Beating a dead horse…

[Caleb777]

Hello all!
I’m putting new glass on my rifle and considering all my options right now. I’m a long time shooter but the brands are so unpredictable nowadays I feel as if you don’t immediately know you’re getting a good product from brands like Leupold, Zeiss, Leica…anymore. Granted they all have budget models and I would expect them to perform as such. But I’m seeing a surge of people thoroughly dissatisfied with $1500 optics. That’s a large chunk of money!
For reference, I’ve been eyeing up the VX6HD, Zeiss V4, Nightforce SHV, Vortex Razor LHT…etc. Basically the majority of big names in optics. And not a one of them embodies what I desire for an optic.
Leupold- unanimously read people saying they don’t track worth a darn…and the handful that love them admit to not playing with the CDS
Zeiss- no locking turrets and the capped windage turrets are plastic and known to cross thread and strip.
Nightforce-heavy, but the 2-10 could fit the bill. Made in Japan, doesn’t have a duplex/German #4 or similar reticle like I’m looking for.
Vortex- in my opinion has cruddy reticle options for this scope and also made in Japan.

My question is, Is there a scope out there for the hunter who wants accurate tracking, locking turrets, traditional reticle options, illuminated, and doesn’t weigh more than the rifle itself? The Leupold fits the hills if they could get their tracking under control. I’ve been going over this in my head for a month now and cannot settle or find one that I’m happy with. Can anyone shed some light on an optic I’m unaware of? Thanks!

 

[Rob5589]

Have you looked at the Trijicon offerings?

 

[Caleb777]

Well to be frank..I always thought of trijicon as “the acog people” more than a high end glass company. Am I way off kilter?

 

[roosiebull]

Well to be frank..I always thought of trijicon as “the acog people” more than a high end glass company. Am I way off kilter?

They have a good chance of having something you’ll like… for sure add them to your list to research

The meopta optika 6 is another one to look into… have not had one, but they seem to be pretty good for the price point… I would take my chances with one before another leupold period… my last 2 leupolds were not confidence inspiring

 

[Gone4Days]

I was in a similar situation. I went with SHV 3-10 and will be grabbing a NXS 2.5-10 sometime this year. My SHV is only 2 oz heavier than my LHT was

 

[Jon Boy]

A dead horse indeed, but hopefully these threads keep popping up and more companies start realizing there's a little bit of a market.

My dilemma is im building a classic looking rifle that won't be used to dial much. How ever I can't bring myself to put a scope on it that is known for losing zero. So it'll probably be another 2.5-10 shv. The scope I've ran for 7 years and never had an issue with.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Overdrive]

I've been using Huskamaw for 12 years now and don't see myself changing brands anytime in the future. Have 3 rifles set up with 5-20x50 Blue Diamond and will be setting a couple rifles up with the 4-16x42 this summer.

 

[BjornF16]

SHV 3-10 with their ForcePlex reticle

 

[Stinky Coyote]

well, there seems to be a little phenom out there of those trying to promote products getting a little bandwagon going on bashing some of the leaders out there, always been able to see through it and to bash those at the top is just absurd and super obvious imo so it generally makes me laugh, having said that...be not afraid of Leupold or Trijicon, I only run them, vx3hd's or Accupoint's and wouldn't take one second of the tracking bullshit or bashing as anything other than scheming and total horse poo

you gotta learn how to read through the lines in this digital business battlefield, try to remember also, you don't spend a lot of time in a scope, it's pretty amazing what you can do with a basic 3-9x40 from Leupold or Trijicon, I'm new into the Trijicon game but nothing but love for all the leupolds I've had, zero issues, custom centers amazing, giving me what I wanted long before you could buy it off the shelf, always tracked, always held zero, never issues that would lose confidence in model or brand, and now I just love the illuminated green dot without batteries and dial up with Kenton speed dial turret, the perfect scope still doesn't quite exist but Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40 and vx3hd leupolds could do it...one needs lockable cds style turret and the other needs a green dot lol, and if they can do it without batteries even better I think Trijicon has the easier path to perfection since they already have the no battery green dot thing figured out in a lightweight scope...just fire up an exposed locking single rotation turret and Robert is your fathers brother

don't listen to the bashing...bashing usually means bullshit fyi, those who scream the loudest the most to hide usually lol, don't fall for it

you won't see me drive a vortex but you won't hear any bashing from me, you might see me drive a Swarovski if it's borrowed lol...I admit I will bash that overpriced nonsense but only the price gets bashed, it's a little better then average gear but priced like it's leaps and bounds better than the rest and it's just not, so reality check always inbound on that brand lol

 

[BjornF16]

Well, you know what they say about opinions...

