high value low cost optics, scopes binoculars, spotters ect.

To me the saying that say's it best is "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price has gone".

No truer words have even been spoken by anyone and that applies to all tangible goods and some relationships too.lightbulb
 
I've got a couple decent deals for ya. The Nikon Buckmasters 6-18x gets you out there a good ways and holds up. Mine went through 1700 rds. of 300RUM and is still ticking on another rifle.

Personally, I've had crap luck with bushnell, had to send several back. I prefer to deal with a company that no one knows how their customer service is because they have never had to use it.

Another that has done well for me, Cabelas Pine Ridge 4-12X BDC . I only have it on a 22LR but it's an excellent piece of glass for the price.

I try to buy the best I can afford at the time and then do with what I've got. I have quite a few boomsticks around though so it's not that big a deal for me to wait a little longer to get one up and running. I Have a $60 BSA 3-9x on a backup to the backup rifle that has done surprisingly well. 2 years on a 30-06 and around 100 rds and it's still ticking. The glass sucks in comparison to some of my others but I was in a pinch and it was there.

All in all, Just get into the best you can at the time and keep shooting! I don't regret buying my leupolds or vortexs but my simmons 44mag is still on a gun too!
 
THANK YOU for being one of the first to post good optics that wont break the bank Ill have to look into those I deciced on the Savage 10 FCPK .308 and should have it within 8 months, I might just go with the bigger brother of the tasct 2.5-10 I use On my AR-15 Carbine
 
THANK YOU for being one of the first to post good optics that wont break the bank Ill have to look into those I deciced on the Savage 10 FCPK .308 and should have it within 8 months, I might just go with the bigger brother of the tasct 2.5-10 I use On my AR-15 Carbine

Tikka T3 .308 for around ~550-600 and you'll have money over for a Weaver Super Slam. Better rifle, MUCH better scope.

Weaver 3-15X50 Super Slam Riflescope Side Focus Dual-X Reticle Silver - Natchez Shooters Supplies
Weaver 2-10X42 Super Slam Riflescope Dual-X Reticle Silver - Natchez Shooters Supplies

If you're set on tactical Savage, I have couple that I might let go, .308 and 6.5x55. The 6.5x55 is a trued action by Sharp Shooter Supply making the Savage almost as smooth as a factory Tikka and both have aftermarket triggers that are almost as good as a factory Tikka.
 
Well, since inexpensive quality rifles has been brought up, my suggestion is look at the new Weatherby Vanguard Series 2s. The rifles literally live up to their claims and the trigger is puuurfect. I have broke in two (30-06 and a 7mm-08) and both rifles shoot OTC inexpensive ammo just inside the .90" at 100 too easily. The action is smooth and the rifle is well balanced. At $469.00+ tax, I just don't know how one can go wrong.

P.S. I placed two Wally World Centerpoint scopes on 7mm Rem Mag and 30-06 rifles last year for hunters who could not afford more. The scopes held up just fine under reload testing and sight-in before the fall hunt. :D
 
P.S. I placed two Wally World Centerpoint scopes on 7mm Rem Mag and 30-06 rifles last year for hunters who could not afford more. The scopes held up just fine under reload testing and sight-in before the fall hunt. :D

I have a 6-24x50 illuminated varmint Tasco that I usually show as reference. People are surprised when they look through it as it's pretty nice glass for the $70 I paid for it. When they view it again after sun goes down, they don't like it nearly as much. Could you use that extra hour of visibility really is an important question when selecting your scope.

A $200 Savage or Mossberg with a Tasco is a fine deer killing combo if you can't afford anything nicer. Nothing wrong with that. You'll probably just have to end the hunt a little sooner than the guy with an expensive scope.
 
I have the tasco 2.5x10x42 mildot scope and my buddy does also. Mine is on a ruger 10/22 and his is on a 243 winchester. I think the scope is perfect for this application. You don't "need" the higher dollar scopes for hunting.

Not sure why there are people that have read this thread and post that you do. Maybe they should start their own threads about how great their 3000 dollars scopes are, this isnt the thread for that "obviously".

I also have a 2.5x10x50 nikon buckmaster scope that has worked great on my 50 cal muzzle loader, to 223 rem, and now currently on my 30-06. I just bought a 4x12x42 bushnell elite 3200 last year and it is also a very nice scope for the money.

Not sure where these guys are hunting that require these high end optics? I have never seen any "hunter" with any scope higher priced than a leupold.

I have two higher dollar scopes, a leupold vx3 LR 8x25x50 and a sightron s111 8x32x56. These scopes are on a 338-300 ultra and a 6mm dasher and serve their purpose accordingly.

If I "need" or require better scopes for hunting as some might think, I'd probably never harvest any big game. However, I have 2, 10 point bucks and a nice 8pt buck on my wall and they didnt require, march, nightforce, IOR, zeiss, or swarovski scopes.

FYI, nobody here is stating that if you have the money, not to buy the upper end scopes. I think the ops post was pretty clear. gun)
 
FYI, nobody here is stating that if you have the money, not to buy the upper end scopes. I think the ops post was pretty clear. gun)

If you call this clear then it's actually to the opposite way. Maybe if he wasn't "looking to break people's habits" then the responses would have been different. In any case, most posts have suggested quality scopes that don't break the bank.

