Rifle Scopes Best low-light hunting scope for $1000

[Red_SC]

My dad is looking for a scope for his hunting rifle, and his needs are well outside my typical requirements so I have no clue what to recommend. It will see very few shots over 100 yards, so a top power of 9x to 15x is plenty. His primary requirement is that it work well in low light, as it gets often dark in the woods well before legal hunting hours are up.

He'd like to keep the price to $1000. He's currently thinking about a Zeiss Conquest HD5 3-15x42 but is worried about the smallish objective, and there's nowhere local to put our hands on one. What have y'all found to transmit light best for a grand?

 

[Will Fennell]

Trijicon 2.5-10x56( I get the green illuminated dot in the Mil Dot reticle). Very bright, very robust, 'always on' illumination....and well under $1k. Love mine.....

Liberty Optics will hook you up!

 

[Buzzsaw]

meopta meopro

 

[Remmy Blaster]

Zeiss was my first reaction. Find a model that fits; maybe 50mm objective for best light transmission. My 4.5-14 50mm Conquest is great.

 

[Red_SC]

meopta meopro

I've seen some info on longrangehunting suggesting this as well.

 

[Red_SC]

Trijicon 2.5-10x56( I get the green illuminated dot in the Mil Dot reticle). Very bright, very robust, 'always on' illumination....and well under $1k. Love mine.....

Liberty Optics will hook you up!

This was one of the ones I suggested he look into.

 

[jtrax]

Meopta Meostar 3-12x56. Call Chris at Sportoptics.

 

[Punisher29073]

The meostars are excellent hunting scopes.

Ryan

 

[TireMan]

VX6 2-12x42 is worth a look
Tough to beat the value for glass, warranty, 2-12, illumination on that application

 

[Crosshair]

Several great recommendations so far. I'll add the Swarovski Z3 4-12x50 to the list, excellent glass and coatings.

 

[Garyc]

Meopta Meostar 3-12x56. Call Chris at Sportoptics.

This if low light is your main concern.^^^

 

[00bullitt]

Take a look at the new Nightforce SHV 4-14x56. Unbelievable low light performance. Price point is $995 for non illuminated and $1195 for the illuminated model.

I used one the last week of our hunting season and could pretty much see in the dark on 12x. I was watching two nice bucks on a powerline at 165yards and 205 yards. Had it not been 30 minutes beyond our legal hunting time, the 10 pointer at 205 would be in my freezer.

The SHV will be a huge hit as more folks get behind it.

 

[Niles Coyote]

While not in the high power range I have grown attached to a nikon monarch gold (not sure if than are made any more) 1.something-6x42 with the German 4 type reticle. you can see well into the night if the moon is out. It rides my muzzleloader and many a deer has fallen in the last couple minutes of legal hunting hours in heavy timber. I have yet to have a scope surpass its low light ability. IIRC, the gold line was the top of the line nikon in its day, ~300 eBay'ed and it beats my 1500.00+ tacticals with 50mm objectives... no illumination needed. I have a 2.5-10x50 gold as well and it comes very close but the nikoplex reticle fades 10-15 minutes after sunset in the heavy timber... so it’s not just glass quality to consider...

 

[Gledeasy]

VX6 2-12x42 is worth a look
Tough to beat the value for glass, warranty, 2-12, illumination on that application

+1

I can't say I've looked through a ton of scopes at this price range, but I own a couple of the 3-18 VX6's and I am very well pleased with the glass. Leupold VX6 is what I would suggest.

 

[mjh30]

+1 on the Swarovski 4-12x50 Z3, also take a look at the Zeiss 3-12x50 Duralyt, you should be able to get an illuminated one close to your price, some if the Hide vendors have great prices on demos as well.

 

[Theo98]

+1

I can't say I've looked through a ton of scopes at this price range, but I own a couple of the 3-18 VX6's and I am very well pleased with the glass. Leupold VX6 is what I would suggest.

+2 !

Jan 2nd...saw and took my 1st deer. It was 2 minutes before downtime, soft blue sky was turning black, could not see the food plot and background woods were totally black. When I brought the gun up, my Leupold VX-6 3-18 seemed to have illuminated her coat, as if she were glowing. I had No Issue in taking a great shot, she was DOI! I really was pleasantly surprised at all of the clear detail I could see in the plot due to the excellent coatings the VX-6 has...Very Nice Hunting Scope!

