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Rifle Scopes 2K glass

E

eli polite

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 9, 2010
1,307
30
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delaware
I'm in the market for new glass I'm in the 2K range + or minus say $500

Before I ask my questions let me say I have been in the market for about a month now and in that month I have read and researched so much that I think I over did it.. My brain is almost on melt down. Between what I have read on here and on manufacturer web sites (they all claim they are the best for one reason or another) I just don't know..

This is not a comparison conversation. I just want honest real world opinions on Glass in the 2-2.5k Range.. I plan on buying used most likely on here.

I have seen USO, Night Force, Leopold, Zeiss, and a few others on here in my price range I currently have a NF but I really want this one to be an FFP. Im looking to be in the 20-25x power range

I may be shooting my self in the foot posting this because I have already absorbed so much info in the last month my brain hurts!
 
Other than FFP, and max 20-25X magnification, what else is important to you? Glass quality? Illumination? Weight? Is your price cap of $2500 chiseled in stone or movable if you found something that met other criteria? What are you going to be doing with it?
 
At that price point, watch for a used USO.
 
Vortex HD 5-20 w/ SPUHR mount for $1999 at Mile High. Just an awesome value for everything you get. S&B, USO, Kahles, Steiner etc... are all awesome as well so you'll be happy with any of the mentioned.
 
I quite like the Leupold Mark 4 8.5-25x50mm M1 LRT. Priced at $1750.00 so not bad
 
I have been leaning towards the USO

The big thing is I have not had the chance to get my hands on any of the so I can better make my decision so im stuck with info gathered from research..
 
U.S. Optics 3.2-17x44!!! Did I say anything else? No, I gues not as nothing else needs to be said. :cool:
 
At just under the $2k price point, the offerings from IOR (6-24x and 3.5-18x) are hard to top glass-wise for the price. Comes with rings as well.

The Razor/Spur combo is an awesome value.
Lots of happy shooters with the newer Bushnell 3.5-21x50. 10mil turrets and zero stop make it a sweet package.
There is the good ole Nightforce F1 if that would be enough magnification for you. They pop up used for good deals around here.
A lightly used USO would make you happy I'm sure. They are heavy though, like IOR.
If weight is a concern, you can't go wrong with Premier LT, Leupy Mk6, and March. The versatility of March 3-24x or 5-40x (pricey) is pretty much unmatched, definitely take a hard look at them. :cool:
 
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I have no idea how to post links but if you search for threads by Koshkin you will find excellent evaluations of scopes in various price ranges. You would do well to add the SWFA 5-20X50 HD to your considerations.
 
I have the following higher end scopes; NF ATACR (not FFP but out of all of my scopes my favorite) Steiner, USO and had a Henny for a short time. ANY would be great addition and I would shop based on what is available at the time and not just hunt for one or the other. I am not an optics brand fan boy, in other words I do not have a "this is the best scope" end of story point of view. There are so many great offerings and there really is no holly grail.

I have a variety because they are all good and I like to try new things, but like I said among the family I will have a favorite (ATACR) but for personal reasons. Yours will vary as will all the opinions you get. What you did was great, you researched what companies have solid offerings, now when the best deal pops up pull the trigger and be done with it. When your budget allows for another try a different brand and so on. I would never turn down a deal on a March to wait for a deal on a Premier, I would just check here daily and when I see one of the reputable scopes in my price range I make sure I am the first pm in the sellers box.

So don't get wrapped up in what brand, you know your needs and wants and what manufactures are GTG so your already ready.

Sully
 
thanks for the advice..

let me be a little more specific.. First I'm not in a hurry to purchase I have seen a few come and go on here because I needed to do a little reading before the purchase.

This is a range scope I don't hunt. At this point in my life I have no time (patience) for it.. I shoot any where from 100 - 1000 yards. I'm not just a fair weather shooter I shoot in cold snowing blizzards, rain under a roof and out in the open, heat, wind, morning and evening. so it needs to handle all of the above conditions including dim light or sun in my face. I love the top turret on the uso I have big hands and with gloves on that looks like it would make things easier.
 
USO is a great offering and there are two I have had my eye on in the optics for sale section here. I just don't need another scope now, but both appear to be very good deals and both sellers have positive feedback scores. From what you have stated the USO would be a very good option.

Sully
 
eli polite said:
thanks for the advice..

let me be a little more specific.. First I'm not in a hurry to purchase I have seen a few come and go on here because I needed to do a little reading before the purchase.

This is a range scope I don't hunt. At this point in my life I have no time (patience) for it.. I shoot any where from 100 - 1000 yards. I'm not just a fair weather shooter I shoot in cold snowing blizzards, rain under a roof and out in the open, heat, wind, morning and evening. so it needs to handle all of the above conditions including dim light or sun in my face. I love the top turret on the uso I have big hands and with gloves on that looks like it would make things easier.
Click to expand...

