Scopes discussion

Hey guys, I am new to the sport, I mainly waterfowl hunt and have never deer or hog hunted. I recently just purchased my first rifle (Winchester 670 in 30-06 bolt action) If you guys have any suggestions on a scope that wont break the bank but will still get the job done, I would really appreciate any suggestions on what ya'll consider could be a good fit for me. If anyone has a scope they are wanting to get rid off please pm me also.
Thanks
CR

Go to the classified section, bunch of different scopes in there to choose from. You will be asked before long: distance you plan to shoot, price range, moa or mil, ffp, and on and on.
I have a 4x12 on my 30-06 and it fits what I need.
Go over to the "optic" section and snoop round and you can learn alot.

Thanks, i did browse through a bit, mostly sold or out of my price range. Not going to be doing much long distance shooting maybe 100 to 200yds just mainly want to get into hog and deer hunting.
Thanks for the info.

Should be able to find a Nikon prostaff 3x9x40 for around $149. This is a good scope.
Years ago I bought a Tasco 3x9x40 which is a cheap scope, I still have it and it is as accurate as my Leupold scopes.

Burris has good glass, lifetime warranty, and fits into your range. Full field series. Find them on sale and you will be happy.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/shooting/optics/riflescopes|/pc/104792580/c/104752080/sc/104535180/burris-fullfield-ii-riflescope/729041.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Friflescopes%2Fburris%2F_%2FN-1100246%2B1000002933%2FNe-1000002933%3FWTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU

Thanks for the info. Will definitely do some research and look into it.

Thank you, i will check this out.

Budget? Any idea ofthe distances you'll hunt at?

Whatever scope you buy make sure it has a "No Fault Warranty". but spend as much as you can afford only WHEN you know the differences in them and what suits your eyes.

The Great Average Deer Rifle scope these days is a 3x9x40 and prices can run from +/- $100 to $1,000...I'd expect to spend a little more than $100 and less than $300 on your 1st scope & add +/- $50-$100 for a set of steel rings and bases.

Go find a Big Box store and find a place you can look thru a variety of brands in the same power ranges, at the darkest farthertest away corner in the ceiling you can find and see how clear each of the scopes abilities to see the cobwebs and missed paint spot and protruding over structure for YOUR eyes.

Crosshairs - 2 basic choices at this point, a thick/thin "Duplex" would be my choice, as more simple is more better right now in your learning curve and after almost 50 years of pulling the trigger I have regressed to putting all 5 of my scopes than have been bought in the last year or so back into Duplex crosshairs...'cause my vision is fading and I ain't gonna shoot at anything I want to retrieve and take home at past 3-400 yards anymore. Dirty Harry said..."A man must know his limitations" was never more a true statement for me than it is now. FWIW IMO There are mixed experiences in the BDC aka Bullet Drop Compensator pre set crosshairs 'cause every gun is different x's every brand of ammo is a different in the Muzzle Velocity actually produced, so forget the ammo box's speed ratings as nothing but advertising hype. If you can do it on the Shooting Range then you know you can do it some or even mebbe most of the time in the field.

Different guns, even within brand, even right after each other off the barrel making line shoot different brands of bullet styles and weights differently rom each other, so forget what your mother's uncles 2nd cousin's son in law shoots for ammo in your caliber and see if you can buy, beg or borrow a handfull of as many different bullet weights & styles of ammo as you can to try after you get the gun/scope setup zeroed at 25-50 yards and ready to look for accuracy at 100-200 yards to begin with. 4-5 shots within 15-20 minutes of each other, at 100-200 yards within 2" mebbe 3"s of each other will kill any deer anywhere you are going to shoot at under 200 yrds as the WTails Kill Zone is about the size or just smaller of a 9" pie plate so figure if you can AVERAGE 1/2 or better of that pie plate your GTG at 100 yards...longer ranges takes better aka smaller average GROUPS .... but this is a game of averages and the better you can increase your average accuracy the more successful on game shots you will be.

If you get serious about your shooting skills, thats GREAT! but to get started, 1st go take Fireman JG's 1 day training class but you'll need to spend some serious bux to make it worth your while, and I'd rent one his guns for thr day at the 1st Class. The class is the best basic information program I know of for a beginning shooter...but you've got to want to take advantage of the info delivered and follow thru with the right eqiupment and trigger time once you KNOW what it takes to get that good....think hitting a coyote or hog at close to a half mile on the 1st try...kinda good shooting.

