Rifle Scopes What would you buy with $1,200 +/-?
- Thread starter Singleshot
- Start date
i suppose youre buying nice glass one way or another
I've already got Burris Signature 30mm high rings (with inserts) that I want to use.
I don't want to go over 50mm obj on this rifle (prefer 44mm) as the scope just gets unnecessarily high, I'd need a cheek riser, I prefer scopes to be as low as possible, overall it's just not a path I want to go down.
34mm is not such a big issue but still means I need to buy new rings, and the Signature rings aren't available in 34mm.
The scopes are typically bigger, bulkier and heavier and I don't need the additional elevation 34mm tubes provide.
The PST is reported to have a bigger FOV too which is something I look for in a scope.
There are a lot of posts with folk complaining about mushy clicks of the Ares BTR.
Whilst I'm not too picking with turret "feel", but turrets with an obvious detent that's both tactile and audible is preferable over one that is a tad mushy.
As mentioned the PST offers other advantages over the BTR which put it ahead of the BTR.
In the exchange here the illuminated models sell for $900 and the non-illuminated for less. I bought three in the last couple months. They are worth every penny at those prices. They sell low because of the huge black friday mark downs every year. That is the pricing the used market is based off of. I wouldnt even consider them at full retail and I really like the scope and the reticle. I’m partial to thicker reticles and not really a fan of the tree style as i can hold up and over easily with a standard reticle up to any distance where I would utilize this method.
Tree reticles are definately not the be all and end all. They have negatives as well and many guys dont even define their positives as positives. Tree reticles are not necessary to hold up and over. I like reticles like the mil-quad and the H2cmr. Non cluttered and easy to breakdown. The .2 mil diamonds in the mil-quad serve a purpose. They help the shooter better disect the reticle when making hold overs on the main line.
I am definately not turning this thread into a tree vs no tree argument. I am just balancing the see-saw of opinion since it was brought up.
I have a XTR II 8-40x 50 with a 34mm tube. It is fine but I won't buy another. It also sits in 34mm Burris XTR Signature rings. The XTR's are the ones with the inserts, the standard Signature rings do not. The 34mm XTR's are available in 1" and 1.5" heights.
ETR even though Athlon fan boy rush of a couple years ago got old fast, the new ETR is hard to ignore with all its features. I’m hoping the new XTR III is priced in there on the street. But the SWFA with an aftermarket zero stop would be 100% capable if you don’t need a tree.
I love capitalism.
I love capitalism.
So you had all kinds of recommendations, as you can see they have little consistency.
If you want meaningful suggestions, your use list and priority of scope features is not defined enough and thus you getting recommendations from a hybrid benchrest scope with very limited FOV and travel to guys just tossing stuff out.
Do you care about elevation or FOV, if so, where does that fall on your priority list. Without a robust priority list, you can’t possibly choose “the best choice “ with today’s offerings of good scopes.
Scopes that live in the middle of $1000-$2000 have a tough life and now that you can get a Gen 2 Razor 3-18 for $1500 and 4.5-27 for $1800 (or less for the older reticles) their life just got a LOT tougher. Like them or not they are now setting a new quality standard at the $1500-$1800 price point. Everyone has budgets and we all want the best for our $, too often people here just default to "well just spend the $4k or you're going to suck". Reviews are hard to trust, someone asks about scope x vs y and you have people saying x is the clear winner, then others saying they are crazy y was the clear winner. There's also more than a few here with a "relationship" with an optics company pumping their products up, they are easy to see if you read enough posts.
IMO the best deals are sales, demos, rebates. $1100 would get you a DMR ii Pro and $1450 a XRS ii after the 20% rebate that just ended. $550 for LRHSi's after the GAP sale and rebate. PST Gen 2 3-15's for $675 at Midway now. The refurb T5xi's 5-25's for $1400, and 3-15 for $1100 are tempting. With the new street prices on the Razors they are flat out setting a new standard at a $1500-$1800 price point. It won't be long before a new $1200 scope is going to basically be the same price as a used 3-18 gen 2 razor. Those are some big shoes to compete against.
