Rifle Scopes BSA optics?

[Duff]

i have a Bsa scope in mind for my build. i know they arent top quality or anything but are they good enough? the scope i have in mind is the tactical mil-dot from midway. the magazine says its a midway exclusive. its on sale from 250 to 150. my other option is the SWFA supersniper in 10x. first i want to know the general quality of BSA.

 

[LS6TT]

Re: BSA optics?

ill beat everyone to it.

buy cheap expect to buy again.

if you dont have alot, save up, at minimum look at the super snipers at swfa or the millett trs1

 

[V-Taper]

Re: BSA optics?

I had one on a Savage .308. It never held a zero.

 

[V-Taper]

Re: BSA optics?

Get the Super Sniper!

 

[thebolt]

Re: BSA optics?

I purchased a BSA as a .22 scope several years ago. I discovered it was not of sufficient quality for the inexpensive .22 rifle.

 

[SgtKope]

Re: BSA optics?

I have one one my 22 and it works great. However I would not put it on anything else I don't trust it as far as I can throw it.

 

[bodywerks]

Re: BSA optics?

BSA is JUNK! Might as well strap a green beer bottle to your rifle and look through it.
If you're really stuck on cheap, look at Osprey International. They have a 4-16 tactical scope with illuminated reticle that at least holds a zero and has MOA clicks that are fairly accurate. There are lots of different versions of them, though, as they started of with glass that was REALLY bad. The latest is glass from Hoya, Japan, which is decent.
http://www.opticsplanet.net/osprey-4-16x...ta41650imd.html
However, the glass or reticle doesn't compare to the Millet. I bought my second Millet to tide me over til my Viper PST gets here, because it really is a good scope for the price.

 

[USACS]

Re: BSA optics?

BSA scopes are for airguns and .22s.
Even still, they're junk. Don't waste your money. SWFA is MUCH better, and the reviews and customer satisfaction don't lie. I don't think I've seen a bad review of them yet.

 

[reelman]

Re: BSA optics?

You're making a "build" and thinking about putting a POS BSA on it? It would be much wiser to buy a used rifle and put a good scope on it.

 

[tomme boy]

Re: BSA optics?

BSA= Better Stay Away

 

[Grump]

Re: BSA optics?

Two years ago, I asked the guy behind the counter to pass me the $200 or so BSA variable with side-focus parallax adjustment, and it was as bad as I expected*. Workable clarity, soft focus on the edges, some pincushion distortion, all of which would not really interfere with making most shots in daylight.

What soured me was that adjusting for zero parallax on the vertical direction still left about 2 MOA of parallax in the horizontal. Adjusting the horizontal crosshair movement out resulted in getting smaller movement of the vertical crosshair.

I'll leave it to others to describe click acccuracy and repeatability.

*Two-three years before that, I looked through a BSA pistol "soda can" (almost) huge red dot sight. I could put up with some lack of image brightness for that stunningly low price, but it had fully one FOOT of parallax dot movement at 100 yards!! Thus was born my very low expectations of BSA optics.

 

[MJPLEO]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: youngsmith</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i have a Bsa scope in mind for my build. i know they arent top quality or anything but are they good enough? the scope i have in mind is the tactical mil-dot from midway. the magazine says its a midway exclusive. its on sale from 250 to 150. my other option is the SWFA supersniper in 10x. first i want to know the general quality of BSA. </div></div>

I refer to my BSA's as my "Moped Scopes". My 10 year old loves their tacticool look on his .22's. I could care less if he fucks them up while learning to shoot but heaven forbid if my shooting pals see you playing with them, lol.

Seriously though, spend the extra money for the Super Sniper or something comparable to start out, you won't be sorry. They are a hell of a scope for the money, a lot better than most in higher price brackets too.

Good luck,
Matt

 

[GrimmRoper]

Re: BSA optics?

Absolutely the truth! +1 for the SWFA and the Millet. They are much better than the BSA and for not that much more.

