Optics Chat

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Only scope I've ever bought used was an old Tasco air rifle scope and it seems to be working well.

I only paid 7 bucks for it, so if it sucks, I'm not out much money.

[RoneKiln]

Do you guys ever buy used rifle scopes? I've heard several times that scopes don't hold their value well, but I never thought it through on the other side that good deals might be had buying used. For some reason I'm a little worried that I might get something busted and I'll waste a bunch of ammo figuring it out. On the other hand the same is true for used firearms and I buy those all the time.

I've bought several. Had an issue with one Burris scope with illuminated reticle not wanting to turn off and draining batteries. Still worked non illuminated though. I think that scope is on my Keltec Sub2k right now.

The challenge with used scopes is it's harder to check if seals have ruptured and the nitrogen has leaked out or if something got jacked up with the dials. Issues with firearms are usually more obvious during basic function checks. Firearms tend to be easier to repair than scopes as well. In fact, I'm not sure scopes can be repaired.

I don't think getting them used is ideal, but I wouldn't ever discount the possibility of buying them used again. I think overall I've come out ahead on what I've bought used. But it would suck if you bought your dream high end scope used at what seemed a decent deal and it fogged up the first chilly day you took it out cause the seals had leaked.

[Optimist]

Makes sense that the price of the scope would be a factor. I have had scopes with bad seals (or maybe they were never sealed to start with) that came on used firearms, but I in those cases I always figured the scopes were junk to start with so I never felt ripped off.

I'm looking at upgrading from low-end to middle of the road.

[RoneKiln]

 

Saw a deal on a vortex strikefire for around 40% off last summer and thought "I've wanted to try a red dot for a while. That's hard to pass up.

Then I learned about prism sites thanks to some of you and thought "that seems even better than a red dot."

Two weeks ago I see a Bushnell red dot for half off and impulse bought it.

Now I have two red dots and am looking forward to trying them.

Today I get an email for the vortex spitfire prism site on an even better sale than the strikefire. Barring some quality issue I don't know about, I would much prefer the prism site. I like not being battery dependent. My resistance to being reliant on batteries is why I held off so long on trying a red dot.

It may be childish but now I'm very disappointed to have bought the red dot sites. 

[Optimist]

I used one of the first generation Vortex 1x prism sights for a few years. I was pretty happy with it. Seemed fairly rugged and the battery lasted quite a while. The only thing I didn't care for was the 0.5 MOA adjustments which is honestly fine for what it is probably intended for but a little coarse for shooting small targets with a .22 LR.

I don't have enough experience with red dots to compare. I was looking to buy a red dot when the Vortex prism went on sale for $150, so that's why I picked it up.

[NT2C]

Saw a deal on a vortex strikefire for around 40% off last summer and thought "I've wanted to try a red dot for a while. That's hard to pass up.

Then I learned about prism sites thanks to some of you and thought "that seems even better than a red dot."

Two weeks ago I see a Bushnell red dot for half off and impulse bought it.

Now I have two red dots and am looking forward to trying them.

Today I get an email for the vortex spitfire prism site on an even better sale than the strikefire. Barring some quality issue I don't know about, I would much prefer the prism site. I like not being battery dependent. My resistance to being reliant on batteries is why I held off so long on trying a red dot.

It may be childish but now I'm very disappointed to have bought the red dot sites. 

If you're worried about battery failure there are always Holosun units with solar backup.  They'll even work from bright room lights and have a battery life of up to 100,000 hours on some models, depending on your brightness setting and reticle, and will warn you of a low battery long before it fails.  They're good sights IMHO but, it does really just come down to what you want and are comfortable enough with to trust.

[RonnyRonin]

Do you guys ever buy used rifle scopes? I've heard several times that scopes don't hold their value well, but I never thought it through on the other side that good deals might be had buying used. For some reason I'm a little worried that I might get something busted and I'll waste a bunch of ammo figuring it out. On the other hand the same is true for used firearms and I buy those all the time.

Its possible that all my optics save one were purchased used; I've had a few duds (one intentionally purchased broken) but I just only buy optics with decent warranties so I've always come out just fine.

[Optimist]

That's a good point. I know that Vortex's warranty is transferable, is that normal for other companies with lifetime warranties?

[RonnyRonin]

Neither Aimpoint nor Holosun has ever asked me if I was the original owner, and I don't think either care. My only other optics right now are leupold and trijicon which are also known for a good warranty.



