Best hunting scope from $1000-$2000
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LocoGringo
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Need a lot more info. What are you hunting? Where are you hunting? What type of hunting do you do...stand, spot and stalk? What will be your typical length shot and what will be the max range shot?
Sav .250
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If I had $1000-2000 dollars to spend (maybe) on a scope you can bet I`d be doing my own home work.
At that price range it becomes more difficult to distinguish view quality between scopes. You have to view them in varying conditions to know what is best for you and it may very well be a choice you would have never thought would be the winner and may not be as pricy.
I had two rifles built buy a well known company about 20 years ago for a hunt in Africa. There was no budget for the scopes to go on these rifles as I wanted the best. The gun maker advised that the only way to tell what is best for me is to actually view them in different lighting conditions side by side and decide what is best for my eyes. He had all of the high end scopes in inventory and allowed me to come to his shop several times during different lighting conditions and at one sunset until it was dark. He had woods behind his shop which helped.
That was the best advise ever because those two scopes I bought back then are still, hands down, my favorite rifle scopes out of the many I own including 2 S&B's. If you can find a place where you can compare the scopes you are interested in side by side you can't go wrong.
The two scopes I ended up with were the Swarovski 1.5 x 6 x 42 and the new at the time and then discontinued Steiner Hunting Z scopes in 3.5 x 10 x 50. Both of these were easily better for me than the Zeiss that everyone was telling me to buy.
The Swaro Z6 1x6 (and the whole line) is one hell of a scope for the money in the market now and is rapidly becoming a favorite. They can be found for less than $2,000 if you shop.
I have recently discovered that the Minox ZA series 1 x 6 and 2 x 10 scopes are better for my eyes than my S&B's and they are the bargain in the higher end scope range. I can't believe the quality for the money and have them on several rifles..
I had two rifles built buy a well known company about 20 years ago for a hunt in Africa. There was no budget for the scopes to go on these rifles as I wanted the best. The gun maker advised that the only way to tell what is best for me is to actually view them in different lighting conditions side by side and decide what is best for my eyes. He had all of the high end scopes in inventory and allowed me to come to his shop several times during different lighting conditions and at one sunset until it was dark. He had woods behind his shop which helped.
That was the best advise ever because those two scopes I bought back then are still, hands down, my favorite rifle scopes out of the many I own including 2 S&B's. If you can find a place where you can compare the scopes you are interested in side by side you can't go wrong.
The two scopes I ended up with were the Swarovski 1.5 x 6 x 42 and the new at the time and then discontinued Steiner Hunting Z scopes in 3.5 x 10 x 50. Both of these were easily better for me than the Zeiss that everyone was telling me to buy.
The Swaro Z6 1x6 (and the whole line) is one hell of a scope for the money in the market now and is rapidly becoming a favorite. They can be found for less than $2,000 if you shop.
I have recently discovered that the Minox ZA series 1 x 6 and 2 x 10 scopes are better for my eyes than my S&B's and they are the bargain in the higher end scope range. I can't believe the quality for the money and have them on several rifles..
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Tract Optics
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This^. Need more info to suggest the best option. When I build a setup I look at everything from the scope length and weight to the eyepiece design, as it is always designed for a particular application or all around application. few more answers and we can throw up specific suggestions.
I'm buying the gun to hunt out west. Most shots under 300 yds. That said I want to be able to shoot at least twice that, if even only at the range. I walk a lot, and would probably be shooting sitting down or standing depending on the shot.
I've got S&B , Swaro, zeiss and a Kahles. All great scopes. A couple of years ago i bought a Meopta scope for driven game. What a terrific scope for the money. A friend of mine went to Spain shooting Ibex and he bought a Meopta for long range shooting, 400 mtrs + and he was totaly imprest with the Meopta. Before buying the Meopta he only bought the very high end scopes.
farmerboy78
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Well, I'd look at vortex razor, vortex viper pst, ior valdada, nightforce nxs, swfa 5-20
Grumulkin
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I had a Zeiss Conquest scope but never ended up using it so sold it.
I used a Swarovski scope for awhile. It was large, heavy and I didn't think was any better in low light than my Leupolds so sold it.
I have a couple of Nightforce scopes and like them.
The scopes I have the most of and like the best are various versions of the Leupold Mark 4.
Whoa! $1,000 to $2,000 on a hunting scope is a nice budget. As others have said, there are some specific hunting scenarios that might require something special, but in general I consider hunting to be a fairly low bar in terms of optics. I have four Zeiss Conquest scopes with the RZ family of reticles and there isn't a deer or elk that I'll miss inside 600 yards because my hunting rifles wear $500 to $600 optics rather than $1,000 to $2,000 variants. It's your money and it will be interesting to hear what you choose in the end.
i'm not much of a hunter, so i just hunt occasionally with my precision rifles which have tactical scopes.
but if i was mostly a hunter, i imagine i'd go a lot cheaper on the scope and put most of my budget on some super sweet binos or spotting scope.
but if i was mostly a hunter, i imagine i'd go a lot cheaper on the scope and put most of my budget on some super sweet binos or spotting scope.
