American made mid/high scopes

[Keokuk]

Hello everyone,
I am in the market for a new scope and am looking for input. I’ve read quite a few reviews and discussion on SH but am getting into analysis paralysis. Scope details as follows:

-type: bolt action rifle
-chambering: 6mm GT
-main use: PRS
-weather: varying conditions but mostly daytime mild temperatures, will probably also get used some in the mid Atlantic winter so it needs to stand up to sub zero temps.
-distances: 400-1200 yards
-wants: FFP, floating dot Christmas tree reticle, mil/mil, preferably American made, at least 25x zoom, vortex style warranty ie. if I drop and break it they’ll still fix it or at least do it at cost or something, durable and serviceable, I want to own this for a long time, not throw it away in 5 years.
-2000-3000 ish USD, can get mil discount, willing to buy a 50% off certificate like what people sell for uso

This will be mounted on an ARC coup de grace, likely in an arc m brace mount or a spur mount. The kit I’ve put together just by coincidence is all American made so I would like to stick to that theme. That said if there’s a strong consensus to go German or Japanese then I’m not completely against it.
Current contenders include

USO FDN 25x
Burris XTR pro
Steiner T6xi
Leupold mk5 hd
Used night force atacr
Trijicon ten mile ??

If you have first hand experience with any of these optics I would love to hear opinions on which you would choose and why. Also if there are anymore us made options that I should be considering please let me know, it’s kind of hard to find what’s American and what’s not so I definitely could have missed some. I know pictures aren’t a great representation of IQ but feel free to include them, I think they’re cool lol

Finally, let’s not turn this into a bash session for any particular brand or model. If your brother in laws cousins boyfriend lost a match because his X brand scope wouldn’t hold zero that’s fine, please do share, but don’t argue with everyone that likes X brand trying to tell them they’re wrong. Let’s hear about your experience and why you like the scope that you like.

Thanks everyone in advanced and have a good Monday.

Chase

 

[Birddog6424]

That's a good list. I think the Trijicon is Japanese though?

 

[FuhQ]

The newest production NF ATACR F1 5-25x56 is made in the USA, with imported LOW (Japan) ELD glass.

 

[Birddog6424]

I think that's where just about everyone is at.

The EPA makes it damn near impossible, or least highly impractical to make glass in the US. Nightforce, Leupold, and the XTR Pro are Japanese glass. The Steiner is German glass. Not sure about USO.

 

[FuhQ]

I would go German/Austrian if your budget allows. Japanese glass is damn solid, too. I've replaced most all of my cheap Chinese glass scopes (on rifles that I actually shoot a lot) with Japanese (LOW) or Austrian/German SCHOTT glass scopes.

 

[diggler1833]

Have the XTR Pro and Tenmile. Tenmile is Japanese, but a pretty decent optic. Have no issues with my XTR Pro either. Both would be fine on a PRS rig until a guy with alpha glass walks by and makes fun of you (and they'll still be fine).

If I were getting one of the OPs options given to me for free, I'd chose the slightly used ATACR. I don't think any of them have U. S. made glass in them though...but I could be wrong (been before).

 

[Keokuk]

Bumping this thread, would love to hear if anyone has opinions on USO fdn vs atacr or mk5? Or just a comparison between any of the optics listed or others in this category.

 

[Birddog6424]

Out of these scopes, the Steiner, Nightforce, or Burris would be my choices. The MK5 is not generally as nice as these in the glass, or field of view. I've compared more MK5s to my two Pros than you can beat with a stick. Glass in the ATACR isn't always that great either, but it's a solid performer in the 7-35.

I have very little experience with the USO. I've looked through Jake Vibbert's and fired some rounds through his rifle, but thats it. USO has lost a ton of market share over the last 5 to 7 years. What I have seen though, I think is a very nice scope.

