scopes

[rabbit16v]

How important is it to get a gun specific scope. Meaning one meant for a ML or shotgun compared to a rifle?

Been looking at scopes for my shotgun and the most I keep coming up w/ are for rifles. I would like to get one w/ good range of magnification and good sized objective lens but can't seem to. At the same time, I don't want to break the bank and have a scope worth more than the gun.

Can someone point me in the right direction here?

[GunCat]

You can use a centerfire rifle type scope on your shotgun.

Generally scopes marketed for "shotguns" will have:

A thicker looking reticle, maybe a circle or diamond shaped reticle.

The parallax may be set at 50 or 75 yards (instead of the usual 100 yards on a rifle scope (assuming the parallax is not adjustable via the objective)

Windage and elevation adjustments may be graduated in 1 or 1/2 MOA instead of the generally accepted 1/4 MOA on most rifle scopes.

IMHO none of these features are required for shotgun scopes vs. rifle scopes. If you find a rifle scope with features you like it should be good to go on your shotgun

[trust me]

What's wrong with having a scope worth more than the rifle?

There are a lot more cheap scopes causing trouble than cheap rifles. Spend as much as you can afford on a scope. You truly do get what you pay for.

[rabbit16v]

What's wrong with having a scope worth more than the rifle?

There are a lot more cheap scopes causing trouble than cheap rifles. Spend as much as you can afford on a scope. You truly do get what you pay for.

Kinda see it as having wheels/stereo worth more than the car. But def. I've learned in the past that you get what you pay for. I'm not looking for the "best" just something I can afford that will perform good.

[ditchdigger]

Most gun writers say that you should purchase the best optics you can afford....skimp on the gun but not the optics...most of us do the opposite.

[CUZZIN]

Most gun writers say that you should purchase the best optics you can afford....skimp on the gun but not the optics...most of us do the opposite.Thats always been my problem,spend all my money on a nice gun then put a $50 scope on it:o

[trust me]

My point is this: Say you spend 125 dollars and get an cheap rifle. Nothing fancy, not very pretty, trigger is kinda rough. But it will go bang every time you pull the trigger. Let's assume it will shoot accurate enough, not great, but good enough.

If you go spend 50 or 60 bucks on a scope, it will probably shoot ok. But after getting banged around, rained on and so forth, the reticles may or may not still be present and accounted for, the glass may or may not be fogged up, the adjustments may or may not still work, and you for sure won't have a warranty to fall back on. And when it's a rainy opening morning and your scope quits, what do you do? Can you remove the scope and go to iron sights, right there in the stand? Probably not.

Now if you go the other route and spend double the rifle price on a Leupold, for instance, you have a much better chance of having adjustments that work, clear glass, reticles in place, and if you get a lemon that does tear up, you have a rock solid warranty that will repair or replace, no questions asked. Of course there are some high-dollar scopes that crap out, but it's not as likely, and you have some options to fall back on when they do.

To use the vehicle analogy, I don't see a good scope as being the same as flashy rims and a loud stereo. I see the scope as being a tankful of clean, high octane premium gasoline. You absolutely have to have it up front and working perfectly before anything else can happen. A 1982 Ford Granada will get you to work with good gas, but a 2008 Caddy Escalade isn't going anywhere if the tank is full of water.

[Multidigits]

You get right down to it, the $50 to $100 scopes on the market today are as good or better than thsoe that cost $200 20 years ago. so if you have a gun that recieves a limited amount of use, you can get by on a lower priced scope.

Take for example the Simmons Aetec scopes.....great quality, medium priced mainly because of lower cost lens, which are plastic eye ware quality lens. These scopes are as good as most high end scopes, except that they require more care when cleaning the dust of the lens.

[KentuckyBigOne]

Go with Leupold, can't go wrong and yes you get what you pay for. I have seven Leupold scopes on my rifles and none have ever failed me. I can't say enough about the VX-lll 3.5 x 10 x 40/50. best scope made in my opinion...

[ptbrauch]

I've always heard that saying that you should spend as much on your scope as your rifle. But some things I've noticed and have always wondered is that on rifles, $500 seems to be the common price point for your average gun--be it a Remington, Ruger, whatever. Sure you can find cheaper, and you can find more expensive, but $500 seems to be the common price point that nearly every gun manufacturer has--beyond that, there doesn't seem to be any commonality on prices. And $200 seems to be the price point for your average scope--be it from Bushnell, Leupold, etc. Once again, you can get cheaper, and you can pay more, but differ from that price, and there doesn't seem to be another common price point between manufacturers. So, it appears that the market is driving that combination.

Now, if I buy the Camry of rifles and I put the 87 octane scope on it, would there really be that significant of a difference, it being my daily driver rifle, if I were to put a 93 octane scope on it? If so, what really would be the difference that I would see? Would we be talking the difference between a factory stereo and a custom stereo where the difference is subtle and most people probably wouldn't notice, or would we be talking the difference of my Camry driving like a Camry, vs driving like a Corvette where anyone who takes it for a ride would notice?

[KentuckyBigOne]

For me personally it's a mental thing as well. I like knowing that when I'm in the woods after my trophy that my equipment is the best and I don't have to worry about it failing me. Leupold gives me that confidence. However this is my own personal opinion about scopes and every person has a right to buy whatever scope they want. God Bless you all....

[Bray]

What about desiel? Lol, I agree have to agree with Multi on this one. If you have a gun that doesn't get shot that often you can get by with a cheaper scope. My muzzle loader has a 100 dollar bushnell banner. It's probally my cheapest scope but becuase it only gets shot 10 times each year I don't need an expensive one. Dollar for Dollar that Bushnell is just as good as any nikon or Leuopld I have. But that's just me.

[Multidigits]

I've always heard that saying that you should spend as much on your scope as your rifle. But some things I've noticed and have always wondered is that on rifles, $500 seems to be the common price point for your average gun--be it a Remington, Ruger, whatever. Sure you can find cheaper, and you can find more expensive, but $500 seems to be the common price point that nearly every gun manufacturer has--beyond that, there doesn't seem to be any commonality on prices. And $200 seems to be the price point for your average scope--be it from Bushnell, Leupold, etc. Once again, you can get cheaper, and you can pay more, but differ from that price, and there doesn't seem to be another common price point between manufacturers. So, it appears that the market is driving that combination.

Now, if I buy the Camry of rifles and I put the 87 octane scope on it, would there really be that significant of a difference, it being my daily driver rifle, if I were to put a 93 octane scope on it? If so, what really would be the difference that I would see? Would we be talking the difference between a factory stereo and a custom stereo where the difference is subtle and most people probably wouldn't notice, or would we be talking the difference of my Camry driving like a Camry, vs driving like a Corvette where anyone who takes it for a ride would notice?


A cheap scope will do the same as a high end scope under normal conditions, put the bullet on the X. Now it might break when you need it, or it might not be as bright in low light conditions as a high priced scope, but it won't effect the "ride" unless it fails, which is more likely to happen than with a high end scope.