Good Luck!

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: BSA optics?

think I'd prefer to use a toilet paper role and a sweet reticle made by pubis hair than mount a BSA on my kill stick

 

[gszeto99]

Re: BSA optics?

I would not get a BSA. On mine Point of impact shifts when you go up and down on the power ring. You can see this when you use a bore sighting tool with a grid pattern to look at. Put the rifle or action in a vise then attach the bore sighting tool. Look into the scope without moving your head now move the power ring up and down and you will see that point of impact shifts on the BSA scopes. I have tried this test on a number of scopes and for this reason BSA is at the bottom of the list on All of the scopes I have used or currently using.

This is the ranking I have placed the scopes:

USO ST-10 with ergo, illumination, erek, matching MOA reticle
Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50 NP-R2
S3 series sightrons 6-24x50 mildot
S3 series sightrons 3.5-10x44 mildot
Bushnell 4200 6-24x50 tactical,
Nikon Monarch UCC 5.5-16.5x44 AO
Weaver Classic Extreme 30mm with illuminated dot 2.5-10x50 SF Duplex
Weaver Classic Extreme 30mm with illuminated dot 2.5-10x50 SF German #4
Nikon Buckmasters 4.5-14x40 SF
Millett TRS-1 4-16x50 Gen 4 SF
Bushnell 3200 10x tactical,
Super Sniper 10x SF
Super Sniper 16x
Redfield tracker 3-9x40
Russian PSOP 8x42 weaver
Russian PSOP 6x42 dragunov side mount
Russian PSO-1 4x dragunov side mount
Seals 8-32x50
Simmons 44 mag 6.5-20x44 AO
Tasco 6-24x42 AO
Tasco 2.5-10x42 AO
Tasco model 706 12x AO Long Tube scope with Unertl Style External Mounts and adjustments
BSA Platinum 8-32x44 AO
Bushnell Rangefinding scope (idea is same as redfield accurange) 4-12x40 AO
ATN 5x33l
BSA 4x32
Bushnell Sportview 4x32
BSA Tactical 6-24x40 SF
BSA Sweet .223 6-18x40 AO
BSA Sweet 22 3-12x40 AO
Fake Leupold Mark4 3.5-10x40 SF

Take a look where the BSA stand. The only thing worse on my list from personal experience was the Fake Leupold and that was because the glass had air bubbles in them.

I have tried both the Super Snipers and the Millett TRS-1, both being much better scopes than the BSA tactical (yes, I have actually tried that scope before).

Let me know if you have any questions on why I rated the scopes from best to worse in this order.

Hope this helps

Gene

 

[marduk185]

Re: BSA optics?

broke one of these awhile back right after buying it for a crappy hk, and just had to pull it apart to see what failed. i found that the crosshair was a 2 pubes taped to a cardboard i sheet you not! never buy bsa.

 

[largegiant04]

Re: BSA optics?

sorry to hijack the thread, but i am looking at millet for my optics.

gszeto99 and others that have used it, elaborate on the millet Millett TRS-1 4-16x50.

Thanks

 

[fastbs]

Re: BSA optics?

seems to be hit and miss. i have couple friends with the sweet 17s. one has worked great the other's first would hold zero so he got another one that will not rezero after cranking on it a little.
if your going cheap seems like alot of peole have had luck with the $75 center point from walmart (including myself on a 243 and 17hmr). There have been a few that didn't work great but overall they sound better than BSA.

 

[Scimitar]

Re: BSA optics?

What are you building? If it is anything other than a paper
towel tube play gun you're building for your kid to bang against the furniture, I opt for another route than BSA.


Super Sniper GTG.

 

[gszeto99]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: largegiant04</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sorry to hijack the thread, but i am looking at millet for my optics.

gszeto99 and others that have used it, elaborate on the millet Millett TRS-1 4-16x50.

