Buy once, cry once- optics?

[JimIsland]

Another vote for the Accupoint 4-16X50. I have one and it's fantastic. It does very well in low light as well, however if low light is a high priority go with the Credo HX 2.5-15X56. Can't go wrong either way and for the money, hard to beat.

 

[chicoredneck]

I’ve been real happy with a Tract Toric PRS scope. It’s been n a rifle now and seen hard use for 5 years without any zero issues. It’s been just as good as a Nightforce NX8 I own at a cheaper price.

 

[swampy14]

Man, don't let the RS KoolAid dictate your field time! You're buying a new hunting rifle, take it hunting! Slap a freaking Diamondback on it, set it up, establish a distance parameter (I like MPBR),don't roughhouse it, go have a great experience, maybe shoot something, post the photos! Get the whizbang fancy scope next year to complete your goal setup.
I can afford about any item in the space and shoot a freaking Vanguard with a Maven weeble wobbling around on top of it! It works! Could have killed most of my critters with my 30-30.

You sir provide a good point

 

[Clayt6499]

Nothing is sadder than seeing a super nice rig setup with some poopy glass on top (Arken Shills cough cough). I’ve owned MK5s, Gen 3 Razors, ZCOs, Kahles, Steiner, and a few others from doing PRS. Every time I try to skip out and go back to a cheaper optic, I end up hating it. Just buy once cry once. Not saying there aren’t great options in that 1-2k price range and that there aren’t certainly diminishing returns. But I sold a Razor LHT off one of my hunting rigs a few years ago, tried to put a couple budget friendly optics on it and hated every single one when I’d get on it, finally broke down and got a 3.6-18 Mk5 on it and I couldn’t be more excited to get it out this season. When you are spending the big bucks on a custom rifle, spend the big bucks on the glass too. You won’t regret it, I promise you. Pic of my custom 6.5 ready to go this year with the mk5

 

[AustinTravis]

I would go Trijicon around the $1k price point. If you have the budget, the Nightforce NX8 4-32 is about as good as it gets for a long range hunting scope. There’s no other scope that’s proven to be as bulletproof at that weight.

 

[swampy14]

Nothing is sadder than seeing a super nice rig setup with some poopy glass on top (Arken Shills cough cough). I’ve owned MK5s, Gen 3 Razors, ZCOs, Kahles, Steiner, and a few others from doing PRS. Every time I try to skip out and go back to a cheaper optic, I end up hating it. Just buy once cry once. Not saying there aren’t great options in that 1-2k price range and that there aren’t certainly diminishing returns. But I sold a Razor LHT off one of my hunting rigs a few years ago, tried to put a couple budget friendly optics on it and hated every single one when I’d get on it, finally broke down and got a 3.6-18 Mk5 on it and I couldn’t be more excited to get it out this season. When you are spending the big bucks on a custom rifle, spend the big bucks on the glass too. You won’t regret it, I promise you. Pic of my custom 6.5 ready to go this year with the mk5

I definitely get that. I would like the S2H scope but I just can’t have it on hand till December/January whenever this 4th drop ships from Japan.
I was considering a more budget option just to be able to use the rifle this season. I might ask a buddy to borrow an optic off of him for the time being.

Sidenote would the thlr reticle be decent for something like NRL hunter too?

 

[Clayt6499]

It would work ok. I personally don’t think there is good enough sub tension data in the reticle to make good corrections off misses. And I’m not big on super thick lines. Like the one on the spine.

 

[Jordan Smith]

I definitely get that. I would like the S2H scope but I just can’t have it on hand till December/January whenever this 4th drop ships from Japan.
I was considering a more budget option just to be able to use the rifle this season. I might ask a buddy to borrow an optic off of him for the time being.

Sidenote would the thlr reticle be decent for something like NRL hunter too?

IMO, the RMG-H would be better in that application.

 

[AstroVic]

Man, don't let the RS KoolAid dictate your field time! You're buying a new hunting rifle, take it hunting! Slap a freaking Diamondback on it, set it up, establish a distance parameter (I like MPBR),don't roughhouse it, go have a great experience, maybe shoot something, post the photos! Get the whizbang fancy scope next year to complete your goal setup.
I can afford about any item in the space and shoot a freaking Vanguard with a Maven weeble wobbling around on top of it! It works! Could have killed most of my critters with my 30-30.

