Scopes: What’s the Deal on the Deal?
Now that I have a .25 Marauder, capable of beaning targets past 100 yards, I need a scope that can keep up with its performance. One of my friends points towards the Leapers 6-24X56mm 30mm tube. OK. Then I talk to another savy guy who recommends the Bushnell 5-15X40mm 1″ tube Legend scope telling me that its 40mm glass is so good that it does with 40mm what it takes Leapers 56mm to accomplish. OK. But of course Bushnell has discontinued this scope. Hmmm.
So, which scopes are you guys happy with. I’m sure that between all of us, we have tried them all. So, which are you happy with. If you have had a bad experience with a scope or its manufacturer, post that too.
We should include rings in this discussion also.
Thanks in advance…
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saw the skull sitting there is why i ask, i would not do it but someone was thinking of it on another thread. i think that one needs to use something with plenty of energy for the shot that didnt hit just right.If you know what i mean. I usually have some deer skulls to test by now , but i dont. i was planning on doing a test and posting the results.
Well I have noted the .22 Eun Jins penetrate the best even over a .25 when test on metal and 2X10s.
I have no doubt at very close range a Condor pushing a hard Eun Jin at 1000 fps would burn thru a skull but it has to be looked at like how dependable would killing a deer be with a .22 short?
Any movement of the animal will just cause suffering so if I was starving and the deer was 25 yards away why not but otherwise I would use a 9mm/.457 and a lung/heart shot at close range.
The .25 even at over 100 yards burned thru this cow skull.
Randy
randy what is you take on a condor penetration on a deers skull and making it to the brain.
NIce shoting !
Thanks! 😀
I tell once you start throwing .25 pellets in the high 900’s there is no going back to below 50 ft lbs as the velocity and FPE just moves one into completely different league just love this with Condors. 😈
Randy
Nice Dude Your Condors are always way cool.
The Hawke and Bushies seem to be the most popular. My buddy had a 2200.00 Nightforce scope on his Condor but changed it for a ZOS.
I had a 30mm tube 24 power Tactical Barska on my Condor then moved it to my .22 Anshutz rimmie and installed a 10-40X50 30mm Fitco. Using anything past 10 power was useless when using Mildots the higher magnification was only used for checking groups at 100 yards.
Now I have rubber coated 3-9X42 scope with a built in anti-cant level, 20mm mount, illuminated, Mildots, and clickable turrets with no caps.
This is a great scope for the 90.00!!
I also shoot .25 but around 970 fps as shooting a .25 at only 850 fps really drops and you will run out of Mildots especially when you stretch it out to 150 yards!!
Here is my .25 setup with the new Fitco scope off EBay under Fitco 3-9.
I also bought one of those cheap Chinese laser rangefinders and did a side by side test at the range with a Bushnell rangefinger that was over twice the cost and believe it or not they ranged exactly the same!! Don’t under estimate what the Chinese are making now. 😯
Randy
150 yards at plus 50 ft lbs:
Baraska makes quality microscopes, and pretty good telescopes for astronomy. You would think that it would translate into good rifle scopes.
It could be like Brunton, who makes the best compasses and terrible rangefinders.
As for the price, they obviously saw a market segment with demand for what they produce. What’s the markup on scopes anyways? You can’t really tell quality from price until you factor in other things. I learned that from managerial/ cost accounting, and a dash of marketing.
Obviously, Leupold is going to go the extra mile with quality because their reputation depends on it. This means added processes and more quality checks points which translates into higher costs.
My Nikko 6-24 x44 seems to be pretty nice with my 700, however I think for a few more $$$$ I could do better, my prob. is work has me way too busy to go out shooting 😳 😳 😳 😳 😳
At least I will have some $ when I get a break, wish I lived in the boonies like some of you guys, that way I could just get home from work and play on my bak porch shootin after work, unfortunatly, city boy here and have to travel to light up the P/B stuff
SAW
I use Baraskas, everytime I miss a shot, I wonder if I would have hit it with a 3×9 Leupold.
For years I used nothing else, with the exception of a handmade scope for BPCR shooting, and only because Leupold didn’t make one.
I will replace my piece of shit Baraska’s with Leupolds once this airgun buying fever breaks.
I mean shit, I range with a rangefinder that cost 3200.00, I wheeled and dealed and got it for $2500.00 in 1990 dollars to try and make the shot with a $50.00 scope.
Roachcreek
Right on Techmod! Again, this is the type of discussion I was looking for. Thanks for the tips.
Thanks Riverside. That is great insight. However, it begs the question, for what distance? After researching piles of data and other people’s experiences, I am going to put a Leupold on my M-1A. However, I can’t see putting a Leupold on my TSS. It doesn’t shoot far enough and there are scopes that work well enough. I have a cheap Tasco 2.5-10x42mm AO that was $60 delivered. It works great out to 60 yards or so. It was on my Marauder and worked well untill I started trying to hit targets at 100 yards…then I wanted more magnification. But out to 65 yards it worked great!