Tooless zero and the Race Dial make the Pro a strong contender for any competitive optic. I see a lot of fellas buying the turret tape to imitate the Race Dial, but Burris still does it best with a removable write on turret.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

I can only comment on the MK5. I own two. Both give good service. Had a problem with the erector on the first I purchased about a year after purchase. Leupold got it squared away and back at my door in about a week and a half. (Including cross country mailing). The second, which is about a year newer, even seems better than the first. Both track, without any known issues, I have no issues with the glass, but frankly have no frame of reference if others are better or worse. The PR2 reticle is great, has the information you need without crowding the scope with lots extra stuff that makes it harder to locate the target. Finally, seems eye relief and Depth of Field are really nice, and much better than the Vortex on my wife’s rifle. (Truth in advertising, the Vortex is a lower priced Philippine made scope and not price comparable to the scopes inquired about)

The Depth of Field is so large, one has to be careful to remember to set the focus to the range desired.

All factors considered, a MK 5 is at the head of my list to equip my new Vudoo when it is finished.

 

[cbailey]

Dont forget to look a TRACT, Have 3 nightforces and I'm not loosing anything with my new TRACT. Japanese glass , some have schott ht in them.

 

[Makinchips208]

Vortex style warranty?
There is only one. Vortex.

Otherwise get an ATACR 5-25 f1. It is USA built and you probably won’t need to use the warranty.

But not a bad list you have there @Keokuk

 

[Shoots 700's]

I have a couple of MK 5’s and to me it feels like looking thru a tunnel, the Atacr would be my choice out of the ones listed. Stepping up, I like Kahles and Zero Comp.

 

[Poorboyr]

Bumping this thread, would love to hear if anyone has opinions on USO fdn vs atacr or mk5? Or just a comparison between any of the optics listed or others in this category.

I have and had all the scopes listed. The only ones I have left are the FDNs and Burris Pro. The USO is better than both the ATACR and MK 5 in pretty much every way.

I do not like the Nightforce at all. To me, optically it is pretty bad compared to the others. I’ve had some issues with Nightforce so I just stopped buying them. I feel they are overpriced for what you get.

The Leupold isn’t a bad scope at all. Optically I think its above the Nightforce but not by much and the 35mm tube is just odd. I do like turrets on Leupolds though.

The FDN is just an all around better scope. I have quite a few and not one FDN has failed or given me a hiccup. The downfall with the USO is the resale on this site and the size. USO takes a hit on this site.

If I was going to buy a new a scope and didn’t want to shell out the money for a Theta, I would buy the USO FDN or the Burris Pro. The Burris Pro is a hell of a nice scope for the money.

 

[Birddog6424]

This just in.. an all black Burris XTR Pro is now in production!

 

[rothgyr]

I've owned several USO FDNs, the ATACR 7-35, and have spent a bit of time with the Burris XTR Pro and MK5 on buddies' PRS guns.

In my personal opinion, overall USO FDN > Burris XTR Pro >= ATACR 7-35 >>> MK5 for a PRS use case.

After spending a decent amount of time behind a USO FDN, XTR Pro, or ATACR, the MK5's sight picture looks incredibly small. The PR2 is excellent, but I can't stand looking through MK5s on sight picture size alone. Reference my post in this thread: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/anyone-using-usoptics.7200506/page-2#post-11359185 . It's good, but if the others are options, I wouldn't go for it unless you KNEAD a 30 oz 5-25x scope. I mean, the FDN 25x is only 3 oz heavier.

The Burris XTR Pro has a very good field of view, it's race dial is very convenient for matches (removing it and writing on it at your tripod is a huge plus, honestly), and the SCR2-1/4 MIL is one of my favorite reticles. The image is very sharp too. Possibly better than my ATACR and USO, but it's hard to say. Picking out gravel on the ground at 600yds is pretty easy on it. My smith uses one as well as a Razor III and is partial to the Burris. I think the parallax ring and mag ring are a bit stiff, but nothing worse than other similarly priced scopes.

The ATACR is the glock of the scope world. It does it's job. It tracks. I like the MIL-XT/MIL-C. The turrets are easy to move without being so hard that you over turn it too much. The occular housing moving is kind of odd, but anyone complaining about it is likely trying to be a hipster and dis on the mainstream thing. I wish the turrets were a bit wider with more space between the markings. The controls are incredibly smooth. I don't love the illumination controls, but that doesn't bother me since I don't really shoot in low light enough to need it much anyways.

