Scopes, you get what you pay for.

[Rule3]

As with most anything there comes a point of diminishing returns. It all depends on what you need the scope for , how much money you have to spend and how much you need to satisfy your inner self and your shooting buddies.

If you sit around the Rod and Gun Club in smoking jackets, with a a $200 glass of Scotch and a fine cigar, well a Wal Mart Scope is not gonna make it!.

 

[Texas Star]

I shoot a lot of Kangaroos (70-100 a night) When they are in wheat crops which is done at night with a spotlight & by law must be shot in the head, hence a quality scope is a must. I have used many (8X56 is what we use) over the years & the only 2 i will use is the Zeiss 8X56 or Doctor 8X56 which gather heaps of light & crystal clear out to the range of spotlight (200 or so Mts) Rifle is a Win mdl70 in 22/250!

Pete-


"Docter" is a family name and isn't spelled as Doctor, like a physician. Herr Docter bought the old Carl Zeiss factory in Jena, Germany, fomerly East Germany. He improved it a lot.


I own both Zeiss and Docter binoculars and have used Zeiss 'scopes. My son still does. Anyone who has not tried them is not qualified to comment on top grade optics. They, Leica, and Swarovski just blow away anything else. That said, Leupold scopes are excellent and are very good value. Leupold binoculars just aren't on par with the best Euro and Japanese brands.


Why must you shoot 'roos in the head? Is this some left-leaning Greenie law, to prevent suffering, if they must be killed at all?


What does it take to get a rifle license there, in Western Australia? I read on another board that politicians in Canberra are plotting to ban ten-shot rifles, which would encompass the Lee-Enfields! Has that scheme gained ground?


A member in Victoria said he thinks that no Australian state allows hunting with handguns. Can you carry one in WA for backup when hunting dangerous animals, if you have any, save for crocs and water buffalo? Dingos? Feral dogs? Can you hunt foxes or dingos with pistols? Can saltwater crocs be shot at all? They've increased in numbers vastly in recent years. Do they live as far to the SW as Perth?


I always enjoy your posts. Most of what I know of Australia comes from you guys on this board and from old re-runs of, Blue Heelers and, Sea Patrol.

 

[comtedeloach]

Konus makes some nice spotting scopes, and I have a konus scope on my .243 varmint rifle, and it's a very nice scope. Maybe check them out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Pete from Perth]

Pete-


"Docter" is a family name and isn't spelled as Doctor, like a physician. Herr Docter bought the old Carl Zeiss factory in Jena, Germany, fomerly East Germany. He improved it a lot.


I own both Zeiss and Docter binoculars and have used Zeiss 'scopes. My son still does. Anyone who has not tried them is not qualified to comment on top grade optics. They, Leica, and Swarovski just blow away anything else. That said, Leupold scopes are excellent and are very good value. Leupold binoculars just aren't on par with the best Euro and Japanese brands.


Why must you shoot 'roos in the head? Is this some left-leaning Greenie law, to prevent suffering, if they must be killed at all?


What does it take to get a rifle license there, in Western Australia? I read on another board that politicians in Canberra are plotting to ban ten-shot rifles, which would encompass the Lee-Enfields! Has that scheme gained ground?


A member in Victoria said he thinks that no Australian state allows hunting with handguns. Can you carry one in WA for backup when hunting dangerous animals, if you have any, save for crocs and water buffalo? Dingos? Feral dogs? Can you hunt foxes or dingos with pistols? Can saltwater crocs be shot at all? They've increased in numbers vastly in recent years. Do they live as far to the SW as Perth?


I always enjoy your posts. Most of what I know of Australia comes from you guys on this board and from old re-runs of, Blue Heelers and, Sea Patrol.

