Rifle Scopes $2000 budget

[fvalmostthere]

Have a $2000 budget and need scope, mount or rings and chassis. Do I spend it all on scope and save for chassis later (rifle currently has internal magazine so need chassis eventually) or do I go about 1000 and 1000 and get going. Have hunted and target shot my whole life, did an ar tactical competition last year and had a blast. Building this gun to get into prs. So which direction would you go? And which scope in that category would you go with?

 

[Msaon308]

SB PM2 5-25 p4f

 

[beetroot]

You could get a Leupold MK5hd from @LibertyOptics for as low as $1500 with the current Hide members sales they have going at the moment.
The you would have enough money for a mount/rings and a bit left to go towards a chassis.

Biggest unknown is the chassis cost as they can vary a lot, I like the KRG Bravo chassis which is great value but may not be your cup of tea.

Spend as much as you can on a scope and rings now as you can start shooting straight away and upgrade the chassis later.

 

[Eoddave27]

You could get a 30mm Tract Toric HD, or an Athlon Ares ETR and a MDT chassis. You will need to add a few basic AR parts for the stock like a pistol grip,stock and buffer tube. Add a set of rings and I think you should be right around 2k.

 

[Muldoon7]

Wait for eurooptic to have a sale on a Schmidt I picked one up for that budget and couldn’t be happier. Save some extra money for the other stuff later

 

[Wyzrd]

If I was just getting started in PRS, I’d look on the Optics PX here and get a good deal on a Gen 1 Razor HD 5-20. You can usually find one with rings for right around $1000. Spend the other $1K on your chassis/stock, or a couple cases of ammo or reloading components.

 

[D_TROS]

Buy an XLR stock. Best bang for the buck bar none. Can get them used under $500 these days. New pimped out $750 ish.

That leaves $1250 for scope. Look for these in this order
1-Gen 1 Vortex Razor HD (stay away form the PST line) as mentioned they usually sell at the $1200 mark if patient.
2a-BUshnell 4-30 XRS around $1500
2b-Steiner T5Xi 5-25 for $1300
3a-Burris XTR2 for $900
3b-Bushnell 3.5-21 $900
4-SWFA 5-20 for $900

Any of those 6 scopes if cheap enough will be plenty for being competitive at PRS


Regarrds
DT

 

[Anderson_A]

Definetly look into the krg bravo at 350$ or so it will do everything you need and get you into AICS Magazines and open up some of that budget for the optic

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We started a Meopta sale this morning on new product in damaged boxes. Your choice $1499.99:
ZD 6-24x56 RD - MT223 (MOA)
ZD 6-24x56 RD - MT308 (MIL)
ZD 6-24x56 RD – MT223 (MIL)
ZD 6-24x56 RD – Mil-Dot 2 (MIL)
Give me a call, 516-217-1000

 

[b6graham]

so what type of pencil barrel are we talking?

 

[Eoddave27]

Here is a photo of my son and his rifle. I will leave off the action and barrel since it sounds like you already have that
MDT LSS- XL chassis from Brownell. $399
Buffer tube. $20
Magpul stock. $69
Ergo grip. $45
Athlon Ares Btr. $729. This is now replaced by a Japanese made 30mm Tract Toric HD which was roughly $1000 on sale.
Vortex scope rings. $40

With the more expensive Tract scope the build was $1993 without the action or muzzle brake. The MDT chassis it light and the rifle is a sub .5 MOA rifle which I think has a lot to do with the chassis. For the optic I am something of a Tract fanboy. I have a Sig Tango 6 and my friend runs a Nightforce NSX and I would put the Tract I the same class as those two scopes. Based on all the optics I have used it is the best optic out there for your money.

 

[fvalmostthere]

I have a savage 12fv heavy barrel in 6.5 Bought it before I knew anything about their ejection issues, oh well too late now. Krg doesn't make a bravo for savage short action, been looking at mpa and mdt. Was looking hard at the ares etr but have seen so many cronus btrs in the PX for not much more. Lately I have been wondering if I should just spend up on the scope and get a razor gen 2. I know I would be putting a $2500 scope on a $400 rifle but as soon as I get this budget build up and running i will be saving for a custom action

 

[scocoabeach]

Check with Doug at Cameraland about a Demo Steiner T5xi 5x25 if they have them - should leave you room for a chassis.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Check with Doug at Cameraland about a Demo Steiner T5xi 5x25 if they have them - should leave you room for a chassis.

The Steiner is a great scope and we have these in stock. Please give us a call to discuss it, 516-217-1000.

 

[LibertyOptics]

You could get a Leupold MK5hd from @LibertyOptics for as low as $1500 with the current Hide members sales they have going at the moment.
The you would have enough money for a mount/rings and a bit left to go towards a chassis.

Biggest unknown is the chassis cost as they can vary a lot, I like the KRG Bravo chassis which is great value but may not be your cup of tea.

Spend as much as you can on a scope and rings now as you can start shooting straight away and upgrade the chassis later.

Thanks for that, my friend!

 

[fvalmostthere]

I am going to stay down near the $1000 range, after listening to the comments here and talking with Doug for awhile yesterday I am between the Ares ETR which I believe has the better reticle and features and the Gen 1 Razor which is tankier and I would assume has better glass? Anybody handled both and have any input?

