An 18 dollar 3-9x40AO scope....gotta be crap right?

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Life got in the way today, still gotta go pick up the mount and some blasting ammo. I figgured if it survives 100rnds it gets a pass.
 
A cheap scope makes sense if, instead of precision shooting, you are more interested in "cone of fire" and "beaten zone" techniques. (Relevant to machine guns or rapid semiautomatic fire.) In such an application, ability to withstand vibration is more important than optical precision. If worst comes to worst, you can chuck the scope and go back to the iron sights.
 
Got out and shot the rifle and scope. Just enough to get it sighted, I wanted to use it tomorrow.....
Unfortunately I forgot to degrease the mount holes and loctite the screws so the mount started to come loose.
Back to square 1 lol.

Untill the mount started to come loose, the scope zero'd in 3 shots and held perfectly for a 5 shot group. Then moved about a foot low left after putting the gun down and walking down range. Rezeroed and it was fine but groups opened up to 2.5" or so, course the gun was hot by that point.
Everything should now be secure, gonna try it again with more ammo.
 
FindANewSlant said:
Good signs!
Click to expand...
Maybe, hopefully next outing will be more in-depth. I only had 15 rounds of my 150gr handloads. I need to make more and buy some blasting ammo.


Sistema1927 said:
Sounds like you have already received 18 bucks worth of entertainment value out of it.
Click to expand...
Totally!


I noticed last night when I was remounting the scope that the lenses were fogged over, no fogging inside tho. There does appear to be some grease that has gotten onto one of the interior lenses. I'll try grab some pictures later.
 
Forgot to upload the pictures of the grease and fogging. The grease bugged me enough I pulled the occular out and cleaned it off.....yes I'm aware that let what ever gas was in there out, and some moist air in.
I only had it open for a little bit so didn't take too hard a look at the guts but everything LOOKED pretty well finished and assembled.

IMG_20180912_192647700-3006x4008.jpg IMG_20180913_144819513-3006x4008.jpg
 
Ok, I FINALLY got to the range yesterday to shoot this thing again. I had the cheapo scope in it's cheapo rings, and a little Leupold vx-freedom in Weaver rings set up and ready to go.
I also bought about 100rnds of golden tiger fmjs.

I had a bunch of stuff to do, so only took a sloppy Winchester rifle rest with me (I shot 2 other rifles that shoot 1" easy and the best groups I got we're 1-1.5") and shot standing off the hood of my truck.

The ammo isn't one I've shot in this rifle before, and dosent appear to be very accurate in this rifle, groups ran about 5-6" with both scopes installed.

I shot about 40rnds after sighting in the el cheapo scope, and about 15 shots in, It LOOKED like the scope was starting to wander. That prompted me to check the rings, and they were starting to come loose. I re-tightened them, and in the process completely bent smaller clamping pieces. I fired another 20 rounds or so and the mount seemed to stay put. The POI also didnt change once the mount was tight.
At this point, the rifle was getting pretty hot, so I put it up and started to sight in my .250AI and 6.5-284. As soon as i got them out it started raining, and just kept raining harder and harder.
By the time I got both of the larger rifles sighted, the rain was coming down hard.
I tossed those back in the cases, and swapped out the scopes on the SKS.

I did a rough sight at 50yds and got it 1" high. Then moved out to 100yds and shot 10rnds, which produced a similar group to what was happening with the cheap scope.

Im fairly sure that the cheap scope is doing exactly what it supposed to do, but the rings are real garbage. Im not inclined to keep messing with it at this point, as surviving getting banged around in my gun room, and eating 60+ rounds from the sks seems like enough abuse for an 18 dollar scope. Its also very unlikely ill have time to get out and shoot it again in the near future, so Im going to keep the Leupy installed and ready to go.

The second target i had basically melted in the rain, and i didnt get any pictures at the time, but i do still have some of the first taget i was going to use as my "proof" target till the rings came loose.

If anyone wants this little scope at this point let me know.

Oh, even after opening it up, and going from sea level to 6k, back to sea level, then back to being rained on at 3k ft, it never fogged up.
 
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LoonWulf said:
Ok, I FINALLY got to the range yesterday to shoot this thing again. I had the cheapo scope in it's cheapo rings, and a little Leupold vx-freedom in Weaver rings set up and ready to go.
I also bought about 100rnds of golden tiger fmjs.

I had a bunch of stuff to do, so only took a sloppy Winchester rifle rest with me (I shot 2 other rifles that shoot 1" easy and the best groups I got we're 1-1.5") and shot standing off the hood of my truck.

The ammo isn't one I've shot in this rifle before, and dosent appear to be very accurate in this rifle, groups ran about 5-6" with both scopes installed.

I shot about 40rnds after sighting in the el cheapo scope, and about 15 shots in I LOOKED like the scope was starting to wander. That prompted me to check the rings, and they were starting to come loose. I re-tightened them, and in the process completely bent smaller clamping pieces. I fired another 20 rounds or so and again mount seemed to stay put. The POI also didnt change once the mount was tight.
At this point, the rifle was getting pretty hot, so I put it up and started to sight in my .250AI and 6.5-284. As soon as i got them out it started raining, and just kept raining harder and harder.
By the time I got both of the larger rifles sighted, the rain was coming down hard.
I tossed those back in the cases, and swapped out the scopes on the SKS.

