Hey all. So I just bought my first Bolt action rifle. It's a Tikka T3X 6.5 creedmoor 24" barrel stainless steel. Now I need help choosing the perfect scope for me. What would I be using it for ? Well it's going to be my hunting rifle. I'd like to hunt for game at 100-600 yards. What I would also like to use it for is long range target shooting at say 1,000 yards. Budget is 700-1000$. TIA
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Rifle Scopes Need help choosing a Scope !!!!
- Thread starter JC_Tikka6.5
- Start date
Give Doug a call at Cameraland he has the Bushnell LRTS in FDE on sale right now fits your budget and your needs.
My pleasure to discuss options with you
Doug
516-217-1000
Doug
516-217-1000
In that price range I would look at a DMRii or the Steiner P4x. Once again Doug is the man and will take great care of you.
Bill 223,
This one?
www.bushnell.com
This one?
Buy Elite Tactical LRTS 4.5-18x44 Riflescope and More | Bushnell
Shopping for the Elite Tactical LRTS 4.5-18x44 Riflescope - Learn more about the latest Long Range Competition and other hunting or shooting gear at Bushnell.
www.bushnell.com
Give Scott at @LibertyOptics a call. He can get you the best price on a great scope. I just bought a Razor Gen 2 from him. I can't say enough good things about how smooth the whole process was.
I bought a Bushnell HDMR II 3.5-21 From Doug. ( @gr8fuldoug ) for within your budget.
A very easy transaction.
If you want to keep it as close to the lower end of your budget as possible, I'd look at Vortex Viper PST Gen 2. (Euro Optic has one in the closeout for $799.)
That was originally my choice for a similar budget.
I started down the PST Gen2 path, but everything I kept reading said "Razor Gen 1 is better than PST gen 2" ... OK and I can get one for $1-1.2k used.... So I was trying to find tests/comparisons of the Razor Gen 1 vs PST Gen2.... That led me to the Review/comparison from the PrecisionRifleBlog (See below).... but after reading all of the testing, and seeing the Bushnell and how it compared with higher priced scopes from 5 years ago (yes a little older) I went with it. Even knowing it's flaws.
Bushnell Flaws:
1. It's probably more like a 4-20x in reality. Under 4x it "Tunnels" meaning the magnification gets smaller but so does the FOV, and in the Testing they scaled the Max Magnification to closer to 20 than 21...
2. No Illumination.
Those are its major flaws.
I did extensive research looking at comparisons and reviews etc.
Everyone will be quick to point out that this review is from 2014.
precisionrifleblog.com
But the review pits the Bushnell Elite Tactical DMR (gen1) with a street cost of $1150, against the Vortex Razor HD Gen1, Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56, USO, S&B, Zeiss, Valdada, Leupold and others...
No one in this Forum would tell you that the Vortex Gen 1 Razor HD is a bad scope. Is it as good as a Razor GEN2? No. Is it better than the Vortex PST line? Yes. If you ask for a budget-optic recommendation, everyone says "Get a used Razor Gen1 for $1k"
So here is the breakdown of the Bushnell ($1.2k) (B) vs. the Vortex Gen 1 Razor ($2k) (V) and NF ATACR 5-25 ($2.4k) (N) (Prices are as Tested in 2014)
You can read the entire review and all the tests, I'm just going to break down the results of what I consider Important... Each topic is followed by the Maximum points and the points each scope achieved. (i.e. Topic(max pts): Results)
Higher Points are better.
Optical
Optical Clarity (70): N:61.8, B:52, V:52
FoV (15): N:14.3, B:12.7, V:10.8
Zoom Ratio(15): N:9.5, B:10.8, V:6.8
Mechanical
Precise Calibrated Clicks (50): N:47, B:44, V:32
Return to Zero (25): N:25, B:25, V:25
Elevation Range (15): N:14, B:12, V:15
Reticle Cant(10): N:10, B:5, V:10
There are more categories for Weight/Length/Reticles/Illumination/Warranties etc that add to the total in the full review. But those items listed above seem to be more important to me.
Adding the points from above gives us the following:
(N) Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56 - 181.6 pts.
