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Optics Question

ClintC

ClintC

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What is a budget optic. NO youtube videos. IN your words. What is a budget OPTIC. Price ranges, features, glass quality, Brand name, warranty.

0-500 / budget?
501-1000 / mid?
1001- plus / high end?

I know what I spend on optics. I just want to hear your thoughts.

how much do you spend on your optic?
 
Lol. That guy at the other place got your wheels turning. I’m gonna think deeper on it as for my personal opinion but I think Many folks like that guy when they say budget optic they are thinking sub $200. Also, price is the first thing they look at. They just want a tube to look through for less than $200 and really don’t understand what the added expense is for.
 
Cowcatcher said:
Lol. That guy at the other place got your wheels turning. I’m gonna think deeper on it as for my personal opinion but I think Many folks like that guy when they say budget optic they are thinking sub $200. Also, price is the first thing they look at. They just want a tube to look through for less than $200 and really don’t understand what the added expense is for.
Click to expand...
Yelp. He did.
 
Sure once upon a time I bought Nikon buck masters at Wally World. But I’ve bought probably 8 scopes in the last 6 years. I don’t hardly even look at something under $300. Vortex Diamondbacks used to be my thing. I did buy a vortex viper. The last 3 have been Arken. If I am buying exposed turrets which it seems that’s what I mainly buy lately I want a zero stop. That requirement weeds out many scopes.
 
Oh I see now. I get dealer pricing on some brands so my opinion is skewed here... but retail-wise I tend to start at 500 for what I am shooting. + about $10 in spray paint 😈
 
For me:
$0-150: no. (With one exception)
$150-300ish: budget/cheap
$300-500: lower midrange
$500-700: nice midrange
$700+nice stuff

I’m no scope snob, not by any stretch of the imagination. I think my $500ish Primary Arms 1-6 nova wire LPVO is pretty dang nice, eyebox excluded. My exception to the sub $150 rule is the Primary Arms 6x 22lr scope. I think it’s pretty snazzy for a $100 scope. Part of my cheapness is likely due to my budget being rather anemic the past year or two though. Later on, with more important things taken care of, I wouldn’t mind having a few high end leupolds or Nightforces. In the meantime, lower end leupold, primary arms, and vortex for the bill for magnified hunting/target optics for me.

I think that I don’t have the eye to appreciate a $2000+ scope, nor do I need something with dead accurate 1000+ yard holdovers. That’s the biggest part of the equation to me. For someone who practices long range stuff, I feel that’s a lot more important than to someone like me, who tend to stick with sub 500 yard distances and are just happy with consistent center of mass hits on a squirrel/coyote/deer/man sized target, or MOA or less on paper if we’re feeling competitive. For someone more in tune with precision stuff, I feel like their needs faaaaar outclass mine, and thus, their budget will as well.

It’s kinda like anything else in life. Mission should dictate the gear, and different skills sets require different things. Your average person would think that $1000 for a 1” drive 5 foot long ratchet is absolutely ridiculous and useless, but for me, it was a great thing that was utilized and appreciated as a mechanic.
 
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Someone turned me on to that Vintage Optics restoration outfit a year or two ago. Then I ran across Adams watch restoration videos. The next logical progression in my twisted mind is modifying optics which I’m just starting to study up on. Arken has undeniably developed an erector system which is the equal of any manufacturer on the planet. Where they tend to step on their cranks is the glass pairing, but something has to give at that price point. I’m thinking that using their core components and stepping up a couple of lenses might get a guy into the solid four digit performance envelope without spending four digit money. Probably wouldn’t scale commercially, but I seriously devalue my time to offset my budget restrictions. In a perfect world it would be a non-issue.

Watching some guys put together their own PVS-14s kind of put this seed in the dirt so to speak.
 
Yes price is important to a lot even me. But almost none ever use what’s in front on them or given to them. They will walk right by the 1200 optic on sale or used somewhere for 600 and it was in there budget the hole time. To me that is a budget optic. because that 1200 on sale for 600 is now in your budget.
 
I just hunt and do load development not to an extreme some do if I can get a group less than an inch I’m not wasting anymore components I prefer vortex for my rifles for hunting never felt the need something anymore expensive
 
like has been said, what I’m willing to spend depends on the use. My “do everything” big game rifle sports a pretty nice Leica. most of my other “working rifles” have budget-ish glass. leupold vx3/nikon/Burris. I’ve got some Zeiss and (older) kahles stuff too. I don’t get real hung up on brand/model/price, mostly I just care if the scope allows me to shoot a critter at first/last legal light. My binos or Swarovski though. And I’m not chasing tiny groups at distance. If I was, I have a feeling I’d figure out $1000 bucks didn’t go real far for a scope.
 
Im a douche. I didn’t answer your question. I hunt, so:

Budget: less than $300. Leupold, used Nikon, Burris. Don’t own one but would: sig. Vortex?

Mid tier: less than $1000. Leupold. Entry Zeiss/Swarovski. Don’t own one but would-meopta. Used of the same. Some burris. Vortex?

Upper end: $1500+? I don’t know. There are plenty of scopes that perform well for my hunting under $1500. Brands? The vast majority of the top end American and European stuff. Optically it’s all pretty excellent. but I get that target shooters have different requirements and adjustments gotta be what they say they are. if I needed that, I’d be willing to spend good money for something that worked.

And I don’t know warranty info on the companies I mentioned. I haven’t used all of their customer services, but I haven’t ever been jacked around by any of them. I wouldn’t count on Nikon though…
 
AER244 said:
Im a douche. I didn’t answer your question. I hunt, so:
Click to expand...
I hunt to and you didn’t come of as a douche.

What I was getting at is people say I can only afford a budget optic. But they only have 600 to spend and they don’t check the higher end optic and see what they can get. They don’t look for sales, use a discount, or even look at used optics.
 
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