Wanted: Rough Hierarchy of Scopes

There's more than just brand names. Some brands like Vortex have scopes made in China that are crap, and others made in the Philippines that are OK.

What countries they are made in Best to worst:

German/Swiss
US
Japan
Philippines/Korea
China
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You left out the Austrians - IMO, they are equal to the German glass


As to the Burris bashers - maybe that is newer ones, but my US-made ones from decades ago are some of the best glass ever - their 6X compact scope keeps my Model 7 weight down a lot
 
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wogpotter said:
Leupold & Burris are high end commercial mas-produced scopes, & really nice as they should be.
But, if you ever look through a real top end German scope (particularly under marginal lighting conditions) you'll see why the extra money is worth spending.

Not knocking Burris or Leupold, which are great optics & priced to sell en masse, just explaining the difference between high end mass- market & top of the line quality.
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It makes little difference on higher end scopes on were they are made but how well they are engineered. You compare scopes in the $1500+ range and you well see little difference.

Just comparing brand names does not work as there can be such a variation in quality with different models in the same brand. What's the best scope you can get for $400, or $1400, or even $4400.
 
Those "high-dollar" scopes don't kill deer any deader than my VXII Leupold, But I also see the draw because of the clarity and the range and the fine workmanship but not all of us can afford scope that cost that much.:( I'm not trying to be "sourgrapes" but really how much deader is the target going to be if I spend 2000.00 more on my optics? Now when I decide to go to 1000 yd target matches, I'll probably have to spend some real jack, if I want to compete, but I think that I can kill anything "boneyard" dead with a 170.00 Vortex Crossfire all day long!;) Fwiw I used some Simmons scopes but they seem to lose POZ after awhile . What happened to that company?:confused:
 
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and are we talking strictly quality? Or are we talking value or what?

Its complicated because both Bushnell and Burris make really crappy cheap scopes and some pretty nice expensive ones.

Nikon is just all around good.

No experience with Redfield, probably won't ever try them because there are more attractive options at the price point.


As the other person stated manufacture location is how I decide how well made something is underneath the surface.

USA made is overpriced (sorry, true) and they get their optics overseas anyways.
Japan is my first choice.
Phillippines is acceptable,
Won't own Chinese
 
The Bushnell Elite series were originally marketed as Bausch & Lomb scopes. They are marketed as Bushnell scopes I think to raise the marque.

They are every bit as good as a mid rank Leupold.
 
Looks like I just might be eatin my words after the trip to the range. The Vortex became impossible to stay in focus. :( After every shot it had to be refocused, and sometimes I had to turn the power ring all the way up and bring it back down to focus.....:mad: So now I'm going to test their warranty... I need to spend more money and get better optics;)
 
Couldn't agree more with hooligan! My $40-$125 scopes have killed more deer, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, coons, groundhogs, birds, possums...and whatever else more times than I can count. And besides the one time a mount came loose I've never missed because of the scope!
 
Nikon is just all around good.
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Like I said its opinion and personal experiences. In my opinion this is a laughable and completely false POV, to me it should read, "Nikon is just all around crap."
 
Whenever we discuss scopes here there are people that state how well they did with their cheap scopes. Which usually means they sighted them once, used them at 100 yards or less, and what, they worked.
You don't notice the quality really unless you start shooting long range, dialing in your distance over 30 clicks and want that to be repeatable every week on the range. Or hunting, the shot you didn't take because you couldn't tell if the buck was a legal 4 pointer or a spike, or the elk you missed at 200 because your scope, when focused at that distance, didn't show you the twigs at 50 yards that deflected your bullet.
 
Like I said its opinion and personal experiences. In my opinion this is a laughable and completely false POV, to me it should read, "Nikon is just all around crap."
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I've had issues with Nikon too. I had a zoom lock up, and after several rounds with their warranty department, I sent it back to their main office and told them to stick it where the sun don't shine.
 
mapsjan...

Okay, assume directed partially towards me. Whether I spend $40 or $4000 on a scope I'm gonna sight it in every year or before every season I use it. Even the expensive scopes can work off center or get bumped loose. You mentioned the whole clarity at long range arguement. True but only if you're target or sniping...hunting I would say no. If you can't tell the animal you're hunting is big enough (points, inches, male/female, whatever it is) you are not close enough.

If it takes an extremely high powered scope to be able to see my game, that's not hunting that's sniping; and besides if you have to look through high powered scope to see if the buck is legal in the first place it isn't worth taking anyways.

I personally haven't shot anything out over 200 yards (all my deer have been under 45 yards :D ) but wouldn't really given my terrain, however I'd still probably not take a shot over 250 yards out of respect for the animal (too many factors can cause a bad hit). However, I'm a bowhunter and don't enjoy gun hunting as much any more so I'm sure that affects my opinion some.

I could say the same thing about guys coming on here talking about how there $2000 scopes are so much better and yadda yadda yadda...okay whatever my rant is done. :)
 
tyni, you're making my point ;). For you the quality of your scope is secondary, you're not into the long shot hunting or on the range, and at 45 yards you won't have any issues with bad light either. My hunting experience is very limited, so I typically don't get that close to the game without spooking it. Which means I rely on high grade equipment to take a shot at longer distance and still, at least in my mind, have enough confidence in hitting the spot I want to make an ethical kill.
 
...I guess I just wonder how much farther than 200-250 yards is really necessary for hunting purposes? I can understand like a safari or perhaps mountain range hunting but man that's far out above that. I got respect for guys who do it, a buddy of mine shot his MUZZLELOADER 312 yards last year and downed the doe in it's steps...although he had a $500 scope which he claims was the only reason why...and who knows maybe he would have missed with a cheaper one. However, I guess the catch is can you afford it, if you can by all means why not get the "best", if you can't or would have to skimp on other aspects (camo, gear, binocs, stands, warm/cold weather gear, boots...etc...) I'd say it isn't worth it. Some of us don't have a whole year's hunting budget of $400 so to buy a $600 scope would scrape the barrel really hard.

I guess it's to each their own on this subject...but I'll be honest anyone wanting to step to a line at hunting distances and see if your high dollar scopes can out shoot my same magnification po-man's scope I'd love to do the experiment. :D Or perhaps if I can talk my buddy into letting me borrow his $2000 some odd scope for a day at the range I can sight both in on the same gun and see if there's an honest to goodness difference...and I must confess I did have on 80 yard shotgun harvest back in 01'...so not all deer have been under 45.
 
The old "rule of thumb" back before the internet, was good glass costs as much as the gun. I guess if you are sitting in a tree stand and never shoot over 100 yards at anything it doesn't matter, but when I lived out West where shots COULD be long, and as mentioned, you couldn't tell if it was a 4 pointer or spike, good glass made all of the difference
 
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