What is the best/worst scope you have tried?

BrettMRC

BrettMRC

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Without wishing to start a fight! 🤪 :)

I've tried, used & owned a wide variety - and other than the very special little scope that was bundled with a Stoeger, I've never had a truely rubbish scope.

Bearing that in mind, what do people think is the "best" brand at each budget price point? (excluding 2nd hand)
...and while we're about it, what is the worst you've tried?


Low (£5-100)
Wish & Amazon specials
Vector Optics
Wulf
Hawke
Nikko Stirling

Medium (£101-399)
Hawke
Vector Optics
Bushnell
Discovery
UTG
MTC
Athlon
Nikko Stirling
Immersive Optics
Primary Arms
Optisan
Riton
Falcon
Element Optics

High (£400-1000)
Leupold
Element Optics
Primary Arms
Hawke
Immersive Optics
Bushnell
Delta
Vector
Wulf

Top (£1001+)
Schmidt & Bender
Vortex
Rudolph
Nightforce
Leupold
Swarovski
Zeiss


By no means an exclusive list!
It seems like Hawke, Vector & Wulf have the widest range at the palettable price points...?

Personally my go-to at low to medium has historically been Hawke, but I'm enjoying Primary Arms, Optisan and Wulf's offerings now. (I found the Mountmaster kits come with worse mounts than the Fastmount kits)

Medium to high is Leupold for me so far. (Barring the bronze Bushnell Forge I have on the Prosport that is very nice)

As for the top end, not really tried much yet... (but I'm looking for a truly excellent scope for my ISP when it gets finished, so any advice/thoughts/experiences appreciated!)
 
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I use Westhunter and Vector scopes,both excellent value, I tried a Discovery,good glass but wouldn,t hold zero so I changed it for a Vector Sentinel X,much better.(but I,d kill for a Swarovski or Zeiss!!)
 
My worst is the one that came fitted to a used gun I bought. The gun is fine
The scope doesn’t even have a brand name!!
It’s awful
3-9x40 with IR !
The view suffers badly from chromatic aberration, the outer edge is like looking through a jam jar. The more you zoom the worse the image gets.
I have another scope on the way so hopefully things will be better. Really put me off zooms
 
I first started on Hawke but have moved away from them, not least because of the very fine reticles (their customer service is amazing)

I have one Vector which I like alot.

Optisan I've always liked.

However MTC for me is a no no, hate the F1

I really like the Immersive Optics range.

My go to however is.........

Not saying, I don't want all you buggers grabbing the bargains that pop up on the bay of evil from time to time 😂😂😂
 
Worst was a Hawke Airmax 8-32 (had a couple and both were horrible)

Best, a few ...

Japanese Nikko Gold Crown , fixed , 6 power
Sightron S3 45x45 ED
Delta 5-50x56 ED
 
Worst,.. a 1.5 x 15 BSA Pistol scope for the old BSA Scorpion Pistol. I bought it S/H in the mid eighties to stick on a Lazer Tag pistol (Yes, I used to LARP), and it is terrible. Chromatic aberations and parallax. I guess the only thing going for it is it could withstand some recoil.
 
For me the best and still in my possession is/are the Hawke Panorama series. For the money, and certainly when they were being discounted at "end of line", they were hard to beat.

On a par similarly would be the Minox ZL3. Again, bought as a run out special hunting scope but easy to re parallax for air rifle or rimfire which I did.

The worst I ever had, even though they were bulled up beyond belief, was one of those Optisan CP 3-12x32's, what a disappointment that was!
 
Best - Hawke Panorama (2-7 & 3-9 with the MAP6A rets) crystal clear, very bright, fine rets and the blue IR is useful.

Worst - BSA 6-24. Reticle as thick as a fence post, mildots like footballs & was too dark of a sight picture on anything other than the sunniest of days.
 
Worst: Sightron S3 4-12x40AO.
HHR ret was the attractant. Still the best ret. But the scope fell apart. AO ring came loose and the reticle started to spin. Never again.

Best: Tasco 4x40AO AG
Got it 2nd hand. Dates back to the 1990s. Still very bright. Very solid and it has never lost zero.

Of note:
Hawke Vantage 4x32AO - for the money its brilliant. Uncluttered ret and bright image. Solid construction too.
 
eBay pistol red or green dot with multiple reticles, £14.99 don't know what I was expecting but it didn't hold it's zero, the reticles were fuzzy and blobby. Made a complaint to the seller and they sent me another POS red dot gratis.

I'd return them but I think the seller was Chinese and didn't fully understand my detailed complaint email about the quality (or lack thereof) of the reticles sharpness. 2 more for the landfill...:rolleyes:
 
I can honestly say out of all the or scopes I have that I like them all.

I love my Sidewinder and my 2 Viper Connects.

I did have a go with a Sightron SII 24x44 Big Sky Scope recently with a view to buying it butI couldn't get on with it and then a friend bought a £2k Leupold to the range the other month..... I couldn't see 2K in it compared to what I have.

The little Nikko Diamond is also a brilliant clear scope

Also, never ever had an issue with my Hawke scopes.

I suppose we get used to what we have.


  • Hawke Sidewinder HK2010 6-24x56 IRSF 1/2md
  • Hawke Air Max 3-9x40 MOA
  • Hawke Air Max 3-12x44 AO SR6
  • Hawke Air Max 4-12x40 AO AMX
  • Hawke Vantage 14111 2-7x32 AO mil Dot
  • Hawke Vantage 14160 3-12x44 SF
  • Hawke Vantage 14290 3-12x50 SF IR
  • Hawke Eclipse 4-12x50 AO IR
  • Hawke Eclipse 4-16x50 AO IR
  • Nikko Stirling Diamond 3-9x42
  • Vector Optics Cerato 3-9x32 SFP Mildot AO
  • MTC Viper Connect x 2 3-12x32 SF SCB
  • MTC Optisan Mamba 4-16x50 IRS SF
  • MTC Optisan Mamba Lite 4-16x44 SF SCB
  • MTC Genesis 3-9 x40
  • Optisan Viper 10x44 IRS
 
Trampilot said:
Worst: Sightron S3 4-12x40AO.
HHR ret was the attractant. Still the best ret. But the scope fell apart. AO ring came loose and the reticle started to spin. Never again.
Click to expand...
Pretty much my experience of the Sightron SIII10 x 42 except it was the eyepiece that fell off. Even when it was in one piece, the image was dull and the depth of field poor.

Alan
 
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