Help with selecting a 1000 yard scope

[chiefblackbeard]

Need a scope for a target rifle for mostly long range plinking.
My budget is under 1k
Priorities
1. Ruggedness and reliable turret tracking.
2. Clarity
In that order.
Thinking of the swfa 10x42 HD and the ior valdada 10x42.
Please share your experiences with these. Which one is better?
Any other good options?

[PrimaryArms]

Help with selecting a 1000 yard scope

http://youtu.be/jGroqvya_is

Start the video 6:50 in
If its a .308 or .223 this version is made just for it.

https://www.primaryarms.com/Primary_Arms_4_14X44_FFP_Scope_with_308_p/pa4-14xffp308.htm

-Dimitri

[mds2004]

Out of stock at the moment but it keeps coming back.

1. Bushnell ERS Rifle Scope - 3.5-21x50mm ($900) http://www.natchezss.com/3-5-21x50-e...ark-earth.html

2. Bushnell Elite Tactical XRS Rifle Scope - 4.5-30x50mm 34mm ($950) http://www.natchezss.com/4-5-30-x50-...ark-earth.html

A thread on it: http://www.scout.com/military/sniper...-scopes?page=1

An article on what scopes are used in tournaments: http://precisionrifleblog.com/2014/1...-the-pros-use/

[FMJBT]

^^^
Smoking deal on the Bushnell scopes!


Look into the Burris XTR II scopes as well. Excellent glass and perfect tracking with decent amounts of internal travel. For 1000 yard shooting I'd suggest the 3-15X50 or 4-20X50 variants:

http://www.burrisoptics.com/scopes/xtr-ii-riflescopes-series/xtr-ii-riflescope-3-15x50mm

http://www.burrisoptics.com/scopes/xtr-ii-riflescopes-series/xtr-ii-riflescope-4-20x50mm

Digital Oasis typically has the best prices for these.

[Gunsrruss]

Scope

Wait a few months and buy something really good like a 5 X 22 X 56 Nightforce. At a thousand yards it looks like your shooting from 300. I have been there wanting something to work for less than a thousand. It doesn't work. It leaves you wanting something better. Get what you need up front and never look back. Save, save.

[JMP]

Need a scope for a target rifle for mostly long range plinking.
My budget is under 1k
Priorities
1. Ruggedness and reliable turret tracking.
2. Clarity
In that order.
Thinking of the swfa 10x42 HD and the ior valdada 10x42.
Please share your experiences with these. Which one is better?
Any other good options?

You have a $1k price limit and you pick those? Any reason you want a fixed 10? With $1k to spend, I'd not go with a fixed 10x. That's good for 1,000 yards steel plinking, but it isn't optimal for 0 to 1,000 yards.

You have good choices for clarity, but not optimal choices for ruggedness. IOR has really good glass, but they've been known to have issues with internals despite feeling very solid. With that said, the major issues were mostly last decade. I've heard pretty good things from buyers of new IORs so they may have improved their internal quality. In that case, your choice would be good as the optical quality is pretty damn good for the price.

$1k does not get you the best clarity or ruggedness. If you can, try to go with a Nightforce. They are good for your first criterion for being rugged and reliable that you may be able to find near $1k, but they'll be second focal plane and not as good in clarity as some other choices. To get perfect tracking and great clarity, it ain't going to happen for $1k.

For ruggedness and reliability, absolutely avoid the 3rd world manufactured models. Scopes made in China are pretty much the worst as they do not have good glass, and the internals are even FAR worse than the glass. They are completely unreliable and not rugged at all. For 3rd world manufacturing, the Philippines are about as good as it gets with things like the Vortex PST at $1k, but they aren't rugged at all. They are quite flimsy and have crappy glass. You will be getting an all around featured scope for the price.

Rugged and reliable get a European or US build all the way. Then, that's followed by Japanese. Note, pretty much all the glass should be sourced from Germany or Japan, or I would not even consider it.

I am sorry to those who will call me a glass snob or whatever, but that is absolute fact. You want reliable, you must pay for manufacturing; it is that simple.

[brando]

Yeah, what he said. You can't get much optical clarity, good internal mechanics and ruggedness for $1000.

[Merc1138]

I don't understand why you'd want to limit yourself unnecessarily to 10x. Personally I'd save some more money and try to get my hands on something like one of the bushnell models discussed in this thread. The vortex 6-24 PST FFP isn't bad, but I'd only recommend it if you can get a hell of a deal on it(at the price I paid, I would have been able to sell it and not take a loss if I really wanted to get something else instead). The $950 asking price at most places I'd never consider paying. Even then, there are better scopes out there.

The PA scope... no. I have the same model that the guy has in the youtube video, and no. Mine resides on a .22lr that gets shot at 100 yards tops, and even the idea of putting it on one of my ARs is something I'd find laughable, let alone my .308. Even then I'm still considering taking the thing off of that .22lr rifle and replacing it with the bushnell or leupold sitting within arm's reach(I've just been really lazy and have zero motivation to do it). I'm sorry Dimitri, and I know this is off topic, but the suggestion is ludicrous. Yes the PA optics are better than the bottom of the barrel Big5 and walmart stuff. But they aren't so amazing that they compare to higher end optics. This is like telling someone to buy a ford fiesta, when they were looking at something like a mustang or camaro. Telling them to buy a porsche would be silly in the opposite direction, but there's a point when pushing the low end option is just ridiculous.

[jonzer77]

http://youtu.be/jGroqvya_is
Start the video 6:50 in
If its a .308 or .223 this version is made just for it.

https://www.primaryarms.com/Primary_Arms_4_14X44_FFP_Scope_with_308_p/pa4-14xffp308.htm

-Dimitri

Dimitri, that scope doesn't meet any of the OP's requirements.


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[RobertMW]

I don't understand why you'd want to limit yourself unnecessarily to 10x. Personally I'd save some more money and try to get my hands on something like one of the bushnell models discussed in this thread. The vortex 6-24 PST FFP isn't bad, but I'd only recommend it if you can get a hell of a deal on it(at the price I paid, I would have been able to sell it and not take a loss if I really wanted to get something else instead). The $950 asking price at most places I'd never consider paying. Even then, there are better scopes out there.

Optics Planet has a fathers day sale going. The 6-24 PST can be had for $950 - $95 = $855 for the next 8 hours.

[ElvenSoul]

http://www.opticsplanet.com/burris-3x-12x-50mm-xtr-xtreme-tactical-riflescope.html

[707electrician]

I just finally got my new Burris XTR II with the SCR MOA reticle. Haven't had a chance to actually use it yet, but after just playing around with it I am very excited for this scope. I got the 3-15. Opticsplanet has it for $1050, I used a 10% coupon code, and Burris is running a $100 rebate right now so it is a pretty good deal

[PrimaryArms]

Help with selecting a 1000 yard scope

Dimitri, that scope doesn't meet any of the OP's requirements.


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Why not?

[jonzer77]

Why not?

Ruggedness does not include knobs falling off.....


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[FMJBT]

I just finally got my new Burris XTR II with the SCR MOA reticle. Haven't had a chance to actually use it yet, but after just playing around with it I am very excited for this scope. I got the 3-15. Opticsplanet has it for $1050, I used a 10% coupon code, and Burris is running a $100 rebate right now so it is a pretty good deal

How do you like the SCR MOA reticle? Thats the one and only minor complaint I have with the first run of the XTR II scopes was their G2 Mil Dot reticle that seemed kind of plain considering the other features that the scopes have. I was really glad to see them offer some more advanced reticle designs for the 2015 long range models.