Best hunting scope from $1000-$2000

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Steiner T5Xi (3-15x50)
http://www.opticsplanet.com/steiner-t5xi-3-15x50mm-scr-reticle-scope.html

Nightforce NXS (3.5-15x50)
http://www.opticsplanet.com/nightforce-nxs-35-15x-tactical-riflescope.html

Schmidt & Bender Klassik (3-12x50)
http://www.opticsplanet.com/schmidt...lens-illum-reticle-var-power-riflescopes.html

I really don't think it's necessary to spend this kinda money on a hunting scope, but IMO these are about as good as it's gonna get (and far better than it needs to be) within your budget.

Don't be lured into buying a ridiculous 5-25x56 or similar optic. You want to stay at 2-3x for your low-end magnification, and for hunting out to 600 yards, even a top-end mag of 12-15x is more than you need. I threw in the Nightforce just to add some variety.
 
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I've not heard as much about Steiner as the others. Are they well regarded?


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Not much love for Leupold in this thread!

If I was buying a scope for Western hunting, I'd get a VX-3i 3.5-10x40 with the CDS. In fact I'd have no hesitation putting that scope on any flat shooting rifle, no matter where I was hunting. If you want to spend more there is the VX-6 line, which pretty much falls in your price range. I've never checked out one of those, though.

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The majority of long range & benchrest competitors seem to be using Leupold or Nightforce scopes, so that should mean something. I'm not sure about what reticles they offer today, but Nightforce scopes didn't seem to be ideal for hunting. (Just my opinon, YMMV.)

I haven't looked at current offerings from Swarovski or Zeiss, but years ago they both had what I consider to be a major failing: off axis glare.

I suggest you take whatever 'scope you're interested in out on a bright sunny day or in a store with a bright light on the ceiling or elsewhere and point the scope to one side of the light source . . . with the sun or light JUST OUTSIDE the field of view, (don't look at the sun itself through a scope, or point it directly at the sun. Duh!) and look through the scope. MANY scopes will show ghostly rings of light in the field of view; this is bad, and a symptom of poor internal blackening or baffling.

I've had exceptionally good luck with Leupold scopes - good optical quality, and exceptional durability. If it matters to you, I've read that Leupold's Mark IV line will soon be withdrawn from civilian sales and restricted to police/military.
 
The majority of long range & benchrest competitors seem to be using Leupold or Nightforce scopes

Here are the current scopes used in PRS shooting.

This is taken from the precision rifle blog.

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/10/24/best-tactical-scopes-what-the-pros-use/

I highly recommend this site to anyone who is interested in long range shooting.

most-popular-scopes1.png

As you will see Leupold is way down the list. Years ago when I was around benchrest it seemed to dominate. I am no longer around benchrest and have no idea what they are currently using.

I just ordered a Vortex Razor AMG. It is out of the OP's stated price range, but is a very light scope for the features it offers.
 
Maybe so, but the average local shooting range isn't going to have many, if any, ultra high-end scopes, in a given hour, on a given day. The suggestion that the OP go to his local range and stand around hoping to run across several nice examples to critique, is pretty far fetched, and unlikely in the extreme to result in any useful experiences or information. The OP is doing exactly what he should be doing: starting out by heavily researching them on the internet.
 
Charles S said:
Here are the current scopes used in PRS shooting.

With all due respect, I don't think that equipment used by the PRS is relevant here. Long range precision "tactical" shooters typically use fairly heavy front focal scopes with focus/parallax, large adjuustment knobs, large objectives and busy reticles. I'll admit that I shot a really nice mule deer buck in Belt, MT last year using my AI AW in .308 Win that has a Nightforce NXS 3-15x50mm F1 scope mounted. I used that rifle/scope combination because it was ready to go and my primary hunting rifle was being worked on when deer season rolled around. However, I wouldn't recommend that Nightforce scope on a hunting rifle since it's much bigger, heavier and more expensive than is needed to take deer/elk out to 600 yards. As I said earlier, I'll take a 3-9x40mm or 3.5-10x44mm with an RZ reticle over just about anything. Any $400~$600 Leupold, Zeiss, or Vortex variable 3-10X or fixed 6X scope will work well for 95% of hunting scenarios. Optics have come a long way in the last 15 years and particularly in the last five years such that it's just not necessary to spend $1000+ on a hunting scope.
 
The majority of long range & benchrest competitors seem to be using Leupold or Nightforce scopes, so that should mean something. I'm not sure about what reticles they offer today, but Nightforce scopes didn't seem to be ideal for hunting. (Just my opinon, YMMV.)

yeah, it means those two companies make scopes designed for benchrest. i.e. extremely high magnification range, extremely fine target dot reticles, without the cost of ruggedizing. they are NOT meant for field use. it would be a really bad idea to use a benchrest scope for hunting.


as far as shopping, you might want to check out the sample list. also, i got some spam from midwayusa today that they have swarovski demo units on sale.
 
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