Scoping out a Scope.

What are you going to do with this rifle?

Gently used or even possibly new NF ATACR 7-35 w/ MIL-C or MIL-XT in the for sale section on here

NF 7-35 used from px is top end of your budget. But may be heavy

Burris XTRIII gets lots of love here

Honestly a Athlon Cronus BTR Gen II would fit the bill very well and can be had around $1200 in px here.

Depends what you want to do with it. Personally I feel for a range gun or general rifle where it won’t take a pounding the Athlon Cronus is right there with the NF in glass and great reticles. I also like the illumination and non rotating ocular vs the NF. The NF is built like a tank in comparison however.

We’re going to do this anyways cause it’s the hide….

If you toss another couple hundred on the table you can have a used ZCO 527 from the px.

My top choice is a used ZCO 527 mpct 2x or 3x. Next is the used NF ATCAR 7-35 mil-xt. Both are solid scopes

Check out opticsthoughts.com. Koshkins recommendations hold a lot of weight

Glassaholic also has very lengthy reviews and comparisons in the forums here.

Both of these guys have had a lot more side by side comparisons than most people here. I think their reviews and recommendations will be a lot less biased because they don’t fall under the category of “get this one because I have it and like it”

Since when does a husband have a say in what the wife buys?

Are you from a foreign country?

Here's a list of great options in your price range.

Can you tell your husband to grab his purse, and take him to a local PRS match?

Plenty of people there who will be happy to show you what they run, along with letting you get behind one.

CValero said:

After weeks of YouTube channels, articles, websites, so called experts and having managed to convince my husband how “essential” buying a scope would be to our marriage. He told me he wanted a complete report to justify the large expense.
I am ready to buy. So…, For my dream long distance rifle scope, I would would like the following scope features
1. First Focal Plane
2. In the ballpark of 5-25x56
3. Mil Reticle (not mil dot)
4. Exposed ‘Mil’ Windage and Elevation Turrets w/Zero stop and all ‘stainless steel’ internals (nothing plastic but I will accept Brass).
5. 30mm or 34mm Tube.
6 Chrisp, loud ‘clicks’ for both windage and Elevation Turrets.
7. Lightweight (maybe 32 ounces) but whatever. Also ‘Throw-levers’ are good.
8. illumination ( I think?)
Budget under $3k.
This would be my first scope, so be gentle. Nonetheless if anyone feels the urge to disagree with my choices, please provide any reasons or recommendations. I am really appreciative.

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What is the intended purpose for the scope, what kind of shooting will be done? Knowing this will help narrow down options.

CValero said:

After weeks of YouTube channels, articles, websites, so called experts and having managed to convince my husband how “essential” buying a scope would be to our marriage. He told me he wanted a complete report to justify the large expense.
I am ready to buy. So…, For my dream long distance rifle scope, I would would like the following scope features
1. First Focal Plane
2. In the ballpark of 5-25x56
3. Mil Reticle (not mil dot)
4. Exposed ‘Mil’ Windage and Elevation Turrets w/Zero stop and all ‘stainless steel’ internals (nothing plastic but I will accept Brass).
5. 30mm or 34mm Tube.
6 Chrisp, loud ‘clicks’ for both windage and Elevation Turrets.
7. Lightweight (maybe 32 ounces) but whatever. Also ‘Throw-levers’ are good.
8. illumination ( I think?)
Budget under $3k.
This would be my first scope, so be gentle. Nonetheless if anyone feels the urge to disagree with my choices, please provide any reasons or recommendations. I am really appreciative.

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Used Schmidt and Bender with dtii+ turrets ... It's the little things in life

hafejd30 said:

Honestly a Athlon Cronus BTR Gen II would fit the bill very well and can be had around $1200 in px here.

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Most underrated scope out there.

Huskydriver said:

Used Schmidt and Bender with dtii+ turrets ... It's the little things in life

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Might be a record on the Hide for the Athlon to Schmidt and Bender transition.

As per Hide doctrine it always starts out that you could go easily get by with an Athlon, or used Vortex, Burris, etc. But for just a few hundred more you can have a ZCO.

If your budget is 2,999, for just a thousand more or a measly 1200 more you can probably find a Tangent Theta in the PX as well.

CValero said:

After weeks of YouTube channels, articles, websites, so called experts and having managed to convince my husband how “essential” buying a scope would be to our marriage. He told me he wanted a complete report to justify the large expense.
I am ready to buy. So…, For my dream long distance rifle scope, I would would like the following scope features
1. First Focal Plane
2. In the ballpark of 5-25x56
3. Mil Reticle (not mil dot)
4. Exposed ‘Mil’ Windage and Elevation Turrets w/Zero stop and all ‘stainless steel’ internals (nothing plastic but I will accept Brass).
5. 30mm or 34mm Tube.
6 Chrisp, loud ‘clicks’ for both windage and Elevation Turrets.
7. Lightweight (maybe 32 ounces) but whatever. Also ‘Throw-levers’ are good.
8. illumination ( I think?)
Budget under $3k.
This would be my first scope, so be gentle. Nonetheless if anyone feels the urge to disagree with my choices, please provide any reasons or recommendations. I am really appreciative.