The USO FDN 25x has a 52mm objective lens and massive FOV. I can't really explain it, but what sits in front of your eye at 15x looks like 20x with a 15x FOV or more. It comes at the cost of a tight eyebox. If you fit your gun to your body properly, it's a non issue, but when I first pulled one out of the box and held it up to look through it, I'll be truthful, it kind of seemed like trash. Once it was mounted on my gun and setup properly, I have zero issues with it. The turrets are quiet, but very distinct, and have a ton of space between the clicks. I'm always sure what I'm dialed to. The race dial you can buy for it is awesome. The controls all feel just as smooth as the ATACR, if not better. The JVCR is my favorite reticle. I can resolve details at distance a smidge better with the FDN than I can with the ATACR 7-35. If you can, buy one used.

As Poorboyr mentioned, the FDNs don't get a lot of love, or more especially there is a very loud individual with multiple accounts here that drowns out the good, and the resale prices aren't great. I'd argue that it's because everyone knows what you bought it at ($1900 with a 50% cert). Just like ATACRs go for MIL/LEO prices, same as Leupold, Razors, etc. the FDNs go for the price of one bought with one of the plentiful certs out there. So buy at those prices. I would say the FDN at $1800 out performs any $1800 scope I've ever looked through.

I don't have any personal experience with the Trijicon or T6Xi, so I can't say anything for or against them.

And since you asked for pictures:

 

[Birddog6424]

Great write up!

 

[Keokuk]

First and foremost, thanks so much to everyone for the information and help deciding what scope to get. I finally decided on a uso fdn25x with the xtr pro being a close second. @Sokam101 was a treat to deal with and sold me a 50% off cert so that made the decision a little easier.

I have everything picked out and ready to order except the reticle illumination color. Normally I would just go red but I saw USO offers blue illumination and thought “well damn that’s cool”. As mentioned in original post, this is a prs rig, does illumination really even matter..? This rifle might, and that’s a big might, see 1 low light/night time illuminated coyote hunt a year.

Does anyone have opinions on red vs blue vs green for contrast on shot up prs targets towards the end of a match? Or just in general, thoughts on illumination use in prs as well as general thoughts on illumination color.
Ty

 

[Keokuk]

First and foremost, thanks so much to everyone for the information and help deciding what scope to get. I finally decided on a uso fdn25x with the xtr pro being a close second. @Sokam101 was a treat to deal with and sold me a 50% off cert so that made the decision a little easier.

I have everything picked out and ready to order except the reticle illumination color. Normally I would just go red but I saw USO offers blue illumination and thought “well damn that’s cool”. As mentioned in original post, this is a prs rig, does illumination really even matter..? This rifle might, and that’s a big might, see 1 low light/night time illuminated coyote hunt a year.

Does anyone have opinions on red vs blue vs green for contrast on shot up prs targets towards the end of a match? Or just in general, thoughts on illumination use in prs as well as general thoughts on illumination color.
Ty

@ken226 I’d like to drag you into this conversation if you don’t mind because you’re the only post on the hide I have found with a blue illuminated reticle. So maybe you can give contrast to what I’m expecting to be a lot of peoples experience with red and green.

 

[TheOE800]

Blue is like the worst visible light spectrum for illumination.

 

[Keokuk]

Blue is like the worst visible light spectrum for illumination.

That’s kinda what I was thinking too, I know green is most visible and red doesn’t mess up your night vision as bad, but blue seems like it would be hard to pick up. Maybe good for military but curious how it performs in the competition sector

 

[FuhQ]

Blue is like the worst visible light spectrum for illumination.

Yep, blue is awful...Even at night with NV and thermal blue is not a good color for my eyes. And, in natural bright backgrounds (day time), my eyes don't pickup green very well either. I stick with red on my day optics, but my eyes really prefer green on my NV and thermals, because it's not as "in your face" as the red is on the digital reticles.

 

[Poorboyr]

I had a USO with blue illumination. It was cool, but not good. I no longer have that. All my USOs are red.

 

[Mk16.5]

analysis paralysis, that's me

 

[blue_ridge]

Possibly the most American made scope for precision rifles is the Vortex AMG. Still a great scope that goes for about $1500 used.