Budget rifle scope for beginner

[howl]

Remember back when most of us were using Leupold scopes which still had friction adjustments and worked so well in the field nobody complained?

Any of you 6x fans ever tried to shoot an animal sighting down the side of the barrel because your FOV was smaller than the animal at the range presented?

 

[Fatcamp]

The 6X SWFA has a massive FOV. My whole horse fits inside at 40 yards.

An animal would have to be very close for it to be an issue

 

[Jbehredt]

The 6X SWFA has a massive FOV. My whole horse fits inside at 40 yards.

An animal would have to be very close for it to be an issue

That horse must have really ticked you off.....

 

[Fatcamp]

Sounds like you don't understand what "if" means.

Frankly, I don't know why the SWFA needs to weigh nearly 2x as much as the Leupold. Is there a good reason for that?

Leupold FX3 6X42=13.6oz
SWFA SS 6X42=20.3oz

That's 1/3 more. Not a bad payoff for the ability to reliably dial. Size is a whole nother issue. The SWFA is a bigger scope for sure.

That horse must have really ticked you off.....

LOL. She is actually a pretty good animal.

 

[howl]

I would consider 20' a fairly narrow FOV. You can certainly get by with it. I did for years until I lost a few opportunities due to such a narrow field of view.Yes, an animal would have to be close to fill that FOV, but it does happen.

Could you hit your horse, in a particular part, while it was running at a full gallop at forty yards? How about twenty?

 

[deerkiller]

Sounds like you don't understand what "if" means.

Frankly, I don't know why the SWFA needs to weigh nearly 2x as much as the Leupold. Is there a good reason for that?

many years ago, before "dialing" or "longrange hunting" became all the rage Leupold saw the wisdom in lighter weight scopes being easier to hold together under recoil because less weight atop your recoiling rifle means less kinetic energy transferred to internals in the scope - Schmidt & Bender scopes were a hard & fast favorite with allied military having been proven by African PH's for a long time - Leupold then began experimenting with aircraft grade alloys - Leupold scopes are built just as robustly as any other but when they began landing military contracts they also found that those lighter weight alloy cogs, teeth, finer edges on internal parts didn't like the constant spinning of dials and such (this is why most of the newer design myriad of complicated optics in the Leupold line are also heavier, or at least part of the reason) Back "in the day" Leupold and Redfield were the dualing American scope makers, that is where it all sort of started … "duplex reticles and antifogging scopes" - As a military sniper or long range competitive shooter I think dialing is the natural progression in the science of shooting, where MOST hunting is concerned, IN MY OPINION, not so much

 

[Fatcamp]

I would consider 20' a fairly narrow FOV. You can certainly get by with it. I did for years until I lost a few opportunities due to such a narrow field of view.Yes, an animal would have to be close to fill that FOV, but it does happen.

Could you hit your horse, in a particular part, while it was running at a full gallop at forty yards? How about twenty?

Yes! Well, probably. OK, I'm saying there's a chance.

Honestly, decades of wingshooting and small game hunting put me in a good position to do so. Lots of practice with my rifles adds to that.

Where we hunt 300 yards is far more of a concern than 20 ever will be, and being prepared for 500 may some day make the difference between the buck of a lifetime and a sad tale.

 

[Thinkingman]

were you meaning the Burris that's made in the Phillipines ? FYI, Burris is no longer it's own name and are off-shore products - for a BUDGET MINDED shooter or hunter there are still a lot of choices - I use only Leupolds because 1) they are ALL AMERICAN made 2) they INVENTED the lightweight scope that will stay together when you are out in the backcountry and a lifetime warranty does absolutely no good BUT when you take a Leupold to the factory (in BEAVERTON, OREGON) they ask what your complaint or concern is then take your scope and completely disassemble it, check EVERYTHING then give it back to you, NO CHARGE with a report of what they checked and what the condition of EACH component was before correction or replacement - I "think" Vortex does the same but Vortex scopes are heavier by a pretty significant margin if I'm not mistaken - Leupold treats each and every level of scope the same, no matter what you paid even if is was preowned - there are "better" scopes (maybe) but not near that price range - and for those who "dial", IMO, that's not normally "hunting" … "THAT'S shooting" - Since 1971 and 100's of game taken all over NA, 98% with Leupold optics, 00 in the field breakages or failures, for me as well as anyone who was with me, THAT IS FACT - OH, and the "down to 3x" thing ….. 2.5x, 3x, 3.5x, 4x all are pretty wide FOV's and more than adequate for acquisition of sight picture and fast shooting (IN one heck of a lot of shooters' OPINION)