Odd request; I'm exploring magnified optic options again and was looking for a relatively light scope (lets say 15oz or less) with a largish objective (lets say 45mm and up). Anything come to mind for anyone? fixed power would be prefered (more light transmission) but I know those are getting uncommon so thats a soft requirement

[RoneKiln]

Do you guys ever buy used rifle scopes? I've heard several times that scopes don't hold their value well, but I never thought it through on the other side that good deals might be had buying used. For some reason I'm a little worried that I might get something busted and I'll waste a bunch of ammo figuring it out. On the other hand the same is true for used firearms and I buy those all the time.

Its possible that all my optics save one were purchased used; I've had a few duds (one intentionally purchased broken) but I just only buy optics with decent warranties so I've always come out just fine.

Woohoo! I just looked up the Burris warranty thanks to you and I see it's "forever" regardless of whether you're the original owner. I'm sending mine in to get it fixed!

[Optimist]

Neither Aimpoint nor Holosun has ever asked me if I was the original owner, and I don't think either care. My only other optics right now are leupold and trijicon which are also known for a good warranty.



Odd request; I'm exploring magnified optic options again and was looking for a relatively light scope (lets say 15oz or less) with a largish objective (lets say 45mm and up). Anything come to mind for anyone? fixed power would be prefered (more light transmission) but I know those are getting uncommon so thats a soft requirement

I was looking for a low-light target scope a few years back and I was looking at a few things in that vein.

Leupold FX-3 6x42 was near the top of my list. Only weighs 13.6 ounces and is just a little under your objective lense requirement. A guy I used to hunt with (who passed away, unfortunately) swore by these and had them on most of his rifles. On the other hand he had many strongly held opinions which I thought didn't match up with reality, so I take his recommendations with some salt. I don't have much personal experience other than taking a couple shots through his at targets every once in a while.

I ended up getting a Weaver Classic in 8x56. It's a big objective lense and a fixed power, bit just a little over your weight limit at 16.2 oz. I noticed a decent improvement in low light over the Nikon 3-9x40 that came on my rifle. I haven't done any heavy field use with it, but it's been fine in rain, sub-zero temperatures and getting the occasional whack on a fence or the door to the chicken coop. The reason I got it was that I got a good deal on it off Sample List, back when I was trying to be very frugal. I kind of wish I would have gone with the Leupold as I figure that would be more practical for a hunting rifle, but as a target scope it's been fine. They don't make them anymore but there are probably a bunch available used.

There were some other high-magnification fixed power scopes that I was looking at. They were mostly targeted at Europeans for hunting in the forest at twilight. At the time they were all out of my price range, but I can try to look them up. Docter and Meopta are two manufacturers that I believe had them.

You probably already know this, but when I was researching low-light scopes a few years back I learned about "exit pupil" for the first time. You take the diameter of the objective lense, divide it by the magnification and the result is the exit pupil size. (For example, a 6x42mm would be 6/42, so the exit pupil is 7mm.) This matters because the pupil in most humans eyes can't dilate bigger than 7mm, so a larger exit pupil than 7mm won't necessarily do a person any good. (Some people have pupils that can dilate bigger than 7mm, more have pupils that dilate less than 7mm from my understanding.) I have read some claims that a wider exit pupil than 7mm is still useful because it means you don't need to have your eye perfectly aligned with center of the scope. That kind of makes sense to me, but it's all pretty much over my head.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Anyone know what the warranty is like for Centerpoint scopes ?

I bought a pair of them a few years ago for about 30 bucks total and one of them has a big dent in the tube. The other one was in like new condition (I think it may have been the display model), but the other looks like it was either dropped or someone returned it after mangling it and Walmart took it back despite that.

The dent doesn't mess with the functionality of the scope, it just looks bad.

[RoneKiln]

Anyone know what the warranty is like for Centerpoint scopes ?

I bought a pair of them a few years ago for about 30 bucks total and one of them has a big dent in the tube. The other one was in like new condition (I think it may have been the display model), but the other looks like it was either dropped or someone returned it after mangling it and Walmart took it back despite that.

The dent doesn't mess with the functionality of the scope, it just looks bad.

A lazy google search indicated they have a lifetime warranty for manufacturer defects. I wouldn't be optimistic of them covering dents unless you had a receipt showing you just bought it and you could argue it came out of the box that way.

[12_Gauge_Chimp]

Anyone know what the warranty is like for Centerpoint scopes ?

I bought a pair of them a few years ago for about 30 bucks total and one of them has a big dent in the tube. The other one was in like new condition (I think it may have been the display model), but the other looks like it was either dropped or someone returned it after mangling it and Walmart took it back despite that.

The dent doesn't mess with the functionality of the scope, it just looks bad.

A lazy google search indicated they have a lifetime warranty for manufacturer defects. I wouldn't be optimistic of them covering dents unless you had a receipt showing you just bought it and you could argue it came out of the box that way.

I wasn't too optimistic about getting it fixed anyway.

