My experience with premium scopes.

[jamesdmock]

I started shooting centerfire Benchrest in 1996. In 2002, I started writing for Precision Shooting Magazine and in that position I got to test many rifle scopes. Over the years I have tested Valdada, Nightforce, March, Leupold, Kahles, Sightron, Vortex, Delta, Trijicon, and Nikon. Most of the ones I have tested have been the premium models of high power. There are some like the Schmidt and Bender that I have not tested. I am often asked..."What is the best scope for Benchrest?" The way that I will answer that is from a comment made by Hall of Fame shooter Don Powell. Don told me at a match at Midland Texas that my shooting had improved a lot since I started shooting the Valdada scope. That scope was their 36X Benchrest model, and I have shot two more of their fine scopes. I have no particular knowledge about the technical aspects of optics, but my results favor Valdada. Of course, I have shot Valdada at more matches than all of the others combined. Two more that I will mention are the Sightrons (for their great value) and March for their variety and great optics. I hope that this is not offensive to any maker of great scopes, but this is just the impressions of an old man who loves to shoot.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

Thanks you very much. I appreciate you sharing your experience.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Second to Geronimo Jim. Smart guys listen to those with long time experience. The rest read the ads.

 

[Ranger188]

James, I never did see what your final thoughts were on the Delta Stryker 5-50x56.

Also have you looked though the Valdada Precision xt 10-60 ?

 

[jamesdmock]

James, I never did see what your final thoughts were on the Delta Stryker 5-50x56.

Also have you looked though the Valdada Precision xt 10-60 ?

Look for the article published about the Delta. I was very impressed with it. I have shot the Terminator, but not the 10x-60x Precision XT. That is out of my price range.

 

[Synoptic12]

I started shooting centerfire Benchrest in 1996. In 2002, I started writing for Precision Shooting Magazine and in that position I got to test many rifle scopes. Over the years I have tested Valdada, Nightforce, March, Leupold, Kahles, Sightron, Vortex, Delta, Trijicon, and Nikon. Most of the ones I have tested have been the premium models of high power. There are some like the Schmidt and Bender that I have not tested. I am often asked..."What is the best scope for Benchrest?" The way that I will answer that is from a comment made by Hall of Fame shooter Don Powell. Don told me at a match at Midland Texas that my shooting had improved a lot since I started shooting the Valdada scope. That scope was their 36X Benchrest model, and I have shot two more of their fine scopes. I have no particular knowledge about the technical aspects of optics, but my results favor Valdada. Of course, I have shot Valdada at more matches than all of the others combined. Two more that I will mention are the Sightrons (for their great value) and March for their variety and great optics. I hope that this is not offensive to any maker of great scopes, but this is just the impressions of an old man who loves to shoot.View attachment 1429228

* You forgot 'Steiner'.

 

[jamesdmock]

* You forgot 'Steiner'.

I have not tested Steiner.

 

[cuznguido]

As a poor country boy shooter, I have looked thru all manner of glass, top to bottom. Cannot shoot at the level of most on this site, but I can say with certainty, once you look thru Valdada glass for a bit, everything else loses some of its luster.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Do you think your success with Valdada is because of the glass or because of the scope maintaining zero?

 

[762plinker]

Do you think your success with Valdada is because of the glass or because of the scope maintaining zero?

probably both....cannot live with a floating zero

 

[jamesdmock]

probably both....cannot live with a floating zero

The Valdada adjustments were very precise, repeatable and held zero. The optics are made by the famous Schott Werks in Germany. Benchrest shooters look for the ability to HOLD zero above all other considerations.

 

[marchx]

The Valdada adjustments were very precise, repeatable and held zero. The optics are made by the famous Schott Werks in Germany. Benchrest shooters look for the ability to HOLD zero above all other considerations.

That's incorrect. They use Schott glass, as many other scope manufacturers including Schmidt&Bender or Zeiss. They confirm that also here:

Valdada-IOR Optics Ltd | armscom.net

www.armscom.net

Valdada's tradition stretches back to pre-II world war Romania (IOR). I think they are still produced in Romania. I think Delta Stryker is currently best bang for the buck. It's manufactured in Japan, R&D is made in Japan and Poland. It's a family company of high business ethics. The important thing is they stand behind their product.

 

[WileyG]

While not having the means to buy some of the top line scopes I have a few Sightrons and really like them. I'm a firm believer that Sightron often gets overlooked. I'll soon be adding a couple more SIIIs to my rimfire rifles.

 

[Txhillbilly]

While I don't shoot competitively, I do shoot long range out to a mile. I have several scopes that I use.
S&B PM II 5-25x56
IOR Valdada Recon 4-28x50
Delta Stryker HD 4.5-30x56
Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56

To my eyes, the IOR Recon is the best of the bunch. The glass seems to be a lot clearer - brighter, and the scope tracks perfectly every time.
Both of my S&B PM II's are great scopes, but there is a noticeable difference when compared to the IOR Recon when looking through them side by side. The S&B's also track great.
The Delta Stryker HD is a fantastic scope for the money, but it isn't quite as good as the top tier scopes. It also cost about half as much.
The Steiner T5Xi is the loser of the bunch. I love everything about this scope when it comes to features. The turret design is the best of the bunch, IMO. The reticle is nice, the glass is really pretty good. The issue's with this scope are it has terrible Chromatic Aberration, and Parallax problems. I sent this scope for repair before I ever mounted it. They fixed some of the parallax problems, but the CA issue is still present. This seems to be an issue with this series of scope.

 

[762plinker]

That's incorrect. They use Schott glass, as many other scope manufacturers including Schmidt&Bender or Zeiss. They confirm that also here:

Valdada-IOR Optics Ltd | armscom.net

www.armscom.net

Valdada's tradition stretches back to pre-II world war Romania (IOR). I think they are still produced in Romania. I think Delta Stryker is currently best bang for the buck. It's manufactured in Japan, R&D is made in Japan and Poland. It's a family company of high business ethics. The important thing is they stand behind their product.

we simply have different standards