Cheap scopes

[kennygarza]

I was thinking of getting a more affordable scope. In the past, I've always taken the safe route and gone with a Leupold. I'm now looking into a BEC Inc. Eurolux or an NCSTAR scope. This is going on an M14 rig I'm building up. I want affordable accuracy (something that can hold zero), and possibly a more militaristic reticle, although not necessary. I've only had had plain crosshairs in the past. My friend has an NCSTAR in 6x32, and upon examination of it, we unscrewed the scope assembly by accident. Not too good from a quality control standpoint. Any info on these scopes would be greatly appreciated.

 

[liliysdad]

Look at BSA. They make a much underrated scope, IMO.

 

[ojibweindian]

Go to ebay and user "weaver k4" as your search terms. You can get a steel-tubed, tough as nails K4 for under $50.

 

[hksw]

Like you, I have in the past always gone with Leupold for my scope. In the past 2-3 years I've been venturing out trying other scopes to see what they have to offer and have, on a few occassions, looked at very low priced ($35-$120) scopes in hopes of finding a sleeper. One of the low end scopes I've tried was a BEC 3-9X42 Compact. In short, it is an incredible piece of junk. You name it, slight discolored tint, serious image distortion away from the center of the lens, serious parallex, extremely short eye relief (even with the magnification set at its lowest), tracking errors, poor finish (paint errors), despite having what looks like a locking ring for focusing the ocular bell, neither the ring or the bell move, alotta play between clicks, etc. It does have a lifetime gaurantee, though, but IMO, the postage isn't worth it. Have tried BSA and even Horton (for a .22 lr). It will be hard to see the shortcomings of a scope unless you have a good one on hand to look through and compare with. I thought the BSA looked passable for use until I was shooting one of regular Leupolds with it.

My conclusion is, never buy anything optical from China. At least for now. Who knows, maybe the big names will start setting up shops in China in the future to make scopes. Do not spent less than $200 (for my serious guns).

 

[Navy joe]

A "cheap" scope is one you never have to spend money on six times to replace. If you're tired of Loopies then go buy a Zeiss. A value scope for light occasional use I'd consider a Simmons. I owned an Aetec once that was adequate. On the whole, life is too short to buy cheap glass, though when having scope problems it feels as if it cannot end soon enough.

 

[liliysdad]

This is quite odd. I have never once had a piece of paper, a pig, a deer, or even a rabbit complain of being shot through a cheap Simmons, Weaver, Tasco, or BSA scope.

 

[kennygarza]

Thanks for the good info, guys. I agree with you, a good scope is the only way to go. I haven't looked through the Simmons Aetecs, but the Bushnell Banner caught my eye. Don't get me wrong- I love my Leupolds. I'm just having a hard time justifying another $250+ for yet another scope. I was just seeing what the general opinion is on the less expensive scope with more choices in reticles. Is the Banner crap?

 

[clubsoda22]

supposedly sightron is as good as the leupold's and costs a third as much.

 

[308win]

supposedly sightron is as good as the leupold's and costs a third as much.

I can vouch for the value that my Sightron delivers. I have the 4X16X42 w/mildot on my BDL. It delivers clear image w/no distortion to edges, very good color redering/light transmission, infinitely adj. parallax, good eye relief that doesn't change with power settings, POI doesn't change when power settings are changed, holds POI/POA, crosshairs move as expected when you change the settings, lifetime warranty, Japanese optics, good customer service. IIRC I gave 340+tax.