Rifle Scopes Pentax Lightseeker 30

Jason280

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Dec 18, 2005
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How do the Pentax Lightseeker 30mm scopes compare with others in the same price range? I'm considering a 8.5-32x50 for a bench gun, and was curious how the glass compares with VX-3s, Sightron SIII's, and the like.

Anyone have any experience with these scopes?
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

I have a 3-10x40 LS 30 and I find it's very comparable to my Conquest and previous VXIII and BigSkys that I've owned in terms of glass quality, sharpness and repeatability of adjustments.
I can't speak for the LR model, but Pentax has great products for their market price.
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

I'm gonna have to offer a counter POV. I think the Pentax Lightseekers are near total garbage, and in NO WAY compare with the SIII and Conquest scopes.

The SIII takes that scope to the woodshed and IMHO you are wasting your money on that scope.

I wish you well.

Scott
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

I must be the only one with good luck with Pentax products! I've read so many forums with people downing Pentax that I wonder if there's a QC issue. Not to take away from the fact that there are positive posts as well.
I've never looked through a SIII, but have had a couple of the BigSky product line and they are great as well. The difference to me is negligable if any.
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think the Pentax Lightseekers are near total garbage, and in NO WAY compare with the SIII and Conquest scopes.

The SIII takes that scope to the woodshed and IMHO you are wasting your money on that scope</div></div>

Scott, exactly what makes the Lightseeker "near total garbage"? Granted, I haven't gotten to test my scope on the range, but I do have a Whitetails Unlimited 2-5x that is every bit as bright as the VariX-III and SII's that I have. I would imagine the Lightseekers have better glass, but would like to hear a little more as to why these are a waste of money.
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jason280</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I think the Pentax Lightseekers are near total garbage, and in NO WAY compare with the SIII and Conquest scopes.

The SIII takes that scope to the woodshed and IMHO you are wasting your money on that scope</div></div>

Scott, exactly what makes the Lightseeker "near total garbage"? Granted, I haven't gotten to test my scope on the range, but I do have a Whitetails Unlimited 2-5x that is every bit as bright as the VariX-III and SII's that I have. I would imagine the Lightseekers have better glass, but would like to hear a little more as to why these are a waste of money. </div></div>

OK, full disclosure, the reference to "near total garbage" was a B.I.P.*

I had some trade-in 6-24x50 Lightseeker 30mm last year...the mag rings didn't line up with the index points, the screw securing the the mag ring actually stuck out, not recessed, on one, the mag ring was gritty when turned, the knobs were very sloppy, when I looked through the scope, bright blurs were at the edge of the FOV, upon inspection, I could see four (4) buggered up screws inside the scope, securing the lenses or something, inside the scope when looking through it, the raw metal shined bright and that's what I was seeing when out of focus. The optics had very bad vignetting to boot.

In short, I sold those on ebay and thanked the stars they sold for exactly what I had in them.

I'll look at these at SHOT again, but I've never been impressed with the Pentax stuff I've seen.

* = Beer Influenced Post
 
Re: Pentax Lightseeker 30

Unfortunately, I have not been able to make it to the range to really try the scope out, but I did get a chance to glass with it a little this evening. Basically, I set up a few targets at around 90 yards and compared the scope with a Meopta R1 Meostar 4-16. Of course, its difficult to compare a 16x scope with a 32x, so I kept them both around 16x. Glass was very close between the two, although I would give the edge to the Meopta.

I'm looking forward to getting to the range to really try the scope out, but it may be a couple of days...