Affordable & Lightweight Riflescope Options

[BigWoods]

I'm considering putting together a second compact deer rifle for my wife & kids to be used in the big woods of Northern New England. As such shots could range from densely wooded 15 yards to 200 yards. The rifle itself is likely to be a second generation Ruger American chambered in either 6.5 Grendel or 6.5 Creedmoor (downloaded for smaller frames).

I have a VX3 2.5-8 on my Kimber Hunter that fits the bill well, but would like to keep this scope in the $200-300 range and hopefully keep the total package under 7lbs as it will be used for long days carried in hand for deer tracking. It seems like so much of the market has gone toward heavy long-range scopes that can be dialed. As much as that would be a nice option, I don't even know where I can shoot further than 200 yards around here.

I have eyed up both the VX-Freedom and SWFA 2-7 ultralight offerings (both on the high end of the budget).

A couple year old thread pointed consistently to Burris Fullfield line, but those seem to have been discontinued.

What are the available options?

Thanks!

 

[BLJ]

I recently bought a Sightron S1 from @gr8fuldoug.
Mine is a 4-12 but they had 3-9’s for $150.
3-9’a are advertised at 13.6 ounces.
I’ve only got about 40 rounds on mine at the range so I can’t really comment on zero retention.
But tracking/eye relief/glass were all good for the price. IMO.
Only issue I noticed was that the eye box was kinda tight on 12x. Minor really.

 

[adamm88]

I have bought 3 or 4 burris full field scopes you can still find them in 3-9 they are as clear as my early 2000 leupold $200 ish scopes. If your looking for a 2x7 its tough going,

I have a vortex diamond back scope which is simular glass thats in the burris, i also have two sig whisky 3 2x7x35, glass is nice but the field of view isnt great.

I had a vortex cross fire 2x7 i will never buy that line of scopes again, image was crap.

If you want cheap the sig buckmaster is really good for the money but its a 3x9x40

 

[goalie]

I recently bought a Sightron S1 from @gr8fuldoug.
Mine is a 4-12 but they had 3-9’s for $150.
3-9’a are advertised at 13.6 ounces.
I’ve only got about 40 rounds on mine at the range so I can’t really comment on zero retention.
But tracking/eye relief/glass were all good for the price. IMO.
Only issue I noticed was that the eye box was kinda tight on 12x. Minor really.

I put a 1.75-5x Sightron from CameralandNY on my 45/70 single shot this year. Tracked great, held up to 40* rain, I'd buy another. Under $200 on sale right now

 

[BigWoods]

@BLJ & @goalie - Thank you for the sightron recommendations! I had looked into their bino line for kids a couple years back but hadn't looked over their scopes.

I have bought 3 or 4 burris full field scopes you can still find them in 3-9 they are as clear as my early 2000 leupold $200 ish scopes. If your looking for a 2x7 its tough going,

I have a vortex diamond back scope which is simular glass thats in the burris, i also have two sig whisky 3 2x7x35, glass is nice but the field of view isnt great.

I had a vortex cross fire 2x7 i will never buy that line of scopes again, image was crap.

If you want cheap the sig buckmaster is really good for the money but its a 3x9x40

I'll have to see what's around for the 3-9 Fullfields...good to know they can still be found. Also thanks for the sig recommendation. I'll check into those more.

 

[goalie]

Yeah, the 1.75-5x pleasantly surprised me when I threw it on. It was easy to get behind, and most of all, the adjustments actually were accurate and repeatable. It also held zero despite getting dragged up in trees and knocked over a few times.

Sightron 1.75-5x

 

[BigWoods]

Yeah, the 1.75-5x pleasantly surprised me when I threw it on. It was easy to get behind, and most of all, the adjustments actually were accurate and repeatable. It also held zero despite getting dragged up in trees and knocked over a few times.

Sightron 1.75-5x

That's encouraging. Especially if I go for the 6.5 Grendel (cheaper to shoot and low recoil) I'll likely use the rifle to stretch out a bit on steel. It looks like the turrets can be dialed for range and reset, correct?

 

[goalie]

That's encouraging. Especially if I go for the 6.5 Grendel (cheaper to shoot and low recoil) I'll likely use the rifle to stretch out a bit on steel. It looks like the turrets can be dialed for range and reset, correct?

They're capped, not target turrets, but the adjustments were accurate and repeatable, which is a lot more than most "inexpensive" scopes......

 

[Fritz D]

+1 on the Burris Fullfield. I don’t think the FFIIs are easy to find these days, but if you can find a 3-9 I think it would fit your needs?
I hear good things about the FF IV also, though i have no personal experience with it?

 

[zeroforhire]

Minox zv3. I think it’s 11 oz. I have three of them. Love em.

 

[kandpand]

I have a Sightron S1G2 1.75-5 and 3-9x40 purchased from Cameraland and I am very happy with them so far. The adjustments were firm and accurate.

 

[BigWoods]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I went ahead and ordered the Sightron s1 in 1.75-5x yesterday since they were in stock and going at a good price right now. It's good to see at least a few manufactures still putting out the lower magnification scopes that aren't tactical bricks.

 

[peaches]

I'll go Burris also, but they the K series Weavers were great, I honestly like them better than fixed Leupolds. The K4 is All the scope needed for most hunting. I wish I bought a couple more when they closed them out.

 

[BigWoods]

I'll go Burris also, but they the K series Weavers were great, I honestly like them better than fixed Leupolds. The K4 is All the scope needed for most hunting. I wish I bought a couple more when they closed them out.

Yeah I had a Weaver V3 that was a great little scope. The thought of reaching out to the guy I sold it to has crossed my mind a few times.

 

[Teodoro]

I'll go Burris also, but they the K series Weavers were great, I honestly like them better than fixed Leupolds. The K4 is All the scope needed for most hunting. I wish I bought a couple more when they closed them out.

As proof that anything can fail, I'm watching this thread because my Japan-made K4 gave up the ghost on me this year.

 

[TradLife406]

Check out the Arken EPL4 off Amazon. $329. My main gun has a Mark 5 and this China cheapo has glass that gives it a run for the money. Lower light transmission isn't as good but smaller tube and objective diameter.
I'll definitely be buying more of this brand for the guns I don't shoot much but still want a quality FFP scope for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigWoods]

Well the Sightron arrived; so far I'm impressed. Optic is bright and at least center is very sharp. Slight distortion around the edges of the very large field of view....but that's not really an issue especially at the price.

Now to figure out what rifle to purchase...