Even the base cost ammo from the big guys is GTG on game at under 200 yards, so let the gun tell you what it likes and get lots & lots of trigger time to become comfortable behind the gun before you try to go deeper into the Dark Arts of hyper accuracy at really long ranges..and that costs time and $$'s.
JMHO & YMMV
Ron

hey I sure do appreciate all this info, as a beginner, i can use all the info i can get from experienced people, which is why i actually posted on here, i rather get info from actual peoples opinions rather than read a random review on a for sale item on an web page. i will save all this info as it is very informative and helpful. thanks again for your time.

Second vote for Nikon 3-9x40. Good scope at a very attractive price point. I have 4-5 of them...

Christian, I remember several years ago taking a look at the BSA's Panther Scopes at both BassPro and and thinking how nice they were for a $125-$150 scope, really pretty nice external look with clear optics. You can't find them in any stores any longer but can still find them at BSA online..

I vote nikon prostaff as well. I started hunting about 3 yrs ago and it was my first scope purchase. I now have 2. One of which is on a 30-06. Good glass and at a budget price.

Nikon prostaff is a nice scope. I really like the clarity of them

I did a bunch of research before buying my scope for my deer rifle and ended up going with the Redfield Revolution, 3-9X 50mm. It's been a great upgrade from the stock scope that came with my rifle and the price is very fair. You can get really fancy (and expensive) with scopes, but the Redfield works great for me.

Go to Cameraland website and look at the Minox ZV 3-9 scope. On special for $99.99. Great scope for the price.

I have cheap scopes. Simmons,tasco,centerpointe, and a good Nikon. I have found the simmons 8 point variables to be good cheap scope $50-$85. I know there not great but they do a good job for a budget scope.

This would be my suggestion as well. I won a ZV3 3-9x50 in one of their monthly drawings and I've been very impressed.

BSA = Barely Sufficient Apparatus

I would stay away from Simmons. I have seen several of them change poi after every shot, shooting about a 12 inch group.

Christian where are you located?

Nikon is good glass for the price as is Vortex. I like Vortex build better than Nikon. Both have great customer service.

I have had issues with 3-9x40mm ProStaff BDC scopes keeping zero. No issues with Nikon BuckMasters or Vortex Crossfire II.

This, nothing comes remotely close at that price.

Stay away from BSA, Simmons and Tasco.

Bushnell, Nikon and Vortex were my runners up, I ended up going with vortex after reading this write-up on Tango Tactics:

https://tangotactics.com/best-rifle-scope/

Generally speaking, if scopes A and B look the same on paper, but scope B costs 3x as much, what you're getting is improved optical performance, which to my mind is the reason we put scopes on rifles. Sure, a $150 scope will help you point the rifle in the right direction, but it will leave a lot to be desired. Some people are okay with that for the cost, and I don't fault them for it. Personally it's worth it to me to have that improved optical performance. Better design, glass, and coatings all contribute to that price tag, but they also contribute to how the scope functions. How comfortable is the scope to get behind? How well does it hold your zero? How bright is it as you zoom through your magnification range? (this is a huge problem for less-expensive scopes; they may look alright on 3 or 4 power, but once you zoom up to 9 or 12, they get very dark and hazy) A better-end scope will be designed and constructed in such a way that it draws in more light than your naked eye will. This really starts to become noticeable when peering through it at dusk trying to make out whether those are antlers or mesquite branches.

It's easy to end up spending a lot of money on this stuff, and I'm not some sort of elitist about this. (debatable....) Get something that works for you, but know the limitations of what you're getting. Hit up a Cabelas if there's one near you and spend a bit looking through scopes at various price points and you'll see what I mean. Pay attention to the width of the space in which you can get a full sight picture. That is, if you're looking through the scope and move it from side to side slightly. See how close you have to get to the scope to see through it properly when it's at full magnification.

Ultimately the important part is get what works for your eyes, and your budget. You don't need to spend $2800 on a scope. $150 would accomplish the purpose of having a magnified aiming device. $300 would (generally) get you something a little better. $600 would do really nicely.


Vortex is great; Leupold has been an industry favorite for many years; Minox is newer here in the US, but hits above its weight for the price point. Again, the emphasis being on glass quality.

Quick Run Down of some entry level scopes.

Minox: Great Glass for the money. (so I hear, never looked through one) Apparently they have a great warranty but again I have never used them.

Nikon Scopes: Great glass and warranty. I've looked through and shot the Prostaff and Buckmaster. For the money they will get the job done no questions asked.

Vortex: Best warranty in the industry. I've owned just about every line of Vortex scopes except the Razor. I've used the warranty twice and it was the easiest warranty process I've ever done. I am a big fan, but to be honest you won't see a huge difference in quality between Vortex and Nikon at this price point.

If I were in your shoes I would choice the scope with the most eye relief to prevent scope bite when firing the 30-06. Cameraland NY is a good website to order off of and Amazon runs some deals here and there.