Ted

 

[gr1ffer]

zeiss duralyt really are superb in low light i use mine daily

 

[Greenmachine]

Tagged for later

 

[Nuke Man]

I really want to compare the SHV to the VX 6 3-18×50. I was looking into the new Bushnell LRHS but $ to features made me stray away from it. I would like illuminated reticle on my next scope purchase.

 

[LongArm]

Trijicon 2.5-10x56( I get the green illuminated dot in the Mil Dot reticle). Very bright, very robust, 'always on' illumination....and well under $1k. Love mine.....

Liberty Optics will hook you up!

+100 I liked mine as well, very clear and very,very good at night!!

 

[G22inSC]

My hunting rig is topped with a fixed 6x42 (ranging reticle) and I wouldn't want anything different. I have always heard you want an exit pupil of 7mm to make the most use of the amount of light that will reach your eye. A 6x42 provides that (42 / 6 = 7). Anything less and it's not enough light transmission. Anything more and your eye cannot take advantage of it.

 

[Brett_B]

Trijicon 2.5-10x56( I get the green illuminated dot in the Mil Dot reticle). Very bright, very robust, 'always on' illumination....and well under $1k. Love mine.....

Liberty Optics will hook you up!

This would also be my vote.

 

[CK_32]

Something with a 50mm+ OJL


Bigger the OJL the more light passes through, in turn makes your picture brighter.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

did see it mentioned, but the meopta 3-12x56 with illuminated reticle is pretty awesome in low light,

Meopta Rifle Scopes - Meopta Meostar 3-12x56 Rifle Scope Illuminated RD Reticle - 706590

 

[Mod7nut]

Meopta meopro

 

[Red_SC]

Thanks for all the input, for the most part there is a consensus on a few models. I've forwarded him this information, it should help nicely.

 

[yoteman]

Red sc, take a look at Leopold VXR 3x9
30mm tube, 50mm adj, also has a lighted dot in center in cross hair
have been using this for night coyote hunting this year, an real happy so far.
not to big to look out of place on a hunting rig.

 

[VaRandy]

My vintage Nightforce 1.75 x 6 was devised for NIGHT leopard shooting, but otherwise used for Cape Buffalo and Lions.

I may let it go in another month or so.First focal plane, 1/8 inch clicks, bullet proof, 30 mm tube.

 

[ccoker]

Under a grand and the BEST lowlight?
Meopta 3-2x56 RD

 

[ltrshooter]

One more vote for Meopta Meostar. The 56 objective version gathers light well. I have a 2-12x56 one as well as March Ior Valdada, Nightforce, Vortex Viper and can and have compared them. You have to pay a lot more to do better than Meopta.

 

[Juanjo322]

Trijicon 2.5-10x56( I get the green illuminated dot in the Mil Dot reticle). Very bright, very robust, 'always on' illumination....and well under $1k. Love mine.....

Liberty Optics will hook you up!

I can vouch for both the optics and Liberty optics..

Currently resides on my SR25 ECC

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Juanjo322]

Meopta Meostar 3-12x56. Call Chris at Sportoptics.

I have a Meostar R1 3-12x56 rd illuminated 4C dot and they are good.. I've kept mine exclusively on my .17 Mach IV the batteries are a pain in the balls CR2354..

I would still go with the Trijicon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zac_c]

the Meopta Meostar 3-12x56 would defenily be a good choice, i dont have one but my buddy does and its a nice optic.

 

[OptedOut]

He can take the worry out of the dark woods.

http://www.atncorp.com/x-sight-night-vision-rifle-scope-3-12x

 

[OG10]

LIke the others have said Meopta Meostar 3-12-56, I also like the Swarovski Z-6 I got from Juanjo, but for the price Meopta is hard to beat , I have 4.I also have a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 on my Tikka T-3 lite and it has never had any issue in low light.None of my scopes mentioned are illuminated, but it is a nice option.

 

[Red_SC]

Thanks for the recommendations, the Meopta seems to be the gold standard. It's here and ready to mount, a big thanks to Jason at EuroOptic for hooking me up. Besides the great customer service they're known for and having forgotten way more about long range precision than most of us will ever know, he's a genuinely great guy.

 

[Red_SC]

 

[jz97ss]

I use a Zeiss conquest 3-12x56. Flat awesome in low light.

 

[Prebanpaul]

I would say the leupold varx 6