Roo's are shot for pet meat & must be shot in head with min cal being 222. They are protected although you can obtain a damage lic to cull them as they wipe out Farmers wheat crops No handgun hunting allowed in Australia, Station owners sometime can get permit to carry a handgun on property when they have trouble with scrub bulls & crocs which are only in northern parts of Aust & numbers have increased ten fold since croc hunting was stopped decades ago. Quite easy to get a firearm lic in WA if you have no criminal/mental history & can obtain a letter from a land owner with a farm or station that gives you permission to shoot on his land. If it is a small property, say 20 acres with only Rabbits & feral cats you may only be able to lic a rimfire or 22 Hornet but if it's a million acre station (quite common in WA) with scrub bulls, Camels, Donkeys etc you could lic anything up to around 338Win Mag before they ask questions (Police do gun lic) We have 10 round mag limit, however the 8 shot lever action Adler 12ga shotgun has just been banned but the 5 shot version is ok to have!

 

[ace22]

just my opinion but i'm a big believer in quality optics. I often have mounted scopes that cost much more than the rifle they were on. I no longer hunt and sold my hunting rifles but when I did hunt I only used leupold, Swarovski, and kahles scopes. scopes on my current rifles are leupold for higher power and lower power trijicon. all great optics!

 

[italiansport]

I hate being contrary here and I do have both Leupold and Redfield scopes on my rifles. However I have probably taken more deer over the years with a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington with a 4x Weaver fixed power mounted on it that if it were human would probably be eligible for Social Security. Year after year I'd fire 1 or 2 check out shots with it before the season opened and no adjustment was required. You can generally pick up one of these at a gun show for $50 or less. Bottom line: Not fancy not state-of-the arts but quite capable of getting the job done.
Jim

 

[Skeet 028]

I too have an old Remington 141 in 35 Rem with a K-3 post crosshair scope. Been sighted for at least 40 yrs. Father in law carried it on his 4 wheeler in one of those gun boots in the late 90sKilt a deer with it on an August morning in 99..last deer he shot but he used it on foxes and coons after that till he passed in 2001 at 101 years of age. I just bought an old Weaver K-1 Post crosshair a week ago at an auction for 25 bucks.. and I got an old Kollmorgan 2 1/2X that is almost as old as me on a rifle(1st year 721). It is also a post crosshair. Sold the rifle for a profit and kept the scope. Got to figure what I am going to put it on. Maybe the 1895 CB 45-70 Marlin or that 1894 Marlin in 41 mag I just bought. I too have a few more old K-4s on the shelf in the vault downstairs. Weaver made pretty good scopes 60yrs ago

 

[badge]

Believe it or not one of the best scopes I ever bought was a Tasco purchased in 1973, a 4x12 by 40mm. Lasted almost 30 years before beginning to Fog in cold temperatures. I now use Leupold although my 2x7 is also beginning to fog after 20 or so years in the same situations. I am going to give Nikon a shot.

 

[Skeet 028]

Believe it or not one of the best scopes I ever bought was a Tasco purchased in 1973, a 4x12 by 40mm. Lasted almost 30 years before beginning to Fog in cold temperatures. I now use Leupold although my 2x7 is also beginning to fog after 20 or so years in the same situations. I am going to give Nikon a shot.

+

Way back yonder after Trashco...er...Tasco first came out(nobody wanted a jap scope in those days) I bought one in a low powered variable like a 1 1/2 to maybe 4. Had a European type 3 post reticle. I remember the price as being under 20 bucks. I put it on a shotgun to use as a slug gun. Figured it might last a season or so. It took all kinds of abuse...lost a lot of bluing beat up shot a lot of slugs...never gave up. I put it on ebay when I found it in the vault when I was cleaning out. Got about 35 bucks for it. Got more than my money out of it. That ol M-12 riot gun just pounded the snot out of you. But it accounted for a LOT of deer over the years. More than 300 as I even used it on crop damage shoots. That was a lot of recoil and it always stayed sighted and focused. Newer Chinese or wherever Tasco??? Nah!! I have a couple on the shelf in higher powers to put on low recoil varminters or so. Got them in box lots at auctions etc. Otherwise I won't buy them...or Simmons BSA Vortex Nikon or most any of the Chinese Philippian made stuff.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

just my opinion but i'm a big believer in quality optics. I often have mounted scopes that cost much more than the rifle they were on. I no longer hunt and sold my hunting rifles but when I did hunt I only used leupold, Swarovski, and kahles scopes. scopes on my current rifles are leupold for higher power and lower power trijicon. all great optics!

