Rifle Scopes What is your favorite rifle scope?

#101
Guns&WhiteWater said:
ZP5 5-25 MR4 here. I have two of them and love everything about them, but do wish the reticle had 1/2 mil marks on the horizontal.

@Scotch_egg wanna sell one of your 3-15’s?
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Sorry, they are all staying with me. They are such a good all round scope I won’t be moving them on. For some reason they come up cheap here in the U.K. secondhand hand. The last one I got for £850 although it didn’t have the tenebraex covers unfortunately.

Why oh why is the Tangent Theta TT315 so expensive?!? That would be my ideal size and weight if I’m honest. But I’m cheap and couldn’t see myself using one like of to the Minox’s. They get abused and stand up to it which is reassuring. Minox is under the Blaser group so they are here to stay and well supported here in Europe.
 
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#102
Ok, I'll play also. My favorite riflescope currently is the incomparable March-X 8-80X56 HM WA X Majesta, sitting atop my F-TR rifle. I've had it for about 18 months now and I've always shot it in competition at 80X. Of course, I have the MTR-WFD reticle in it, specifically designed for F-Class competition.
 
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#103
I like my March scopes. Went to zero one of the 5-42x56 scopes I got recently and shoot a few 5 shot groups at 100 yards and got a nice lucky group. The shallow depth of field really helps dialing out parallax error.

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#107
Right now my favorite optic is my Apex rival.
Price and quality seems right, glass is good and the reticle works well.
I picked up a ZCO a few month ago but haven't gotten to play with it much. I need to get it out side by side with some of my other optics to compare.
 
#108
BurtG said:
Better than the zco 420 ?
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If we are talking pure optical quality no, the ZCO 4-20 reigns supreme when it comes to IQ specific to ultra shorts; however, the March still offers excellent IQ with greater FOV (yes, greater at 4.5x than the ZCO at 4x) and more magnification in a lighter package and has better turrets (Shuriken vs ZCO 15mrad locking). ZCO does have much better illumination and more forgiving eyebox and DOF but surprisingly March is not too far behind (with eyebox and DOF). ZCO is also going to be better for low light. It's really the weight, size and FOV of the March that makes it so unique, the mag range is just icing on the cake... If ZCO made a LT (Light Tactical) 30mm version of the 4-20 similar to what TT does with the TT315M then it would narrow the margin even further, but I don't think ZCO is going to make a 30mm anything; especially with the 2-10 maintaining their signature 36mm tube I think it's pretty clear ZCO is committed to 36mm tubes which makes the likelihood of anything "light" unlikely. Similar to NF ATACR, ZCO is more committed to "robust" vs. "lightweight" so we probably shouldn't hope for anything in the "lightweight" category from them for some time - keep in mind that lighter weight doesn't necessarily imply it is less robust, but perception wise this is almost always the case which is why plenty of shooters prefer the "heavier" scopes. If I win the lottery (which I don't play, making my odds of winning about as good as those who do play) I would obtain all the top scopes from all the manufacturers and perform my own torture tests of freezing in a block of ice, shooting with a shotgun, driving large railroad spikes with it, covering it with blood and letting great white sharks chomp on it, sending it to the moon and the bottom of the sea to find out which ones last and which ones don't ;)
Jackomason said:
I think the MR4 reticle is still king. Clean, simple, uniform and it still gives .2 mil increments.

I'm guessing the floating cross on the FML-TR1 is broken up in .2s?
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That is correct, the FML-TR1 center cross is broken up in .2 mrad sections...
 
#111
I'm torn on this one.
I love my Tangent Theta TT525P but I prefer the parallax knob on the Schmidt & Bender PMii 5-25.
I also love the MTC on the S&B. You don't have to lift your head off the scope to dial.

I'd buy either scope again in a heartbeat.
 
#112
"What is your favorite scope?"

Similar question: If you could have only one scope, which would it be?

What reticle works best for all of your kinds shooting, and what scope fits best on all of your rifles?

For me, March FML-1, in the 3x24, is the best reticle to do everything, and the scope is small enough and light enough for any rifle use. Vortex LHT 4x24 is the equally versatile 'do anything' scope...
 
#113
Wellllll.....I hunt edible game and kill coyotes and armadillos and possums. I kill lots of turtles in my ponds with my 22LR. I much prefer the second focal plane scopes but have some of both. That being said:

As of about a week ago, my new favorite scope is an N-Vision Halo-XRF. I don't have it 100% figured out yet but what a game changer. I can see and identify cattle beyond the range finder but I know those cows are about 2500 yards away. The range finder is accurate to 1600 yards and has been reliable as tested against the G7 Br2 as well just knowing the length of property lines and distance from fence post to post, etc. I can see and identify mice beyond 100 yards. Just amazing.

