BSA for a .22 scope

Well, I've got 3 friends that have BSA's and I can say I'd not recommend one, nor would I buy one after hearing their experiences. One of them has a ton of guns and ton of scopes, but for some reason loves Tasco's. He also has used other cheap scopes that I'd normally consider crap, but he loves them. He bought 2 BSA's at the same time and put them on centerfire rifles. Neither one of them held zero. He ended up sending them in for repair and putting them on a .22 where he said they work halfway. I figure if he is telling me not to get a BSA and he is that unhappy with them when he loves Tasco's and really likes Simmons, that I'd probably not like a BSA at all.

The other friend is the same way. He has a bunch of Tasco's and Simmons although a fair amount are older ones. He doesn't have anything over $150 that I know of except a Redfield Illuminator 3-12. He says his Tasco's and Simmons haven't given him many issues and has served him well. He also tried a BSA and told me they were about as crappy as you could get, and his wouldn't hold zero either.

Then the 3rd friend got one as a gift. He knows nothing about scopes. Well, didn't at the time. He does now. He wasn't sure how to sight it in so asked me for help. I mounted it for him and sighted it in for him. It was decent and held zero on his .22 that he mounted it on. However the glass wasn't even as clear as my $30 Tasco I've used. The glass quality just wasn't there, but it was good enough. I got it sighted in and he killed several squirrels with it. This was about a year and a half ago. I talked to him a month or so ago, and he told me that he dropped the rifle and that when he picked it up, that the crosshairs were now an X instead of being a + like they should be. So obviously dropping it make the crosshairs break loose in the scope. I just don't see the quality on this one either. It didn't seem near as nice as the $30 Tasco's and $40 Simmons I've used, and it's not like they are the best out there.

That's my experience with BSA, as well as 2 friends telling me their experiences, and it's enough to make me not want one.

I've had good luck with the $30 Tasco from Walmart that you have, but I do know 2 people that haven't had good luck. I'd honestly try just returning it for another one and I think you'd be far better off than a BSA. If you don't want to do that, I'd look for a older Japanese Tasco or Simmons. They are pretty decent.
 
have you looked at the bsa sweet 22 6-18X40 AO scope as of right now there on sall from natchez for 50 bucks and they come with three turrets for 36 38 and 40gn bullets

i have the sweet 17 on my savage and there spot on with the bdc all the way out to 300 yards
 
that sweet 22 looks good, except one thing. I wanted something that has mil-dot. I also looked at the nitrex and pentax.
Thank you all for your suggestions. I did my own further research and found a BSA that is a special edition only offered at midway here that has GREAT reviews(4.5 out of 5 with 32 reviews). If I bought a scope with less magnification like recommended, and ended up needing more, I would be disappointed knowing I didnt go with what I wanted. I realize you guys have much more experience than me and are *probably* right, but the great part is that midway has a 90 day return policy. I will use it once or twice and if it is junk, send it back and then go with one of your other suggestions.
 
I am a fan of the Weaver rimfire line of scopes which include a 4x, 2.5-7x, and 3-9x AO. These apparently are not of sufficient power for what you think your needs are.

I would seriously look at the Mueller line. Some have the mil dots. I have the APV 4.5-14x on one of my 22 rifles and it is plenty of magnification for me. It is also an AO scope.

I have heard mostly bad things about BSA scopes. The higher end Bushnell's are fine for your purpose, but they aren't $50.

Just remember, when you put a very large scope (high magnification) on a 22 rifle, you are limiting the rifle's practical flexibility in terms of carrying it in the field.
 
Just wanted to give a minor update. I received the $150 "BSA Tactical Mil-Dot Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 6-24x 44mm Side Focus Glass Etched Mil-Dot Reticle Matte" that I ordered. I put it on the gun, and I did not see any of the people's complaints thus far! The cross hairs are etched and clear. The AO works exactly as advertised, and its very convenient having them on the side. The adjustments are solid and give great feedback, letting you know at each tick. They can also be reset to zero, which is awesome. As far as clarity, I turned it up all the way to 24x and its clear as can be. I can see great detail even at 24x. The only disclaimer with that is that, I do live in Arizona, so we have no lack of light/sunshine during the day. So I can't speak for clarity in low light conditions. Which btw it comes with a 3" sunshade which is nice. I bought the 30mm special one piece rings, and it seems REALLY solid on there now. So, thus far everything works as advertised and it has surpassed my expectations. The last test is this weekend to see if it holds zero, which I don't see why it would have any trouble considering its made for centerfire high recoil guns, and I have a puny 22.

I do wanna say that for anyone looking to buy one.. I think the main complain of BSA from those that have actually ever had one is consistency. Some recieve it and its everything they hoped for and more. While the next person recieves his and it falls apart. So quality control is not there, BUT I still recommend buying it considering most reputable shops have a return policy. If mine came and was not up to par, I would have returned it and got a new one(with maybe 5 dollar return shipping charge). Yea it could kinda be a hassle, but its for you to decide whether getting a $400 dollars worth of features scope for $150. If it wasn't my money or If I needed the scope by tomorrow for a life/death situation... I would buy a leupold. Otherwise, you can't go wrong.

I'll try to put up a picture of it for you guys soon. I painted my gun 'camo' colors and its all black, so it looks a little misplaced. But as soon as I verify that it works great at the range, Im gonna paint it as well. Then it will look right.
 
