I hear good things about them. I like many brands of scopes. I try to match the scope to my application. Well, how much passion I have for that application also plays a huge roll. My main 22 lr critter getter is currently wearing a used Tasco 3-9 that I won at the local online auction. I have a UTG bug buster on my 22 air rifle. Long range target and competition shooting is where I prefer to funnel the majority of the glass / rifle cash.
Good to know as I wasn't trying to be the look at me guy, I can afford X Y and Z with the post. That wasn't my intention if it came off that way to anyone. Shooting, mainly target, has been my main passion, as far as hobbies go, for many years. I nerd out on scopes and bolt action rifles.
I currently have a night force nx8 4-32 that I think is a better scope/glass than the athlon my cousin had.....just for reference.
I can imagine it is. I like all my scopes unless I look through the night force. Its the 15-55x52 competition model. I originally was going to get the 12-42x56 bench rest and made the mistake asking a couple of my fellow competitors if I could look through each of theirs after a match. There was no comparison. I couldn't believe how much nicer it was and the bench rest models are excellent. My wife's Vortex Golden eagle is as nice as my night force in clarity.
If that nx8 came in a second focal plane, for the type of shooting I do, Id be interested in it. I like that 4 power low end option. More versatile.
They have their place but not for what I do. I do have one that is ffp, the 1-4 SWFA scope, but I leave it on 4 and don't use it to range target distance ect. It was a bargain so I tried it.
Well I'm now even more confused! I guess I have a lot of homework to do. Without a comparison I could very well get a defective scope and not even be aware of it.
Sorry we muddied up the waters. You can get a defective product from any manufacturer so I wouldn't dwell on it. Leupold makes great scopes and they have a great warranty. My dislike for them isn't about their clarity, or even the fact I had three of them needing repairs that weren't user caused. It's the tracking and turret feel that turns me off. As my shooting style evolved and I got heavy into competitive shooting at the local clubs, I started using the turrets to dial up / down for the different yardages we were shooting and I need a scope that moves when I turn the dial every time, exactly the amount I want it to every time and return back to my zero every time. Most scopes cannot do this reliably. From most manufacturers. For me its only been the Night Force, SWFA and Zeiss that have been able to do so of the scopes I've owned. There are others out there that can from what I've read but I haven't owned them myself. Maybe even Leupold now has some that can but I've long sense moved on. I haven't performed the box test on my wifes competition Vortex scope yet, so time will tell there. In a nut shell, If you are a set it and forget it type user who, sights in an leaves it alone, the issues with Leupold that I have will have zero effect on your type of usage.
I have never had a variable scope, they were not common like nowadays. Also never played with any reticle other than cross hairs. As a machinist I could very well get into adjusting turrets, not sure but I can see it being a enjoyable process. Ballistic charts, mental exercise and using a graduated reticle.
I like the turret twisting vs trying to use hold overs. I know how many moa / clicks I needed from my 200 yard zero to be on at 300 or 400 yards or to even go closer than my zero to 100 yards. I keep a chart in my phone. Depending on the facility you are shooting at or environmental factors you may have to add or remove a click or two but it gets you close.
Hi Screwloose, Scopes lots of info here , another brand. one that I have used for years is Sightron. Glass is every-bit as good as the Leo's and other up scale units. I have always had good tracking with them doing the box trick, But in reality you seldom have time to play with turrets in a hunting situation or for that matter twisting the magnification up and down. Any scope suffers from the same 2 items- as mag increases field of view shrinks and the amount of light gathered decreases. For Bambi hunting here WI active times are general low light conditions- early morning, late- dusk in the evening. Therefore hunting rigs of mine are either fixed 4x or something like a 1.5-6x with the largest objective I can get. Being an ex competitive shooter I am no stranger to 36x and higher mag scopes. A reticle that has a few extra stratus lines to gauge distance ( in the vertical plane) is nice, really do not need them in the horizontal plane. Gets to be to much hash. Extra fine lines are not much help either, favorite of mine for hunting is a post and horz. line , post doesn't get lost in the low light conditions. Old Eyes here, can't see the open irons any more , the back one, and peep types are fuzzy egg shaped .
Just want to suggest a brand that is often overlooked. Sightron. Whoever makes the actual glass is paramount. Sightron used to offer quite a few options with Japanese glass in them. (unsure now, been away from this stuff for a little while) Bushnell also offers some great glass in their higher tiered stuff. Most of my junk wears Nikon, who decided that shooting animals is bad and exited market.
