eBay scopes - are they any good?

[davery25]

Have any of your ever tried buying an ebay scope. I bought a Nikko Stirling 6-24x50 for $200 and apart from having to put your eye a short distance from the scope, i have no complaints about it.

i noticed you can get a lot more zoom for the same money on ebays generic brands of scopes...anyone ever tried any of these. Obviously a lot will be rubbish but are there any good ones? If so..please share..

 

[jo191145]

I have a Nikko Sterling 8x-32x TargetMaster kickin around here somewhere...
I'd be more than happy to dust it off and ship it to you for $150. Get my drift?

 

[necchi]

Whata ya mean?
Ebay doesn't make a scope to sell. There are justa bunch of folks selling generic scopes on ebay.
When it comes to Optics, you get what you pay for,,

IF someone has a money back return if not happy, then what the heck,,give it a try. I'd highly recomend useing Paypal when associated with ebay, It offers another layer of protection.

I'd sooner by a name brand scope from a garunteed "New in the Box" type volume seller, than some generic with all the bells an whistles for a "Wow! Look how cheap that is!" price.
Buyer beware,,,

 

[fdshuster]

I've also heard of the fake "made in China" Leupold scopes being sold, at times on e-bay. Anybody want a genuine Rolex watch for $99.95, buy right now and get 2 for the price of one.

 

[jo191145]

Someshow I'ze git da feelin necchi antz gonna by my TargetMaster ;D
Shoofly youz scarin away my buziness.

In all seriousness necchi is absolutely correct. You get what you pay for.
Me? Oh I learned that the hardest of ways
I have behind my house what has been dubbed "Tasco Mountain"
A tall lichen covered mound of the greatest and cheapest optics known to man. I've planted a flag on top as a sign of man overcoming stupidity ;D ;D

No doubt on occasions a very rare someone finds an optic that suits thier purpose for the time being. Time never stands still..... purposes always advance. Such is mankind.

necchi, for you my friend, a one time offering. Nikko Sterling 8x-32x Targetmaster for $100.00. Absolutely no quarentee but I might have the box it came in. ;D ;D
I probably paid 3X that for the lesson

 

[JohnHenry]

You may want to take a look at the Nitrex TR2's by Weaver that Natchez Shooters Supply has on sale. They are identical to the Weaver Super Slam and in addition to the substantial Natchez discount, Nitrex offers a $100 rebate. Weaver guarantees them for life. I bought a 4-20X50 TR2. A little heavy, but a heck of a scope for the money.

 

[davery25]

Well, yeah, random people in hong kong selling generic scopes is what i meant by that...

you're right with the 'get what you pay for' thing tho. Perhaps i should just pay the dollars.

I'd be happy to get another nikko stirling gameking but my next rifle is a 300 WSM, and the moment i fire that scope is going to recoil right into my eye.

 

[boogershooter]

Joes definitely right, you get what you pay for.

 

[dlutter]

It depends on how much cheaper you can buy the scope for vs other internet retailers (ie. Natchez, Midway, Cabelas, etc.) I bought a Nikon Monarch off of Ebay, new in box for almost $100 less than Midway's price(counting shipping). Honestly, I have no way of telling if it is counterfeit or not but I have been very happy with it. This is my first Monarch and I have been impressed by the quality. I would be happy to tell you the seller's name if you would like. I would be wary of some items, such as too good to be true deals.

 

[LHSmith]

You may want to take a look at the Nitrex TR2's by Weaver that Natchez Shooters Supply has on sale. They are identical to the Weaver Super Slam and in addition to the substantial Natchez discount, Nitrex offers a $100 rebate. Weaver guarantees them for life. I bought a 4-20X50 TR2. A little heavy, but a heck of a scope for the money.

Warranty is for life......as long as long as you are the original owner. Also, Weaver has been bought and sold more times than I can count, and the factory repair center seems to be relocated after each change of ownership.

 

[Kenny474]

I purchased a scope from an online ad before, I believe it was a Weaver that was used but "like new in the box". When it actually got to my house, it was really just some generic POS with a Weaver sticker pasted on the side. It looked the part, but was about as foggy as you could make a scope.

Too bad I only saved about $80 over retail. :-[

Buyer beware is right.

