rbernie
Contributing Member
Anyone used these, or seen any reviews? I've never heard of them before, but I'm getting a local recommendation (not from a retailer) to try 'em for a project not worthy of anything better than 3rd-tier optics.
Barska optics - any experiences?
- Thread starter rbernie
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countertop
Member
Just wondering if anyone ever had expereince with these - or knows anything about them.
They are pretty inexpensive - though I don't know if that is indicative of the quality. I was told they come from Eastern Europe and have very low labor costs. Is this true?
Any info is appreciated.
They are pretty inexpensive - though I don't know if that is indicative of the quality. I was told they come from Eastern Europe and have very low labor costs. Is this true?
Any info is appreciated.
What you see is what you get
Barska is essentially a no-name import. Their glass may be made in China or elsewhere, and they probably have different levels of quality as most marketers do. What they don't have is a reputation. Of course, those are for sale (remember Weaver scopes from Texas?).
They have stuff that will generally deliver a lot of performance for the dollar and meet most needs just fine. I have no idea how their warranty service is, however. If they stand behind their name they may go far.
The plants that make their stuff also contract with the bigger name marketers, you can bet. The difference is in quality control and customer service. They either have it or they don't, and only time will tell.
Check it out, see if it meets your needs, give it a whirl and tell us about your experience. Usually it doesn't cost a lot of money to play this game, but if you require a certain spec such as resolution, multiphase coatings and Bak4 prisms, it's up to you to confirm by trying before buying.
Barska is essentially a no-name import. Their glass may be made in China or elsewhere, and they probably have different levels of quality as most marketers do. What they don't have is a reputation. Of course, those are for sale (remember Weaver scopes from Texas?).
They have stuff that will generally deliver a lot of performance for the dollar and meet most needs just fine. I have no idea how their warranty service is, however. If they stand behind their name they may go far.
The plants that make their stuff also contract with the bigger name marketers, you can bet. The difference is in quality control and customer service. They either have it or they don't, and only time will tell.
Check it out, see if it meets your needs, give it a whirl and tell us about your experience. Usually it doesn't cost a lot of money to play this game, but if you require a certain spec such as resolution, multiphase coatings and Bak4 prisms, it's up to you to confirm by trying before buying.
wally
Member
Funny you should ask, I just got back from the range after mounting a Barska SWAT 6-24X zoom 44mm IR mil dot target scope from www.sportsmansguide.com for $180 on my RRA Varmiteer .223 rifle. They listed it as their "Guide Gear" house brand but what arrived was clearly marked Barska. It has side focus parallax adjustment and "micrometer" target turrets -- the kind with no covers and a fixed scale for repeat settings. Just what I've been looking for. Also has illuminated reticle which doesn't seem very useful to me, but it seems to work as advertised.
Short answer, if they simply had stopped the zoom ring at 18X and used the appropriate mil dot reticle I'd say it was an outstanding value. At 24X its usable but the exit pupil is the bare minimum to be usable on a dim day like today was. Clarity and brightness seemed pretty darn good for an inexpensive scope at magnifications of 20X or below, at 24X its a cheap scope.
The 1/8" @ 100yds click adjustments seemed pretty accurate based on counting clicks and dividing by 16 since I was shooting at 50 yrds. Was too windy for anything other than getting on the paper which was easy since it was 16 clicks left and 24 clicks low at 50 yrds out of the box when mounted with the included rings. This appeared to move the POI 1" right and 1.5" up as expected. Then it started to sprinkle lightly so I called it a day shooting wise.
Someone had left targets up at 200 yrds and 300 yrds so I took a look through the scope at 24X. Once I found the exit pupil and adjusted focus I could see bullet holes at both distances, I'm pretty sure the caliber was larger than .223 though, but I didn't walk downrange to be sure. At 200 yrds I could see a 5-shot group, although I couldn't be really sure as it was a little fuzzy, but good enough to aim precisely on the center of the target and see that this group was about 4" low ~2" diameter. At 300 yrds I could see a hole and again the bull was was clear enough to aim precisely at. Checked with my 20-60X 90mm spotting scope and it clearly was a .30 caliber 5-shot group at 200 yrds centered about 4" low (I could resolve the 1" grid lines on the target). At 300 yrd I saw l a 2 shot group of probably .30 cal about 1/2" apart, I was impressed! was about 3" left and 1/2" high just outside the dayglo bull stuck on the paper. If this was just two shots fired, I'd say this guy was a darn good long range shooter!
I don't have any experience with high dollar target scopes so I don't know if one can reasonably expect to resolve .30 cal holes with a 24X scope on a rifle (resolving is more difficult than "seeing" I could easily see a hole with the Barska at 24X, but couldn't tell it was actually two holes untill I got out better optics -- I had my spotting scope at 60X to find two holes at 300 yrds).
I'm not serious enough about long range bench shooting to spend $600-800 for a high quality scope (heck I only spent $225 on the spotting scope but its good for 300 yrds which longest distange at our club), but this Barska will be lots of fun at 100 & 200 yrds and certainly will be usable at 300, although I'd want better if I was serious.
