What scope brand is your favorite and why? Are there any brands you don’t care for?

I’m curious to hear y’all’s thoughts. I’m a Vortex fan, but my friend is a diehard Leupold shooter. I have experience with both and I think Vortex has great glass for the price. With that said, I don’t have much experience with other brands.

Trijicon Accupoint

If my budget is $1000.00 ± a bit, Leupold. This would be on whitetail/mule deer set up for my area.

45 years of perfect performance under harsh conditions.

I own 1, 23-year-old Schmidt & Bender. The thing is still amazing.

On the other end, I've bought several Sig Whiskey scopes and like them a lot.

Kahles, great glass and track spot on, they are my favorite.

Leupold, some models have decent glass, but I have yet to own one that would repeat zero when dialing. I have a dozen or so Leupold's from the old VAri-X III's to the MK5's, and they are fine for set it once and go hunt type deals.

Burris- I found a couple of XTR-III's on a close out sale for a great price, Gr8fuldoug had them posted here. These were the ones made in Greeley, Co. I find them to be more than worth the money I paid for them. They don't have Kahles quality glass, but are very good.

NF- Need to try an ATACR, just have not done so at this point.

I have never owned a Vortex, so I cannot comment on them. However, I do have a few close friends that have used the warranty service they offer, so there is that.

If I want a serious scope to do a serious job, it's Nightforce. If I want a great scope to dress up a pretty rifle, it's Swarovski. If I want a good scope that won't cost too much, it's Leupold.

The majority of mine are Leupold fixed power, and I also have Zeiss, Redfield, and a few old Weaver K steels. If they are good, I keep them forever, if not, pass them on down the road!!

If I am swinging for the fences, Night Force. I have two ATACRs, the 5-25X and the 7-35X. Very, very good glass. Great reticle options, tracking and return to zero you can bet your life on. And they are as tough as a pair of welding gloves.

I have used other people's Night Force SHV as well as NX8. All performed flawlessly. For a ~ $1200 scope the SHV is a great mid priced option.

If I am wanting a money saver scope, that still works well and has good glass, Burris XTR II. I have one in 3-15X. I have Said for years, that might be the most versatile magnification range anyone can have. 10 feet to 1000 yards, it will do it.

Depends on the job...competition (even different types) versus hunting versus fun shooting.

No single scope does it all, in my opinion.

I have more Vortex than anything...but they aren't the Diamondbacks

Own a bunch of different names, but Leupold is on the high-powered stuff.

I've become partial to Primary Arms line of optics lately. I also like SWFA and Trijicon.

Leupold has always been my go to on a hunting rifle. Good to great glass depending on your budget. The VX-5 is the best hunting scope on the market right now in my opinion.


I’m working on talking myself into a Kahles.

In my safe there are two Bushnell, one Vortex, one Burris, one Leupold, one Nikon, and I think a Simmons on a .22. RFs are Sig and Leupold, Binos are Hawke. Seems I don't really have 'a' brand.

I once rolled down the side of a mesa and completely messed up my Leupold Vari-X. Crushed the area around the adjusment ring, killed the cap, dinged up the objective ring, etc. Sent it back to them and asked if it was fixable, for how much, and if I should just get a new one. The sent it back totally repared at no cost. Been a fan ever since.

Leupold Vari-XIII have 3, Ziess have 1, had a couple Swarovski years ago and sold them. Leupold being the favorite overall.

Seriously thinking about this for my daughter’s new rifle. The green triangle post just seems simpler

No question- Nightforce! You want a scope that works, Nightforce is it. I also really like the Schmidt & Bender I have.

I like some of the higher end Vortex scopes. Leupold scopes are decent, and some of the higher end one's are nice. I like some of the Mark 5 and Mark 6 models. I have a VX-7 on one of hunting rifles, and I like that style of scope for hunting.

I have a small SWFA Super Sniper 3-9 FFP mil/mil scope that I love.

The last scope I would ever own is a Swarovski. Why? They have the weakest internals of almost any scope. I've broken 2 of them. They run small tubes (often 1") with high magnification which limit the amount of internal travel (elevation and windage). This can easily prevent a 100 yard zero with a 20 moa base, which some of my customers have purchased with the rifle. Sure, they have great glass. But it does you no good if the scope takes a dump from the internals. I've just never been a fan of them.

Also not a fan of the Zeiss and their backwards turrets, and non paralax models.

I'm a big fan of Leupold scopes across their low-budget to high-budget models. I've had a couple of Vortex scopes & thought they were terrible & sold them off ASAP. One of my favorite scopes is a Pentax Lightseeker 6x-24x. I bought it years ago for $400 & it definitely beats a similar model Leupold in clarity & tracking. The "posi-lock" is a great feature for a hunting scope too. The Pentax Lightseekers are scarce these day not to be confused with the low-end Gameseeker models.

I'm a Sightron fan, I think they are a best buy for the money. I have 4 SIIIs and a STAC and they make very repeatable adjustments. SIII's are Japanese and the glass is very good but they are no frills scopes. I also like my Tract Toric 4-20x50 the glass is good, to my eyes not quite as good as the Sightron SIIIs but still very good. I really the locking turrets and zero stop on the Toric. Its a tough dependable scope.

I do not have a "favorite brand". Owning only one or two of a single scope company's 50 plus offerings makes it difficult to make such a claim for a brand to me. If I had to pick a brand, Nightforce & Schmidt & Bender would probably be the two I would pick. Both have some solid scopes that mechanically rarely fail. Hard to compete against what they have to offer as a brand. I own more Nightforce than I do anything else, but I own other scope brands that in my opinion are better and are my preferred scope to shoot with. (ZCO & March).

I think that scope is the best hunting scope for the money.

Swfa for price and quality.

Most of my current scopes are Burris. I have also had good luck with some Primary Arms prism scopes.

Kahles

I like Burris for the money.