Rifle Scopes Best tracking reliable scope for $1000-$1500

[[email protected]]

I compete out west and shoot up to 1000 yards and I have had nothing but trouble from Millet scopes, and Leopold's scopes. I have been considering a vortex viper PST 6-24x50 FFP mrad reticle, but im wondering if there's a better scope out there in my price range that will be perfect reliability. Glass and features aren't too important all I want is a perfect tracking scope. I know nightforce is fairly good but I dont believe theres one in my price range. Has anyone got any ideas?

 

[Belisarius]

you can get a practically new " preowned" nightforce no problem. the r2 reticle is quite suitable for your activity.

 

[NorthWinds]

There's a thread on here called "What the pro's use" and I saw several Bushnell Elite Tactical 6500 3.5-21x50 (or similar) scopes on there. They're known as the Bushnell DMR or Bushnell HDMR. Might be worth a look.

 

[Tactical]

I used the same Leupolds daily for over twenty years with no problems. That was in the days of zero angle built into the scopes. Since I changed to 20-30 moa bases I have had every scope develop long range tracking issues. I mean, NXS, Leupold,SxB,March BxL, Zeiss etc. The problem I believe is from leaving the scopes cranked down and compressing the spring for too long. I started taking tenion ff when storing the scopes by leaving a 1000 yard zero on them, about a year ago. Since then I have not seen any tracking issues.

In short I think many of the tracking issues are caused by leaving the springs tightly compressd.

With that said I use mostly Leupold these days and find them to work very well. I just no longer leave any scope cranked down to stops

 

[rippit]

I like the Bushnell 3.5 -21 HDMR in that price range the best, the SS 5-20 from SWFA is also a great scope. Both scope have good glass and track fine , both have good reputations. You should be able to find either of those for under $1500.

 

[scudzuki]

Bushy DMR. The models with Horus reticles are HDMRs.

Joe

 

[peak98]

I used the same Leupolds daily for over twenty years with no problems. That was in the days of zero angle built into the scopes. Since I changed to 20-30 moa bases I have had every scope develop long range tracking issues. I mean, NXS, Leupold,SxB,March BxL, Zeiss etc. The problem I believe is from leaving the scopes cranked down and compressing the spring for too long. I started taking tenion ff when storing the scopes by leaving a 1000 yard zero on them, about a year ago. Since then I have not seen any tracking issues.

In short I think many of the tracking issues are caused by leaving the springs tightly compressed.

With that said I use mostly Leupold these days and find them to work very well. I just no longer leave any scope cranked down to stops

Excellent advice, thanks for sharing.

 

[xXlojackXx]

How do the DMR/HDMR's hold up on the .338's and bigger? That is the only reason I'm considering a NF is the proven durability.

 

[VaRandy]

Nightforce hands down. Used will still be fine.

 

[muliemandan]

You should easily be able to find a used nightforce for that kind of money. It may not have high speed turrets but it's money well spent.

 

[TallShot]

I used the same Leupolds daily for over twenty years with no problems. That was in the days of zero angle built into the scopes. Since I changed to 20-30 moa bases I have had every scope develop long range tracking issues. I mean, NXS, Leupold,SxB,March BxL, Zeiss etc. The problem I believe is from leaving the scopes cranked down and compressing the spring for too long. I started taking tenion ff when storing the scopes by leaving a 1000 yard zero on them, about a year ago. Since then I have not seen any tracking issues.

In short I think many of the tracking issues are caused by leaving the springs tightly compressd.

With that said I use mostly Leupold these days and find them to work very well. I just no longer leave any scope cranked down to stops

Now THAT is an interesting concept, that I've never given any thought of....... Hm.

Sounds reasonable.

 

[sulcop96]

I have the Vortex Razor and Viper, a SWFA SS 5-20 and a NightForce NXS and all four are great but.... I have to give an edge to the NightForce. My favorite overall is the SS but for call outs and SRT/SWAT stuff I only bring my NXS. Something about a scope taking a round through the tube and still taking out insurgeants for three days has the no BS factors I seek.

Sully

 

[Bedlam]

For a new scope around that amount of money I think SWFA SS and Vortex PST are the best scopes to get. Nightforce NXS is indeed better, but as others have stated you'll have to go used to get that in your price range. Also the NXS has a very difficult method for changing the illumination level; I don't know if they ever got around to fixing that.