What scares me is that now that everyone is obsessed now with chromatic aberration, and getting "HD" glass will companies sacrifice durability and tracking to use better glass in these lower priced options. I'd rather have solid turrets, great tracking and give up the glass quality. I've yet to use a $1000 scope the glass was so bad it was not useable, but I've used several that had tracking/durability problems that made them useless. I equate this to about 15 years ago when uneducated 1911 buyers became obsessed with how tight the slide was fit to decide the quality of a 1911 (even though a tight slide has nothing to do with accuracy and almost always hurts reliability) companies starting making super tight slides, and it caused all sorts of reliability problems at lower/mid price points. They gave the foolish customer what they wanted, got lots of sales, but in doing so made a less reliable product.
I really don't see great options for you in your requirements, I'd probably say the Sig on sale. No vortex throws out the PST II, no tree throws out Athlon, LRTSi, DMR ii, 20x+ and $1200 throws out some of the deals like the, T5xi 3-15, 5-25. I don't think the 5-20 SWFA is worth $1300 in todays market but it does meet your criteria.
Personally I also believe there's also an advantage to have scopes with similar reticles between rigs. If you are just range shooting for leisure it's not a big deal, but one thing I learned shooting trap at a national level is the more consistent you can keep your gear once setup the better off you are. Switching between setups, guns, changing adjustments etc. almost always does more damage than good unless you are trying to fix a specific identified issue.
IMO the best deals are sales, demos, rebates. $1100 would get you a DMR ii Pro and $1450 a XRS ii after the 20% rebate that just ended. $550 for LRHSi's after the GAP sale and rebate. PST Gen 2 3-15's for $675 at Midway now. The refurb T5xi's 5-25's for $1400, and 3-15 for $1100 are tempting. With the new street prices on the Razors they are flat out setting a new standard at a $1500-$1800 price point. It won't be long before a new $1200 scope is going to basically be the same price as a used 3-18 gen 2 razor. Those are some big shoes to compete against.
What scares me is that now that everyone is obsessed now with chromatic aberration, and getting "HD" glass will companies sacrifice durability and tracking to use better glass in these lower priced options. I'd rather have solid turrets, great tracking and give up the glass quality. I've yet to use a $1000 scope the glass was so bad it was not useable, but I've used several that had tracking/durability problems that made them useless. I equate this to about 15 years ago when uneducated 1911 buyers became obsessed with how tight the slide was fit to decide the quality of a 1911 (even though a tight slide has nothing to do with accuracy and almost always hurts reliability) companies starting making super tight slides, and it caused all sorts of reliability problems at lower/mid price points. They gave the foolish customer what they wanted, got lots of sales, but in doing so made a less reliable product.
I really don't see great options for you in your requirements, I'd probably say the Sig on sale. No vortex throws out the PST II, no tree throws out Athlon, LRTSi, DMR ii, 20x+ and $1200 throws out some of the deals like the, T5xi 3-15, 5-25. I don't think the 5-20 SWFA is worth $1300 in todays market but it does meet your criteria.
Personally I also believe there's also an advantage to have scopes with similar reticles between rigs. If you are just range shooting for leisure it's not a big deal, but one thing I learned shooting trap at a national level is the more consistent you can keep your gear once setup the better off you are. Switching between setups, guns, changing adjustments etc. almost always does more damage than good unless you are trying to fix a specific identified issue.
I'd just buy a Athlon Midas TAC and call it good enough. For the money right now they are "THE" scope to get. And if I suggest this while not being a great fan of the reticles in this line, that's saying something!
C'mon Athlon, let's see an all .2 mil tree reticle for the TAC line.
C'mon Athlon, let's see an all .2 mil tree reticle for the TAC line.
For that price range I find it hard to move away from the Nightforce SHV F1. Tracking, 14 mil MILR reticle, Japanese glass, 25 yard parallax (my experience) and only superior to the NXS with the fact that’s it’s an F1 reticle. 1,000 yard shots no problem. Only complaints that are not deal breakers for me is that the eye box is a bit tight and there are only 4 mil’s per rev. The balance of the features offered far outweigh my two complaints. JM2C...
A great FFP that is Mil illuminated is the Steiner P4Xi 4-16. Falls short of your 20x request but is close. German glass, forever warranty... At $900, you still have left over for mounts and a bipod... plus maybe one hooker and a trip to the dollar menu with said hooker.