 

[PredatorSlayer]

You have to prioritize what is most important to you. Is it weight? Zero retention? Tracking? Glass?

Anytime you go with a lightweight rifle scope, say <20oz there is a trade off. To me, I want zero retention and tracking. Nightforce isnt perfect, but they are at the top.

If you like glass, the Leupold VX5HD and VX6HD are very very good. I have owned six of these and I didnt have any tracking issues, but one of the VX6HDs did lose zero going through an airport twice. It wasn’t a huge shift, but it was a shift. I think Leupold and Vortex sale a lot more scopes at several different price points than most manufacturers. I laugh when people compare a vx3i to a nightforce NXS. Completely different price category.

I would personally look at the NXS 2.5-10 or the SHV 3-10.

 

[roosiebull]

I was in a similar situation. I went with SHV 3-10 and will be grabbing a NXS 2.5-10 sometime this year. My SHV is only 2 oz heavier than my LHT was

My next optic will be the 2.5-10 NXS, I got lucky and got my hands on a swfa 3-9x recently when I was riding this same dead horse…. Bareback

I think I will turn the 6.5 into my wife and daughters rifle and I’m going to get a havak ph2 in boring .308 and leave it stock and put a NXS on it

The eotech vudu 3.5-18x is also a consideration, if I go that route I will get it before the rifle and let rokslide drop test it before I mount it on any rifle myself… I hate spending the dough out of curiosity, but someone has to take one for the team

 

[Doc Holliday]

The meopta optika 6 is another one to look into… have not had one, but they seem to be pretty good for the price point…

I owned one...better than average glass, but heavy. Good for a bench rifle or whitetail treestand hunter, but too heavy for backcountry.

 

[chadcharb]

I was in your boat recently. Trying to buy a scope geared to hunting but capable of some long range shooting as well. I was set on the vx-hd line because i didn't want my reticle to look like a fully decorated Christmas tree, but in the end I found a good deal on a trijicon credo. I liked the zoom range and the reticle wasn't too cluttered like some others. Time will tell if I made the right choice or not

 

[Caleb777]

Thank you all so very much for the responses. I have a lot to think about!

 

[DakotaBPNW]

Bushnell LRHS from GA Precision would be worth looking at. It checks a lot of boxes for a very good crossover scope for both hunting and long range target shooting.

 

[Huntin Fool]

I don’t understand the problem people have with zero retention as I have 16 year old $80 tasco on a 243 that has never moved, so I don’t think I’m going to put much worry in vx5 losing zero. I haven’t owned my vx5 real long but so far, it hasn’t had any problems tracking and the glass is amazing. I havn‘t ordered my cds yet as I havent settled on a long term load yet and don’t want to waste it. I also plan to buy another vx5 in the next year

 

[DakotaBPNW]

I don’t understand the problem people have with zero retention as I have 16 year old $80 tasco on a 243 that has never moved, so I don’t think I’m going to put much worry in vx5 losing zero. I haven’t owned my vx5 real long but so far, it hasn’t had any problems tracking and the glass is amazing. I havn‘t ordered my cds yet as I havent settled on a long term load yet and don’t want to waste it. I also plan to buy another vx5 in the next year

My VX5 had some tracking issues. The real issue is as soon as you see it once out of a scope, it makes you awfully nervous to take it hunting.

 

[Caleb777]

As I understand it, the leaf springs used in the erector are responsible for the tracking problems. Swarovski uses 4 coil springs I believe as a means to avoid that problem. Anyone able to verify this?

 

[SWWI Shooter]

I had a vx-6 hd 3-18. I shot some long range with it and it tracked just fine. I ended up selling it as 18x ( the power that the reticle was calibrated for) was too high for my use. If Leupold would make the 2-12x with adjustable parallax- I would have one. I agree, it seems that scope companies really lack good hunting features in one package. Its like their consultants are all PRS shooters.