Up until then, I don't know, I have a bunch of NXS scopes and a couple of NX8's. I really like the NX8 1-8x24 F1 on my Radian AR. I think of all of those I like the NXS 8-32x56 most.

I also have some Swarovski scopes and I don't really give a fuck about patents. They make a damned fine scope, and nice binoculars and fantastic spotting scopes. Of the Swarovski rifle scopes I have, I prefer the X5i 5-25x56 with the 4WX-I reticle.
 
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#114
DeathBeforeDismount said:
The S&B 4-16x42 was a really great all around optic, Perfect for a gas gun at the time. With the Gen 2XR it was a little monster.

Bushnell LRHS were also very underrated. Its a shame Bushnel/GAP did not keep working on that line, introducing a .2 has reticle would have made a great crossover scope.

TT is the best thing I have owned. (Short of a Hensdolt Spotter). ZCO and Minox right behind that, with the Gen 3 razor in solid 3rd place. Thinking of going back to Tangent to help fight the east coast mirage in the summers.

The Kahles 3-28 is a little monster too. Amazing optically.

I am waiting for the Swaro patent thing to expire, I expect in late 2025/2026 we are going to see the uncucked versions of Tangent, ZCO and S&B hit the US market. I wouldn't want to be sitting on the old models when this happens. 20-30% increase in FOV.
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Help me understand what you are talking about? what Swaro Patent is holding back these other scope manufacturers?
 
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#115
PRS-JohnB said:
Help me understand what you are talking about? what Swaro Patent is holding back these other scope manufacturers?
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www.snipershide.com

FOV issues and patents

I realize this has been discussed in some detail but this isn’t necessarily about the absurd, imo, patent by a certain company. This is about other companies adhering to it but not giving a disclaimer to potential buyers. So say I buy a new Schmidt, a zeiss v8, a tt, or some other 3-5k optic...
www.snipershide.com www.snipershide.com
 
#118
Depends ...

Anything rimfire, a SIG with the dev-l. I have 4 of them now from the tango 4, 6, and DMR.

Center-fire the Mark 5 followed by the mark 4. Glass just really agrees with my eyes and the TMR or pr2 are both useful for different things.


I did get a chance to use a March 3-24 the other day, and it looked damn nice for the money. I cant see spending S&B or ZCO money. Mostly because I can't see enough of a measurable difference in glass, and I'm not that guy with 1 really nice rifle. I need to keep scopes on 10+ guns for different uses.
 
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#119
Mine would be the Minox ZP5 5-25x56 MR4 Reticle as well. I do have a ZP5 3-15x50 MR2 Reticle that is great as well but the turrets do not have as tacticle clicks as the bigger brother. The reticle is much better for hunting at low mag.
 
#120
Once a year or so, I run through several different scenarios of "if I could have only one". It is an interesting mental exercise because it makes me really think through how I use my gear and what really matters.
If I was stuck with only one riflescope for the rest of my life, it would be Tangent 3-15x50 (I have an early TT315M). I can do almost everything I need with it and it never leaves me wanting for better optics or better turrets.
Thankfully, I do not have to have only one scope. I have a few on hand and I am rather fond of most of them.

ILya
 
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#121
koshkin said:
Once a year or so, I run through several different scenarios of "if I could have only one". It is an interesting mental exercise because it makes me really think through how I use my gear and what really matters.
If I was stuck with only one riflescope for the rest of my life, it would be Tangent 3-15x50 (I have an early TT315M). I can do almost everything I need with it and it never leaves me wanting for better optics or better turrets.
Thankfully, I do not have to have only one scope. I have a few on hand and I am rather fond of most of them.

ILya
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Thanks for that. Yeah, I have a TT 525 on my PRS rig and love it. I also know that as good as it is, it does not fit every scenario of course. By the time hunting season rolls around, I will have an open field rifle that I can shoot as long as i feel comfortable and it will have the TT525. This will be my woods rifle for the most part but I may let it stretch its legs as well from time to time.
 
#123
koshkin said:
Once a year or so, I run through several different scenarios of "if I could have only one". It is an interesting mental exercise because it makes me really think through how I use my gear and what really matters.
If I was stuck with only one riflescope for the rest of my life, it would be Tangent 3-15x50 (I have an early TT315M). I can do almost everything I need with it and it never leaves me wanting for better optics or better turrets.
Thankfully, I do not have to have only one scope. I have a few on hand and I am rather fond of most of them.

