I hate scopes

[anwahs]

I am a new member and was drawn to this site mainly to see if other folks are having trouble with scopes holding up on hard kicking rifles. I shoot a Remington African Plains Rifle (APR) in 338 RUM. I am on my second scope now and not having much luck. Has anyone seen the article written by Wayne van zwoll in Rifleshooter Magazine? He claims he has had only one scope failure in 40 years of hunting & shooting! What a hoot. Must be shooting 22-250's & 243's all his life. The guys I hunt elk with have had 8 confirmed scope failures in the last 10 years and these are not Walmart specials. Thats why I am here... to get real answers from real people.

 

[AJ Peacock]

Give us some details on the scopes, mounts and what broke.

AJ

 

[LewisH]

I read recently (maybe here, but too lazy to look it up) that the S&Bs are about the best at holding up to harsh recoil...and they should be at their prices.

 

[anwahs]

List of confirmed kills:
One Bausch & Lomb Elite 4200
One Burris Black Diamond
One Weaver Grand Slam 3.5 x 10 x 40
Three Leupold VX-III's (Two 4.5 x 14 x 40 1 inch failed to hold zero and one 2.5 x 8 x 32 fogged)
One 4.5 x 14 x 40 30mm LR (would not track properly)
One 3.5 x 10 x 40 Leupold VX-III M3 (failed to hold zero)
All have been repaired by the respected manufacturers and returned to service. The Weaver was repaired twice and then it fogged up. They replaced with a new scope after I wrote a letter. It now resides on a 22LR. To its credit it tracked beautifully...just couldn't take the recoil.

 

[screech]

they are not cheap but it is hard to screw up a night force NXS.

 

[Dave King]

I've hard some pretty hard kickers (and about 50 of the "**** ant" 308s) and haven't had a scope fail yet.

Some of the rifles, CZ550 in 416 Rigby, Rem 700 in 338 UltraMag shooting the 300 Sierra, CZ550 in 338 Lapua shooting the 300 Sierra, 450 Marlin in the shorty gun. None of these wore brakes.

I pretty much use Leupold exclusively, 30mm European on the CZ Rigby, 30mm on the 338's, Scout Scope on the 450 Marlin.

 

[sewoodruff]

I have a Leupold VX II 2x7 on a .375 H&H. It's been there for over 30 years with no problems.

 

[Singleshotneeded]

My .375 Holland & Holland has a Bushnell 6500 on it, and it's worked flawlessly for years...I have heard the 6500 series and Leupolds are the way to go for durability, but a few brands like Nightforce are said to be beyond reproach.