Scope that fits my needs under $1000

[JPhelps]

I am going crazy looking at reviews and researching scopes. I know that the nightforce is the standard but by buying a scope under $1000 I can get most of the gun built and paid for.

I have been researching the:
Viper PST 6X24X50 FFP MOA
Sightron S3 6X24X50LRMOA
Weaver 5-15 Tactical

I have never used another scope besides my Leupold VXII 3-9-40. Never turned a dial.

I am taking guesses on what I want.

The reviews I have read state:

The Viper PST seems to fit the bill perfectly for the guys that like them. There are also some negative comments. FFP allows for 2 moa tics on any power. FFP makes it hard to use on lower power (seems to be usable with illumination on). Has illumination and Zero Stop. Not a lot of reviews of turrets repeatibility or feel. 65 MOA adjustment.

Sightron S3 has some great glass and the new tactical knobs are very solid. Turrets are repeatable. I personally hate the reticle. Is .25 MOA floating dot too much. SFP so the windage would have to be dialed for everything but max power.

Weaver has some good reviews. Only 15 power.

I have only owned leupolds but it seems like there are better values out there.

I will be placing this on a RBros built 300 RUM w/brake. Both of these scopes state they are .50 approved. My goal for this gun is to hunt elk/deer out to 1000. I may stretch the legs out on paper or steel.

Enlighten me

 

[pyroducksx3]

Funny I'm having a 7 rem mag built by RBROS and am going through this same conundrum as you. I too am also looking at the Sightron SIII 6-24 with the LRMOA reticle. Everything I have been able to find supports the sightron. I talked with Travis and he just doesnt have any expierence with the sightron to recommend so Im going off of other peoples expierence. From what Im hearing is they dont give up much to nightforce and certainlly dont make the NF worth over twice the price. Also Sightron is supposed to come out with a SIII in 3.5-17.5 hopefully in sping/summer of this year. Also your issue with the 2 MOA hashes not being usefull except at full power, if you get in contact with sightron they will be able to tell you what the hashes reperesent at the different powers which in my opinion actually make the reticle more useful. In this way you can change power to get different holdover values, Just a thought.

 

[joseph]

I have a Vortex 6-24x50mm PST FFP MOA with a Vortex Custom Turret. It has proven to me that the .25 MOA clicks are very repeatable. The Turrets feel the same as my buddies NF. I can not imagine another scope being better unless 3+ times the price.

Field test: Vortex Viper 6-24x50mm PST MOA FFP scope. - Georgia Outdoor News Forum

Vortex Viper PST mounted with pics. - Georgia Outdoor News Forum

Testing new Vortex custom turret. - Georgia Outdoor News Forum

joseph

 

[Sami]

Don't have any experience with Sightron and only reviewed the 4-16x50 PST FFP and 3-15x50 Weaver Tactical. Weaver has better glass, Vortex performed quite poorly on low light.

Under $1000, you might want to step up to Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 before any of the mentioned scopes. You could get a used NF but they really aren't as good as you seem to think.

 

[JPhelps]

I've read nothing but great reviews on the sightron S3LRMOA. I just don't know if I like the reticle. The .25 MOA floating dot just bothers me. For example on 16x the dot would cover 5" @ 1000 yds. Is that even noticable? I have never shot long range and don't understand if stuff like this matters.

On the Viper PST how bad was the glass in low light? On highest power? I have heard there are differences in glass btwn the 4-16 and the 6-24. Did you test the Viper PST for tracking and turrets?

The conquest is only a 1 inch tube correct? I will have to do some research on this scope now. I'm assuming it doesn't have a bunch of elevation adjustment.

 

[pyroducksx3]

I believe ziess uses IPHY adjustments instead of MOA, which is one of the few reasons I don't look at zeiss

 

[joseph]

Under $1000, you might want to step up to Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 before any of the mentioned scopes. You could get a used NF but they really aren't as good as you seem to think.

The Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 has a 1" tube and only 45 MOA of adjustment which is not as good as a 30mm tube with a lot more adjustment which you need for long range shooting. It is also a SFP not a FFP scope.

Read the specifications here:

http://www.opticsplanet.net/zeiss-65-20x50-ao-mc-conquest-matte-black-rifle-
scope.html

Compare the specs. to my 6-24x50mm PST FFP MOA scope & the glass is better in mine then the 4-16x50mm PST:

Vortex Optics - Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP EBR-1 MOA


joseph

 

[pyroducksx3]

Good catch on that floating dot, for some reason I hadn't noticed it before and thought it was the standard x with MOA hashes. If they made a MOA reticle with the crossing reticle and had covered turrets I would be completely sold on the sightron. Also just checked and zeiss conquests are IPHY

 

[Sami]

The Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 has a 1" tube and only 45 MOA of adjustment which is not as good as a 30mm tube with a lot more adjustment which you need for long range shooting. It is also a SFP not a FFP scope.

As much as I like FFP, I'll take better glass over features. 20MOA bases will solve the adjustment issue. If low light performance isn't important, Viper PST is a decent choice, otherwise I would not recommend it. 6-24x50, even if better than 4-16x50, isn't going to be that much better.

In that price range you will need to make compromises, there's no way around it.

 

[JPhelps]

I think I am going to order the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50. There are a lot of great features in this scope. My main concern is that the turrets track well, are repeatable and solid clicks.

 

[Sami]

Good catch on that floating dot, for some reason I hadn't noticed it before and thought it was the standard x with MOA hashes. If they made a MOA reticle with the crossing reticle and had covered turrets I would be completely sold on the sightron. Also just checked and zeiss conquests are IPHY

Yep, unfortunately they are made to US specs instead of the regular 0.1MRAD adjustments that Zeiss normally uses. Not a huge deal as you can easily calculate that into your drop chart.

 

[Sami]

I think I am going to order the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50. There are a lot of great features in this scope. My main concern is that the turrets track well, are repeatable and solid clicks.

Tracking was pretty good on my scope. Turrets are decent. Not great as you're not going to get top notch turrets for that price. Overall a pretty good value scope, it all comes down to hunting conditions.

 

[Sami]

On the Viper PST how bad was the glass in low light?

It was fairly bad. I tested the scopes on 12x. With the limited budget you're not going to get all the features that you want and great glass. If you think you can live without FFP and tactical reticle, take a look at Minox ZA5 6-30x56. It's going to be well within your price range and the glass quality is on totally different level than the Viper PST.

 

[pyroducksx3]

It was fairly bad. I tested the scopes on 12x. With the limited budget you're not going to get all the features that you want and great glass. If you think you can live without FFP and tactical reticle, take a look at Minox ZA5 6-30x56. It's going to be well within your price range and the glass quality is on totally different level than the Viper PST.

How does the glass on the minox compare with the SIII 6-24?