Click to expand...

Give me a call at 916-628-3490 and I can get you squared away...

Richard@CST

CValero said:

After weeks of YouTube channels, articles, websites, so called experts and having managed to convince my husband how “essential” buying a scope would be to our marriage. He told me he wanted a complete report to justify the large expense.
I am ready to buy. So…, For my dream long distance rifle scope, I would would like the following scope features
1. First Focal Plane
2. In the ballpark of 5-25x56
3. Mil Reticle (not mil dot)
4. Exposed ‘Mil’ Windage and Elevation Turrets w/Zero stop and all ‘stainless steel’ internals (nothing plastic but I will accept Brass).
5. 30mm or 34mm Tube.
6 Chrisp, loud ‘clicks’ for both windage and Elevation Turrets.
7. Lightweight (maybe 32 ounces) but whatever. Also ‘Throw-levers’ are good.
8. illumination ( I think?)
Budget under $3k.
This would be my first scope, so be gentle. Nonetheless if anyone feels the urge to disagree with my choices, please provide any reasons or recommendations. I am really appreciative.

Click to expand...

There are several very good Japanese made scopes from LOW (light optical works).
The aforementioned Athlon Chronus, Delta Stryker, Tract Toric or Trijicon ten mile.
The Tract 4-25 might be exactly what you're looking for.

My initial advice is find the reticle that speaks to you first. Then build your scope around it. You want Mil, do you want a tree? Something like the Tremor3? A simple stadia line? This choice is very likely going to guide toy to the brand you choose.

That said, your mag range and scope feature description leads me to believe you are leaning toward a Nightforce, which would be what my suggestion is. A 5-25 ATACR most likely. Also, not sure of the caliber, but don’t discount traditional rings. They work excellent and though they’re not the new hotness everyone is going with, IMO they give you some flexibility with weight and spacing you otherwise would not have.

Nice thing about the scopes you’re shopping, if you hate it you won’t loose much if you sell/trade. Maybe nothing if you buy used. FWIW, I have 7-8 Nightforce scopes, all bought used. I have had two go back for service in 22 years. Nightforce has been very easy to deal with. Solid product.

Good luck. Enjoy the journey. Sounds like you’re doing your homework, but don’t get paralyzed by analyses. Remember, this is supposed to be fun.

If you go NF atacr get the 7-35 over the 5-25. Best glass

hafejd30 said:

If you go NF atacr get the 7-35 over the 5-25. Best glass

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This is my experience as well

hafejd30 said:

If you go NF atacr get the 7-35 over the 5-25. Best glass

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Every day I would recommend this, but both these scopes push the weight limit the OP is hoping for.

CValero said:

Yes, long range. I’ve been building up my new rifle (Bergera) for a couple of months on this form and have received great help.

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Good to know. Others have mentioned reticle and by and large this is my recommendation as well, every time you look through the scope you will be looking at that reticle so if you hate it, it is always going to bother you. Since long range is your primary goal and you want to keep weight down, here are my thoughts (keep in mind you do NOT need high magnification to shoot long range, I shoot ELR (out to 2 miles) and rarely go above 16x):

• Used Minox ZP5 5-25x56 with MR4 reticle (34.2 oz but best glass you'll see at this price)
• Steiner T6Xi 5-30x56 (34.5 oz with glass that punches above it's price point)
• March 4.5-28x52 with FML-TR1 reticle (29.8oz is going to be lightest making this a very flexible scope)
• Leupold Mark5 HD 5-25x56 with PR2 and 1/4 mil reticles (30oz and decent price if you don't need illum, but narrow FOV has it at the bottom of this list)

Now, if you don't mind pushing weight a bit:

• Used ZCO 5-27x56 (37.9 oz but likely the best optical experience, used you might get close to $3k but worth it IMO)
• Element Optics Theos 6-36x56 (36.5 oz with amazing glass and toolless turrets this is a great option, included this scope in my latest alpha class optics review and was extremely impressed with it for the price! Send me a PM if you have interest...)
• Used Kahles K525i DLR 5-25x56 (35oz and only buy used, new they are too much for what they offer, only look at DLR as it has a wide angle eyepiece, the other K525i has narrow FOV which is a detriment)

Obviously there are lots more scopes, but these pop to mind based on limited data you've provided.