Thanks </div></div>

I had the 4th generation scope with mildot with 1/2 mildot hashes. The scope looked and felt big at the time I had it. Glass was not bad, infact held up pretty good compaired to a lot of scopes. When looking through any scope your field of view is a circular one, however (let me see if I can describe this the correct way) you get a larger image--not magnification--than almost all other scopes I have tested so far. What I am describing is the exact <span style="font-weight: bold">opposite</span> of the straw tube effect you get on some of the other scopes on the market. I guess you can say that the field of view is higher at the same magnification compaired to other scopes. You can however tell the difference in clarity when compairing other higher end scopes side by side. Illumination was green if I remember correctly. The turrets were locking turrets that on my model were the 1/8MOA clicks but had good tactile clicks (not mushy like the Super Snipers when they had the wrong o-rings in them). The turrets however do not show you where you are on the number of turns if you turn your turrets more than 1 revolution--this for me was a minus. Also the side parallax knob and the power adjustment wheel for me was a tad too big. The power adjustment wheel is a little stiff but does turn and is accurate with no loss of zero like the BSA's I had before. If I remember correctly the scope's mildot is correct at the 10x setting and you can hear and feel a click at the 10x setting. Box test were fine when I ran mine and I used the scope on a Rock River Arms 16" Varmint A4 with great success. The exact scope I had is shown in the sniper central review here: http://www.snipercentral.com/milletttrs.htm
Somebody correct me if I wrong but I believe there is a new version out that is 1/4MOA turrets and also a new one that is Mil/Mil?

Hope this helps

Gene

 

[Rafael]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: USACS</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BSA scopes are for airguns and .22s.
Even still, they're junk. Don't waste your money. SWFA is MUCH better, and the reviews and customer satisfaction don't lie. I don't think I've seen a bad review of them yet. </div></div>

Many air rifles and .22 semi-autos are known for ripping the guts out of inferior scopes.
They can have some pretty nasty recoil both back and forward. Nothing you feel, but enough to destroy an inferior scope.

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: BSA optics?

a BSA might make a good FUFU while deployed, 1)shake somewhat firm until all the internals fall out 2) take a medics rubber glove and deuche with lube 3)insert "glove insert" into scope tube 4) go to town, discard in trash when filled.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Re: BSA optics?

Echo most of the above. BSA's are poor at best. And if you are going to the trouble of building something... save up for a good optic or buy a quality 'older' scope that has depreciated.

Direct experience w. BSA: in fall '07, one of our guys put a BSA red dot on his personally-owned patrol rifle. It broke after about 2 mags during range qualifications and so he didn't qualify to shoot an optic (and got chewed out.) He bought another one and brought it to spring '08 quals where it broke again (and he got chewed out again.) He then bought a used EO Tech that was within his budget. He qualified no problem, it works great and he isn't getting chewed out any more.

Don't put a cheap optic on a good gun, especially if your life (or someone else's) may depend on it. Good rule of thumb is to spend 50 - 100% of the cost of your rifle on the optic.

And spend enough to buy quality mounts and rings. Too many people put a $1,000 scope on a $2,000 rifle using $35 Weaver rings.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[HathcockProtege]

Re: BSA optics?

As of today, I'm completely disgusted with the BSA I bought about 2 months ago for my Mark II .22LR. Scope absolutely will NOT hold zero. Easy as all get out to sight in, but zero shifts (like 2 or 3 MOA) from day to day.

Scope is a 4-16x40mm IR Mil-Dot. I've given it every benefit of the doubt, but I'm sick of it.

Wish I'd been on here sooner and read what ya'll had to say about these scopes.

Looking at the Mueller APT 4.5-14x40mm AO to replace this when I send it away. (Lord, haste the day...)

Note to self: "With all of the unavoidable things that a man has to deal with in life, WHY would you knowingly risk buying crappy optics like BSA?"

Live and learn...to not buy BSA.