The last I checked, all three have lifetime transferable warranties so you are fine buying used for any of those.

 

[Sniper260]

SWFA, Vortex PST, Used Nightforce

 

[ssg08]

Excellent advice, thanks for sharing.

This is not a fact.

It shouldn't be an issue to use a 30- 40 MOA base with a Schmidt & Bender or similar scope. With over 100 MOA internal tracking.

I just purchased a Kahles scope, 624i which has 90 MOA internal adjustment and mounted it on a 40 MOA base. And could still zero in at 100. And had 9 MOA left.

 

[coWSMasher]

I love my vortex viper pst 6-24 tracks beautifully. there is a hell of a lot of good options in that price range though. i am a firm believer in releasing the spring tension in your optics as well.

 

[NorthWinds]

To release the spring tension you're simply dialing it from a 100 yard zero to more like a 500 yard zero correct? Or do you just do one revolution up from your zero, ect?

 

[mwroseberry]

USO ST-10

Pretty much sums it up

 

[coWSMasher]

To release the spring tension you're simply dialing it from a 100 yard zero to more like a 500 yard zero correct? Or do you just do one revolution up from your zero, ect?

Really you just dial it out a ways so a revolution is what i do.

 

[mkollman74]

I went with the HDMR for this application. I've owned Leupold and NF as well. I like the HDMR better.

 

[NorthWinds]

Thanks a lot coWSMasher, I'll remember that.

 

[Nathaniel4545]

I have watched many videos from gap and i believe they endorse the Bushnell scopes.. correct me if I am wrong and I have seen tracking tests done with the scope with good results. I am also in this situation of needing a scope for a long range rifle and I believe the HDMR is a good way to go. I like what Night force offers but they are expensive and out of my range for an optic and even the used ones that are in range will not be a ffp scope as the f1 is well over 2k and the beast is in line with a s&b. swfa ss was the second I was leaning to.

 

[coWSMasher]

Thanks a lot coWSMasher, I'll remember that.

Yup I read an article a guy from Leupold wrote about proper optics maintenance and he said that was the reason for most of their optics that come in for repair. I have never had issues but i would prefer not to so it doesn't hurt any. Just don't forget to turn it back.

 

[Cobracutter]

Nightforce hands down. Used will still be fine.

Except no one is winning matches with NF. Most are using S&B or DMR's with some USO's/Premier sprinkled in there.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

pre owned nightforce or a vortex would be my choice

 

[Plange]

Not to hijack this thread but the information given on the springs is spot on. As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel. If you keep it compressed for long periods of time the metal will start to breakdown and lose it's tension.
The trend seems to be that people will get a base that allows the most amount of scope travel so they can use the full range of the scopes travel even though the ballistics/load/round fall far short of the maximum travel afforded by todays 34 and 35mm tube scopes.
I always recommend for long periods of storage to dial up about 3/4 to 1 turn to relieve the tension on the springs and dial back down to zero when you next take the rifle out.
Hope this help and just my 2 cents worth all the scopes listed above would be perfect for the OP's use and sorry for the hijack.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[Tactical]

Not to hijack this thread but the information given on the springs is spot on. As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel. If you keep it compressed for long periods of time the metal will start to breakdown and lose it's tension.
The trend seems to be that people will get a base that allows the most amount of scope travel so they can use the full range of the scopes travel even though the ballistics/load/round fall far short of the maximum travel afforded by todays 34 and 35mm tube scopes.
I always recommend for long periods of storage to dial up about 3/4 to 1 turn to relieve the tension on the springs and dial back down to zero when you next take the rifle out.
Hope this help and just my 2 cents worth all the scopes listed above would be perfect for the OP's use and sorry for the hijack.
Thanks,
Paul

Paul, nice to have someone from industry say it aloud. Many have said so in back channels but few say so in public.

I generally now just take off a turn or so to take tension off the spring during storage for the man who asked

As to man who said its not fact. Well enough evidence exists that any court would take Judicial Notice of it to be called fact

 

[scudzuki]

"As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel."

Well, crap, I have to start being careful when I park my truck now.
See, it sits for weeks unused and at least several of the valve springs are compressed fully until I start it again.
/sarcasm

Bullshit.

Joe

 

[Cobracutter]

"As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel."

