$500 scopes...

[freediver111]

I'm pretty surprised only two guys are recommending the SWFA's. I just picked one up on black Friday and I love it! They don't come with a zero stop, but you can buy one for $23. A guy makes them and SFWA covers warranty if you use them.

I have a fixed 10X, retails for $300. If you really want a range of zoom, they make a 3-15 for $699. If you don't want to drop a lot coin but want repeatable clicks, my vote is SWFA. Keep in mind, I'm pretty new to all this, but did a lot of research and spoke with some knowledgable guys about it. That being said, my buddy has a Vortex HST and he's pleased, but I'm not a fan of Vortex. They have a great warranty for a reason, and I've used it!

 

[V65Magna]

I have 2 of the Vortex HST's (4-16) & (6-24) and for the money, I'm reasonably impressed with them. Currently, they are mounted on a .25-06 and a 6.5X47 Lapua, respectively. The Vortex was the only one I could find in the price range for what I wanted without going with a Nightforce, which I found cost-prohibitive. I've been looking at all kinds of options for the 6.5-284 I have on order from Savage and after looking at Leica, Swarovski, Burris, Nikon, Leupold, Zeiss, etc., etc., I just keep coming back to the Vortex HST. I kind of wish there was something else but I've not been able to find anything better for the money.

 

[260madman]

SWFA is never a bad choice. I have 5 and waiting on the 6th to arrive soon. I was told the 24th they would have a shipment in.

Another to consider is the Weaver 3-15 Super Slam with the illuminated EMDR. Mil/Mil FFP. I just received mine. Natchez had them for $540.

The new Nikon looks good but not FFP.

 

[30338]

Another SWFA vote. 6x, 10x, 3-9x. All very solid.

 

[Jkling12]

Burris veracity gets my vote. I love mine

 

[Dioni A]

If you can come up with a little more the veracity is nearly the perfect scope in my opinion. Features and quality are better than the price point they're at!

 

[marshland_max]

Another vote for SWFA. I really like mine!

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[marty0]

And yet another SWFA vote. I love my fixed six and am planning to purchase several others.


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[ams]

I’m really enjoying the Nikon black. It’s simple to use and the glass is pretty damn good. The turrets have been right on after 260 rounds ranging from 100-300 yards. It’s been out 3 times so there’s still a lot to prove but so far so good. $450

 

[Idaho Lefty]

My son and I have SOLD all, our Nikon's, Vortex's and Leupold scopes, we only use Burris Scopes, now and yes, we "Dial" on some of them!
Brighter, clearer and repeatable, AWESOME Warranty, too! I now have,.. 2, 2x7's, 1 3x9, 2- 4.5x14's and 1 5x20.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Whoop's !!,.. I still have ONE Leupold, a 6X on a .22 Mag.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

If you can come up with a little more the veracity is nearly the perfect scope in my opinion. Features and quality are better than the price point they're at!

YUP,.. Veracity would get my vote, IF,.. I needed another scope.
Burris scopes were, BRIGHTER than, a Vortex my son HAD, better Eye relief than the Nikon's, clearer than ANY of, my older Leupold's !

 

[desertcj]

Coming back to this. The only scopes I'm really interested in that fit this category are the Burris Veracity and the Athlon Midas TAC. I'm not sure I really like the capped turrets on the Veracity and on the Athlon Midas, it's a MIL/MIL scope. I like MOA. Frustrating...

Edit: Bushnell Forge looks pretty good to me, BUT it isn't quite there on price for me at this time. They may come down a bit over time but who knows?

 

[2five7]

Coming back to this. The only scopes I'm really interested in that fit this category are the Burris Veracity and the Athlon Midas TAC. I'm not sure I really like the capped turrets on the Veracity and on the Athlon Midas, it's a MIL/MIL scope. I like MOA. Frustrating...

Edit: Bushnell Forge looks pretty good to me, BUT it isn't quite there on price for me at this time. They may come down a bit over time but who knows?

Couldn't you just take the caps off the veracity and then you'd have an uncapped turret? Best of both worlds.

3-15 veracity can be had for $489 right now, tough to beat in that price range.

New 2018 Burris Veracity 3-15x50 Ballistic Plex E1 FFP 30mm Riflescope 200636 381006363 | eBay

 

[desertcj]

Couldn't you just take the caps off the veracity and then you'd have an uncapped turret? Best of both worlds.

3-15 veracity can be had for $489 right now, tough to beat in that price range.

New 2018 Burris Veracity 3-15x50 Ballistic Plex E1 FFP 30mm Riflescope 200636 381006363 | eBay

Yeah that's definitely a good option. It's just not "Right"? It bothers my ocd... lol

 

[Macintosh]

Pretty sure the veracity can be had with some sort of exposed turrets—they have a turret interchange system? The scope looked good to me until I got to the reticle option, singular option that is. If they made an iluminated MOA-dot reticle or something equally mid to longer range appropriate yet simple enough to not be distracting for hunting, I’d already own one.

 

[desertcj]

Pretty sure the veracity can be had with some sort of exposed turrets—they have a turret interchange system? The scope looked good to me until I got to the reticle option, singular option that is. If they made an iluminated MOA-dot reticle or something equally mid to longer range appropriate yet simple enough to not be distracting for hunting, I’d already own one.

I believe there are 3 different reticle types with the Veracity? Maybe even 4. I think they should have just kept it simple with the turret options though. It's a little confusing and I don't really understand why they did what they did. Tall, capped, multi-turn vs low, capped, single turn? Neither of those is what I want. As for the Nikon Black, I still can't believe that Nikon chose to go with a 2 piece tube construction. I know, "Its fine", but to me its not fine when there are other options with 1 piece tubes. Pretty sure I'm going with an Athlon Midas TAC 6-24x50. Hopefully I dont regret that....

 

[Macintosh]

I think we must be looking at different magnifications, the veracity i was looking at (2-10) is only available on their website with a bdc reticle, no other option that I could find. Re turrets, I just checked and understood the turret options differently than you, it sounded to me that they have 2 or three different options in standard exposed turrets plus a custom lasered option in exposed turrets. if thats whats holding you back maybe give them a call, it IS less than crystal clear.

 

[ramsdude47]

Bringing this post back up versus starting another since $500 is my soft upper limit.

I’m on the fence between the Sightron STac 4-20 vs Strike Eagle 4-24 mainly due to the great sales (CameraLand/Europtic). I do have access to some pro deals, but honestly they aren’t much better than good sales and usually a good used deal beats pro deals. Athlon Midas TAC vs Veracity are my pro deal choices, kinda heavy though.

My question - are there any used scopes that tend to pop up in the $500 range that are considerably better options and worth trying to be patient for?

 

[chutinlead]

Bringing this post back up versus starting another since $500 is my soft upper limit.

I’m on the fence between the Sightron STac 4-20 vs Strike Eagle 4-24 mainly due to the great sales (CameraLand/Europtic). I do have access to some pro deals, but honestly they aren’t much better than good sales and usually a good used deal beats pro deals. Athlon Midas TAC vs Veracity are my pro deal choices, kinda heavy though.

My question - are there any used scopes that tend to pop up in the $500 range that are considerably better options and worth trying to be patient for?

Depending on your use case, I have a 4-20 Athlon Helps Gen2 that is pretty feature packed with zero stop, locking turrets, illum, lots of elevation travel, 10yd min parallax, and I believe it's only 25oz. Not the lightest, but for a 30mm tube and 50mm objective, it's not back. Camera land has done me a solid deal on 2 of them for around your budget.