+/- $150 varmint scope?

[8040Cougar]

Hi guys, I'm looking for a decent scope to compliment my (soon to be) Stevens 200 in 223. I want something in the 6-18/6-24 power range that retains clarity as well as possible at a pricepoint of 150 dollars(or a little more if its really worth it, but no more than 200). I know you get what you pay for, and yet I've dropped over 10 whitetails in 4 years of hunting with my $144 simmons 3-10 equipped 308. I dont want a 500 dollar scope, this is a gun that will see recreational target shooting, groundhog and possibly coyote hunting, and as a backup deer rifle that I hope I'll never need. I have 2 in mind so far:
this 6-24x44 Konus: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/38597-34.html
and this 6-18X40 simmons: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/15164-34.html
info and firsthand accounts on these and other reccomndations within my price range are much appreciated.

 

[MMCSRET]

For an economical scope that is way better than the price would indicate take a look at Tasco 2.5-10x42?. with adjustable objective. I just put one on a Savage M10 in .223. It runs $55.00 to $65.00 at Midway or Graf. I was short of money and was am very pleasantly surprised, ordered another one. It also has target turrets.

 

[Crazy Fingers]

How far are you expecting to be able to shoot with this scope? 300? 400?

 

[skinewmexico]

I'd look at the Pentaxs' on cameralandny.com.

 

[Rob62]

I'd go with the Konus over the Simmons given those two choices. As I'm sure you found out by now you can't get that much scope (magnification) for under $200.

Rob

 

[browningguy]

Camerland NY and others have the new Pentax gameseekers for similar or lower prices. I would definately go for one of those first. I recently switched my .50 Beowulf to a Pentax 1.5-6 Gameseeker and it seems decent for the money.

 

[eng23ine]

I'll prolly get flamed for this, but I threw a simmons 3x9x40 in the trash so I could put a BSA sweet .17 in 6x18x40 on my savage.

It has been mounted for over a year, maybe 200 shots fired and spent some time in the farm trucks(cased of course) and hasn't lost zero yet.

I *THINK* they make a sweet .223 also.

 

[MMCSRET]

I have used the high power magnifications(12X and up) and find that for prairie and hay field shooting on warm, sunny days there is just too much heat wave distortion to get an accurate sight picture. It happens with even high end swarovski and zeiss optics. For that reason I stay away from High magnification optics. For average 223 shooting 10X is more than enough.

 

[rangerruck]

if it says BSA, then run away. I have 3 of the Tasco varmints, for about 3 years now, had one of them on a Parker hale ultra lite, never lost zero, none of them have. 6x24x42, and they are around 100 bucks...

 

[bullockcm]

my suggestion

http://www.swfa.com/c-252-simmons-whitetail-classic-rifle-scopes.aspx

I bought one of these last year when Midway had them for $100. Midway now has them for $230, SWFA was the 1st place I found it still on closeout in the $100 range. I use the "bargain" scope on my "bargain" varmint rifle, a Handi Rifle with a .223 bull barrel. All told I have a touch under $300 invested in a setup which shoots 1.5" groups and has always been minute of woodchuck assuming the shooter does their part.

1st I will start off with the bad, the AO for parralax does work but the ranges as marked on the scope do not equal the actual distance for correction. The image gets blurry in the outer 5mm of the lense which turns the 50mm scope into a 40mm for usable image. The last part of the bad is the light gathering, compared to 2 different Leupold VXII 40mm objectives the Simmons is signifacantly darker, note though there is a substantial difference between the 2 Leupolds in this regard as well.

Now the good, clicks do = 1/4" and adjustment is repeatable. So far I have not had any quality/reliability issues, round count is in the 500 range. Clarity across the full magnification range is good.

To sum it up, I think the scope offers good value at the closeout price of $100. I don't have any experience with the other similiarly priced optics for comparison. Really the gun and scope were purchased because my friend and I were curious to see how a "cheap" setup would compare to his $2000 22-250 Rem 700 & Leupold combo. The Handi & Simmons combo is not as bad as some would think and offers alot of everyday usefulness for not a lot of money.

 

[Neckshot5seven]

+1 on the Tasco 2.5X10. I have had one for 7 years now Bought it from EABCO for $65 dollars. It was on a .30-06 for 300 rounds. a .308 for a hundred or so, and now sits on my .223 model 10 savage. It has never let me down. If it lived through that .30-06 then I say it will be more than enough for a .223 unless you like dropping it from buildings or something like that.

 

[8040Cougar]

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=168462 Would that be a good buy? It seems that is it a good optic based on the reviews, and the price is right. I'd be using this to a max of 500, bu at that distance I'd just be target shooting for fun to see what im capable of. I'd say most use of this combo will be within 300 yards or so.