I did a rough sight at 50yds and got it 1" high. Then moved out to 100yds and shot 10rnds, which produced a similar group to what was happening with the cheap scope.

Im fairly sure that the cheap scope is doing exactly what it supposed to do, but the rings are real garbage. Im not inclined to keep messing with it at this point, as surviving getting banged around in my gun room, and eating 60+ rounds from the sks seems like enough abuse for an 18 dollar scope. Its also very unlikely ill have time to get out and shoot it again in the near future, so Im going to keep the Leupy installed and ready to go.

The second target i had basically melted in the rain, and i didnt get any pictures at the time, but i do still have some of the first taget i was going to use as my "proof" target till the rings came loose.

If anyone wants this little scope at this point let me know.

Oh, even after opening it up, and going from sea level to 6k, back to sea level, then back to being rained on at 3k ft, it never fogged up.
Click to expand...
now u need to give it to a fishing buddy and have them drop it down like 300 feet and see what happens lol. i have added nitrogen to old weaver scopes before, my friend worked at race shop they use it in the tires. put the scope in a bucket and fill it with the nitrogen and screw on the lens cover. this worked well for me.
 
troy fairweather said:
now u need to give it to a fishing buddy and have them drop it down like 300 feet and see what happens lol. i have added nitrogen to old weaver scopes before, my friend worked at race shop they use it in the tires. put the scope in a bucket and fill it with the nitrogen and screw on the lens cover. this worked well for me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I used to repurge some of my scopes at work.
Now tho I dont have access to the tanks or the chambers i used.
One of my buddies goes out pretty much every week, doubt he would be willing to risk one of his rigs droping the scope down tho lol.
I would most likely fail nearly instantly once pressure reached a certain point, the types of seals, and joints, used in scopes simply arent built to take that kind of pressure.
 
I have 2 CenterPoint 4-16x40mm AO IR scopes I got for $70 from Walmart (now around $100) and even after years of .223/5.56/.308 loads, they are still going strong.

They are not as bright or sharp as $100 Bushnell scopes (Banner and Trophy) but in bright daylight, usable for 100 yard testing.

But with many Bushnell scopes under/around $100 with lifetime warranty, I rather lean towards buying Bushnell over taking a chance on other sub $100 scopes (But as your thread illustrated, globalization of manufacturing may change that).

Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40mm for $99 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Tro..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=QQMPQF14NFSGPWZEG9FT

For low light use, Bushnell Trophy 3-9x50mm is a consideration at $99 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Tro...=iVaQj&refRID=19HMCJBV2X9XZ3FBMK0B&th=1&psc=1

Bushnell Dusk & Dawn AO 4-12x40mm for $95 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-614124-Adjustable-Objective-Riflescope/dp/B00J2RGEXE/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1539740862&sr=1-4&keywords=bushnell+dusk+and+dawn+scope&th=1&psc=1

Bushnell Dusk & Dawn AO 6-18x50mm for $105 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-614124-Adjustable-Objective-Riflescope/dp/B00IYHG1MM/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1539740862&sr=1-4&keywords=bushnell+dusk+and+dawn+scope&th=1&psc=1
 
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bds said:
I have 2 CenterPoint 4-16x40mm AO IR scopes I got for $70 from Walmart (now around $100) and even after years of .223/5.56/.308 loads, they are still going strong.

They are not as bright or sharp as $100 Bushnell scopes (Banner and Trophy) but in bright daylight, usable for 100 yard testing.

But with many Bushnell scopes under/around $100 with lifetime warranty, I rather lean towards buying Bushnell over taking a chance on other sub $100 scopes (But as your thread illustrated, globalization of manufacturing may change that).

For low light use, Bushnell Trophy 3-9x50mm is a consideration at $99 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Tro...=iVaQj&refRID=19HMCJBV2X9XZ3FBMK0B&th=1&psc=1

Bushnell Dusk & Dawn AO 4-16x40mm for $95 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-614124-Adjustable-Objective-Riflescope/dp/B00J2RGEXE/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1539740862&sr=1-4&keywords=bushnell+dusk+and+dawn+scope&th=1&psc=1

Bushnell Dusk & Dawn AO 6-18x50mm for $105 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-614124-Adjustable-Objective-Riflescope/dp/B00IYHG1MM/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1539740862&sr=1-4&keywords=bushnell+dusk+and+dawn+scope&th=1&psc=1
Click to expand...
I have had good luck with the center point scopes to, tho i only put them on 22lrs but they work good for the money. the one Japanese man at the gun show here se them cheap, last one i got in September, was only $40 for the 4-16. i like the Bushnell, but the eye relief is not the best, and it can be hard to mount and i don't put them on anything bigger then a 243 win.
 
bds said:
Bushnell Dusk & Dawn AO 4-12x40mm for $95 - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-614124-Adjustable-Objective-Riflescope/dp/B00J2RGEXE/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1539740862&sr=1-4&keywords=bushnell+dusk+and+dawn+scope&th=1&psc=1
Click to expand...
I bought 4 of these when walmart cleared them out. Optics and tracking we're excellent for the cost, but two had seal failures. One of the others is with a friend from the forums, and the third I sold on eBay after prices went back up.....paid for all four.

As far as I know the one my buddy has is working fine. The eBay guy didn't complain and left good feedback after about a month, so I assume it's working for him.
 
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