 

[TexasAG2004]

Re: BSA optics?

I wouldnt put a BSA scope on a paintball gun.

 

[Duff]

Re: BSA optics?

Exactly what i expected thanks guys. ill stick with the SWFA

 

[bjohnson87]

Re: BSA optics?

Where would you place the Vortex Viper 6-20x50 mil dot on that scale

 

[MBass300]

Re: BSA optics?

I would stay away from BSA. I say this not as a scope snob, but as a fellow "inexpensive scope guy". I bought a BSA several years ago, before I found this forum, and back when I used to take advice from the people who were trying to sell me something. My second trip into the woods, the "integral lens cover" POS got stuck, and I had to remove it entirely with my multi-tool in order to use it any further. 2 trips later, therheostat knob came off of the body. That was it for me.
I currently have a Millett TRS-1 and a Super Sniper, both of which I would highly recommend to someone looking for an inexpensive scope that will give them a lot of bang for the buck.
Also, as a rule, Whenever a store says a product is exclusive to them, it usually means it is similar to another model, but made differently (cheaper) to fit a certain price point.
Not usually a good thing.

 

[bodywerks]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Somebody correct me if I wrong but I believe there is a new version out that is 1/4MOA turrets and also a new one that is Mil/Mil?

Hope this helps

Gene</div></div>
You are correct on both counts. you also stated that there was no indications for how far you dial up/down on the turrets? That may also be something that the older versions did not have because mine does. You also said the power ring was tight on yours - this is also not a factor on the newer versions. Mine turns quite easily.
It really is a nice scope for the money...

 

[M.D.K.]

Re: BSA optics?

i broker down and bought the "sweet 17" for a little savage i won at a DU dinner.. basically i think they should change the name to "not so sweet 17".. they love to fog up in the cold and the best part about the scope is this awesome feature where the recoil of a 17 hmr was enough to cause a lense in the scope to shake loose so i could only see half the reticle... if your on a budget i would go with the millet or even a simmons..

 

[Rundownfid]

Re: BSA optics?

"Every time you buy a BSA, God kills a kitten. Please, for the sake of the kittens, don't do it."

That is funny!!

 

[gszeto99]

Re: BSA optics?

I guess lots of kittens died because of my earlier years using BSA....

 

[Metalhead0483]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gszeto99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I guess lots of kittens died because of my earlier years using BSA.... </div></div>

You're a horrible person...

 

[gszeto99]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Metalhead0483</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gszeto99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I guess lots of kittens died because of my earlier years using BSA.... </div></div>

You're a horrible person...

</div></div>

Well not anymore.....did you know every time you use a US Optics GOD saves 5 kittens.......I am trying to save as many kittens for all that were killed......

LOL

 

[MBass300]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mk443</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i broker down and bought the "sweet 17" for a little savage i won at a DU dinner.. basically i think they should change the name to "not so sweet 17".. they love to fog up in the cold and the best part about the scope is this awesome feature where the recoil of a 17 hmr was enough to cause a lense in the scope to shake loose so i could only see half the reticle... if your on a budget i would go with the millet or even a simmons.. </div></div>

But how did it track?

 

[MBass300]

Re: BSA optics?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gszeto99</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Metalhead0483</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gszeto99</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I guess lots of kittens died because of my earlier years using BSA.... </div></div>

You're a horrible person...

</div></div>

Well not anymore.....did you know every time you use a US Optics GOD saves 5 kittens.......I am trying to save as many kittens for all that were killed......

LOL


</div></div>

Wow! saving kittens is a lot more expensive than killing them.

 

[ALASKAPREDATOR]

Re: BSA optics?

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...742#Post1729742

Everything I said about the BSA on that thread was true!Best place for it-on a dummy gun!

 

[Helidonna]

Re: BSA optics?

If you buy the best you will always be happy, period. BSA is not the best or will they ever be...

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: BSA optics?

wondering how this all played out?