Aside from the dent, the scope functions as intended (I've only used it on a BB gun and it works just fine for that), so I can live with it having a dent on the tube.

[RonnyRonin]

Leupold FX-3 6x42 was near the top of my list.

I ended up getting a Weaver Classic in 8x56.

low light is indeed my quest; even bad scopes work decently in full daylight. FX-3 has indeed come up on my short list, and coincidently the weaver k6 as well. Unfortunately the latter is discontinued and almost impossible to find used in its newer aluminum version; only the vintage steel tubes seem to come up for sale.

I am biased toward leupolds as they are an oregon company and seem to come in lighter than most of their competitors.

[NT2C]

My package from Primary Arms with my Holosun 507C was supposed to arrive today via FedEx.  Looking at the tracking, it was in Staunton, VA (60 miles west of me) at about 8:30 PM on the 5th, then made it to Hagerstown, MD about 1:00 AM today, the 6th.  Hagerstown is the FedEx hub for the region and where the truck that usually delivers to me originates from each day.  And that's where it sat all day.  Never moved from Hagerstown, no note, nothing.  Nothing on my account about any delays, nothing on their site, nada.  It just got to Hagerstown and died there.



Edit: I think I figured it out.  The truck from Hagerstown to my area leaves Hagerstown about three hours before my package got to Hagerstown, which put the delivery for my optic a day late.  It's out for delivery now.

[Rednex]

So I haven't given my 10/22 any love for a while, and I want to fix that with a scope. Range will be 0 to 75 yards on the daily, and at times up to 600 yards. I need a magnified scope at least 2-7 power , looking round I see some in that range but for same price and size can get 4-12. First focal plane and second focal plane I don't really know which I like better. Lens size 30mm to 40mm would work . Price well has to no higher then $300  would like it to be around $150.

I checked out Optics planet , Cabela's, Votex, and a few others looking at what they got. Read a few " best .22 scopes" They had Simmons, and a Weaver in there. So y'all got anything ya like in particular ?

[Mr. E. Monkey]

If you're okay with a simple reticle, Primary Arms has this:  https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-3-9x44-sfp-classic-rifle-scope-duplex-reticle

I got one for Christmas, and haven't gotten it to the range yet, but have it mounted on an AR with a .22 conversion kit.  There is a little bit of fisheye around the edges, but the glass is really crisp and clear, overall.  I've had one of their other scopes on a Grendel build for a while, and I've been really impressed with their quality.  I don't expect this one will be any different.

I do have a Simmons 3-9x as well, come to think of it.  I will see if I can get any pictures through them, and if I can, it'll give us a side-by-side comparison, but I do think the Primary Arms has the better glass.

[RonnyRonin]

Little update on my combo optic quest;

I finally got hands on a vortex 5x prism and was a bit underwhelmed. Not super great light transmission, pretty narrow field of view, and pretty indistinguishable from a 4x. I'm likely back to a traditional tube scope like a leupold fixed 4X or a 3x9.

Because I'm looking at tube scopes again I have to revisit whether to offset or piggyback the RDS; I have a nice offset mount already but I bought a cheapo piggyback rail just to compare; having 3 optics on one gun is as silly as it sounds but it is really nice to be able to compare side by side.

Offset of course has much better height over bore but requires much more movement to transition between optics, and I'd have to train in a different startle response from my other guns if I want the RDS to come up first. The piggyback mount would have an awful HOB and probably require some funny zero'ing but only requires a tiny head movement to transition.

[MacWa77ace]

Little update on my combo optic quest;

I finally got hands on a vortex 5x prism and was a bit underwhelmed. Not super great light transmission, pretty narrow field of view, and pretty indistinguishable from a 4x. I'm likely back to a traditional tube scope like a leupold fixed 4X or a 3x9.

Because I'm looking at tube scopes again I have to revisit whether to offset or piggyback the RDS; I have a nice offset mount already but I bought a cheapo piggyback rail just to compare; having 3 optics on one gun is as silly as it sounds but it is really nice to be able to compare side by side.

Offset of course has much better height over bore but requires much more movement to transition between optics, and I'd have to train in a different startle response from my other guns if I want the RDS to come up first. The piggyback mount would have an awful HOB and probably require some funny zero'ing but only requires a tiny head movement to transition.

I have my MRS piggybacking on my AGOG and its Zero'd at 25 yards. I figure that I will only be using that when standing / moving in CQ so the HOB isn't really a factor when thinking about staying in cover. It's also not really good at range because of the MOA of the dot on the MRS, so I have the drop compensated 4x ACOG for that. But there's not really anything different about zeroing it. Unless you're thinking of doing a 100yd zero using a 25 or 12 yd calculation. I just used a bore laser.