(B) Bushnell DMR (gen1) 3.5-21x50 - 161.5 pts.
(V) Vortex Razor HD (g1) 5-20x50 - 151.6 pts.
The way the Bushnell performed against the lineup in the PRB review/comparison, sold me on it.
Is it the correct optic choice? No.
Is it the correct optic for ME and my Comfort Budget? I thought so.
Is it the correct optic For you? Only you can decide.
Ultimately you have to use it. The only thing we do here is provide the best information we can.
Have a great day!
A very easy transaction.
If you want to keep it as close to the lower end of your budget as possible, I'd look at Vortex Viper PST Gen 2. (Euro Optic has one in the closeout for $799.)
That was originally my choice for a similar budget.
I started down the PST Gen2 path, but everything I kept reading said "Razor Gen 1 is better than PST gen 2" ... OK and I can get one for $1-1.2k used.... So I was trying to find tests/comparisons of the Razor Gen 1 vs PST Gen2.... That led me to the Review/comparison from the PrecisionRifleBlog (See below).... but after reading all of the testing, and seeing the Bushnell and how it compared with higher priced scopes from 5 years ago (yes a little older) I went with it. Even knowing it's flaws.
Bushnell Flaws:
1. It's probably more like a 4-20x in reality. Under 4x it "Tunnels" meaning the magnification gets smaller but so does the FOV, and in the Testing they scaled the Max Magnification to closer to 20 than 21...
2. No Illumination.
Those are its major flaws.
I did extensive research looking at comparisons and reviews etc.
Everyone will be quick to point out that this review is from 2014.
Tactical Scopes: Field Test Overview & Rifle Scope Line-Up
This is the first post in a series that will cover the results from an epic scope field test focused...
precisionrifleblog.com
But the review pits the Bushnell Elite Tactical DMR (gen1) with a street cost of $1150, against the Vortex Razor HD Gen1, Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56, USO, S&B, Zeiss, Valdada, Leupold and others...
No one in this Forum would tell you that the Vortex Gen 1 Razor HD is a bad scope. Is it as good as a Razor GEN2? No. Is it better than the Vortex PST line? Yes. If you ask for a budget-optic recommendation, everyone says "Get a used Razor Gen1 for $1k"
So here is the breakdown of the Bushnell ($1.2k) (B) vs. the Vortex Gen 1 Razor ($2k) (V) and NF ATACR 5-25 ($2.4k) (N) (Prices are as Tested in 2014)
You can read the entire review and all the tests, I'm just going to break down the results of what I consider Important... Each topic is followed by the Maximum points and the points each scope achieved. (i.e. Topic(max pts): Results)
Higher Points are better.
Optical
Optical Clarity (70): N:61.8, B:52, V:52
FoV (15): N:14.3, B:12.7, V:10.8
Zoom Ratio(15): N:9.5, B:10.8, V:6.8
Mechanical
Precise Calibrated Clicks (50): N:47, B:44, V:32
Return to Zero (25): N:25, B:25, V:25
Elevation Range (15): N:14, B:12, V:15
Reticle Cant(10): N:10, B:5, V:10
There are more categories for Weight/Length/Reticles/Illumination/Warranties etc that add to the total in the full review. But those items listed above seem to be more important to me.
Adding the points from above gives us the following:
(N) Nightforce ATACR 5-25x56 - 181.6 pts.
(B) Bushnell DMR (gen1) 3.5-21x50 - 161.5 pts.
(V) Vortex Razor HD (g1) 5-20x50 - 151.6 pts.
The way the Bushnell performed against the lineup in the PRB review/comparison, sold me on it.
Is it the correct optic choice? No.
Is it the correct optic for ME and my Comfort Budget? I thought so.
Is it the correct optic For you? Only you can decide.
Ultimately you have to use it. The only thing we do here is provide the best information we can.
Have a great day!
Last edited:
I was trying to explain this to my wife. She’s not getting it.My advice would be "figure out wat you can afford. Then double it."
You'll never regret a really great scope.
Let me know if you find something that works. I've been trying to find the magic words for years.
I guess I'm a lucky guy. My wife has never once objected to any of my gun purchases.
Of course she never asked how much I spent either so… lol.