YUP!!!
I’ll take better glass, clarity and light transmission, better tracking, a ‘Forever’ warranty that DOESN’T need to be used!
I’ll take a scope that doesn’t lay down in the middle of a hunt (but they sent me a new one!) and works better, even if it’s made in Philippines.
Leupold KoolAid, like Toyota, is some powerful stuff.

 

[452b264]

Something to take into consideration is the SWFA 6x NEEDS A ZERO STOP AND THAT HUGE WIND AGE NOB WILL GET SPUN AROUND AND YOU WILL BE 3 FEET OFF TARGET WHEN YOU NEED IT, IT WILL ALSO HANG UP ON EVERYTHING. I WOULD LOOK AT THE LEUPOLD 6 X 42 FOR A FIXED POWER.

 

[Bobbyboe]

Something to take into consideration is the SWFA 6x NEEDS A ZERO STOP AND THAT HUGE WIND AGE NOB WILL GET SPUN AROUND AND YOU WILL BE 3 FEET OFF TARGET WHEN YOU NEED IT, IT WILL ALSO HANG UP ON EVERYTHING. I WOULD LOOK AT THE LEUPOLD 6 X 42 FOR A FIXED POWER.

If you're spinning your turrets just walking, then you're doing something seriously wrong... Those fixed 6x turrets are hard to turn on accident. Inspecting your scope should be done before shooting, just saying.

I get it, it's all about preference. If your hunting is 0-300, a normal scope is all that's needed. If you want to practice/hunt past 300 you need a dialing scope. In the end, it's your damn money, do with it what you want.

 

[Fatcamp]

I put tape on my windage knob. Seems to work.

 

[bdan68]

I can shoot to 500 without dialing, using a Leupold 3-9x40 with the Long Range Duplex reticle.

 

[16Bore]

Remember back when most of us were using Leupold scopes which still had friction adjustments and worked so well in the field nobody complained?

Any of you 6x fans ever tried to shoot an animal sighting down the side of the barrel because your FOV was smaller than the animal at the range presented?

Eh....no.

No problem with FOV at 15’....which was kinda funny after shooting and seeing my turret then wondering why I had one.

Except for playing around with...

 

[Newtosavage]

Leupold FX3 6X42=13.6oz
SWFA SS 6X42=20.3oz

That's 1/3 more. Not a bad payoff for the ability to reliably dial. Size is a whole nother issue. The SWFA is a bigger scope for sure.

LOL. She is actually a pretty good animal.

I thought I saw the leupy was closer to 10 oz

 

[Fatcamp]

I thought I saw the leupy was closer to 10 oz

IDK. That's off of Leupolds web site.

 

[16Bore]

I knew I used to keep track of stupid stuff like this....

 

[Newtosavage]

I was thinking of the VX-2 6x36. That one is 10 oz.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

I was in your situation a little over 30 years ago. I ended up purchasing a used Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10, which I still used to this day.
It has been on seven or eight rifles over the years from .2 to 3 through .338 and has endured 30,000+ rounds. Approximately 15,000 of those rounds with a .308.
It’s current home is on my 6.5 CM which I regularly shoot out to 600 yards.

3+ decades, 30,000+ rounds fired under it, zero problems, ever. And all this from a scope I bought used at the time. I’ve bought and sold several high-end rifle scopes over the years since I bought it, yet it remains in constant service for me.

Clear bright optics, lightweight, tough as a two dollar steak, and backed by a true no hassle lifetime warranty.

It’s like a sore Peter, you can’t beat it!

 

[dreamingbig]

What is the current version of that scope that you would by or is it’s closest clone?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TREE ‘EM]

What is the current version of that scope that you would by or is it’s closest clone?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

VX-3i 3.5-10x40