Glassaholic said:

Good to know. Others have mentioned reticle and by and large this is my recommendation as well, every time you look through the scope you will be looking at that reticle so if you hate it, it is always going to bother you. Since long range is your primary goal and you want to keep weight down, here are my thoughts (keep in mind you do NOT need high magnification to shoot long range, I shoot ELR (out to 2 miles) and rarely go above 16x):

• Used Minox ZP5 5-25x56 with MR4 reticle (34.2 oz but best glass you'll see at this price)
• Steiner T6Xi 5-30x56 (34.5 oz with glass that punches above it's price point)
• March 4.5-28x52 with FML-TR1 reticle (29.8oz is going to be lightest making this a very flexible scope)
• Leupold Mark5 HD 5-25x56 with PR2 and 1/4 mil reticles (30oz and decent price if you don't need illum, but narrow FOV has it at the bottom of this list)

Now, if you don't mind pushing weight a bit:

• Used ZCO 5-27x56 (37.9 oz but likely the best optical experience, used you might get close to $3k but worth it IMO)
• Element Optics Theos 6-36x56 (36.5 oz with amazing glass and toolless turrets this is a great option, included this scope in my latest alpha class optics review and was extremely impressed with it for the price! Send me a PM if you have interest...)
• Used Kahles K525i DLR 5-25x56 (35oz and only buy used, new they are too much for what they offer, only look at DLR as it has a wide angle eyepiece, the other K525i has narrow FOV which is a detriment)

Obviously there are lots more scopes, but these pop to mind based on limited data you've provided.

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Did you have a chance to compare the Theos and the Zeiss S3? Were they pretty similar optically?

Fret said:

Did you have a chance to compare the Theos and the Zeiss S3? Were they pretty similar optically?

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Unfortunately not, Zeiss is late (really late) in getting me their S3 and I've got to send the Theos back soon. I did compare Theos to the Vortex RG3 and they were very close, Vortex having a slight advantage but differences were minimal, both are very impressive designs, the fact that the Zeiss S3 is also LOW design (same as RG3 and Theos) I envision it too is very close in optical design. I do like the Theos turrets more than the RG3 turrets FWIW.

Thank you!

Earlier you were looking for a bipod for your B14 is that what this scope is for?

The 5-25X50 PST Gen-II w/ the EBR-7C FFP reticle is beautiful glass. Simple to range with. Holdover and windage adjustments without touching the turrets.

CValero said:

After weeks of YouTube channels, articles, websites, so called experts and having managed to convince my husband how “essential” buying a scope would be to our marriage. He told me he wanted a complete report to justify the large expense.
I am ready to buy. So…, For my dream long distance rifle scope, I would would like the following scope features
1. First Focal Plane
2. In the ballpark of 5-25x56
3. Mil Reticle (not mil dot)
4. Exposed ‘Mil’ Windage and Elevation Turrets w/Zero stop and all ‘stainless steel’ internals (nothing plastic but I will accept Brass).
5. 30mm or 34mm Tube.
6 Chrisp, loud ‘clicks’ for both windage and Elevation Turrets.
7. Lightweight (maybe 32 ounces) but whatever. Also ‘Throw-levers’ are good.
8. illumination ( I think?)
Budget under $3k.
This would be my first scope, so be gentle. Nonetheless if anyone feels the urge to disagree with my choices, please provide any reasons or recommendations. I am really appreciative.

Click to expand...

First, have you seen this?

My suggestions:

If you had a higher weight budget, you can find the Razor Gen 3 6-36x56 on sale for mid-$2K range and that is by far the best quality for the price in this magnification range. I have two and it compares well to the very best at a little over half the price when on sale, but they are considerably heavier than your spec. This scope meets everything on your list except weight - turret clicks are nice and loud but easy to turn and not obnoxiously loud.

For around 30 oz, if you can find it on sale, the March 4.5-28x52 with Shuriken turrets and FML-TR1 can be priced at about mid-$2K range, but this configuration is on backorder right now. I have had one on order for about 2 months and still no word about when it will be available. Not quite as forgiving in the eye box as the Vortex, and not quite as easy for depth of field, but otherwise it is great for the weight and price. This might be the best fit for your specs.

Right now there is a sale on the Element Theos 6-36x56 for right at $2K I think. This is said to be a great scope, in large part because of the nice, tool-less turrets. I think the optics platform is from Light Optics Works in Japan and if this is true there are several other manufacturers with similar optics but maybe not quite as nice in the turrets.

There is the Burris XTR Pro line for a bit less than your budget. I don't have a Pro but do have two of the XTR IIIi line for about half or less than your budget and they are similar to the Pro, just a little less glass and turret quality. These are very good for the price, but at your budget the above two will have controls and turrets that are easier to operate. The Steiner line is probably a little better optics and turrets, but similar performance for more $ but still under your budget on sale.

At about half your budget when on sale, there is the Razor HD LHT 4.5-22x50 that is outstanding for the price and it is in the low 20's for weight. I have two of these and they are great for the weight and price. The turrets are a bit mushy compared to your spec, but they work just fine and have proven to be repeatable.

If it were me, if you can afford the weight I would go with the Razor Gen 3 on sale for about $2.5K - the best optics for the price IMO but a chunk on weight. Otherwise the March to meet your weight spec at about the same price on sale if you are willing to place it on backorder for who knows how long. Otherwise the Theos on sale for about $2K right now. If you want to save 50%, then one of the above Burris options or the Razor HD LHT.