 

[Wyzrd]

I have a savage 12fv heavy barrel in 6.5 Bought it before I knew anything about their ejection issues, oh well too late now. Krg doesn't make a bravo for savage short action, been looking at mpa and mdt. Was looking hard at the ares etr but have seen so many cronus btrs in the PX for not much more. Lately I have been wondering if I should just spend up on the scope and get a razor gen 2. I know I would be putting a $2500 scope on a $400 rifle but as soon as I get this budget build up and running i will be saving for a custom action

IMO, you can never go wrong stretching the budget for good or better glass. It’d be nice if KRG made a Bravo for Savage rifles, but they do have the 180-Alpha (I think that’s it...?). Right now I have a Cronus BTR on my Savage 6.5CM that rests in an XLR Evo chassis, but have also used a Gen2 Razor 3-18 on it. Nothing wrong with putting a pricey scope on a cheaper action/rifle. If you decide to upgrade the rifle down the road, at least you’ll already have a good scope to throw on it.

 

[patriot07]

In the $1000 range, for me it would come down to the Razor 5-20 or SWFA 5-20. The Ares glass is likely going to be a small step behind those too, and it's not built in Japan like the other two are either.

I've tried cheap scopes and expensive scopes, and I just haven't found anything better for the money than my SWFA 5-20 HD. Now for PRS, you might need more holds in a reticle, in which case the Razor might get the nod. And it has a zero stop as well. But I personally consider either of these a great value in the $1k range, and I don't think anything in the $1500 range is any better. You really have to spend about $2k before you see any type of meaningful improvement over these, and that's when you get into the AMG, Razor Gen II category, or a clearance S&B with an unpopular reticle.

The other option that I haven't seen mentioned is an Athlon Cronus, which is a very nice scope as well. Good glass, good reticle, mediocre turrets.

 

[patriot07]

To be clear, and to answer your original question, for PRS, I'd probably get a chassis that I like and assume that a Razor or SWFA HD is more than adequate to get you into the competition and you can upgrade later while losing very little money if you buy smartly up front.

 

[Eoddave27]

I mentioned it above but take a good look at the 30mm Tract Toric HD. It is built in the LOW factory in Japan and is one of the best optics out there for the money. I have a Sig Tango 6 and a friend of mine runs a NF NSX and the glas in the Toric is just as good if not a touch better. Honestly I think the low light performance on the Toric is actually better. They periodically run 10% off sales too which makes it even a better deal.

https://www.tractoptics.com/products/riflescopes/toric-uhd-30mm-4-20x50-ffp-mrad

 

[Garett73]

Ive got a krg alpha chassis ive been thinking of parting with. Ive got about 1200 into it id sell just the chassis for 900 or the whole rifle for 2200. Its my current prs rig.
Savage 12 xcaliber barrel under 350 rounds cryod with 3 port brake burris sig rings and nikon fx1000 4-16x50 ive shot it to 1187yds on steel
Pm me if interested. The chassis is the only one ive ever seen with the adjustable lop instead of spacers for a savage

 

[palmettoman]

I can second the praise of the XLR chassis. I lucked out and got one of their 1st gen Elements for my LH Savage 12 .223. I didn't want to spend alot of money on the rifle, but wanted something better than I had it in. It will make a great trainer for a custom 6.5 I'm wanting to build now. I topped it off with a fixed 10x SWFA that works great on it.

 

[TheGerman]

Sell children and/or kidney.

Buy once cry once. I'm saving you money in the long run.

 

[Silvan]

Have a $2000 budget and need scope, mount or rings and chassis. Do I spend it all on scope and save for chassis later (rifle currently has internal magazine so need chassis eventually) or do I go about 1000 and 1000 and get going. Have hunted and target shot my whole life, did an ar tactical competition last year and had a blast. Building this gun to get into prs. So which direction would you go? And which scope in that category would you go with?

Vortex AMG and you will not regret. Scopelist offers 14% off

 

[fvalmostthere]

Well my plan was to wait for black Friday and see what I could come up with and if nothing hit the spot I was going to get the athlon ares etr. But before black Friday happened I got a good deal on a sig tango 6 5-30 dev l for not much more than the etr. Now to save a little longer for the chassis. Hoping mpa comes out with a savage short action inlet for their hybrid chassis soon, but I have been looking at the xlr elements a lot more. Almost if not all the same features for a lot less. I just love the looks of the mpa chassis'.

 

[Garett73]

Ive got a custom krg for a savage short action. Im trying to move up to a custom. Pm me if youre interested and ill send you pictures. Its the alpha 180 custom ordered with the whiskey 3 LOP adjustments.

 

[RNWRKNP]

As @TheGerman said, buy once, cry once. Chassis later. She ain’t perty....but she’s functional as a mofugger. For me , the choice was optics first. Sako A7, Nightforce 20 MOA rail, Nightforce 6 pin rings, Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25 MILR.

 

[trob_205]

Assuming you’re working with a 700 (sorry if that’s already discussed) footprint rifle I’d would not be afraid at all the go the KRG Bravo Chassis. $350 and well enough left to find a deal on a nice peice of used glass!