I agree 100%. There tends to be a lot of "group think" on most forums. It's easy to recommend NF and all of the "best" scopes, but, at the end of the day, it's your money that's being spent.

If you're just looking for something to get you by, there's absolutely nothing wrong with most "budget" scopes. In fact, most budget scopes on the market would run circles around the most expensive scopes from 20 years ago. Heck, I recently bought a brand new Arken LH-4 shipped to my door for about $250, and it's surprisingly nice for the money. Is it as nice as my NF ATACR? No. Is it as nice as my Trijicons? No. Is it as nice as my Schmidt & Bender? No. But is it nice enough to do the job? Heck yeah, it is...no question about it.

Like dgfavor said, I can (thankfully) afford to buy just about whatever I want, but you don't always have to go with the King Ranch when sometimes the XLT will do the job.

I'm not sure where you are in east Texas, but I'll send you a message in case you're close enough and want to look at the Arken.

 

[dgfavor]

I agree 100%. There tends to be a lot of "group think" on most forums. It's easy to recommend NF and all of the "best" scopes, but, at the end of the day, it's your money that's being spent.

If you're just looking for something to get you by, there's absolutely nothing wrong with most "budget" scopes. In fact, most budget scopes on the market would run circles around the most expensive scopes from 20 years ago. Heck, I recently bought a brand new Arken LH-4 shipped to my door for about $250, and it's surprisingly nice for the money. Is it as nice as my NF ATACR? No. Is it as nice as my Trijicons? No. Is it as nice as my Schmidt & Bender? No. But is it nice enough to do the job? Heck yeah, it is...no question about it.

Like dgfavor said, I can (thankfully) afford to buy just about whatever I want, but you don't always have to go with the King Ranch when sometimes the XLT will do the job.

I'm not sure where you are in east Texas, but I'll send you a message in case you're close enough and want to look at the Arken.

During an afternoon of escaping the heat, I caught this video and immediately thought of this thread. I would never begrudge a person from buying whatever shiny object their heart desires but to give the impression that the shiny object is a necessity to be in the field will get an eyebrow raise. Spoiler alert - the cheapest rifle/scope system by far wins this comp:

 

[RiverSink]

My vote would is a NF. Not the cheapest but far from the most expensive, I think you get what you pay for. I have owned atleast 25 of them over the years and have never had a single issue with one.

 

[Mike D Texas]

During an afternoon of escaping the heat, I caught this video and immediately thought of this thread. I would never begrudge a person from buying whatever shiny object their heart desires but to give the impression that the shiny object is a necessity to be in the field will get an eyebrow raise. Spoiler alert - the cheapest rifle/scope system by far wins this comp:

I wouldn’t read too much into that. Ruger Americans will shoot typically, even though the rest of the gun is a turd. And who know what type of use that scope has seen, if it goes from the safe to the bench, them most any scope would work, even a Leupold.

Also, shooter ability plays a huge role in competitions like this. A mediocre shooter with a premium rifle will usually easily be outperformed by a premium shooter with a mediocre rifle. I’ve seen that play out on his channel and in person.

 

[Chris in TN]

I bought a used NF SHV from a member here last year.

Is it a bit heavy and large for what it is? Yeah.
Is the reticle less than ideal? Definitely.

Is it otherwise a danged tank that I have complete confidence in after a 3000+ mile trip including hundreds of miles of washboard USFS roads and hiking and dozens of bouncy SxS rides in the last year since it was bought and mounted? Why, yes, yes it is.

If NF would make an intuititve to use but visible in lower light reticle - FFP with moderate wind holds of the sort I'd actually use, but a thick portion that allowed me to see the reticle, unlit, as long as I could see the target beyond it - I'd never buy anything else, weight be darned. They could even stick it in the old NXS 3.5-15 or the SHV 4-14, it absolutely would not have to be the NX6 or NX8 models.

 

[Kaleb]

I get it that at the moment we can't always drop 2k on a scope. For me that takes some planning or most of the time selling some stuff first. When the alternative is buying a 3-800 scope the 3-9 swfa works well. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it's a honest scope that won't be the weak link in your setup.

 

[eightyeight mag]

Love my NF’s and Trijicons, but I’m not above enjoying a few Athlons as well.