# Which power scope?



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I'm looking at scopes but only I'm a 100 yard shooter. The style scope I'm looking at only goes down to 3.5 power.
Think that would be a bit to much for 100 yards?

I have a china made scope that has that power but you know if 4.5 is really 4.5 or not. 
Maybe I lucked out but the china scope has done quite well. Only had to reset it once (after loaning it out)

It's time for a good scope- make in USA-


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

What is it you're shooting with? What eye relief do you need?


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I use Leupold 1-1/2-4X for anything out to about 300.

I prefer the German #4 post for these scopes, but also have pigplex ones.

Depending on what you are doing or expect a need for this power arrangement would be good.

You may need a wider field of view for things in motion and the need for fast target pickup, 

you can dial it up or down for your need or conditions.. 

Quality scopes like these don't have zero shift when changing power. 

For long range I use L&S 10X ultra scopes with Mil dot reticles with the BDC for the rounds I am using.

For me today I am good out to about 700 yds use to be 1,100yds moons ago.

The lower power ones are used to make up for eyes that now suck.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

This ^^^^. That's why aim point and the like are popular. My old eyes have a hard time with the front and rear sight. Anything of threat to me will be within 100yrds. no need really for high magnification, thats what binos and spotting scopes are for. jmo.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

4.5 is a bit high for 100 yard shooting


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## Grinch2 (Sep 12, 2016)

It all depends on your preferences, I'll use a 2-7 for brush guns. Sometimes I like 7 power if I'm only getting a small opening to shoot though. The new Sig Sauer scopes are nice, I just set up a 6mm Creedmoor with a 4-12x50 Whiskey 3 and I am incredibly happy with their quality. I know with several older hunters around who's eyes are no longer what they used to be 4.5 power for 100 yards would make them laugh. In my book for 0-150 yards you can't beat a 2-7. The Sig scopes are a little bit more than say a Nikon Prostaff, are they worth it ? Nikon has good glass but I think the Sig's are a bit clearer. 

For me anything under say 4 power with * most * scopes is somewhat useless, unless you're willing to spend approximately 500+ on a scope, with 4 power and below all that scope is being used for is cross hairs.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

@Grinch2, For me it is for the resolving ability to compensate for poor eyes.

I leave mine right at 2X unless other is needed.

Most of those getting old find the eyes go along with the age, and need a little assistance.

For me it is not the magnification needed but correction that can be done with the glass.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

1X4 Vortex PST. All you'll need.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

Personally, . . . if I did not have any other choice, . . . 3 x 9 is good for just about anything, . . . if it'll take the punishment the gun delivers.

I have never needed the higher power, . . . but it is nice to know you have it just in case you do.

And yes, . . . for 100 yds, . . . 3 is nice, . . . IMHO

May God bless,
Dwight


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

The cheap china scope I was using had a feature that I really liked it has the side focus. It was like if you moved your head from side to side the cross hairs stayed
on the target. It's kind of hard to explane . I would like to go with a leupold with the side focus but they all seem start with a high lowest power.

Back Pack Hank posted a link in another post that sort of explanes it.
https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/ni/NI_article?articleNo=000003728&configured=1&lang=en_US

The china scope did surprising well. It held true even when I ran my AR hard. If you jump on you tube there are some reviews and it dose pretty well. 
I know I know don't buy china junk,,,,, But sometimes it happens. I'm going to retire my china scope to my AR-22LR. It may last a while that way. I feel
like I'm pushing my luck with the china scope. (about 2 years on an AR)

This is scope I was using 
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/LEU...lgo_pvid=69928fea-ec09-4b59-b31e-c14d641648cd


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

I use a leather wood hi-lux 4 -16 x44 on my 6.5 with sun shades and flip ups
on the 7.62x39 bolt gun I use a leatherwood 1-4x24 with a magnification lever and flip ups.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

budgetprepp-n said:


> I'm looking at scopes but only I'm a 100 yard shooter. The style scope I'm looking at only goes down to 3.5 power.
> Think that would be a bit to much for 100 yards?
> 
> I have a china made scope that has that power but you know if 4.5 is really 4.5 or not.
> ...


God gave us 3x9s. Let us stick with the program. Zeiss is for rich boys..Bushnell makes em for poor boys.


