really really cheap scope... really

[CraigC]

I just find it hard to believe that Bushnell is making a ton of difference scopes in the $30 price range and each one sold under their brands is different.

Just because they share ownership does not mean that all production was consolidated. ATK owns a truckload of different brands but they are in no way "all the same".

 

[Maverick223]

I have a couple $30 scopes that work great with no frustration but I guess I should just throw them in the garbage

Problem solved! Just send them to the OP (he might even pick up the tab for shipping).

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Our local Marvin's (building supply store) has a deer hunting section during season. They have Barska 3x9x40 scopes for $29.99. I don't know the actual model but it has "Colorado" on the box. The glass is amazingly clear. I have no need for another scope or I would try one on a .22. The only Barska I have tried is a Ridgeline Easyshot MossyOak 3x9x42 on my Savage 65M .22 magnum. I paid $103 for mine from Nextag a year or so ago and am VERY satisfied with it..

 

[benzy2]

I have a couple $30 scopes that work great with no frustration but I guess I should just throw them in the garbage

Tech has come a long way and cheapo scopes are up to snuff since the 80's - 90's when the last time some of these guys tried a cheap scope.


Would I put a $30 scope on a hunting rifle no but for a plinker some of them work just fine.

That's a fine opinion, but having sold scopes within the last 3 years, I have seen a very direct relationship between cost and percentage that come back broken. I've even followed the idea that the cheap stuff could be at least good enough, and it hasn't been. I've seen everything from POI changes with magnification adjustment, to awful tracking, to internal breaking, to some of the worst glass imaginable. I'm sure there are some cheap scopes out there that work well enough, that hold up, and hold zero just fine. But there are a bunch out there that don't. All but one I've used (10-12) had enough wrong with it, either out of the box or over a few months, to be trashed (or returned if possible).

I will second the idea that if you insist on a cheap scope to buy it from a store that will allow a return after mounting if possible. I have a Cabela's local and they will take anything for return with basically no questions. I've bought all but one or two of my cheap scopes from them and all have gone back but one and all have gotten me a refund/store credit.

If your's work well for you enjoy them because they

 

[CraigC]

Everybody is satisfied with a cheap scope....unti it fails. The problem is that they are FAR more likely to fail than something of decent quality. I was happy with cheap scopes, for a time, when I was young and naive. That is, until one by one, they started to give up the ghost. These scopes weren't mounted on .458's and dragged through the Alaskan wilderness. They were mounted on pampered rimfires.

1. Supposed upper end "High Country" Tasco 4-16x started wildly shifting its point of impact. It was mounted on a Ruger 77/22 .22Mag.

2. A cheap Tasco 4x40mm broke its reticle on the first range session. T`was mounted on a Ruger 10/22.

3. Another cheap Tasco 3-9x had wildly shifting point of impact right out of the box. It was also mounted on a .22LR.

3. A Tasco World Class 4x32 had a loose objective lense, while mounted on a Winchester 94/22 .22Mag.

4. A Simmons AETEC ($200!) had the worst case of fish eye I've ever seen.

Along with a couple others I've thankfully forgotten about. All those scopes were replaced with something of quality and not another scope has given up the ghost since. You don't have to spend $1200 on a Zeiss to get good optics. Excellent scopes can be had for $100-$200.