reviews on the web😀
 
I can't remember if it's been brought up yet. Don't cheap out on rings. Get one of the better known reliable brands. People way more knowledgable then me can lead you in the right direction. And if there is one place to use a good torque wrench, it's when mounting a scope. Don't guess.
 
I bought my wheeler torque wrench, same as above, for scope rings and it's proven to be useful for all sorts of other things too - most recently, setting critical marine hose clamps just right. It's a great tool.

A scope leveling kit/tool is real helpful installing a scope also. And possibly a scope level isn't a bad idea for 400 yard shooting either...

You basically get the rifle square to gravity on a rest via the tools. Then you hang a plum bob about 50 yards away, set the scope hairs to the plum bob, then through iteration of small adjustments and checks you got a scope torqued straight to the rifle. Things get knocked a little off, best to have an hour, relax, get it just right - no need to rush, it's fun..

Then if you got one, last step you use the plumb bob finally to square your mounted level...

There are various ways to do this - you can even set the scope level first (since after all, it's based on the cross hairs and gravity - your plum bob).

Then, when shooting longer distances, you have a reference to know if you are level (adjustments, if the rifle isn't quite level, aren't going to be quite right, either).

I use purple loctite on scope mounts and rings. Sucks when they get loose, actually can damage things if you don't notice.

Tool: Amazon.com

Scope level (this happens to be an Arken), they are matched to your tube size btw:

1630667189.jpg
 
Don't waste your money on those levels that attach to the barrel. I don't know how people use them, but I think they are a waste of money.

Get small levels, good ones, and place one on your action, one on your scope and start playing with it.

I say "good ones" because even levels can be sh*t. I think Cortina has a video about it on YouTube.
 
Scope leveling is about having reticle line to be vertical, not the top of the turret horizontal. Sometimes those things are not in perfect alignment.

So just get rifle on a bipod or on a tripod if you have arca mount, make sure with any level or even visually that top rail is horizontal (my arca head has a level in it) and then look through the scope at any vertical object, like edge of the house across the street or garage door, etc.

Important part is to tighten the rings gradually and at opposite bolts equally or if you level the tube and then just torque the ring on one side - tube will rotate.
 
Don't waste your money on those levels that attach to the barrel. I don't know how people use them, but I think they are a waste of money.

Get small levels, good ones, and place one on your action, one on your scope and start playing with it.

I say "good ones" because even levels can be sh*t. I think Cortina has a video about it on YouTube.

It's not a perfect tool but the level that attaches to the barrel usually comes with one or two small levels for sitting atop the receiver. Mine came with 2.

If two line up, you are doing pretty well as far as knowing you got good levels.

Some rifles have no flat spot. Most rifles we play with, there isn't room on the receiver for a scope plus normal level. Like pictured below - there is rail ahead of the scope, but it is not actually part of the receiver so that rail isn't necessarily timed perfectly as it's made for accessories and not optics.

The short if it, there are a lot of ways this can be done. On the below I believe I leveled the scope and scope level via plum bob, then the rifle with multiple levels to set the barrel tool, and then used the barrel tool to set scope to rifle - ie scope level & barrel level matched, cross hairs remained time to gravity.

And sure, it's good to have a hand level or even one of these (small digital angle finder):


20241001_100127.jpg

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You make the scope level to your eye, not gravity. Whatever cant you naturally put on the rifle from whatever position (normally the longest distance you shoot), is what you want the scope vertical to.
Making the rifle perfectly plumb in a vise, then leveling the scope to that doesn't do much good if you put on a 5 degree inboard or outboard cant when you're shooting.
 
You make the scope level to your eye, not gravity. Whatever cant you naturally put on the rifle from whatever position (normally the longest distance you shoot), is what you want the scope vertical to.
Making the rifle perfectly plumb in a vise, then leveling the scope to that doesn't do much good if you put on a 5 degree inboard or outboard cant when you're shooting.
Alternatively you can just shoot with the gun level 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
You make the scope level to your eye, not gravity. Whatever cant you naturally put on the rifle from whatever position (normally the longest distance you shoot), is what you want the scope vertical to.
Making the rifle perfectly plumb in a vise, then leveling the scope to that doesn't do much good if you put on a 5 degree inboard or outboard cant when you're shooting.

The scope level solves that problem. It is pretty hard to know you got something level if the ground around you isn't...

None of this makes a difference shooting a deer at 80 yards. But at 400 yards, wind you are adjusting for, drop you are adjusting for, it does. And of course the longer the more it matters.
 
I know all about it...
I say nobody holds the rifle perfectly plumb/vertical.
Level the scope to YOU, not the earth.

I suppose if you had time, you could use a bubble level for each shot if you had the time in whatever pursuit you are enjoying, but then you are working around conforming to the rifle, instead of making the rifle conform to you.
 
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I know all about it...
I say nobody holds the rifle perfectly plumb/vertical.
Level the scope to YOU, not the earth.

I suppose if you had time, you could use a bubble level for each shot if you had the time in whatever pursuit you are enjoying, but then you are working around conforming to the rifle, instead of making the rifle conform to you.

No, when you move away from a flat range, and also shoot med-long range, you really do need to check for level, not just what feels level to your shooting position/eye. The down-range scenery may not have things to compare against your reticle to ensure your reticle is level.

As for leveling the reticle to your eye (in your preferred shooting position) instead of to gravity, sure that’s one way to do it. However, you’re not always going to be in the same shooting position. In PRS or NRL style matches (or any real world scenario with medium-long range shots), you could find yourself in any manner of positions in an attempt to gain stability.

When your reticle level to your eye/position instead of to the rifle/gravity, you’re also adding another axis to worry about with zeroes. Dialing elevation won’t be a truly vertical endeavor, nor windage truly horizontal. Nevermind spin drift, you now have another thing to consider too.
 
No, when you move away from a flat range, and also shoot med-long range, you really do need to check for level, not just what feels level to your shooting position/eye. The down-range scenery may not have things to compare against your reticle to ensure your reticle is level.

As for leveling the reticle to your eye (in your preferred shooting position) instead of to gravity, sure that’s one way to do it. However, you’re not always going to be in the same shooting position. In PRS or NRL style matches (or any real world scenario with medium-long range shots), you could find yourself in any manner of positions in an attempt to gain stability.

When your reticle level to your eye/position instead of to the rifle/gravity, you’re also adding another axis to worry about with zeroes. Dialing elevation won’t be a truly vertical endeavor, nor windage truly horizontal. Nevermind spin drift, you now have another thing to consider too.
I got humbled real quick in my first match last weekish. The pressure and being under the clock definitely got to me in terms of getting a stable position.
 
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