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## jim-henscheli (May 4, 2015)

Well I guess it depends on what your planning to do, but I've got a Weaver 3-9 on my 30-06, soon I'll have BUIS as well, and it's been awesome. Cheap, and reliable, and I drag it around in a canoe.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I use open sights up to about a mile and a half, after that I have to put my bi-focals on.....(just kidding)
Wow, there are some real eagle eye shooters on this site. I have a 4x16 caballas scope on my .308, I use the highest power at 100yds, but I am shooting at very small targets and am expecting a very tight pattern.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> God gave us 3x9s. Let us stick with the program. Zeiss is for rich boys..Bushnell makes em for poor boys.


Boy there is you some good golden nuggets of information right there that you can live by!

I think a good quality 3x9 variable with the proper eye relief and ruggedly built should not only serve you most excellently and leave you some room to grow on should you later need it is the way to go and the path of least resistance. Just understand there is a huge difference in the clarity and crispness of the veiw through a Leupold Vari-X III (or comparable Brand) and a 69.00 dollar Tasco at Walmart!

But if 100 yards is as far as your gonna reach out to, for what ever reason, a quality fixed 4 or 6 Power should be all youll ever need for the job at hand and eleminates a lot of the problems the lower priced variable scopes have generally speaking. Fewer delicate moving parts makes for a much more rugged and reliable product. Sometimes simple is much better and a heck of a lot cheaper too! I have a fixed 4 power on my SKS and a fixed 6 power on my Handi-Rifle in 7.62x39. Both work very well! In fact, the day it was my turn to stay back at camp and hold the fort down so to speak, I scored on a heavy beamed 10pt Buck from the picnic table at the cabin as he stood about 100 yards away with that Handi Rifle and the 6x Redfield Scope thats on it...I was the only one that scored that week end! In fact, IIRC, the snipers in Vietnam used a fixed 10X scope for all their work. So dont dismiss a fixed power scope that has been properly zeroed in and a shooter who knows his ammo and gun!

Just remember that while not an absolute, you do have a tendency to get what you pay for when it comes to putting glass on a gun. Buy the best that you can reasonably afford. There is a lot of cheap garbage you can get for about a 100.00 bucks, there are a lot of moderately priced but good quality glass in the 200.00-350.00 dollar range that doesnt give up much to a 1300 dollar Zeiss or Schmit & Bender. Yeah a couple of my hunting guns are wearing Zeiss glass but I honestly cant find a difference in those scopes and the 6x18 Springfield Armory Gen III on my 700 VLS in 308 Win that shoots sub MOA groups with boring regularity and cost about half of what the Zeiss's ran me. With your higher priced optics you are really paying for the preciseness of the scopes ability to stay on zero as you increase or decrease magnification and clarity when looking through the scope and its ability to provide a crisp sight picture in lower light shooting situations (Objective lense diameter will affect that quality as well too) when compared to lesser quality Glass.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

Many, many years ago I read that a scope should set you back at the least what you paid for the rifle. A friend at work went elk hunting in Montana and bought a barska scope, no way I could talk him out of it. Buy more than you can afford is my motto when it comes to scopes.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

I have a 6 power fixed "Tasco" that I originally put on a .22 lever action some 40 years ago or so. With that Marlin 39A Mountie and the Tasco scope, . . . I cut 1 inch pieces off a neck chain my brother in law hung on a fence and said, . . . "Bet you can't hit that". He picked up his neck chain and 2 one inch pieces of it off the ground after I fired 4 rounds at it.

I took it off and put it on my Colt AR, . . . and with some hand loaded 5.56 ammo, . . . was able to get a 10 round group that could be covered by an American quarter. That was at 100 yds, . . . off a bench, . . . but using elbows instead of a sled. I only did it once, . . . but I DID DO IT.

It has spent the last few decades in a drawer, on a .22, . . . and most recently, . . . on my 26 inch barreled 5.56 coyote gun.

Shooting my coyote gun at 100 yds, . . . I dropped 15 rounds off my sled, . . . all within a 2 inch by 2 inch square, . . . the last 15 in my magazine.

Pretty good for an Asian made $15.95 or so scope.

