What kinds of scopes did you use as a kid?

[pk5333]

Random thoughts...

I'm 37. When I was a teenager, shooting relatively cheap guns with cheap scopes for deer hunting, I was typically using Tasco, Bushnell, and Simmons, 3-9x40. I remember my dad had an old 6x Redfield widefield that I thought was pretty decent.

Back then, I thought my Simmons was a good scope. But I didn't actually know any better, until one day I looked through a Nikon ProStaff, and was blown away at the optical clarity. Then a few years later my uncle got a mid-range Leupold, and again, I was blown away. I often reminisce about the days when I thought a Nikon ProStaff was the end all be all of rifle scopes.

And many of the most popular scope companies today didn't even exist 20 years ago. Seems like Vortex just popped up out of nowhere and now they're everywhere.

My entry into "precision" was a New England Firearms, break-action 223 with a bull-barrel and a cheap BSA scope with some ridiculous magnification, like 40x or something. Fun gun, I regret selling it.

 

[beetroot]

My dad taught me how to shoot and he knew almost nothing about guns.
Grew up with crappy $50 scopes on my rifles but he had a Nikko Stirling Gold Crown 4x32 which seemed like the best scope ever.

After a few years started buying my own stuff, Simmons, Nikon, Burris, etc, but nothing worth much more than a few hundred dollars.
I spent a good 10 years playing around with rubbish scopes, didn't know the hight end stuff like S&B or Premier existed, knew about the NF NXS but that was out of my price range and a teenager.
I remember looking at buying a Bushnell ET 6-24x50 after reading the article on Snipercentral but couldn't afford it.

If only I had the options available now days, I coud've saved myself 10 years of shit scopes and just bought some of the lower end Athlon stuff, kids these days have it easy I tell you.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

The first scope I really remember using as a kid was the Tasco 2-7 that came on the Marlin Model 60 that my dad got for me. Back then though I mostly just shot .22's or shotguns, I didn't really get into scoped rifles until my late teens.

I miss some of the options that we had available back in the day. Bushnell's 3200 10X was a damn fine scope for the money with a hella amount of travel and pretty good glass. MidwayUSA had an exclusive version for a few years that was mil/mil, I wish I'd picked one up.

 

[Im2bent]

yeah I'm old

 

[Baron23]

I'm older! haha The one on the right is for ELR!! LOL

Of course, back then this was a telephone. haha

 

[Stevo86]

Had an old savage Springfield bolt action 30-30 with a Tasco pronghorn, still have it. Shot my first buck with my buddies grandpas old Remington 700 and a fixed 6x Leupold.

 

[BLKWLFK9]

tasco silver antler on a remington semi auto .243 win. Still have it on the same rifle.

 

[Steel head]

Iron sights!

 

[pk5333]

Had an old savage Springfield bolt action 30-30 with a Tasco pronghorn, still have it. Shot my first buck with my buddies grandpas old Remington 700 and a fixed 6x Leupold.

ahh yes, the Pronghorn. I imagine that scope is responsible for helping to bring down millions of deer.

 

[theLBC]

i the only scoped rifle i shot as a kid was my dad's model 88 (.308) with the weaver k4 60b on it, bought around the time i was born.

 

[hlee]

Arguably 100s of old beer cans lost their lives to an iron sighted 10/22. Nearly chopped down a mesquite tree using it as a back stop with that rifle.

First scope was a bushnell sportview 3-9 on a Marlin lever 30-30.

 

[rcnpthfndr]

i learned on my uncles remington 513T with a unertl 12x, then a H&R Model 700 22 WMR with a weaver K4 i bought saving money mowing lawns and washing cars as a kid, then my uncle gave me his old westingfield(?) 30-06 with a weaver K4 steel tube

 

[acudaowner]

had a daisy model 98 with a cheap ass scope but it was all mine lol . I'd never forget that Christmas I had a blast shooting snowballs and fence posts tin cans tree branches I was hunting wabbits .

 

[KYAggie]

My very first scope was a Tasco 2-7 on a Benjamin 177 cal pump air gun. My first scope on my deer rifle was a Redfield 3-9 Widefield Accutrac. I used that scope for years.

