Best Scope Under $150 for no more than 500yds

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VE2RF

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I know that the general consenus is that out at 500 yds and longer, you need a really top quality scope that can be as expensive as $750-$1000.

I want to spend less $150 and get the best scope that I can get to enable to shoot out to maximum of 500 yards.

I know that is asking a lot, but I'm not expecting miracles and I'm not expecting something for nothing.

I have $150 to spend, and I'd like to get the most scope for the money. So long as it isn't a Chinese scope, I don't care where it is made or what brand it is.

Thanks for your help and advice. It is appreciated.
-Vaughn
 
I don't have anything really against Chinese scopes, it's just that I bought one off of Ebay and within a month, the lenses/optical parts were wobbling under recoil from .308 Magtech. Finally the front dislodged and cracked.

It was a $100 3x9 and it was made in China. I didn't know it was Chinese at the time or else I would have bought a cheap Bushnell.

I'll check out the Nikon you mentioned.

Thank you.
 
nikon or pentax, Japanese made. any old Tasco glass, that has an extremely shiny tube, 30 yrs old or more usually. It is also made in japan, and will say so on the tube. A new Tasco Varmint series, I have had very good luck with these. but the nikon or Pentax, will be much better, and they are also pretty much like Leupold when it comes to warranty, not quite, but darn close.
 
I'll second the suggestion of a Nikon Prostaff if you are staying in the sub $150 range.

In fact, its probably the only sub $150 optic that I'd run.


-- John
 
I recently got an E-mail from MidawayUSA with a big sale on the Bushnell Legend 5-15 mil-dot,with target knobs,for $150-something. This scope has fully-multi-coated lenses and a life-time warranty.I've ALMOST bought this scope,a couple times (got Elites instead), but for the money in question, this is where I'd go.
Also, to concur with Khyrons post, yes, the Weaver V's are dynamite scopes !! I have a V7 and a V16, both on .22s, and wouldn't change a thing.
 
I have the Bushnell Legent 3-9x40 and it was $159 but well worth the money. I've been pleasantly surprised by it having never owned a Bushnell before. That would be my vote.

But I also have several Nikon Buckmaster scopes and I think Nikon really has a great thing going with their scopes. I've never looked through one, but I've heard a lot of people saying they like their ProStaffs too!
 
The Nikons are made in the Phillipines.
Click to expand...

For the mid grade models (e.g., Buckmaster, etc.). Higher grades (e.g., Monarch, Tactical, etc.) are still made in Japan, IIRC.
 
(quote) "Their ProStaff 2x7 for $129.00 at either riflescopes.com or opticsplanet.com are the best deal I know of."

Yeah, but 2X7 is pretty much a rimfire scope,pretty weak if the OP wants to shoot 500 yards.
 
I third the vote for Nikon. As a person who was in the semiconductor industry, Nikon and one other manufacturer lead the market in lens technology in their multimillion dollar exposure tools. Sure, not the same factory, but the stable they're bred from produces the world's finest optics.

The other manufacturer does not make any rifle scopes to my knowledge.
 
I have a Leapers 6-24X50 that I am very pleased with. It was cheap- $100 OTD- and works quite well. I can read signs clear as day at 500 yards or so.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=458410&t=11082005

It suits the purpose of the gun it is mounted on and to buy a scope with a big name on it and similar specs would have cost more than what I felt it was worth.

FWIW its made in Taiwan... that's the Republic of China, not the PRC. It also has a lifetime warranty and an illuminated reticle. The lifetime warranty really sealed the deal for me.
 
Be careful about lifetime warranties. At one time they certainly were worth something, usually given out for higher end items by companies confident about their products. The warranties are nowadays not a good indicator of the quality of the product. You still have the higher end quality folks still providing them as in the past but you now also have the very low end companies offering them just to gain sales. usually what occurs when you have a problem with low end product and send it in, they'll just replace it with a new low end product (which will also eventually fail) instead of fixing the broken one as it is cheaper to go that route. You will usually pay to send it to them for repair/replacement. One of the crappiest scope manufacturers that make the BEC Inc. brand (made in China) have (at least when I tried one out) lifetime warranties.
 
I can personally vouch for Bushnells lifetime warranty. I had a lowest-end Banner that came on a Beeman R9 pellet rifle,screw up in a minor way. I sent it in, and they let me upgrade to a significantly nicer 3200 Elite 5-15 tactical, for a measley $180. They made me a customer for life!
 
Odd that no one's asked, "Shooting what out to 500 yds.?" Prairie Dogs or elk? I've not shot targets past 350 yds., but at that range it certainly isn't (in my experience or opinion) necessary to have one of the new, trendy, humongus, high magnification scopes that weigh more than most rifles. As such, you can probably pick up a used Burris, which are made in the USA and have a lifetime warranty, for a good price. I own 3 Burris scopes and am more than pleased with them.
Right now, there's a 3x9 on eBay that's at $128.00, another at $117.50, and a 2x7 Ballistic Plex at $124.95.
Good luck!
35W
 
A friend has good glass on all his rifles at very low cost because he has studied the field. He tracks down minor and medium brand names of scopes from when they were made in Japan before they moved to Korea, the Philippines, and Communist China in search of cheaper labor. He showed me a Japanese Simmons that was very sharp, if he does not put it on a gun of his own, I will likely buy it from him.

Of course this means buying used, with no "lifetime guarantee" or return privilege, but it can keep the price way down.
 
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