ILya
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That good huh? I am considering one, the P model. My only concern is the reticle visibility on 3x.
 
#124
chevy_man said:
Depends ...

Anything rimfire, a SIG with the dev-l. I have 4 of them now from the tango 4, 6, and DMR.

Center-fire the Mark 5 followed by the mark 4. Glass just really agrees with my eyes and the TMR or pr2 are both useful for different things.


I did get a chance to use a March 3-24 the other day, and it looked damn nice for the money. I cant see spending S&B or ZCO money. Mostly because I can't see enough of a measurable difference in glass, and I'm not that guy with 1 really nice rifle. I need to keep scopes on 10+ guns for different uses.
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IMG-20220507-WA0004.jpg
 
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#126
TheOE800 said:
Love love love the 315M, but Gen 3XR is not a 3x friendly scope. I’d call it fully useable around 8x.
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Gen2 mildot is usable at 3x, Gen3 XR great for higher mags, too bad TT has never invested the time to make a proper crossover reticle in a decade since the TT315M came to life. Throw a circle of death on the G3 XR and you have something that works at both 🤷‍♂️
 
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#129
Secant said:
IMO, the G2MD is the best reticle to get if you want to use the reticle throughout the entire mag range.
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Yeah that is what I was thinking, too. Except that I wouldn’t be content with a basic mildot when shooting out at distance I don’t think. So frustrating trying to find the “one” for my cross over. 😩 So far the T6Xi/MSR2 combo has been solid, but it isn’t great at either end of its mag range for different reasons. Getting tired of chasing unicorns here.
 
#130
Guns&WhiteWater said:
Yeah that is what I was thinking, too. Except that I wouldn’t be content with a basic mildot when shooting out at distance I don’t think. So frustrating trying to find the “one” for my cross over. 😩 So far the T6Xi/MSR2 combo has been solid, but it isn’t great at either end of its mag range for different reasons. Getting tired of chasing unicorns here.
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G2MD definitely isn’t ideal, but it’s doable. In terms of usability, I think it’s not really different than the msr2.

The ZCO420 has been my favorite do-all scope. Depending on your budget or brand/feature preferences, you might look at k525i dlr, 4-16x42 ATACR, or a used 6-24 AMG.
 
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#131
Glassaholic said:
Gen2 mildot is usable at 3x, Gen3 XR great for higher mags, too bad TT has never invested the time to make a proper crossover reticle in a decade since the TT315M came to life. Throw a circle of death on the G3 XR and you have something that works at both 🤷‍♂️
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If they’d simply make the outer bars of the Gen3XR as thick as the G2MD and increased the ‘inner’ reticle from 0.025mil to 0.045mil, that would be good enough.
 
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#133
Secant said:
If they’d simply make the outer bars of the Gen3XR as thick as the G2MD and increased the ‘inner’ reticle from 0.025mil to 0.045mil, that would be good enough.
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That's my point, it wouldn't take much for them to make slight changes for Gen3 XR to be more effective down low, same goes for most manufacturers with lighter scopes in the mid range mag range class, most just decided to use the same reticle as their higher mag range brother 🤷‍♂️
 
#134
Secant said:
G2MD definitely isn’t ideal, but it’s doable. In terms of usability, I think it’s not really different than the msr2.

The ZCO420 has been my favorite do-all scope. Depending on your budget or brand/feature preferences, you might look at k525i dlr, 4-16x42 ATACR, or a used 6-24 AMG.
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I keep coming back to the ZCO 4-20. But EO doesn’t carry them unfortunately.
 
#135
Secant said:
IMO, the G2MD is the best reticle to get if you want to use the reticle throughout the entire mag range.
Click to expand...
I agree with that.
My TT315M is one of the first few made and it has the Gen2XR reticle. It is a bit thinner than I like on 3x, but it works well enough for me.
I bug them about making something along the lines of Gen2XR, but a little thicker for the 3-15x, but not luck yet.
Sparse Gen2XR tree is a good match for the 3-15x mag range, but it could use a little bit of beefing up.

As it were, they did make a somewhat bolder reticle for the 3-15x Hunter model which works very nicely on low power.

As it happens, If I am on 3 power, that is usually at night behind a clip-on where reticle illumination is just right, so it works for me.
During the day, if hunting the scope sits on 6x. If I am shooting plates at distance, the scope is usually dial up a little to 12x or so.

ILya
 
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#137
What are you guys doing at 3x that needs a usable reticle? Like, are you just struggling to see it and put the center on a target/animal? Or are you trying to hold or measure?