 

[ZiaHunter]

One of my first scopes was the Redfield Widefield 2 3/4x purchased in 1973. Still have it and mounted on a 10/22.

 

[Ranchhand]

Weaver 4k and bushnell scope chief 3x9.

 

[GTOJOSH]

Simmons whitetail was the pinnacle for me. Still had it on my 25-06 until 2 years ago simply because I knew exactly where it would hit without any adjustment, hold over dots, etc- cause there aren't any. But it was dead nuts on till the day I took it off. Like said before, a cheap argos would have blown all our minds 20 years ago.

 

[waveslayer]

Iron sights and an old Red field my dad was so excited about on a BAR on a 30.06.

Then we upgraded to a Nikon because he had all their lenses and cameras... ha ha ha boy that shows how ignorant we were.

 

[Guns&WhiteWater]

Simmons were plentiful, but they weren’t considered cheap when I was a kid. I can’t imagine what people would have thought if you spent $3000+ on a scope back then. Some of the old Gold Rings were lavish!

 

[RedsandTX]

Weaver Tip-Off made in El Paso
Still have it .
I’m older than dirt.

 

[Deleted member 181377]

I never owned a scope until my eyes started changing when I hit 40 back in 2017. I don't really like them much for hunting, I almost always feel like I have the wrong one on the wrong gun. When shooting at paper its always the same story; the first group will be decent but my eyes get tired and watery much after that. I can extend my shooting time by keeping both eyes open but that is just a different kind of fatigue. My new personal best is a 5.5 inch group at 400 yards with a 4x redfield on a .223 Remington 722 (rebarreled) with bottom tier Federal Frontier ammo. I'd rather be out in the field.

 

[Gohring65]

Let’s put it this way…
When I was a kid, if you had a BDL 7mag and a Leupold 3-9 you were considered a rich dude. Lol

 

[Big_Kumar]

I had a Tasco World Class 3-9x40 that came on top of my Remington 700 ADL in 7mm that my dad bought me for my birthday a long time ago. Kept in on there for years because I didn’t know any better and it held zero.

I had a Simmons 8-Point 3-9x40 that came on a H&R .243, which was the first rifle I ever bought.

I still have both the rifles and the scopes, but the scopes came off years ago and are now sitting in a box.

 

[otnot]

A Redfield 4X on a Savage .270 1960's era.

 

[Mike Casselton]

First center fire, 3rd scope.
Savage 110 GNS (no factory sights and had a welded on Weaver type base) in 7mm-08 and a 3-9X Tasco World Class TV view scope.

I thought the scope had a wide field of view and later compared it to a regular 3-9 Tasco.
Found out that they just clipped off the view along the top and bottom...


I still have the rifle and scope. The scope sits in the safe along with the other unused optics.

My first two scopes were on a Crossman 766 and a Marlin model 60.
Both scopes were those little skinny bitches that you can buy now for like $8.00.

 

[JH1961]

Weaver K4

 

[drglock]

Weaver K4 on a Remington 788 in 6mm

 

[Jackmonkey]

i the only scoped rifle i shot as a kid was my dad's model 88 (.308) with the weaver k4 60b on it, bought around the time i was born.

My father-in-law has that same Model 88 and scope but has the flip mounts. I've been trying to buy it off of him for years.

 

[Jackmonkey]

My first scope was a Tasco 2-7 on a Crossman 760 pump. First scope on a rifle was a Weaver K6 60-C 6x on a Rem 700 .270.

 

[JH1961]

Weaver K4 on a Remington 788 in 6mm

Mine was also on a Remington 788, but in .308, ca. Christmas 1975.

 

[Shoots 700's]

I had a Bushnell Banner 3x9 on a .30-06. When switched to a Leopold Vari x lll I though I hit the big time.

