When is it not considered an entry level Optic?

[MosesTheTank]

Tern coined by 'glass snobs'. Pay no attention to it. It is too vague to have any practical meaning. If a scope can perform in the environment and parameters you need it to, it is sufficient and functional, all else (price) is irrelevant.

I like this assessment. No one I know would consider me cheap. More likely the opposite. I have a mix of NF, Swaro, and Khales. When going down this road of premium optics I decided on the features I wanted then got behind what were considered the best in class. I spent time, and continue to, getting behind everything I can get my hands on. All of the scopes I bought were far less than the highest priced models, sometimes half as much. And I feel I left absolutely nothing on the table.

If I wanted to start considering price I could definitely get very close to what I have and shave off several hundred dollars per scope. The last time I looked, Team GAP was shooting (and winning) PRS matches with Bushnells 1/3 the cost of other competitors scopes.

With the competition in the market place so crowded and fierce I feel that we are living in a golden age of optics. What we can get out of a sub-1k NF, Burris, SWFA, etc was barely available at any price 20 years ago. Not only are the major manufacturers expanding their offerings in terms of breadth of features and optical quality, but new ones are showing up regularly (can we say ZComp!)

 

[therifleman556]

Love my Bushnell Elite LRS. I had one of the 6-24x50 ffp models and wish I'd have kept it. Tracked perfect and the mil hashes were spot on (I measured). Now I've got one of the 2.5-16x42 in the same model; best of both worlds, wide field of view up close and enough power to get the job done.

On a side note: try being the only shooter in either yours or your spouses family and explaining to any of them that your scope costs double what their rifle costs.

(Hint: you don't!)

 

[gohring3006]

I try to buy just features I need. I used to seek out scopes with illumination, never turned it on. So now I will get models with what I need not what's cool. I also don't like fancy packaging, I never gave it much thought until I got a Athlon. The box must have cost 50$ to make. That money could have went on something in the scope. Now, if I get a optic of 1000$ or more than I could see a fancy box.
The entry level market is using better components. I think the SS and Primary Arms has caused the market to step up.
Now we can get a optic that will work under 500$. The only thing that bothers me is, when you start doing the math on a multi feature scope that cost 380$, knowing they have probably less than half the money in actual manufacturing.

Side Parallax adjustment
Glass etched reticle
FFP
Illuminated
Exposed turrets
All for 380$
Hmmm!!

 

[Rich Coyle]

I know a guy that can take his Tasco 4x, verify 100 yd zero, dial up and hit a target at 1000 yds, then dial back down and reconfirm his 100 yd zero. Now this is not benchrest accuracy at 1000 yds, but is good enough that he could hit a deer if he "had to". His point is that it is easy to get caught up in the latest/best gear, but ability/knowledge is more important.

I had two Tascos that good. A 4-16X and a 6-24X. I gave them to my son-in-law because I wanted better low light performance.

 

[mildot1960]

I still have a Tasco 3-12 with Target turrets and it has about 83 MOA of adjustment, I had an old Tasco 10x on my 30-06, it was good for up to 1500yds.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

I still have a Tasco 3-12 with Target turrets and it has about 83 MOA of adjustment, I had an old Tasco 10x on my 30-06, it was good for up to 1500yds.

Thanks for keeping the thread going guys. A lot of good info out there.

 

[mildot1960]

Thanks for keeping the thread going guys. A lot of good info out there.

I also own about 5 spotting scopes but my favourite is my old 12-36x50 Camo'd Tasco. I love my Leupold but my old Tasco is my go to spotter.

 

[mildot1960]

This is my old faithful.

 

[rscottb]

To everyone who commented thanks for your input and feedback. I think I even got a PM about a YouTube review on legit, cheap optics. Hopefully it will help guys pick decent optics that aren't nightforce beasts or SB PMI IIs

Would you mind sharing this video with us?

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Would you mind sharing this video with us?

It's on page 2, post 24 of this thread. It's embedded in the post.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I've been fortunate to own or have owned all of top glass except Tangent Theta. I'm a glass slut for sure . I mean that literally, glass not functionality. The top tier scopes have better glass period. Having said that, I've shot along side others with Bushnell, SWFA , Leupold and Burris , they had no trouble making the same hits at the same range in the same conditions. Just because they couldn't read the tiny letters on the paper didn't keep them from dialing up their turrets and placing a bullet right to point of aim .

 

[mildot1960]

Leupold and Bushnell both have top tier optics built for durability and longevity not to mention their dedication to the Tactical and Hunting world, Some of which are strapped on to .50 cals as standard equipment, Anything that can survive that kind of treatment has my respect.

 

[eklarsen]

I try to buy just features I need. I used to seek out scopes with illumination, never turned it on. So now I will get models with what I need not what's cool. I also don't like fancy packaging, I never gave it much thought until I got a Athlon. The box must have cost 50$ to make. That money could have went on something in the scope. Now, if I get a optic of 1000$ or more than I could see a fancy box.
The entry level market is using better components. I think the SS and Primary Arms has caused the market to step up.
Now we can get a optic that will work under 500$. The only thing that bothers me is, when you start doing the math on a multi feature scope that cost 380$, knowing they have probably less than half the money in actual manufacturing.

Side Parallax adjustment
Glass etched reticle
FFP
Illuminated
Exposed turrets
All for 380$
Hmmm!!

I thought you were no longer buying scopes with illumination?

 

[5RWill]

To me it's like there are tiers of glass. As mentioned that's basically what's changing, that and a more solidified guarantee of the optic working. Though mechanically speaking they're all supposed to work.. and despite what anyone might think..yes $3000 optics can fail. Then again it's man made so meh.

My views stem from pretty much a purely PRS/NRL/Competition standpoint. As the hunting realm of scopes offer better glass for the money than the competition oriented because simply put FFP is more expensive to manufacture.

In the $1000-1500 range you start to acquire the features that are sought after for premium optics. Zero stop, FFP, 10-Mil turrets, lots of elevation travel, etc. For this category the glass usually seems to be always lacking to me, mostly in CA but can also be resolution, edge to edge clarity, or low light performance.

Then there is $1500-2000 category with the same feature set but a pretty large bump in quality of glass. Resolution is a definite upgrade, though CA is still a big problem. I.E. DMR II/HDMR II, Althon Cronus.

$2500-3300 is what i consider tier 1 glass where you're reaching the pinnacle of performance. CA is non-existent, resolution and edge to edge clarity are superb, and low light performance is remarkable.

It's really all preference and subjective though. This day in age a $1500 optic with decent glass that tracks isn't going to prevent you from hitting the target and certainly isn't going to improve your shooting. Having said that i prefer nice glass and once you look through something like a Gen II razor, AMG, ATACR, Kahles, or Mark 5HD it's extremely hard to want to go backwards. It also kind of becomes addicting as hell. I enjoy quality optics and want to try out many top tier optics in the future. Right now i simply don't have the means to acquire a ton of these to compare them as school is about to become overwhelming for me. I've looked through all those i just mentioned except the AMG, which i'm eagerly wanting and contemplating putting my Mark 5HD up to fund. I've never looked through an S&B, TT, or Minox and would like to see those. The aforementioned two are widely considered the pinnacle of glass. Would love to get a look at ZCO also as well as Kahles new 525i.

It's funny to me looking back on it when i started you had four to five choices for practical long range shooting scopes that were FFP; Leupold, NF, USO, Hendsolt, and S&B. That was a decade ago now $1000 will get you that with decent glass and you're set. Though also the premium market has bumped up as well with the names mentioned above.