I picked up the Atacr 4-16 (because of this thread) and used it on a hunt this last year. Got it zeroed, trued to 500 and shot an elk at 35 yards (in dark timber) all in a weeks time. I didn't feel like the reticle was lacking.

Pics, because pics make these threads better:

IMG_20241122_135238.jpg
20250208_124633.jpg
 
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#139
Jackomason said:
What are you guys doing at 3x that needs a usable reticle? Like, are you just struggling to see it and put the center on a target/animal? Or are you trying to hold or measure?

I picked up the Atacr 4-16 (because of this thread) and used it on a hunt this last year. Got it zeroed, trued to 500 and shot an elk at 35 yards (in dark timber) all in a weeks time. I didn't feel like the reticle was lacking.

Pics, because pics make these threads better:

View attachment 8612289View attachment 8612290
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Nice Elk,

I do almost all of my hunting with my 3x15 Leupold VX5 at 5X. Of course, it’s a SFP so the reticle is not an issue, but filed of view is much increased and wobble made less noticeable. I got the power if I need it, but shooting distances that rarely exceeded 250 yards made it normally not an issue. Just pointing and shooting at very short ranges , it’s hard to get squared away. Worst shot I ever made on an animal was at something like 20 yards. Stretching out a bit gets me directly in the heart lung area.
 
#140
Dead Eye Dick said:
Nice Elk,

I do almost all of my hunting with my 3x15 Leupold VX5 at 5X. Of course, it’s a SFP so the reticle is not an issue, but filed of view is much increased and wobble made less noticeable. I got the power if I need it, but shooting distances that rarely exceeded 250 yards made it normally not an issue. Just pointing and shooting at very short ranges , it’s hard to get squared away. Worst shot I ever made on an animal was at something like 20 yards. Stretching out a bit gets me directly in the heart lung area.
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Another good part < 6-7x power is the exit pupil is huge, so its basically 100% light transmission even in low or bad light.
 
#144
Jackomason said:
What are you guys doing at 3x that needs a usable reticle? Like, are you just struggling to see it and put the center on a target/animal? Or are you trying to hold or measure?

I picked up the Atacr 4-16 (because of this thread) and used it on a hunt this last year. Got it zeroed, trued to 500 and shot an elk at 35 yards (in dark timber) all in a weeks time. I didn't feel like the reticle was lacking.

Pics, because pics make these threads better:

View attachment 8612289View attachment 8612290
Click to expand...
Nice, that’s awesome. My needs changed when I moved up into the mountains about three years ago and started hog and deer hunting in timber. They also changed when I found myself shooting regularly at 1000 and 1250 yards at a square range at about the same time. Used to be content with a lightweight lever action/bolt action with a RDS for hunting and a heavy “target/tactical” rifle with a 5-25 for range use. Now I want to combine the two into a single crossover as best I can, while still keeping the more specialized rifles for when they’re needed.

I know it’s asking a lot for an optic to pull double duty, but today’s rifles can. So why haven’t the optics kept up?
 
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#145
wooferocau said:
Favourite Scope...

Of ALL the optics i have .......and have had...

No 32 .... :)


My L42A1
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Always liked the look of that reticle, but aren’t they a little hard to use when holding for elevation?

It’s be cool to see one with the center post just a little thickly outlined…maybe graduated with little horizontal lines.
 
#146
carbonbased said:
Always liked the look of that reticle, but aren’t they a little hard to use when holding for elevation?

It’s be cool to see one with the center post just a little thickly outlined…maybe graduated with little horizontal lines.
Click to expand...
You can't.....you pretty much have to use a 6 o'clock hold..
Remember....it's 2 5x and from the 1940,s..

Still love shooting with them .... on the L42A1 and No4T,s..
That particular L42A1 is as accurate as ANY firearm I have ever shot!!
 
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#149
My main PRS scope is a Tangent Theta 5-25 with Gen 3 XR reticle, it's got the best glass, best turrets, etc. However I also own and love the 2 Vortex AMG 6-24s with EBR-7B reticle that I have on my NRL Hunter rifle and my 308 training rifle. It's glass is excellent and in many ways I like the EBR-7B reticle better than the Gen3 XR. Only thing it's lacking is a 2nd turn turret indicator. And I love that except for the reticle, it's made in the USA.
 
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#150
Choose one? Never! From my stable these cover virtually every scenario:

S&B PM II 6-36x56
Nightforce ATACR 4-16x42
Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x24

The little NF might be my all time favourite. Unbelievably practical little optic.
 

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