Hi I'm looking to break the cycle of people buying high dollar scopes just because of there name,
Binoculars and spotting scopes as well, wasting hard earned cash on stuff they don't need.

[Start of RANT]

"Don't need", now you can interpret that anyway you want. People don't need optics at all to hunt. You want to save hard earned cash, buy a $100 Mosin-Nagant with iron sights and call it a day. Be sure to hunt public/free land as well, you know that hunting lease (yearly purchase) will run you as much as a top end scope (once in a lifetime purchase). While you're at it, walking to the hunt is the way to save money at these gas prices.

I think all we need is a little perspective to the total cost of this hobby. You don't need to buy a $100 scope.

[End of RANT]
 
Not sure what part you didn't understand. Maybe it was the High value part. :rolleyes: What's to argue about? He's not asking what you're thoughts are comparing low cost optics to high end optics, we all know the answer to that. He's wanting to know which low cost optics are "good" quality (high value) scopes, it's simple. :D Not sure whose habits he's breaking here. If you buy high end optics and can afford them, I'm surprised this thread caught your attention anyways. I'm sure he didn't mean to offend the people who can.

Hunting/shooting isn't just for the well to do, although with all the commercialization you might be led to believe that.

To put things in perspective; Do "I" need or require a 5,000 dollar plus rifle/scope system to harvest a deer that costs more to process than buying beef or pork at the meat locker? No, I don't, and that's my reality and I'm sure many others too. Most people I would assume hunt for meat, good times with friends, family, and not trophies on the wall.
 
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As far as light transmission goes the 42mm obj and 1" tube I have dont really help. But your right If i had my friends Leupold with a 50mm obj and 30mm tube i would get an extra 30 min or so of trigger time, but that being said Ive got better than 20-20 vision and real good night-vision, he wears glasses/contacts.
The actual side by side difference when were shooting head to head is almost nonexistent maybe 5 min, So the optical quality on the gun is only part of the equation. But I do about 20 times more target shooting than hunting, so missing that once in a lifetime shot on a trophy groundhog isnt really keeping me up at night, trophy groundhog?

does that Weaver Say $1000 now $269? Id be all over that thing if it was a mil dot, thats also an issue for me I want mil dot or tactical dot reticles and alot of the mid range scopes arent available in mil dot the 30-30 doesnt cut it for the kind of shooting i do

Sami
Im more interested in the .308 what model is it? whats the round count? heavy barrel or sporter? and does it have the Accuststock on it? Also does it have scope mounts attached?
I know I can Buy A different Rifle with an Aluminum Bedding block or buy an Aftermarket stock for a different rifle but Id like to save what I can, so I dont just end up with a paper towel roll and some string duct taped to my gun for a scope.
 
As far as light transmission goes the 42mm obj and 1" tube I have dont really help.

For light transmission the first critical thing is lens quality. Objective size only matters when the magnification grows. 42mm / 3x = 14mm exit pupil so the 42mm gives more than a human eye can handle at 3x. For most human eyes a 42mm at 6-7x gives about maximum light. Tube size doesn't effect light transmission.

does that Weaver Say $1000 now $269? Id be all over that thing if it was a mil dot, thats also an issue for me I want mil dot or tactical dot reticles and alot of the mid range scopes arent available in mil dot the 30-30 doesnt cut it for the kind of shooting i do

Their Tactical 3-15x50 is a good scope but that comes with a $650 price tag. Illuminated reticle on the first focal plane so it's still a great value. I'll try to see what is available is the lower range with mildot but usually they are closeout specials and when they are gone they are gone.

Im more interested in the .308 what model is it? whats the round count? heavy barrel or sporter? and does it have the Accuststock on it? Also does it have scope mounts attached?

Heavy 20" varmint barrel with a threaded muzzle. 1:10 twist. Barrel has not been shot at all, action is from a 30-06 Savage 110. Stock can be a few different ones. Choate Ultimate Sniper if you want a heavy tactical stock, regular 110 stock or a custom laminate. I will PM you some pictures. The gun hasn't been assembled yet since I am thinking of re-bluing the action or duracoating the whole gun.
 
My previous comments were you get what you pay for (most times) in optics, especially scopes and I'm sure there are exceptions....

I got a real nice set of bino's, for free with the Bushy ARC1000 I bought before Christmas. Roof prism, coated lenses and all.

I never got anything worth a shitte for free before so I was pleasantly surprised.

Gimme a break will ya??

I'm climbing down from high priced Leupyville to Vortex village with no apparent (to me at least) negative results. The Viper PST I just bought was half the price of my usual Leupy and appears to my old eyes to be every bit as good, maybe better in some respects than my beloved Leupy's.

However, I'd take a Leupy VX4 Tactical TMR, Illuminated retcles if anyone wants to trade for the Vortex.......Even up....:D
 
I'm climbing down from high priced Leupyville to Vortex village

I have felt you're not getting much value with Leupy's for a while now. Surprisingly many seems to think they are high end scopes while I rate them at the middle of the pack. I guess that makes them German and Austrian scopes some sort of ultra high end exotic luxury items to the same people.
 
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