 

[necchi]

" I bought a Nikon Monarch off of Ebay, new in box for almost $100 less than Midway's price,,"

Well that's what I mean about name brand, a maker that stands behind it's product. I bought a Weaver K4 form a private party on ebay that was a good price ( I wanted retro ), after shooting it maybe 50 rounds I couldn't group, turns out an adjustment spring had broken. An email to Weaver and $15 got my scope Factory Repaired, I simply said I lost the reciept years ago, now I have a top notch retro scope again.
(sitting on the shelf now, but I got it )


The point is, Ebay is just another place to shop for the best price for the scope you want. Going to Ebay and getting SOLD a scope because of it's list of features and low cost might not be the best way to spend your money.
There are big time dealers that market gun shop quality scopes for a better price simply because they don't have a store front and the costs that go with it. Ya gotta be a smart comsumer. (period)

 

[LHSmith]

Have any of your ever tried buying an ebay scope. I bought a Nikko Stirling 6-24x50 for $200 and apart from having to put your eye a short distance from the scope, i have no complaints about it.

i noticed you can get a lot more zoom for the same money on ebays generic brands of scopes...anyone ever tried any of these. Obviously a lot will be rubbish but are there any good ones? If so..please share..

If your getting a scope for plain old plinking, and they spend most of the time in the gunsafe you may be happy with them. Put them on a centerfire with any amount of recoil,and/or use them in wet/ cold scenarios, sooner or later they WILL fail....they are throw-aways, NOT servicable. Resale value is zilch. Chinese scopes are pure garbage.

 

[davery25]

cheers for the responses guys. I think we can conclude that we should just save the money and get a decent one.

 

[Taildrag15X]

Thsi doesn't mean you can't buy a good scope on ebay....do you know that there are Forum members that sell on there vs. here due to the larger audiance, the same with GunBroker and other shooting Forums.

If your not pressed for time it's a great place to watch for shooting sports equipment, scopes included, like a NightForce 12-42X BR for $750 cause it was listed as NightFarce, that my friend was a good buy!

 

[bozo699]

You may want to take a look at the Nitrex TR2's by Weaver that Natchez Shooters Supply has on sale. They are identical to the Weaver Super Slam and in addition to the substantial Natchez discount, Nitrex offers a $100 rebate. Weaver guarantees them for life. I bought a 4-20X50 TR2. A little heavy, but a heck of a scope for the money.

I have a tr1 6-24 I think, in 1/8th moa had it about a year so far its been a good scope for the $ I have a friend that bought a TR2 from Natchez for his .300ultra to replace his older 6-18 VxII leupy he said the new scope is ok but will eventually go back to a higher end Leupy. I bought a 4-20X50 super-slam last year and put it on my new 6.5*284 f-class savage, took it to Montana to compete with it @ 1K. It did ok but I felt I could never get my parallax adjusted quite right, and there is distortion on the outer edges of the scope, it seems to track real well and returns to zero. I work for ATK which owns both nitrex and weaver I get a good employee discount, If it wasn't for the discount I don't believe I would buy one. I was told if the nitrex go's bad it will be replaced by a Weaver as Nitrex is no longer being made. and as LHSMITH already stated you might want to consider how many time since the 1980s they have changed hands For the price Natchez is selling them for I think you would be ok.
Wayne.

 

[davery25]

haha, score!

that was on gunbroker was it?

 

[jonbearman]

Stay away from the junk because that is what it is.Try known brands as at least you get some knid of warranty.The cheapys dont get fixed and there is nowhere to really send them.

 

[4xforfun]

Another thing you need to be aware of...... The name brand high end scope at a "to good to pass up " price. This may not be to much of a problem now that the dollar is worthless over seas........A scope, illigally imported into the US, will not be warranted by Lieca and Swaro for sure, and maybe others. I had found some of those scopes a few years ago on ebay...they were the real deal, just without warrante. They were baught over seas when the dollar was strong and smuggeled to the US and sold on Ebay. I was suspitious and did some investigating. I paid full, and fair, price from a named dealer and never looked back!!!!

Just a thought about ebay stuff.

 

[LHill22250]

There is a lot of garbage on EBay & the knock off Leupold's really piss me off. All of the no-name no warranty "scopes" on EBay have no place on any rifle.. I know high end optics are expensive as I have bought way too many but there are also quality scopes at very resonable prices that are extremely less likely to fail on you..

Picture yourself on a big game hunt or any other hunt for that matter where you have invested time off work, money on gas & supplies, etc, etc, etc & you get ready to make a shot & your hunt is ruined by a POS on top of your weapon..