Rifle Scopes Concerns with buying used?

[JasonS]

I'm starting to research and look into buying my first high end optic. I'm seeing a lot of nice scopes used in the forums here. What concerns should I have about buying used? Are there specific things I should be looking for? I'm thinking there may be potential warranty issues or hard to detect problems such as improperly torqued rings. Are these valid concerns?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Fred @ Bison Tactical]

get one with a lifetime warranty - most of the high end ones have really good warranties as far as I know, then you don't need to worry too much.

US Optics (Lifetime Replacement Warranty)
Schmidt and Bender (seems to be a 2 year warranty) http://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/service/warranty.html
Premier Reticles (lifetime warranty)
Kahles (lifetime warranty)
Nightforce (lifetime except for mil-spec) http://nightforceoptics.com/wp_super_faq/15-what-is-the-warranty-on-nightforce-scopes/

 

[seanh]

If you're going to buy used on a public forum the first thing you need to do is research the seller. Read the sellers posts and see how long the person has been here. It's not too difficult to determine the character of someone based on what they write.

If you're concerned about a warranty, you shouldn't be buying used. Consider all used items as-is and non-warranty. That said, there are companies such as Vortex Optics that have an outstanding warranty where any issues you come across shouldn't be an issue.

You do have valid concerns however those that have high end scopes will generally take care of them. Keep in mind, if it's a "too good to be true" price, it probably is.

 

[B3dlam]

I dont know about the others but I love my vortex razor HD and their warranty is transferable to whoever you sell the scope to and is a lifetime warranty.

As was stated by seanh though look into the sellers rep often times people that have already bought something from someone and had a good experince will pipe up in their for sale posts to mention their positive experinces.

 

[rescueswimmer]

Like Bedlam, Love Vortex, their warranty covers who ever is in possession of the scope. No paperwork No transfers, No questions. They will fix it or replace it if its defective. That is the reason I use them, not to mention they make good shit.

RS

 

[hermosabeach]

If you buy a used scope, you want to understand about the owners use of the scope.

If the shooter has done a lot of box drills or a lot of distance shooting, the dials/ gears will have been used a lot. Many scopes will hold a zero fine when the gears are worn. They might might adjust the same when you add 10 clicks of elevation. Or they might go up 9 to 11 clicks of elevation.

If you are going to zero at 200 for hunting and then never touch the adjustments again, many scopes are just fine.

If you are going to be shooting long range and constantly adjusting the turret, a higher end option will hold up and of be repairable under warranty.

Does this make sense?

 

[Rob01]

If you're concerned about a warranty, you shouldn't be buying used. Consider all used items as-is and non-warranty.

As a guy who has bought and sold alot of scopes over the years on the Hide I agree with this. That said if you are buying a quality optic the chances of having problems is drastically decreased. I bought my first S&B 5-25 used here on the Hide back in 2006. Sold it here a few years later and then bought it back again and it's still going strong. Buy quality, get quality. I disagree with Hermosa about scope internals wearing down in quality scopes. That's why they are quality. A cheap scope with cheaply made internals might have a problem but a quality scope made with quality parts I don't worry about. Like I said my origianal S&B is still going strong and tracking true and it's had the knobs turned ALOT!

Knowing the person selling helps as well but as with anything man made you could possibly have problems in the future but you might not. It's the chance you take buying used as I have never had any problems in the many scopes I have bought used. I have no problem taking that gamble as I am usually saving many hundreds of dollars and most all scope companies are very good with repair work even when it's out of official warranty. The money saved buying used will be far more than any amount possibly needed for repair.

 

[Win308]

I bought a SWFA 10x42 HD on the Hide here, and there was a problem with it. SWFA customer service replaced it. Go with a scope with a transferable lifetime warranty and you will be happy.

 

[JasonS]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. Sadly I didn't even think of worn gears from heavy use. The warranty info was also a big help because S&B, which is what I was looking at, seems to have a fairly short 2 year warranty. Again, thanks for all the good info.

 

[Rob01]

Worn gears from heavy use, as I said before, is bullshit in a quality optic. That's why they cost what they do as they were made to last. In a cheap optic I would worry but with anything like S&B, NF, Vortex, etc I wouldn't worry.

 

[Ray11bb4]

I have had great results in dealing with Zeiss on a used Diavari that I bought that had dust in the reticle image.