Scope comparison and decision reached

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SCgman

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So I have an opening for a rifle scope that likely will be used for under 250 yard hunting. I have 7 scopes in the safe consisting of various levels by zeiss, nikon, and meopta...all i was looking for was a solid optic at a budget price. Checked out a $200 leupold freedom at a local store....the turrets on the demo were a bit mushy so I held off. Went surfing on the web for sub $250 scopes with good reviews.....came across a new old stock nikon monarch 3, 2.5x10 for my price range. I have an old monarch i paid $400 for 11 years ago on another gun and have been satisfied, so hopefully next week I'll get to play at the range getting things zeroed.. .
 
the leupold turrets for that scope are not meant to be turned all day, mushy means nothing if you never move them like the scope was designed for. what rifle is the scope for and what kind of shooting are you doing,paper or game. i like nikons, if they gun is on the beach the swfa is great like hookeye said.
 
The gun is a 7m08 sauer 100 that has gone thru break in with a zeiss terra 3....I want to play with the monarch which has a bit more length and hopefully more eye relief. The first stop will be the bench obviously.....and likely used for hunting timber areas. My gut feeling is that it was a sound choice at a shade over $200. Then again I have one rifle with no optics and so a final destination isnt set in stone.....I'm rolling the dice this monarch is a better fit than the 3x9x40 terra.
 
I didnt mean to diss leupold in my earlier comment....my first scope on a bolt gun was a vx-2 back in the 90s, an absolute rock steady optic that I sold to a friend a few years ago.....had friction adjustments and would not lose zero no matter what.....for that reason alone I wanted to check out the freedom line. My next option in leupold wouldve been the vx-3i for $400, which was outside my limit....so I'm hoping I got a $400ish scope in the nikon for a little more than $200.
 
So the monarch 3 arrived today, it's got a mildot reticle and I was pleasantly surprised how minimal the dots are, keeping the view uncluttered. The not so good news is there is less mountable tube length on the monarch than the terra, so the monarch will wind up on another rifle that has less lop than the sauer. Lop on a sauer 100 is approx 3/4" longer than any other gun I have. Anyway I'll have fun sorting all that out.
 
I'm tempted to get a SWFA 6X.
My brother has that scope on a Tikka 223. It is a very nice scope for about $300. It may have changed my mind about a 6X fixed power on an all around rifle. The FOV is much better than I expected.

I also have one of the Monarch 3's in a 2.5-10X scope. Mine has the long range dots instead of mildots. It is a good scope too.

I used to be very brand loyal to Leupold. I still can't say anything negative about one. If in doubt Leupold is never a bad choice. But I'm finding some other options that have some features I like better. Some of the older Nikons I never cared for, but that is changing.
 
My brother has that scope on a Tikka 223. It is a very nice scope for about $300. It may have changed my mind about a 6X fixed power on an all around rifle. The FOV is much better than I expected.

I also have one of the Monarch 3's in a 2.5-10X scope. Mine has the long range dots instead of mildots. It is a good scope too.

I used to be very brand loyal to Leupold. I still can't say anything negative about one. If in doubt Leupold is never a bad choice. But I'm finding some other options that have some features I like better. Some of the older Nikons I never cared for, but that is changing.
i hunted quite a few years with a FN 243win with a weaver k6, shot deer a 10 yards to 400. i really like the peace of mind that i don't have to worry what power the scope is on.
 
I like more magnification than that, but I put down a 3" group of 4 shots (full load) from my .375 at 420ish with my scope on 6x cause that's as high as I could get it and be comfortable from prone. Doing the same with my 7mag and it's 2.5-15 Ares btr was much less guess work.
 
I’m very loyal to one specific Leupold and that is the Vari-X III/VX-3 1.5-5x20. For $200 on eBay and a lifetime transferable warranty I have never had to use and the knock around hunting I do they cannot be beat for price. Very few manufacturers make a scope like this at the price you can get these for.
 
Shuffled the lineup.....took the terra 3x9 off the sauer 100 today. The terra will be headed back to the weatherby vanguard HB-ST. The sauer now sports a meopro 4x12x50 taken from a tikka t3 stainless 30-06...... and the new monarch 3 mildot has landed on the tikka. Looking forward to my next range visit.
 
Shuffled the lineup.....took the terra 3x9 off the sauer 100 today. The terra will be headed back to the weatherby vanguard HB-ST. The sauer now sports a meopro 4x12x50 taken from a tikka t3 stainless 30-06...... and the new monarch 3 mildot has landed on the tikka. Looking forward to my next range visit.
it's funny, I just did that now I've got a hunt coming up and I only have 1 sighted rifle and it's one I almost never use. Guess it's fate. oh I do have my big pellet gun sighted lol

I need to load a pile of ammo and go break in the new ones and sight the old ones
 
Tikka ss t3lite 3006..

6.2 lbs, slick action, very reliable single stack detachable mags.....apparently the barrel quality and trigger system are incredible cause the gun just ain't that complicated bedding wise....barrel is floated. This gun is so light it forces me to rethink my bench set up....just to settle down the potential jump off the rest. I'm no bench rest expert but this thing is a lot better than the 1.25 " groups I'm getting. The first 2 shots often touch and then hoppyness manages to skew the 3rd shot and I can tell by the way the gun reacts off the rest. So I'm still working with my technique. I love the rifle.....btw I'm going trough this same process with the sauer 100. The light wgt and the stock profile makes stabilizing the recoil off the rest a challenge at the beginning. But both these guns are sweet.
 
I will say my tikkas only glitch is a hint of creep in the trigger. It's hard to detect when dry firing to check for creep, but at the bench when shooting for groups it gets my attention, almost distracts me
 
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