 

[nikonNUT]

My first scope (19 so still a kid in 1990) was a Tasco World Class Plus 36x50. I think I paid $250-ish and had it on a Savage 110. I shot 2 vehicles with the rifle (funny story). I kinda miss that scope.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Bushnell 4x on my first rifle, then after returning from Vietnam, I had a Redfield Widefield and another Redfield 3x9. Finally moved on to Leupold’s for the rifles. We used Burris 7X handgun scopes on our silhouette guns with a Luepold and Bushnell 2x6 thrown in. Finally, all of our rifles have been equipped with Leupold’s. None of the Luepolds have been bad, some have been outstanding.

 

[LonewolfMcQuade]

Always had a decent rig as a young kid & forward (dad's) custom built Rem 700 BDL's -Leopold optics, Jewls triggers etc. When it came to hunting gear, dad bought decent SHIT. May have came home from school to no water, maybe no electric, empty fridge & occasionally the phone being disconnected but sumbitch had his priorities straight!!

 

[BLEE]

My grandmother worked at Sears, so my house was always full of Sears finest. I had a Sears 4x scope on a Crosman air rifle. My first 30-06 got a Redfield Widefield 3x-9x and still wears it to this day.

 

[Radar20]

Simmons 4-12 (basically zero eye relief) on a light Remington model 7 (youth) 243 as a 9-10 year old. Talk about bad flinching habits!

 

[Familydude]

Tasco from K-Mart on a Crossman 760 pump .177 BB/pellet rifle.

 

[buffalowinter]

#1

#2 Still have it...well, one like it.

 

[Temper]

Leupold VariX III 4.5-14 was on my 300WSM A-bolt, first deer rifle I got when I was 10. All my dad's rifles had some kind of Leupy Vari-X on it so that's what I ended up shooting the most until I got old enough and started buying my own stuff. Still have both the scope and rifle.

 

[LonewolfMcQuade]

Lesson of the day: Get kids hooked early in life on guns & optics and they won't have $$$ to get into drugs or other bad shit

 

[hlee]

Lesson of the day: Get kids hooked early in life on guns & optics and they won't have $$$ to get into drugs or other bad shit

Me, if I spent money on drugs instead of guns, optics, and ammunition…

 

[Temper]

Lesson of the day: Get kids hooked early in life on guns & optics and they won't have $$$ to get into drugs or other bad shit

Me, if I spent money on drugs instead of guns, optics, and ammunition…
View attachment 7756864

Why not both drugs and guns?

 

[LonewolfMcQuade]

Why not both drugs and guns?

Might as well throw some hookers in there too, ya greedy bastard

 

[DocRDS]

Scopes?

WE DON NEED TO FREAKIN SCOPES

WE HAVE EYESIGHT!!

Didn't get my first scope until i was 30. And now I need a REALLY high power one...

 

[drglock]

Mine was also on a Remington 788, but in .308, ca. Christmas 1975.

I got mine for Christmas as well but can’t remember if it was in 1974 or 1975. My grandfather bought it as a package deal with the K4 in McAllen , Tx

 

[Average guy]

My first scope was a 6x Redfield Widefield on an M77 250 savage. Traded it and $40 to one of my dads friends that owns a pawn shop for a Leupold M8 6x. Thought I had the best there was. My cheap Nikon buck master has far better clarity. But that rifle and scope are still together in my safe.

 

[candyx]

3x9 Redfield Widefield 1976 still have 2 of them mounted in pristine condition.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Back then, I thought my Simmons was a good scope.

Simmons were plentiful, but they weren’t considered cheap when I was a kid.

Honestly, in the 80’s, Simmons wasn’t a bad scope. Heck, even Bushnell low -mid range were often made in Japan. Now you cannot touch Japanese glass under $1200!

I used a Weaver K4 out to 350yds regularly back then I remember sighting in took a while to get the reticle to move and then settle down.

Now I’m considered a total optics snob in my hunting party with a Vortex pst gen2!

 

[6mmRemM600]

Herters 3-9x on a Remington M600 in 6mm Remington. I ran that scope for 48 years.

 

[Chickentoast]

Circa 1980... Tasco 4X on a Crosman 760 pump. Circa 1985... then a Tasco 3-9 on a Diana 48 after saving up! Shot it so much with the reverse recoiling airgun that the glass blew out of it and I went back to iron sights.