2-7x33 riflescopes not in vogue anymore?

[Cowboy T]

I remember when the 2-7x33 riflescope was generally offered affordably. There were even USA-made versions. We had Leupold VX-1's for $199, Redfield Revolutions for just under that, and so on.

While there are still some around, I'm no longer seeing nearly as many 2-7x33 offerings from vendors these days, which is kinda unfortunate, since the 2-7x33 size is a very nice balance between smaller size than 3-9x40, but still giving good magnification options for short- and longer-distance shooting. For battle rifles or, say, AR's, it's a nice option. It's also a good general-purpose hunting option, e. g. leverguns or bolt guns.

Have others noticed this?

[God Bless America]

Yes, they are gone but not forgotten.

If they sold better, I presume they would be more popular.

I have one, it's OK.

[MyOdessa]

I had Leupold 2-7x33 with rimfire reticle on my 17 HMR Styer, but I recently upgraded it to Leupold 3-9x33 EFR (AO) with fine duplex reticle. Size and weight are about the same but AO allows me to control focus and parallax better.
No real advantage to 2-7x33.

[FeuerFrei]

I don't notice unless I'm shopping to fill a need.

I traded away a 22lr with burris 2-7 on it. Never miss it.

Used to be a good fixed 4x would serve any rf or cf rifle for hunting/plinking. It still works pretty well. Very KISS/tough/reliable. Often overlooked.

[Cowboy T]

Physical size and weight, I suppose. That can be handy on certain rifles. Shame to see less of the affordable ones

[kenl]

Sort of a mystery why they've fallen out of favor.

Compact, generally light weight, they are almost perfect for a LPVO role. The only thing they as a class seem to be missing is an illuminated reticle, the 30mm tube and a half pound to a pound plus in weight. Yeah, low end is 2x, and not 1-ish-x power, but for me that's still low enough for close in work with 2 eyes open, while 7x is good for 300 yds. or more.

I have a older Nikon Prostaff on a .22 rifle and a newer Burris E1 on the 7.62x39 ar. Am very happy with those setups.

[theduracellbigd]

It is sad, they seem to be a perfect size, weight and magnification for a hunting rifle.

[Sydwaiz]

I have a Redfield 2-7 on one of my ARs I use for coyote hunting. It's one of my favorite optics. I really love how lightweight it is too. Leupold absorbed all the Redfield scopes so now its equivalent would be the Leupold VX-Freedom.

[Fatcat]

OP: I have noticed also that the mid-sized 2-7x scopes are not around as before. I’ve been looking for a Leupold VX-II 2-7x that had holdover dots on the lower reticle legs.
Unsure how the new “Freedom” scopes are but heard the turrents had soft clicks not being positive.

[Cowboy T]

That's kinda true, actually. The VX-Freedom turrets are a lot like the ones on the Revolution scopes. They work, and they're accurate, but they do feel kinda mushy, especially compared to the ones on, say, a Leupold Mark 4.

With that said, the VX-Freedom scopes do use VX-2 optics, so from a glass perspective, they're definitely good stuff.

With a 2-7x33, I probably wouldn't shoot past 300 to 400 yards, which means that past point-blank range (about 300 yards or so with a .30-06 or 5.56 NATO), I'd just hold over using the reticle. So, the turret "mushiness" of a VX-Freedom wouldn't really come into play with this sort of application.

[Jimi Jah]

I paid $113 last summer for a Vortex 2x7 33mm.

Paid $179 for the Leupold 2x7 rimfire, before it went up $120.