Don't let the price tag fool you, . . . sometimes all you get for your extra 2, 3, or $400, . . . is a box with a bragging rights brand name on the end of it.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

You will get a lot of different opinions. I have a good number of scope of different power. 0-100 I like 1-4,1-6 or 2-7. Primary Arms makes good and affordable scopes.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I been saving and I would really like to have a Leupold. And as some of you know I can be a bit "thrifty" But I'm thinking at a leupold might be worth the price.

This is the scope that I would like to have. It might a little to much for 100 yards but I figure it will do anything I will ever need.
And I only got to pay for it once and I'll have it.
Leupold Leupold VX-3i 4.5-14x40mm (30mm) Side Focus CDS Matte Duplex 2017 New | eBay


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

One of the top of the line L&S ultra M3, 10X scopes on one of my sniper rifles

These have rapid parallax side adjustments.

Good for social work out to about a thousand yards.

Built it about 25 years ago, around 3/4 MOA or less.

@budgetprepp-n, you do know that is a 30MM tube like the one on mine, not one inch?


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

SOCOM42 said:


> One of the top of the line L&S ultra M3, 10X scopes on one of my sniper rifles
> 
> These have rapid parallax side adjustments.
> 
> ...


Yes I saw that the Leupold I was looking at had 30mm. That parallax side adjustment is nice. I'm looking forward to having it on a quality scope.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

LunaticFringeInc said:


> Boy there is you some good golden nuggets of information right there that you can live by!
> 
> I think a good quality 3x9 variable with the proper eye relief and ruggedly built should not only serve you most excellently and leave you some room to grow on should you later need it is the way to go and the path of least resistance. Just understand there is a huge difference in the clarity and crispness of the veiw through a Leupold Vari-X III (or comparable Brand) and a 69.00 dollar Tasco at Walmart!
> 
> ...


So would Leupold top a top shelf scope brand?


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

budgetprepp-n said:


> So would Leupold top a top shelf scope brand?


The L&S like the one on mine was selected for the US Army M24 and M25 sniper rifles and used in desert storm one and two.

The German top ones are no better, paying for the name IMHO.

The scope I presented here came from the same lot of the army contract purchase along with two others.

I got them direct from L&S when working on projects with them.

They retailed at around $1,500.00 in 1992.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

budgetprepp-n said:


> So would Leupold top a top shelf scope brand?


You would be hard pressed to go too far wrong with a Leupold, even the more budget priced models in that line are pretty dang good! Some of the higher end models are every bit as good as the German Glass. SOCOM42 is right though, once you get into the top tier type glass your paying just as much for the name as you are the precise quality control that goes into them. I wouldnt buy used glass as you dont know if its been damaged or abused or broken. Your kind of taking a gamble when you do although you can find some sweet deals out there potentially.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

That is one bad axx rig, I'm drooling right now. @ socom42.


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## 6811 (Jan 2, 2013)

budgetprepp-n said:


> The cheap china scope I was using had a feature that I really liked it has the side focus. It was like if you moved your head from side to side the cross hairs stayed
> on the target. It's kind of hard to explane . I would like to go with a leupold with the side focus but they all seem start with a high lowest power.
> 
> Back Pack Hank posted a link in another post that sort of explanes it.
> ...


According to the link you posted, your scope is a leupold M3. That scope would be one of the best American scopes made. However, the one you got is a counterfeit. The real ones cost about $1600. You have mentioned on another post that you will be buying a real leupold,please be aware that there are lots of counterfeit out there. Make sure you buy it at an authorized dealer.

Leupold are a very good scope, they will last a lifetime.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

6811 said:


> According to the link you posted, your scope is a leupold M3. That scope would be one of the best American scopes made. However, the one you got is a counterfeit. The real ones cost about $1600. You have mentioned on another post that you will be buying a real leupold,please be aware that there are lots of counterfeit out there. Make sure you buy it at an authorized dealer.
> 
> Leupold are a very good scope, they will last a lifetime.


 The leupold I'm looking at looks like the china scope except it doesn't have illumination. But it doesn't cost anywhere near $1500


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

budgetprepp-n said:


> The leupold I'm looking at looks like the china scope except it doesn't have illumination. But it doesn't cost anywhere near $1500


If your looking at the Leupold MK4 M3 and your getting it for less than 750.00-1000.00 bucks used in very good condition, I would be very leary in purchasing it!


