Rifle Scopes Poll - Scopes you have used and scopes you have broken.

[Cncjerry]

Problem with this format is that people are more likely to post if they have, or have had, a problem, at least it was in my case above. I mean really, have nearly 1/3 of the S&B scopes had issues? Also, I would limit the issues to those requiring a return to the manufacturer for repair.

I would like to think people are smart enough to take informal polls like this as input into a much larger data set prior to making a purchase.

 

[rchman]

Maybe the format would be better suited if it was in a spreadsheet? Columns would be: Scope MFG, Model, Round Count, Time Owned, Has it Broken?, Time to Break, Problem, Primary Caliber, SH Username, Comments.

People could fairly easily list all of their scopes without going through pages of survey.

I'm not sure what tools Google Spreadsheets provide for, but this would be pretty simple in Excel with data validation for drop downs. Then it would just come down to analyzing the data in a meaningful way.

 

[MedinaM40]

NF NXS, tracking issues, sent in... 3 months later it was fixed :|

 

[deadnbrkn84]

Here's a couple points that I find interesting. S&B as well as most of the European companies (except Steiner I believe) are ditching their lifetime warranties in lieu of 2 year and the similar. To me this is unacceptable and I'll never own one because of it. I shoot Razor's at the moment and in my opinion it's how the company handles the issue that is the most important. That being said I have used the Vortex warranty but it was my own dumbass fault.

 

[Cncjerry]

Here's a couple points that I find interesting. S&B as well as most of the European companies (except Steiner I believe) are ditching their lifetime warranties in lieu of 2 year and the similar.

Post sales customer support, including warranty, is a big expense. In any market, you'll see one manufacturer start the trend and then they all follow suit. The impetus to do this is margin pressure (or plain old greed). So if SnB can't make enough profit at their premium prices, something is wrong or there really is quality in those lenses.

A real test would be giving a known good shooter two or three scopes and measure their average groups at distance. Anything ever published like this?

 

[jjrgr21]

bushnell 10x40- stopped tracking, bushnell wouldn't back it up. scope was never abused or dropped, lived on a 223 rock river.

leupold MK4- didn't track properly, leupold took their sweet time, about 5 weeks, to get it back to me. called several times, each time took more than 10 minutes to speak to a human.

SS 3-9- didn't track on 2 different scopes. returned for refund, good customer service.

SS 5-20- turret didn't always line up on a spline. never returned or addressed. just dealt with it.

ss10x- no problems

older burris FF2-beat to death for 15 years and no problems

vortex PST- had a canted reticle out of the box, called in 1 minute i spoke to a human, 3 minutes had a UPS label, 4 days had a new scope.

for me it's Nightforce or vortex all the way

 

[jjrgr21]

so how do you determine which is the best one to buy, the one with the most reliable reputation but with questionable customer service (nightforce) or the one with the most problems, but with the best warranty and customer service (vortex)?

personally i doubt i'll ever have the $$ for an S&B, but was looking forward to the ATACR, but now i'm just thinking Razor. i will never buy another leupold or bushnell. i know the head of bushnells military sales, and still probably won't buy one. although the G2DMR looks awesome on paper, the warranty and CS blow.