So I just put a 4x12-40 Pentax Gameseeker on my A-bolt. Something reasonably priced until I can afford to upgrade. I took it out this last weekend and am amazingly surprised about the quality from a rather low-end scope! The optic was very crisp and focused even with very low-level lighting conditions. The scope maintained it's focus from 4x to 12x zoom and bdc reticle allows for easy focus on the target. For an entry level scope I would highly recommend this to anyone.

There are always posts from people looking to get into shooting sports that don't want to over invest in a hobby they're not sure they're going to pursue. The response is overwhelmingly "Save up till you can afford the best". I have to agree with this most of the time, but I definitely understand the plight of the newbie, and I think this is a great option for just those occasions.

Be sure to wear some sort of shooting glasses...I'm told the Pentax Gameseekers have REAL Short eye relief, an I'm bad about crawling the butt stock anyway. Already got a couple faint extra eyebrows and the stitch marks from that last one 10 years ago don't show much anymore that a buddy's loaner 30'06 "awarded" my lack of respect...the rest of them just blend in with all the Skin Cancer excisions and "Birthday" spots ... Just Sayin...
Ron

Eye relief is about 3 inches, which is a little close admittedly. I should have mentioned that I have it mounted on a 243, so the recoil is minimal at best. Thanks for bringing that up Wiley. Good point for sure.

they have an amazing warranty too

I had the same scope on my 25.06 and it was a good scope for the money. no complaints except for low light gathering paled in comparison to my Nikon monarch or leupold vx3.

but for the budget build, I would use it again

While I've heard a number of others complain about Pentax scopes, I've had nothing but good experiences with the Pentax LightSeekers. I'm not sure how many that I have, but it's probably more than ten. One thing: on some of the models, the forward barrel of the scope is **very** short, which means that there's almost no eye relief adjustment. Those models will either fit your rifle well or not; there's no middle ground.

For a long while, the Lightseeker was right up there with the best, and my brother still has one on his A-Bolt .338 WM. I call the Lightseeker a Best Buy!

I can't say about the Gameseeker, however, cause I've never evaluated one. But knowing the reputation of Pentax cameras, as well as the erstwhile Lightseeker, I'd say the Gameseeker is worth a critical look-see.

Syncerus, that's a good way to put it. It either fits your rifle or doesn't because of the short eye relief. I guess I got lucky. I'm very satisfied with the scope.

rsquared, I was actually quite impressed with the light gathering in low lighting conditions. I can't compare to the Nikon or Leupold you mention, because I have no experience with those, but with other scopes of similar budget this one seems to be a better value.

Great scope.... Except for the short eye relief, I know they advertise 3 inch but I think mine are less. Mine have been relegated to .243 and below rifles

i still have a lightseeker from several years ago. on par with the old vari x iii of the time.

Dave