I 100% agree with you........You can add Meopta to that list...

 

[growr]

I work as a Range Officer at our club here in Billings during Hunter Sight In days.....get to see a lot of gear.

From MY vantage point about 40% have Nikons, 40% use Vortex and 20% is everyone else in the optics game.

I continue to use my dad's 1965 Win M70 30-06 equipped with the original Weaver K4. Zero has not changed in MANY years.....seem near bullet proof to me...NOW, if someone offered lens like a Nikon/Vortex for my old K4...what a combination THAT would be!!

I am also a smallbore 3&4 position competitor and believe it or not the old Weaver T-16 still dominates THAT game...the old Micro-Trac system is still the best adjustment system ever!

Randy

 

[M29since14]

I stopped buying anything except Leupold scopes probably thirty years ago. I can't afford to "save the money" on lesser quality brands and I never could see the value in paying 3x for Swarovski, Zeiss, etc., for my needs. I would replace the Redfield. Doubt you would regret it.

 

[model70hunter]

For you folks mounting old school scopes on older rifles don't forget the Lyman series. Dad put a 4 x Lyman All American on his pre 64 and took it off when he could no longer see the cross hairs, they had one cross hair option that was super thin. When Dad was young and I was a knee high follower I would go with him when he shot with friends. He could shoot the heads off kitchen matches at 25 yards. Move past it, bring it back a bit and hit it. Sort of like we did with black powder when splitting a ball on an axe to break 2 clay pigeons or shoot a playing card in half.

I remembered Dad telling me how to hit a match head. The other guys would ask how I did the black powder shots every time. Told my competitors, just luck.

 

[Lee's Landing Billy]

I have nothing to add insofar as light gathering ability. Robustness, I can speak to. We do a lot of rifle testing all on hard recoiling guns. Our guns weigh 6 to 7 1/2 pounds and launch 500 grain bullets at 2,350 fps. We had 2 or 3 Leupolds in the mail every week. We sold 47 Leupolds in 2 days. We replaced all with Nikons 3 years ago, so far not a single failure. The head honcho at Leupold called my partner and offered us FREE scopes and when he found out we truly were not looking for something for nothing was very nice. This is our experience, not to say yours will not be different. Nikons do NOT break on our big guns. We tallied up that we fired 8,000+ magnum primers last year in testing. This done in about 20 guns. We tear up stuff!!! We haven't broken a Nikon .......YET!

 

[SteveA]

I have a couple of Redfield Revolutions on my son's coyote AR and his deer rifle. He likes them and has used them with great success. Haven't seen a Revenge yet so I can't speak to that line. My favorite 'yote rifle carries a Bushnell 4200 I picked up for a very low close out price a few years back. Its optics are great. Wish I bought a dozen when I got it.

I have Leupold on a number of rifles and use Swarovski binocs my wife gave me one Christmas. I love them...and her. This year in KS deer season I used an old Savage 99E in .308. I usually use a handgun but my work this year didn't leave enough time for practice. I picked the rifle up cheap last year and have a thing for the 99s, even the cheap ugly ones like this particular model. I hung a Sightron 3x9 on it. Pretty cheap glass, just a shade over $200 at my LGS. It was fantastic, giving great low light capability and helping me really thread a shot to a bedded buck in dark, thick timber shortly after first light a week ago Saturday. Nothing is worse than bad glass. My LGS insists customers take the scopes outside and take a look down street before they buy. They usually end up being happy with their purchase.

 

[Leonard]

European scopes are unsurpassed, they hold up well and gather light for that last minute of daylight shot.

One of the best ads I have ever read was Schmidt and Benders "Only a rich man can afford a cheap scope" There is a lot of truth to that statement.