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A decent cheap high powered scope that has nice clarity and brightness is the simmons whitetail classic 6.5x20 power that www.midwayusa.com has on clearance for $100. They are an older discontinued model. They were made in the phillipines kenko plant which puts out some decent mid line scopes like certain weaver and nikon models. I used one for several years before I traded it off and it was great. Personally for a rimfire I would just get a cheap simmons .22 mag 3x9x40mm rimfire scope for $40 and be done. I don't like having a large clunky scope on a small rimfire rifle. And in my opinion you don't need an expensive scope on a rimfire. I have had great experiences with bushnell and simmons rimfire scopes. I like to use the reactive targets that show a burst of orange color where the bullet hits, that makes it really easy to see your bullet holes at 100 yards, the targets are surprisingly cheap. You can get a large pack of them as stickers and just stick them to your paper targets.
 
ive had pretty good luck with BSA stuff. I have a sweet .22 scope on my 10/22 which is an awesome scope for the money and i have a 4-16x44 on a M44. No complaints yet.
 
The BSA scopes that sell for more than a C note are way better than their cheaper scopes. I have 4-16 on my Savage .22 RF and and a 6-18 on my .22 K-Hornet. Both have illuminated cross-hairs and adjustable objective.

I wouldn't have bought the second one but my K-Hornet came with the 4-16 and I really liked it so I rolled it down hill and bought the 6-18 for the Hornet.

Tony
 
I have a BSA Platnum 6-24x44 scope on my Benjamin Marauder .22 air rifle which is working great. On my Ruger 10/22 I have a Centerpoint 4-16x40 which is very clear works great! I believe most companys have cheaper scopes that aren't worth anything and then they have the ones you are gonna pay for:eek:
 
I'll be anxious to hear how your new BSA works

I just bought the 2-7x Sweet .22 yesterday. The optics look fantastic. It has the side parallax.

I'm not sure why you didn't go with a Sweet 22. You wanted the mil dot, I assume to compensate for bullet drop at different distances? But on the Sweet 22, you just dial the elevation turret for the distance you want to shoot with your bullet weight. It is even easier than Mil Dots; takes all the guess work out of it.

I'm pretty shocked you've painted the gun and are thinking of painting the scope. That is going to wreck all future resale value. I know you can never imagine selling it now, but things change over time. Oh, and the paint will come off little by little and make it look pretty ghetto.

Regarding BSA, the guy who helped me at the gun shop told me he had a BSA before, and somehow, it wasn't right. They just sent him a new scope, which was perfect.

I'm one of those guys where if I get a product and it is no good out of the box, I never buy another one. I have a Tasco that seems OK, but not enough mileage on it to know for sure.

The Leupold of course is great. (VXII, 3-9x40, US made)

Yesterday, I bought this BSA and a Pentax. We'll find out.

Well, here's to us and our BSAs!
 
I didn't get the sweet 22 for one main reason. When I upgrade my rifle to a bigger caliber I would have the option of putting this scope on it. Also there are small reasons like smaller lens and parallax adjustment on the front instead of side. I do think its amazing that they have the bullet drop stuff on there, so If I do end up moving this scope over to my next rifle, I would probably get a sweet 22 to put on this, you can find them pretty cheap.

As to why I painted my rifle. The answer is simple, to make it unique and self expression. I think you might be over thinking it. If I ever want it back to normal, I use paint thinner to remove the paint, or paint over it black. Painting an object isnt the same thing as getting a tattoo. Its reversible and fixable. Also, you are right that one day I might sell it, but a $100 dollar thing is not something I consider an 'investment'. If this was a 5k sniper system then I would definitely not do this. But as I said, its as easy as removing the paint, and if it removes the stock paint as well, painting it black. IF and when the paint comes off, I will repaint it, and maybe even change up the color scheme's! You can check out my other thread, I actually put up pictures of it. Alot of people like it and compliment it, so I wouldn't be so fast to assume noone would want to buy it.
 
Ok last update on the new scope. Finally took it to the range, and I love it! I shot 700-800 rounds with it and it worked perfectly. I shot everywhere between 25 yards-200 yards, using the entire range of zoom. So here are my thoughts after using it.

1. The feature to reset the turrets to zero is awesome. I zero'd it to 50 yards, loosened the screws, turned the turrets, tightened the screw and done.

2. At 100 yards I used 24x almost the entire time. Made things So much easier. At 100 yards the resolution was clear enough to just barely be able to read the small font on the targets counting each line. So its more than enough resolution at 100 yards. If I zoomed out to 10x it was obvious that the resolution got better. The image was as crystal clear as you can get, but the downfall is that its zoomed out and I wasnt able to see the holes. Makes me glad I didnt get a 'higher quality' but lower powered scope. It could not have been any clearer at 10x, but I would be lacking in the magnification. Im sure if I spend 2k I could get a scope that is that crystal clear at 24x, but for 150 I am more than happy. I don't need crystal clear at that magnification, I need to be able to see just enough. Its still clear, just the difference between going from 1080p and 720 p, both are HD.

3. I have a 22, but just out of interest I set the target out to 200 yards. I did the ballistics calculations for my bullet out to 200, zeroed at 50 yards. Figured out it was 42 inches or 20.5 MOA. Turned the turrets slowly 20 MOA(or 80 clicks). At this point, it was already past sunset, so the only light was flood lights at the range that reached till 100 yards. So at 200 yards it was barely lit. But again, I was doing this purely to test the scope. I was shooting at a 12 inch circle target with a verticle and horizontal line going through it. At 24x with almost no light and 200 yards, The most detail I could pick out was basically the shape of the target on the paper and the two intersection lines. Which is more than enough to aim at center. Im a beginner shooter and I was shooting pretty fast, since I knew I wouldnt group at distances like that. Basically all the bullets made it on to the target. So this was just to confirm that turning it 80 clicks, the mechanism works and is accurate.

4. I didn't use the mildot functionality yet, so can't comment on that.

Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for alot of bang for your buck and don't want to spend over 150.
 
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