Are $60 dollar scopes worth it (under 200 yards)?

[FireInCairo]

I really don't want to get all corksniffery over something which likely requires cork-sniffing. But... Tell it to me straight. Should I just stick to iron sights if I'm not willing to shell out at least $150 bucks?

 

[devils4ever]

I've had Leupold scopes and loved them, but they are $$$. I have a Tasco on my 10/22 which is pretty bad.

My son just got a Simmons for $50 with a $30 rebate and I really like it. I like it so much that I just replaced my Tasco with a $65 Simmons. I'll try it this weekend and see how it compares.

 

[TIMC]

Some people are happy in a Kia and some are happy in a Cadillac. You sound like a Kia kinda guy so a $60 scope will probably work for you. Me? Well nothing under a Leupold VX3 makes me happy.

I once had a Tasco 3x9 on a 30.06 that always held zero and always took down what I aimed at but it always looked like the lenses were dirty. I much prefer better glass and you pay for that.

 

[Geno]

Short of writing a dissertation, buy the best scope you can afford...pay the pain up front! I own (now) Leupolds, Trijcons, Eo-Techs and Nightforces. Once was a day all I could afford was a Tasco 4X. Know what, that $29.00 scope dropped a deer at 300 yards. Buy the best you can afford, and do not regret it.

Geno

 

[Patocazador]

It's been my experience over 45 years of hunting with scopes that cheap scopes will fail when you need them most. Personally, I would never buy a Tasco, Konus, or Simmons scope.
But that's me.

 

[mike.h]

If you're shooting a 22, go for it. If it's going on a high power, get ready to be smacked on the eyebrow.

 

[Art Eatman]

A big "maybe" would be a fixed-power 4X scope. I've never had a problem with "good used" scopes from gunshows, particularly a Weaver K4. Since even 3X is plenty good for Bambi at 350 yards, I wouldn't worry about any "need" for a variable.

 

[rcmodel]

With todays ammo prices & scarcity?

You can pay for a better scope up front and make up the money trying to sight it in & get it to hold zero.

My last go-around with an $80 buck BSA scope took 3, 80 mile round trips back to Cabala's to exchange them until I finally gave up & bought good scope.

That amounted to hours of my time, $70 in gas, and half a can of air-rifle pellets.

Had I been wasting .22 ammo too?
Add another $50 bucks worth of ammo.

So, I 'would' or 'could' have used that wasted $120 and put it on a good name brand scope in the first place.

Look at this for instance.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/redfield-battlezone-tac-22-2-7x34mm-riflescope.html

http://www.opticsplanet.com/redfield-revenge-2-7x34mm-4-plex-rifle-scope.html

Buy a decent scope right up front that will last your lifetime.
And save yourself the gamble you will get a good cheap one the first try that will last a few years maybe.

rc

 

[mike.h]

Thanks Art,
________________
A big "maybe" would be a fixed-power 4X scope. I've never had a problem with "good used" scopes from gunshows, particularly a Weaver K4. Since even 3X is plenty good for Bambi at 350 yards, I wouldn't worry about any "need" for a variable.
__________________

I totally forgot about the 4x Leupold take off that 's been in the drawer for a couple decades.

M

 

[taliv]

i do have a sightron that has never given me any grief, but it's on a 22lr and never been shot past 50 yards

generally, with scopes, you get what you pay for

 

[natman]

It depends. I have some cheap scopes - on my range toys. If one goes belly up, I'll shoot something else that day.

OTOH, my hunting rifles get good scopes, Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, etc. Too much money, time and effort goes into a hunting trip to risk a failure because of a cheap scope.

 

[docsleepy]

Amazing how often this comes up.

To each his own. I wanted to hit my retirement magic number and also get a boatload of rifles. So I have chosen to use inexpensive scopes.