Tract Optics
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For what you're going to be doing, you probably don't need to pour as much into it as you would think. I'm going to throw our Toric 3-15x42 into the mix.
I rarely use over 10x in hunting, even out to 300 yards, but will then dial it up. Our Toric is coming out of Light Optical in Japan and has some great glass. If you check out 24 HCF, there are a few reviews on our Toric Bino line and some links to other reviews. We're a direct to consumer company, so no built in margin for distributors and retailers. May want to give it a look. Getting the quality and paying 50% less for it.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11311759/1
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=807518
3-15x will give you the ability to hunt how far you want and punch steel where you want as well. If you read the article 35 posted earlier, you don't always need that larger objective so 42mm is pretty ideal for most hunting. Feel free to PM if you have any questions on Tract
I rarely use over 10x in hunting, even out to 300 yards, but will then dial it up. Our Toric is coming out of Light Optical in Japan and has some great glass. If you check out 24 HCF, there are a few reviews on our Toric Bino line and some links to other reviews. We're a direct to consumer company, so no built in margin for distributors and retailers. May want to give it a look. Getting the quality and paying 50% less for it.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11311759/1
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=807518
3-15x will give you the ability to hunt how far you want and punch steel where you want as well. If you read the article 35 posted earlier, you don't always need that larger objective so 42mm is pretty ideal for most hunting. Feel free to PM if you have any questions on Tract
Something to think about as you look at scopes for the 25yd - 600yd ranges,
For bullet drop do you want to dial or hold? Do you want ffp or second fp? Exposed turrets with zero stop? Do moa make more sense to you or do mils?
I have a vortex pst 4x16 in first focal plane and i really like it. For me, any serious rifle in the future will have a ffp reticle. I like the zero stop exposed turrets that you find in more tactical style scopes. . . But none of that is needed. As many have said, try and get behind some glass, see what features and magnification range you want and start looking.
One good place to look for used scopes is the snipershide forum over on scout.com. those guys buy and sell and swap thousand dollar optics like mothers swap old baby clothes
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For bullet drop do you want to dial or hold? Do you want ffp or second fp? Exposed turrets with zero stop? Do moa make more sense to you or do mils?
I have a vortex pst 4x16 in first focal plane and i really like it. For me, any serious rifle in the future will have a ffp reticle. I like the zero stop exposed turrets that you find in more tactical style scopes. . . But none of that is needed. As many have said, try and get behind some glass, see what features and magnification range you want and start looking.
One good place to look for used scopes is the snipershide forum over on scout.com. those guys buy and sell and swap thousand dollar optics like mothers swap old baby clothes
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Swaro's and Zeiss are nice, however I am a huge fan of the Vortex line of optics. A few months ago I broke a pair of their binos and had a new pair on my doorstep within 2 weeks for free. Can't beat their warranty! I've got their binos, spotting scope and a viper on my hunting rifle. I think that there is better quality glass on the market (not too impressed with the eye relief on my viper) but I like them in low light and love their warranty. I think you should find a store that will allow you to take a few outside and compare them. I'd suggest looking through them right before it gets dark, because it seems like I see most animals the first 30 minutes and last 30 minutes of the day.
FL-NC
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If you know how to use mils and aren't afraid of a Horus reticle, I bought a 3-12 Horus hunter last year for $500. It is more than up to the task you described.
PowerG
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+1 on the Meopta, at least look through one before you buy something else.
sage5907
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It seems like the more you pay for a scope the more it weighs. For a hunting rifle, especially in the mountains, I would keep the scope weight around 13 ounces. I would suggest a 30 mm tube because I like them better and a 3 to 9 variable with a 40 mm objective would be good. My high country rifles weigh a little over 8 pounds which includes the scope, mounts and sling. Good luck in finding what you want.
I bought a S&B Zenith 3-12 x50 FD to go on my Mauser M03. Its a great scope for sitting out at night to shoot boar but as a hunting scope it far to heavy. The Mauser just feels so top heavy hunting with the zenith on. It handels like a different rifle when i put the Meopta 1-4 x22 or my Aimpoint 9000L on.
I bought a Completely unmarked secondhand 1" 3-10x42 Swarovski Habicht to put on my Heym - Ruger. What a cracking light weight scope that is. Just how a hunting scope should be.Plus it was just a fraction of the price of a modern Swaro.
I bought a Completely unmarked secondhand 1" 3-10x42 Swarovski Habicht to put on my Heym - Ruger. What a cracking light weight scope that is. Just how a hunting scope should be.Plus it was just a fraction of the price of a modern Swaro.
redneck2
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Couple years ago I had a chance to compare the new VX-3 Leupold directly against a Swarovski Z-3. Same specs in each. The Leupold was very slightly clearer. Not enough that you could tell without looking very closely. But the Leupold was about 1/2 the price
Leupold says their scopes hold up to higher G forces than similar European scopes.
Never used a Nighforce or US Optics.
Leupold says their scopes hold up to higher G forces than similar European scopes.
Never used a Nighforce or US Optics.
So maybe the question I need to be asking is where you guys shop that has a wide variety of scopes that I can try them out. Most places I've found don't have scopes at the level some of you are shooting with.
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farmerboy78
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Go to your local range and check out equipment that people are using
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