The next question is which Leupold? Any? The cheapest? The mid priced? The most expensive? Fixed magnification, or variable? What do you recommend for an airgun? Obviously something with a mil dot reticle, or is there another that works well with powerful airguns?
Thanks for the education.
Going to go with Hold Over on this one…
Leupold ALL the way
okay first on any of their newer scopes you can get the reticule changed out and there are even outfits doing custom reticules for the Leupold line.
Second, you can send em’ back to the factory and have the parallax adjusted to what ever distance you want.
life time warranty
TREMENDOUS optical quality
my view is one is serious money ahead buying up a second hand EBAY Leupold, sending it to the factory for parallax and maybe reticule work…heck they will even refinish them
Yes I have Hawkes and Nikkos but in no way do I consider them superior to a decent Leupold
other better scopes are by Kahles, Nickle, IOR Valdada, Zeiss
Bushnell?
straight mediocre trash even at there best
I don’t see why airgunners foam at the mouth so over Bushnell
guess it comes from lack of experience with real high end glass
Leepers?
Barska?
spare me…
if you are on a budget hunt up a used Simmons variable made in the Philippines…before they went Chinese
in Deer country they crop up cheap, like $20.00 garage sale cheap and maybe 70+/usually – Gunshow cheap
sold quite a few on the AG boards as they have quite the following and pull $100+ in this community
still far from a high grade optic but a damn sight better than most of the alternatives I see posted in three pages here
CORRECT!
The 6-24×50 was new and factory set, by the Leapers factory in China 🙄
It was not too far out how ever perfect center could not be acheived.
It’s got a very small “acceptable’ amount of movement when rotated.
One other thing I noticed that many will never see. You can see what different eye relief movement does to the reticle when looking at the target. So if you move in and out keeping as center as possible, there should be no left or right movement on the “reticle placement on target”.
However if you move left & right while looking through the bench mounted scope you will see the reticle off-set left and right. On both of my Leapers this was observed. So I just pointed out that correct eye relief to gain repeatable target aqusition is very important. I set the actual eye releif by adjusting the scope fore or aft until it gave a perfect picture. Generally looking at the same target in off hand stance, scope focused with a lower magnification, about half the total zoom.
Hold the rifle and try to aquire the target as quickly as possible.
From relaxed position pointing down in front, similar to the stance after contact with game and getting to a postion for a clear shot.
Both hands in approximate placement on pistol grip & fore grip, shoulder the rifle and see how much you have to stuff around to get the full picture through the scope.
If you adjust the scope fore and aft look for the sweet spot, where you shoulder and automatically get the full picture. Without having to adjust your head to compensate for bad eye relief setting. I have a ‘Wok Butt’ and that really helps. Can shoulder and aquire, good full site pic quite fast. You will then notice when using the rifle, that this eye relief will make your reticle have less deviation. Another point I noticed was, when I was sneaking some shots on a 20 Yard range off hand, “you have to try off hand! Its a laugh”. The amount of movement you will notice is quite significant, it’s a real challenge to steady for a shot.
If taking a standing shot and there is a tree or anything verticle, you can steady almost as good as a shooting rest. If right handed like alot of us put your left hand on the object and rest the rifle on your left fore arm. The difference is significant. If you can do this and get good there is no need to lie on the ground 😛 .
So far I have not had the chance to use the bi-pod on the TSS. I’m glad its a bit lighter than the Condor 😆 BTW I’m going to get the CE Pro chrono and see what my rifles are doing. Will post results. The TSS has a moded valve, Moded breech slide, moded safety, shimmed bushes & is as clean as a whistle. Silicone oil and grease are used sparingly. I always try and coat the barrel prior to fixing in the frame.
I would like to coat it with something that stays on but have not worked it out. There is a protective coating that it comes with from the factory and lots of AF gun blued or blacked parts come with the same coating but I have not worked out what the best protective coating is yet?
Thanks for the supportive comments 🙂
I have a Nikon for my talon and a *had* a Leupold VX II on my Bushmaster. I think you’re totaly correct about too much power for such close distances.
I used iron sights to knock down silhouettes from 300 meters [look mom, no scope]. My rule of thumb is that if the reticle is not in focus along with the target, then the power is set too high. Out to 30 meters I can go to 6x magnification.
In my opinion, any reticle that is not mil-dot (or does not have t&e markings) is not a good tool, unless a person plans on making every shot from the same distance.
As far as optical coatings, Fujinon has the best (ebc).
Nice writeup Techmod… It is great to read actual experience and results with
such detail… Too many just throw on a scope and then blame the gun if they
can’t hit anything or if there are deviations in POI from different distances.
These rings might “honestly” offer the necessary adjustments
you are looking for without having to bend the rail… 😉 I am not an
“expert” , I actually own a set and they have worked well for me so it is
not just an opinion…
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Oh the Condor has lots of power and driving .25s to the upper 900s is where it all comes together especially for longrange shooting. I have a reg setup at 2K that pushes .25s in the low to mid 800’s but add a couple hundred fps and it is like day and night either way Condors make BIG power for an airgun. 😀
Randy