I have now hit my magic number AND I have a boatload of rifles

My 7mm08 made it up and down several hills, over 1000 rounds, hits 800 yard gongs, put 2 deer in my freezer and has a $69 walmart centerpoint scope

One of my Mosins has hundreds of rounds, hits 600 yard gongs and has a $50 long eye relief scope

Ar15 has centerpoint. Ar10 sports an adjustable objective 3-9x $50 scope.

The 50bmg has the $69 walmart adj obj centerpoint. Holds zero at 200 yards easily. Knocked a tooth hard once, but the scope has never hit me

Need I say more?

Oh--the 6ppc has a $250 scope. That one does fine too

 

[reliablelwc]

I have seen some spectacular failures with cheap scopes on .22 rifles as well as centerfires. That said, I have had very good results with Simmons .22 Mag scopes. both 4x and 3-9x on 10-22s that I used as loaners at monthly shoots (400-500 rds) for five years. Have had at least 6-8 scopes and the only scoped .22 I still have is scoped with a .22 mag. Most of those rifles were given to grandsons as I got older. I wouldn't go on the hunt of a lifetime with one, but for range use or plinking, go for it. Larry

 

[docsleepy]

Oh-- the mosin put a hog in the freezer and so did the ar15.

Certainly I can't prove these cheap scopes are as robust as a $1200 acog or rco....But they have served my needs well. I have not had a zero wander.

 

[rswartsell]

In a word, no (at that price level they are a waste of money you could have saved toward viable optics).

P.S. I find the $200.00 mark about the benchmark for something truly worthwhile. You blow what could have been the first 1/3 and still need to start over.

 

[Elkins45]

A $60 scope can be a great performer...if its a stolen Leupold you buy off a meth head at the flea market.

Otherwise, the answer to your question is no.

 

[Elkins45]

i do have a sightron that has never given me any grief, but it's on a 22lr and never been shot past 50 yards

generally, with scopes, you get what you pay for

I used to be a huge advocate of the Sightron S1 line as the exception to the rule that you get what you pay for in optics. That was when they were still made in Japan.

Now the S1 is just another junky bargain optic from some sweatshop in the Phillipines.

 

[sappyg]

I really don't want to get all corksniffery over something which likely requires cork-sniffing. But... Tell it to me straight. Should I just stick to iron sights if I'm not willing to shell out at least $150 bucks?

Hard to say. I do like iron sights but scopes have a place.

I wear contacts and bifocals because they are an aid to my vision. Scopes are an aid. Cheap glasses/ lenses really suck. So do cheap scopes. I'm talking $50 scopes here.
Had an 8 point Simmons on a rifle for a while. I eventually replaced it with a better scope (Leupold VX 1) and I'll never go back to the Simmons. For me the difference is noticeable and very much worth it. We really aren't talking a lot of money for a huge jump in optic quality.
That scope cost nearly as much as the cheap rifle it sits on but now it's a better rifle..... Actually, I think I need a better rifle for the scope.

 

[docsleepy]

I certainly can't vouch for scopes that I have not tried.

Walmart Centerpoint .4–16 adjustable objective scopes have done well for me all the way up to 50 BMG.

Ncstar 2-7x long eye relief scopes have held up to the Mosin-Nagant and hit targets out to 600 yards consistently. Stupid Turrets I will admit.

I think I have a slightly more expensive scope on my 20 gauge slug gun, about $120, and I can't remember the brand, but it works fine.

I have a swift reliant zoom to 32 power on my six PPC, and that is a fine scope.

A friend destroyed a Walmart scope by letting several rifles bang into each other in the back floorboard of a pick up truck on a terrible road. The rifles were not in any sort of rifle bag or rifle box. But I don't treat my rifles that way!

 

[BCRider]

From my beginnings I bought an $85 BSA Sweet 22 for a .22LR rifle. It's OK out to 100 yards but gets rather fuzzy and cloudy when zoomed in. It's really only effective up to around 6x power.

I also put an $80 scope on a TC Encore chambered in .500S&W Mag. It lasted for a whopping 15 rounds before it shattered an internal lens rendering it a useless kid's kaleidoscope. It wasn't all that crisp a view either.

