Reliable & Affordable Scopes! Your go to is?

RWT

WKR
Joined
Jul 4, 2022
Messages
383
Trijicon Huron
Just order the 1x6 Sightron based on the drop test. Camera land had it on sale recently. Both under $500. And of course SWFA’s.
 
Joined
Feb 15, 2023
Messages
7
For a basic scope and no dialing.Leupold vx3. 30mm tube. Reticle of your choice. They're simple, reliable, light, and good enough glass. They have great eye relief and sight picture. They don't sell the warranty like vortex, but they do have a good one.
vx3's are 1" tubes. Keeps them nice and light, my go to's as well
 

ElPollo

WKR
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
1,751
Not trying to poke anyone or their choices of scopes. But defining reliable seems like a good idea for any such discussion. Not everyone’s use is the same, so “it works for me” without details might inadequate or it might not. That’s the beauty of the drop tests. It’s clear what they are going through and how they perform. A user might never put a scope through anything like that, but one bad day might happen. If it does, you might have a bit more confidence with models that pass or brands that have multiple passes.
 

Laramie

WKR
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
2,656
Perhaps but also perhaps the person only has one rifle and a few mouths to feed, been there done that Simmons, bushnell and a few others in that region. Things change in ones ability to up grade gear Like I stated decent glass, good warranties mid to upper mid-range 0ptics are out there you dont need a 3-4 thousand dollar rifle scope to hunt deer antelope or nothing else unless your into sitting in a bar or camp and playing mine is bigger than yours
Who said anything about 3-4k for a scope?

If guys can't afford a decent scope, they should save until they can imo. 500-1000 will buy something reliable. Anyone can do some side jobs to afford that if they aren't lazy.
 

Flymost

FNG
Joined
Dec 2, 2024
Messages
13
Heck, I’m sure there’s lots of decent “starter” scopes laying around in Roksliders safes that you could have for free. I’ve got an old Bausch and Lomb elite 3000 I’d give you, and soon to have a couple Nikons I’d give you as well. I’m sure there’s nicer stuff out there too that guys are never going to use.
 

Macintosh

WKR
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
2,916
Have probably owned fewer different scopes than many, but still I’ve had almost a dozen different brands of scopes, a couple different models from many of those. Older weavers, redfield, a couple nikons, several mid to higher-end bushnell, several vortex and leupold, athlon, schmidt and bender, trijicon. I’ve had 5 scopes confirmed crap out on me (3L’s and 2V’s) ie I confirmed or the company confirmed the scope broke, all under very normal use, so Im a bit touchy about reliability. Of the scopes available new right now, trijicon seems to be the sweet spot in durability per dollar if you are looking for a smaller, variable-magnification scope with capped turrets. I havent had mine that long so really cant hang my hat on it, but between my impression over the past 18 months or so on 3 different scopes, the drop evals here, and the experiences of several friends, thats where I am putting my scope $ in this category. They have a variety of options under $500, sometimes well under. Eurooptic seems to consistently have the best stock and pricing.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
1,617
Who said anything about 3-4k for a scope?

If guys can't afford a decent scope, they should save until they can imo. 500-1000 will buy something reliable. Anyone can do some side jobs to afford that if they aren't lazy.
Hey if you’re going big might as well go for the whole enchilada. As for who said anything about a 3-4 thousand dollar scope I did, keep em in the 10 ring sport.
 

ElPollo

WKR
Joined
Aug 31, 2018
Messages
1,751
My pick for reliable, durable and affordable is the SWFA 6x MQ. Love these scopes and was crushed when the got discontinued. SWFA is supposed to release an updated version with turret caps in Q1 of this year.
 

JGRaider

WKR
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
1,934
Location
West Texas
Been chasing W TX sandhills bucks with the boy. He finally caught up to this nice buck using his CTR 260 Rem, 130 AB's, and a 7 yr old Tract Toric that the internet says sucks and won't hold zero. This one has in spite of it all. One well placed bullet at, ironically, 260 yds standing off of sticks.....

ujwc8vY.jpg
 
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
1,593
Location
Great Falls MT
I bought an Arken epl4 for the kids Sig Cross. Ordered the 6-24 version for my 6 arc since they were out of the 4-16's.
They aren't as nice as my Mark 5 or even close to that. Some dudes may try and over sell em. But for a broke blue collar dude they are very functional it seems. I haven't had chance to take it out to anything long range yet. So can't verify the tracking capabilities. But as far as the glass goes it's good.
Also try and get em on Amazon. They're way cheaper.
 
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