If durability and robustness are paramount, you'll do no better than the F1. USO could probably be considered right there with Nightforce in that regard, they are heavy enough.
 
Harry72, this is exactly the optic i have on my rifle and i love it. i was considering SWFA, nightforce, and a few others and the leupold was the clearest of them all. Ive had the scope for almost two years now and it has been great. only complaint i have is mushy clicks on the m1 knobs. other than that, its been just beautiful. I went with the TMR reticle.

-Paulus
 
Eli Polite:

I just went through the same thing. I found that at the $2500 mark it's gonna be a compromise. You are going to have to settle for premium glass or premium mechanics, but you won't get both. If you're gonna spend that kind of money, might as well go all out and fork over an extra grand. That way you won't have to worry about glass or turrets, only which reticle you like better.
 
^^^^^^
I have been thinking about doing that as I'm not in a huge hurry.... but I struggle with spending $3k on glass
 
Sports optics had some "used for a day" Stiener 5-25x56 with MSR reticle for roughly the range your in. I honestly think they shipped me a new scope. I couldn't see a single mark and the zerostop would have had to been reset if it was shot. Don't forget to add in the price of the rings/rail/mount if you don't have them already. Those can jump to 2-400 pretty easily..

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Irokcrawl said:
Sports optics had some "used for a day" Stiener 5-25x56 with MSR reticle for roughly the range your in. I honestly think they shipped me a new scope. I couldn't see a single mark and the zerostop would have had to been reset if it was shot. Don't forget to add in the price of the rings/rail/mount if you don't have them already. Those can jump to 2-400 pretty easily..

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Click to expand...

I was going to recommend you check out Sport Optics or Liberty Optics, both are Hide vendors, Chris and Scott are both very active here and usually have some great deals stashed away for Hide members. In fact I think Scott still has a few of the new Leupys on special. He hooked me up with a smoking deal on the Mk 8 3.5-25 a few months ago.
 
I was in the same spot you are now not long ago, researching everything for hours on end. I ended up with a Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50 and a set of Razor HD 35mm rings and I couldn't be more pleased. It isn't a Schmidt and Bender but for $2,000, I really don't think it can be beat. As mentioned above, give Scott @ Liberty Optics a call and see if he can't help you out a little bit on the price.
 
I have several sets of rings they are all NF rings 2 sets are in use with NF optics and the third set was taken off of the NF I just sold 20moa light weight.. but the size of the tube will determine if I can use it or not..

how does the Leopold mk8 stand up to what has been mentioned so far and no one has said any thing about Premiere I have see some on here in my price range?
 
Premier is great until the parallax knob locks up on you :) just watch how tight you lock the to go down and they are good.

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eli polite said:
I have several sets of rings they are all NF rings 2 sets are in use with NF optics and the third set was taken off of the NF I just sold 20moa light weight.. but the size of the tube will determine if I can use it or not..

how does the Leopold mk8 stand up to what has been mentioned so far and no one has said any thing about Premiere I have see some on here in my price range?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry Eli, I totally missed that you were the OP on this, I didn't mean to treat you like a "noob" by explaining who Liberty and Sport Optics were.

I have the Mark 8 3.5-25 and it is NICE, really nice. It's of course BIG with a 35mm tube and 56mm objective, but it is a badass scope. Retail on them is mid $3s to about $4k (with the Horus option) but Scott at Liberty had one for sale at around $2500 up until a few days ago, not sure if he still has it ( can't remember which reticle).
 
The mark 8s are good also and if you can get one AR 2500 that's a steal! I wished my 1-8x24 mark 8 was that low when I bought it a while back.

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I think that my biggest problem to get over is buyers guilt! I don't know if you guys go through that or not but I have a hard time spending money on any thing every time I buy something like this I enjoy the hell out of it but I always have that feeling of guilt
 
Buy 3 or 4 of them and you won't think so hard about the next optics purchase. The first scope I bought Thay cost over 2k I treated I like it was going to break in half or explode. Now they all get beat pretty hard and all still work perfectly. The other thing is after you have it it makes shooting so much more of a pleasure than fighting a cheap scope. You forget the money the first time out with it. Or at least I did. I he wife on the other hand not so much. :)

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I have recently used USO and Razor HD 5-20X with EBR-2reticle at 500 yard steel and USO was much darker and image less crisp, but opinions vary! Mile High Shooting has had them on sale with $300-400 Suphr mount with level, sincetube is 35mm. Can't beat that price.
 
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