I recently bought a 3-9x40 Simmons rimfire scope based on the great reports it gets on the web. That one is a jewel which is easily a better value than the cost suggests. So I highly recommend it.... at least for rimfire and other lower recoil use.

I also recently picked up a Nikon Pro Target rimfire scope. At around $200 here in Canada this thing is a winner. Very nice clear glass that makes shooting small items out at 200 yards just way too easy.

So there are some good ones out there for not not much money if you shop carefully.

Based on my findings with the cheap no name stuff I would not put it onto anything with a moderate to high recoil either. And even then don't be surprised if you find other issues. Such as some lost motion when clicking the adjustments back and forth. Like to back up two clicks you actually need to go back 6 then come forward again by 4 since there's too much play in the system.

 

[docsleepy]

I find it odd that you are restricting yourself to 200 yards when I routinely shoot to 800 with scopes less than $70. It takes more than a couple dozen MOA to make that adjustment, and I don't lose zeros.

I really think that quality trigger time and quality reloading time are worth much more than a fancy scope. I can't tell you the number of times that the guy beside me is banging away at 50 yards with an extremely expensive gun and scope, and I am working with a 1942 Mosin-Nagant or a homemade put together 7 mm08 at 200 yards.

If you can hold a rifle still and shoot a 1 inch 100 yard group or better, then a zeroing scope is about four shots:

Large blank sheet of paper at 25 yards, scope properly installed with nothing loose, one shot at center dot, re-aim rifle at's the · and have someone else turn the turrets until the reticle rests where the bullet actually hit. If you want to be fancy, do the corrections for scope distance above centerbore

Repeat at 100 yards.

Now fire a shot and it should hit very close to the center aim point, Adjust by noting the error and correcting the Turrets the required number of MOA.

Final shot to test


I once helped out a feller who had shot almost an entire box of shells, and I discovered he was merely moving the plastic return-to-zero controls, not really moving the scope aim point at all! Boy was he a frustrated feller!

We had him zeroed in about 5 shots.

 

[back40]

the short answer is no, they are not worth it. this question comes up again and again, yet the general consensus is almost always "buy the best you can afford".

i'm not going to argue with guys lie docsleepy who claim that their walmart special will do anything they want. but the reality is all else being equal (shooter skill, rifle, ammo quality), there is a difference. whether you have the capability/experience/gear(rifle/ammo) to exploit that difference is another matter.

i can't afford to be cheap, and i've never regretted buying quality.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

don't people ever learn "you get what you pay for" like a cheap date....they will let you down when you need them......

 

[Captcurt]

What they said.

Echo, buy the best you can afford. Back in the good ol days a half of a weekly salary bought a Bushnell Banner. I had the crosshair break while riding in the back of a jeep. Had the rifle butt rested on my boot to cushion the ride and it still broke. This was an out of state hunt. :banghead: Fast forward 20 years. Tasco World Class fogged up after a downpour on opening day of deer season. Had to drive 50 miles round trip to get another scope and then sight it in. No problems since I went to the middle and upper end scopes. The cheapest that I have is Nikon Prostaffs. Hard to beat for the price.

 

[WhoMe?]

Should I just stick to iron sights if I'm not willing to shell out at least $150 bucks?

As others have said, optics really remains a "get what you pay for" commodity with few exceptions. Another interesting point is that in the "under $300" crowd, there is actually a very steep increase in quality for the different price points. A $150 optic is often in a very different class than even a $100 optic.

Personally, I would not buy a $60 optic as I expect it would cost me more in the long run. I think you could do ok in the $150 range if you do your homework and don't have super high expectations out of the optic. A $150 scope should be clear and bright enough for most hunting, hold zero, and generally not fall apart. If you need to edge out another 15 minutes of light, expect repeatable adjustment of turrets, or plan to invest in a hunt (time, money, need for food) spend more or stick with irons.