Well, crap, I have to start being careful when I park my truck now.
See, it sits for weeks unused and at least several of the valve springs are compressed fully until I start it again.
/sarcasm

Bullshit.

Joe

I was just thinking the same thing. Kinda like how a mag can stay compressed for 20 years and it will work like its new, and only repeated contracting and expansion wear them out.

Everything I have heard over the years, from people who are engineers/physicists/metalurgists, is that compression of a spring does not put wear on the spring like use of it does.

 

[scudzuki]

I was just thinking the same thing. Kinda like how a mag can stay compressed for 20 years and it will work like its new, and only repeated contracting and expansion wear them out.

Everything I have heard over the years, from people who are engineers/physicists/metalurgists, is that compression of a spring does not put wear on the spring like use of it does.

Exactly.

I have seen Danly die set springs run for millions of cycles at high speed before failing.

Materials have come a long way.

Joe

 

[Plange]

OK guys,
I was speaking about scope springs and I apologize that I came out and just said "spring steel" and was not specific but I assumed that you would understand what I am talking about and trying to give good advice to people that may want to take care of their scopes.
If you want to talk about cars- load your trunk with a few hundred pounds of something and let sit for a long time (year or so as this happens a lot with guns in the safes) and your springs will compress.
Anyway what do I know? I have only been repairing high end scopes for 10 years and certainly not an auto mechanic or an engineer.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[sakobob]

OK guys,
I was speaking about scope springs and I apologize that I came out and just said "spring steel" and was not specific but I assumed that you would understand what I am talking about and trying to give good advice to people that may want to take care of their scopes.
If you want to talk about cars- load your trunk with a few hundred pounds of something and let sit for a long time (year or so as this happens a lot with guns in the safes) and your springs will compress.
Anyway what do I know? I have only been repairing high end scopes for 10 years and certainly not an auto mechanic or an engineer.
Thanks,
Paul

this is all correct springs will take a set, its a fact.
so it's no big deal to turn a rotation of elev. for easy maintenance it just makes sense.
back to the op's? as said dmr/hdmr ,pst are good choices

 

[7mmRM]

Bushnell G2DMR and don't look back..

 

[eddiemac]

I bought a used Nightforce NXS from a Hide member, so that would be my recommendation. In reading this thread, I appreciate the advice on spring compression for scopes that Plange gave above (I will store mine decompressed now).

 

[Tactical]

Like I said I saw scopes go for twenty plus years of daily use, with bases that did not bottom the springs at zero. Then I started using bases that bottomed the springs to get the most travel from a scope. That's when I saw springs take a set and scopes have weird things happen when you took tension of the spring at distance.

Now of course you guys probably know better but a couple of months ago, I was at a US National Rifle Team Practice where a long time Palma Team Shooter and several time National Champion had the weird shit happen at a 1000 yards with a 12-42 NXS and angled base. We took that scope off and placed a fresh one on and guess what the rifle shot well again. I had this happen to me in a National Championship and changed scopes and problem went away.

Since then I have talked directly with several scope manufactures and my finding are nothing new. The industry recognizes it as well.

I hope all you guys that will still keep the turrets cranked down have better luck than what I have seen but I bet eventually it will bite you in the but. Usually when it really hurts.

 

[slothlacrosse]

I've had a lot of good luck with Leupolds (VX-III and Mark 4).

 

[TheGerman]

Nightforce hands down. Used will still be fine.

This is what you want.

 

[sawman556]

I've been a NF fan for a little while now but I think I'm turning into a Vortex fan. I just bought my third- a PST 2.5-10x32 for a new AR build. For the money, the Vortex PST series continues to impress me. The PST zero-stop isn't the best but other than that I can no longer justify the extra money for the NF. The PST also excels in the illumination arena and Vortex is second to none in the CS arena. I also bought a Razor 3MOA MRD that I may actually like better than a RMR, though not as much as a bargain as the PST's. Vortex still has it's work to do before I give up my T1 but they are headed in the right direction. YMMV.