Also at 200 yrds was a paper plate. Assuming it was a standard 8" plate, the mil dot seemed reasonably accurate at 24X as the plate was about 1 dot spacing wide and a mil dot is 3.6" at 100 yrds or 7.2" at 200 yrds.
--wally.
Short answer, if they simply had stopped the zoom ring at 18X and used the appropriate mil dot reticle I'd say it was an outstanding value. At 24X its usable but the exit pupil is the bare minimum to be usable on a dim day like today was. Clarity and brightness seemed pretty darn good for an inexpensive scope at magnifications of 20X or below, at 24X its a cheap scope.
The 1/8" @ 100yds click adjustments seemed pretty accurate based on counting clicks and dividing by 16 since I was shooting at 50 yrds. Was too windy for anything other than getting on the paper which was easy since it was 16 clicks left and 24 clicks low at 50 yrds out of the box when mounted with the included rings. This appeared to move the POI 1" right and 1.5" up as expected. Then it started to sprinkle lightly so I called it a day shooting wise.
Someone had left targets up at 200 yrds and 300 yrds so I took a look through the scope at 24X. Once I found the exit pupil and adjusted focus I could see bullet holes at both distances, I'm pretty sure the caliber was larger than .223 though, but I didn't walk downrange to be sure. At 200 yrds I could see a 5-shot group, although I couldn't be really sure as it was a little fuzzy, but good enough to aim precisely on the center of the target and see that this group was about 4" low ~2" diameter. At 300 yrds I could see a hole and again the bull was was clear enough to aim precisely at. Checked with my 20-60X 90mm spotting scope and it clearly was a .30 caliber 5-shot group at 200 yrds centered about 4" low (I could resolve the 1" grid lines on the target). At 300 yrd I saw l a 2 shot group of probably .30 cal about 1/2" apart, I was impressed! was about 3" left and 1/2" high just outside the dayglo bull stuck on the paper. If this was just two shots fired, I'd say this guy was a darn good long range shooter!
I don't have any experience with high dollar target scopes so I don't know if one can reasonably expect to resolve .30 cal holes with a 24X scope on a rifle (resolving is more difficult than "seeing" I could easily see a hole with the Barska at 24X, but couldn't tell it was actually two holes untill I got out better optics -- I had my spotting scope at 60X to find two holes at 300 yrds).
I'm not serious enough about long range bench shooting to spend $600-800 for a high quality scope (heck I only spent $225 on the spotting scope but its good for 300 yrds which longest distange at our club), but this Barska will be lots of fun at 100 & 200 yrds and certainly will be usable at 300, although I'd want better if I was serious.
Also at 200 yrds was a paper plate. Assuming it was a standard 8" plate, the mil dot seemed reasonably accurate at 24X as the plate was about 1 dot spacing wide and a mil dot is 3.6" at 100 yrds or 7.2" at 200 yrds.
--wally.
I have looked at them at Dumham's and Gander Mountain. Their 4x was a very good scope, bright and clear in the store. I then looked at their 4x12, if I remember, with the Illuminated crosshairs, and it was fine in the lower settings, but in the higher 12x setting, I could not focus it accross the store, and it was was downright fuzzy at 12x !!! The one in Silver, had the worst paint job I hav ever seen on a scope!
I bought the Tasco 3x9x40 World Class instead, after comparing them with Nikon ($169), Redfield ($159), and others, it was in the same class, and with a $10 rebate, the price went down to $29.95!!!! But their cheap low ball Tasco 3x40 at $19.95, was very bad, along with BSA, and Simmons, didn't have that clairity and birghteness the World Class, Nikon or Redfield had.
I have seen that in the last 10 years, all scopes, have improved big time, with multi coatings, better glass, improved sharpnessand brightness and better eye relief.
I would stay away from Barksa and the lowest end scopes, but the middle class scopes, I would buy, as long as they are priced well below Leopold's bottom end scopes.
The best thing to do, is to go to a real store, and compare scopes side by side, you would be amazed at the little difference in some of them.
But most of the lowest priced ones, are low in quality, and performance. Remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for"....
I bought the Tasco 3x9x40 World Class instead, after comparing them with Nikon ($169), Redfield ($159), and others, it was in the same class, and with a $10 rebate, the price went down to $29.95!!!! But their cheap low ball Tasco 3x40 at $19.95, was very bad, along with BSA, and Simmons, didn't have that clairity and birghteness the World Class, Nikon or Redfield had.
I have seen that in the last 10 years, all scopes, have improved big time, with multi coatings, better glass, improved sharpnessand brightness and better eye relief.
I would stay away from Barksa and the lowest end scopes, but the middle class scopes, I would buy, as long as they are priced well below Leopold's bottom end scopes.
The best thing to do, is to go to a real store, and compare scopes side by side, you would be amazed at the little difference in some of them.
But most of the lowest priced ones, are low in quality, and performance. Remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for"....
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