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

What caught my eye about the link you provided is the "Rifle Scope Air soft" in the title and the starting reserve 68.00 bucks! There aint no way in hell thats a legit Leupold Mk 4 designed for a centerfire rifle! In reading the product description it didnt sound to me like the guy knows much about centerfire rifles and the glass that goes on them and at the very least embellished a few details. With air soft being in the product title I am going to guess that the rings you get with it are also designed for Airsoft gun applications and wont likely hold your scope solidly enough to stay on zero, if it holds up to the recoil of a 308 Winchester which is pretty mild compared to most big game cartridges and if it doesnt out right break on the first shooting session will likely allow that scope to slide around a good bit in the mounts throwing your shot off target post haste.

If your on a bit of a budget and want a decent scope, becuase your a serious shooter and not just a casual plinker throwing rounds down range, look at some of the mid range Nikons in the ball park of 200 fun dollars or a Leupold VX 2 series. IIRC...Leupold bought out Redfield and are now producing those scopes under the Red Field Brand name as their entry level line of rifle scopes. I could be wrong on that fact though so take that with a grain of salt and double check my info. Burris is another Brand known for making a pretty solid product at a reasonable price point as well for the working stiff. You dont need a 2000 dollar Zeiss or S & B or Steiner scope unless your a globe trotting trophy hunter, 1000 yard match competitor or a sniper!

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/pro...0mm-wide-duplex-reticle-rifle-scope?a=2144457

While I havent personally looked through this scope or used it, mine are higher end scopes than this, I would imagine this would be a good starting point for a scope if your a serious hunter or if accuracy and repeatability from shot to shot on target is a priority for you.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

The saying  "Air Soft" is used a lot it has something to do with getting thru US Customs. 
The same scope is all over that sight with all kinds of stuff about it. (take it all with a grain of salt)
I don't condone buying china products but I think all have done it. I must admit the china scope I have has
held up well. Even when I ran my bump stock it held. Maybe I just lucked out and got a good one. At any rate
it's coming off the ar and on a 22LR. Maybe that way it will function longer. The scope I'm looking at is a 
Leupold. It may have more power than what is needed but I think I'm going to go for it. I have some things I do
on the side for a little extra cash and I been saving for a while so I think I'm finally going go with the Leupold
The cost it's not cheap but I expect it to last my lifetime. And I only need to pay for it once.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-leupold-vx-3i-4-5-14x40mm-side-focus-riflescope.html


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

There are several factors that make the China scopes and knock offs they produce so crappy. Quality control! The quality control on the glass is not as precise nor are they always properly coated with the films they put on the glass. You wont always get that nice crisp contrast in the view through it that you normally expect to get from the higher end scopes. That results in the optics not providing crystal clear veiw's and or fogging up as they werent properly sealed. Another real killer is the fact that when you start changing things with the dials they dont always return to zero when you adjust them back due to the lack of precision in production of the components and assembly. Comparing China made Glass to American or European is akin to comparing a War Time production Mosin Nagant to a present production run of a McMillian tactical rifle. Both shoot and will put bullets down range, no doubt about that, but the McMillian is going to put all 5 rounds of match ammo of a group into a 1/2 group and the Mosin will do it in a 4-6 inch pattern with surplus ammo. There is a huge difference in "sevicable" and "precise"! Repeated cycles of a rifle recoiling will also take its effect on less quality scopes in a hurry more times than not on such delicate and precise equipment, especially those of variable power as opposed to fix power scopes that have far less moving parts, hence why they are often a good bit cheaper for the level of quality you are getting.

Any of the scopes pictured in the link from Optical Planet should be more than adequate for anything your gonna do unless your a Sniper or 1000 yd match shooter. While for your needs you probably dont need to spend 500 bucks on a scope, saving a little longer and getting something thats a bit above your standard will not leave you wanting several years down the road. I have a couple of Zeiss's scopes that are 35 years old on 2 of my guns (7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag) one has been rebarreled once and the other twice after several thousand rounds (between them both) of max loads and they perform today as good as they did on day one when I bought and mounted the scope on them! I suspect they will still be fine when I die. So while I paid dearly for them up front, Id say over the years I have saved a good bit of change in not having to upgrade or replace them over the years!


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