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks to everyone who replied on this thread. This is my first thread so I'm thrilled that everybody got back to me. I was gonna bight the bullet and take out a loan for the night force NXS but I got a call from my sponsor, "Macs Gun works," and apparently I have a free vortex viper coming on my new .260. So I could not be happier. Thanks to everyone, Jake

 

[MTyotehunter]

I am sure enjoying the first focal plane, and I really like mil rad. high speed turrets. This puts nightforce out, their F1 is ove 2k. My choice would be between the SWFA 5-20 and the Bushnell hdmr. However I think the SWFA is more scope for the money. good luck!

 

[johnsmith1775]

A note on the spring issue. A magazine if designed right will last for years loaded, but all it takes is one design mistake and the spring will wear out because it is over compressed. As guys have said, valve springs will cycle millions of times and can stay compressed for long periods while the vehicle is parked. They are designed that way and are not over compressed during regular cycling. It is possible some people are having issues with their scopes simply because the springs aren't designed properly (or they are designed on the edge of reliability due to size constraints).

Personally I don't have experience with scope springs going bad. I have had USGI M16 mags loaded for years without issue. I've also had some Sig P226 magazines that had feeding issues after being loaded for a year. I acquired those magazines used, so I'm not sure of their history before I bought them, but I don't think they should have worn out if they were designed properly.

 

[DavidAR10]

"As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel."

Well, crap, I have to start being careful when I park my truck now.
See, it sits for weeks unused and at least several of the valve springs are compressed fully until I start it again.
/sarcasm

Bullshit.

Joe

Chrome silicon steel is used for valve springs.

Very, very few scope manufacturers use titanium for an adjustment spring.

Those Free Elective Points from Applied Mechanics/Physics class in H.S. would have been more valuable than
building those da-da-damn bird houses in Woodshop.

 

[rainer]

"As any person who has repaired scopes or even worked with spring steel knows that there is a limited memory to spring steel."

Well, crap, I have to start being careful when I park my truck now.
See, it sits for weeks unused and at least several of the valve springs are compressed fully until I start it again.
/sarcasm

Bullshit.

Joe

Have you ever slept in a cheap motel? Sagging coil spring matrices? Some of them is deep enough to hide a litter of piglets.

 

[scudzuki]

Well I guess I dodged a bullet then (4 in fact) as I fired up my GSXR1000 street fighter, GSXR 750 track bike, and DRZ-125L pit bike after sitting all winter and none of the valve springs took a "set". Ran to home Depot in the pickup truck without incident, too.

Apparently Suzuki and GMC wind their valve springs from better steel than cheap mattress manufacturers use.

If scope manufacturers use inferior steel for their erector springs, it is by choice, not out of necessity, period.

Joe

 

[Desert Fox]

Get a Sightron. For half the price of an NSX, you can have a scope with glass just as bright and crisp and tracks just as well. I just mounted a 6X24X50 LRMOA on my 6BR. I'm really impressed with the all around performance of the scope.

 

[hunter223]

Tag for reference

 

[teskymo]

For the money, and price point, that your looking to stay in, IMHO and others, the Vortex Razor line, and the Vortex Viper PST scopes, are some of the best optics and reliablility, and tracking abilities your looking for. Hands down, you will be impressed not olnly with the glass, but also the rugged body and mechanics of the two lines of scopes. And the really good thing about them(Vortex) is you don't have to take out a second morgage to be able to be in the same class as the $1,500.00 and up group of scopes.

WELL, Worth the time and money, to go and find a dealer that sales Vortex line of scopes, you will not be disapointed, I'll bet money you'll not be disapointed, peroid.

I saved the best for last, the warranty is for the life of the scope!!! for however long you own the scope. How's that for a company to stand behind their product, no questions asked, period. All I've heard from individuals that own on(Vortex) that if there was any problem they did any and everything to make the scope right and the customer. I personally own the Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP on my custom built .223 with a 24 in barrel, and it is friggin awesome varmit gun, along with my NightForce 8x32 56mm NSX mildot, and my Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x44.

 

[scotharr]

"best tracking, most reliable" $1,000-$1,500...Nightforce. A good used Nightforce can easily be obtained at that price and is better than a new Leupold, Vortex, Sightron, IMHO. When tracking and reliability are the criteria, Nightforce is the answer. There are a couple brands just as reliable as NF, but they are all more expensive....sometimes much more expensive.

 

[Tangodown911]

Night force all the way. Plain and simple.

 

[redirt78]

CounterBarskaStar hands down, all day, case closed, read em n weep.

Oh and almost forgot, plain and simple