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I think the SHV F1 is clearer and sharper than the NXS line. I don't think the eyebox on the SHV F1 is tight at all. I find it forgiving. The eye relief is short though.
I'm looking in the same ballpark price range . Need a scope to "learn on" for a year or two before upgrading. In terms of JUST solid mechanics, reliability and glass quality how would you rate the Sightron SIII vs the Athlon Ares ETR. I realize the Athlon is newer, has illumination and zero stop but if you were picking one to learn how to shoot 600-1000 yds which of the two? I'm just getting started and the Sightron would free up dollars to go towards other needed toys which is why I'm kind of leaning towards it.
Completely agree on glass quality. That and the fact that they don’t offer an F1 in the $1500-2000 range are why I don’t own one. Fix that with a MILR reticle in that price range and I’ll buy one.....MILR needs to be 14 mil, not 4.
if budget is a concern id also throw the midas tac onto the table
I can't find a Sightron SIII to look at in person but I've read SOOOO much about it. I come from a photography background so I appreciate reliable mechanics and quality glass above all else. I'll upgrade to a higher end optic once I recover from the financial shock of all the other goodies I need to buy but the Sightron SIII appears to be an OLD DOG than can STILL HUNT.
I’m leaning towards a used T5Xi
I have 2 of them. MRAD/ SCR reticle, 5-25x 56. I paid $1,449 for the first one (08/2018), and $1,612 (2 weeks ago) for the second. Both were NIB, but I watch for them on Amazon via camelcamelcamel. Good news if you get a used one that has a problem, the warranty is lifetime with no paperwork required.
With new scopes around the $1200 mark, I would be looking at Athlon Ares ET 4.5-30x56, SWFA SSHD 5-20x50 and Steiner P4Xi 4-16x56.
That having been said, if you can get Sig Tango6 4-24x50 for $1300 as Doug posted above, you should go for it. I have one of these and I really like it.
If the price is all in the same ballpark, the Tango6 would definitely be my choice.
ILya
That having been said, if you can get Sig Tango6 4-24x50 for $1300 as Doug posted above, you should go for it. I have one of these and I really like it.
If the price is all in the same ballpark, the Tango6 would definitely be my choice.
ILya
In my opinion, I think the best buy at $1200 is a Bushnell DMRii 3.5-21x50 from @LibertyOptics . I love my Bushnells, they hold their own against anything close in price...
Sightron S III 6-24
https://sightronusa.com/product/siiiss624x50lrzsffp-mh/
https://sightronusa.com/product/siiiss624x50lrzsffp-mh/
i dont think you could go wrong with the burris xtr lines.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/wts-athlon-cronus-btr-4-5-29x56-aprs-mil-1200.6930148/
For precision tactical shooting, I think this is the best scope you could possibly hope to get in the $1200 range. JMHO
For precision tactical shooting, I think this is the best scope you could possibly hope to get in the $1200 range. JMHO
Meopta Optika6 with $$ left over for some ARC rings, no brainer! and besides that way we get a hide member review of this new optic!!!
Been very satisfied with both Nightforce SHV F1 and Bushnell LRTSi. There are some things I like a little better about each, but they are both great scopes that retain zero, track precisely and return to zero. Hard to choose between the two but I guess I lean toward the LRTSi a little bit. The LRTSi can be had stupid cheap on Expert Voice.
John
John
If it were me I'd go DMR2Illum or a Burris XTR2 4-20. Maybe a SWFA5-20 which I've owned as well and has better glass than the other two.
I wouldn't have as much faith in any other options to give you the tracking and durability you've requested.
I wouldn't have as much faith in any other options to give you the tracking and durability you've requested.
The Steiner 4-16x56 Cameral Land has is awesome at $850.
https://cameralandny.com/shop/Stein...c97-00163ecd2826?variation=1857314&query=5221
https://cameralandny.com/shop/Stein...c97-00163ecd2826?variation=1857314&query=5221
Ares ETR and it includes a billet lever and level from me 
Ended up picking up a Steiner T5XI 5-25 for $1,150.
If anyone want to help me fund my new purchase before wife find out (lol), have a like new Zeiss Victory HT 1.1-4 I’ll let go for same price ($1,150) if anyone is interested. That’s more than 50% off street price.
Quality scope for the money - you scored.
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