I own several of the Minox optics. Mostly their upper-level stuff. I do have 2 of the ZV3 series scopes and they have VERY sharp and clear optics. Warranty is good, I've used it on one of the ZX5 HD scopes I have. Took about 3 weeks from me sending it in to getting the scope back. For the price that Cameraland is selling them for, that's quite the deal.
Nikon scopes I haven't owned for a number of years. Got burned on one quite some time ago on one and never looked at them again until recently. I like what I saw in the pro-staff models but went a different direction.
I haven't owned any of the Vortex products but, from all the rave reviews they get, I'm guessing they do a pretty good job on their glass.

Just to provide a little info on the Minox brand....

I own 2 of them, the ZX5 and the ZP5, and I used to own a ZA5.

The ZA5 was a scope that came with a rifle that I bought used. Right after I got it from the previous owner it basically fell apart. I called Minox and they said send it in. They got it back and confirmed that it was toast, and said they'd send me a brand new one from their new (better) ZX5 line, and they said they could send me the more expensive illuminated model no problem.

The ZP5 is their top tier scope ($3k) with their brand new reticle. It showed up with a QC issue. I called it to their attention and they sent me a shipping label and are going to swap it out for a new one.

Another little perk: Minox's US distribution is being handled by the parent company, Blaser USA, out of San Antonio.

Don't know anything about the writer. How he could pick a Crossfire number one is beyond me.

I have never understood why all these stories about how great the company is when you send their scopes back is somehow considered a positive for that company.

If I have to send something back (that was not my fault), IMO it is already a failed purchase at that point. Unless that brand has proven itself basically ironclad so that I know it's a rare exception, I will never buy that brand again.

I can't afford to have gear fail during a hunt. Any hunt - from sitting in a blind at my farm to sitting on a mountaintop in the Yukon. I don't care how great the warranty is. The best customer service is making a product so well that the warranty is not ever needed.

Everyone is now pretty much matching vortex's no fault warranty to stay competitive.

Big deal to me. I bent a scope and vortex sent me a new one. No questions' warranty is big deal.

It's nice to know that even with in individual MFG premium lines it follows suit.

I think you missed my point in the parenthesis "(that's not my fault)".

If I'm having to send a comapanies' stuff back for QC issues, I don't have faith in the companies' products. I constantly read reviews saying stuff like "When my packstrap ripped at the seam" or "When my rainproof jacket leaked" or "When my scope's turret locked", etc. I sent it back and they repaired/replaced it quickly and at no charge. "Great company and customer service!"

All I can think is "Dang, what if I were in the field when that happened? That would suck."

So I try to buy products that I don't think will cause me to ever need the warranty. That said, nearly all companies these days have good warranties anyway as you point out.

I agree. Which is one of the reasons I stay away from Crossfires along with my perception of them having sub-standard glass and a hyper-critical eyebox. I've seen too many defective Crossfires. Vortex does put out some good stuff IMO, but the Crossfire ain't it.

Another is, Leupold's warranty is worded pretty much the same, the way it is enforced makes it work effectively the same as Vortex and has been around a hell of a lot longer. Yet you don't hear people touting the Leupold warranty nearly as much as Vortex.

I agree, but every product has a certain failure rate. Shmidt & Bender every once in a while ship a scope that has an issue that probably should've been caught in QC. No company's processes are perfect. When you're spending money on something like this it's nice to know that if you have an issue they'll take care of it. Most high-end optics companies have a very low lemon rate. Saying "buy with confidence; they're good for it if you ever run into an issue" is not the same thing as saying "the warranty is the main selling point."

I get what you're saying, but I think you may be missing the point.

Big fan of both Nikon and Leupold. My first scope on my .06 was a Simmons. I was hunting in a heavy rain and the scope fogged and never cleared. Took it back and used the refund to get the Leupold and have not looked back.

Didn't miss it. Everything eventually fails it's the nature of mechanical devices. Knowing a company doesn't have a "limited" warranty is a big piece of mind. If I have to use warranty right off the bat I wouldn't be happy with the product

One inadvertent plus to the Vortex warranty is it forced other companies to step up to the plate. Several scope companies have upgraded their warranty the last couple of years, Bushnell being the most recent if I recall.

I don't believe Nogalus is missing the point at all.

Warranty and quality are two different things. I prefer a generous helping of each, thank you.

Why do you think Zeiss, Leica, Swaro, S&B, and everyone else for that matter have customer service and repair centers? They all fail, some more than others. I had a SwaroA 3-10x42 give up the ghost while I was shooting at a 190" mule deer a few years ago. Do all Swaro's suck?