Scopes....Diminishing Returns???

[JEFFPPC]

At a match several weeks ago I was sitting with my NF Competion staring through the haze, mirage, brillant sun,....you name it, the 300 yard target pretty much looked like a blank sheet of white paper. Fellow on my right had a March Majesta, shooter too my left had a Vortex. Guy with the Majesta was at least 35 years younger than I was. He complained out loud that he could not see. I laughed as did the fellow on my left. About 30 seconds later we could all see the target and holes for a brief moment until it went blank again, for all. Big difference in our investments, pretty much the same results. Read and hear the tales from the Tackdriver, same deal......can't see regardless of brand and price.
Sould make a guy think.

 

[Fuj]

Ya' know Jeff.....Some of my better moments has been with my Bushnell
XRS scopes. Can't push past 30X on those. Normally on my Comps. I
leave them on 40X. On my March High Master, I leave it in the box......
Last year when four of us tied for first place at the 300 UBR match, I
shot the last target down on 20X and just bracketed the blob that looked
like the next bull to go to ?? Anything higher, the complete target just
looked like a pillow case flapping on a clothes line.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

Heck I like my athlon midas tac better than razor LHT. Maybe the image is slightly better, but at more than double the price it isn't worth the cost.

 

[Ranger188]

At a match several weeks ago I was sitting with my NF Competion staring through the haze, mirage, brillant sun,....you name it, the 300 yard target pretty much looked like a blank sheet of white paper. Fellow on my right had a March Majesta, shooter too my left had a Vortex. Guy with the Majesta was at least 35 years younger than I was. He complained out loud that he could not see. I laughed as did the fellow on my left. About 30 seconds later we could all see the target and holes for a brief moment until it went blank again, for all. Big difference in our investments, pretty much the same results. Read and hear the tales from the Tackdriver, same deal......can't see regardless of brand and price.
Sould make a guy think.

Jeff, thought you liked the Sightron SVED models?
Or are those too heavy for competition?
Did anyone have one of those?

 

[JEFFPPC]

Jeff, thought you liked the Sightron SVED models?
Or are those too heavy for competition?
Did anyone have one of those?

I do like the Sightron SVED. But the point is the all are limited many times regardless of price and engineering.Yes some are brighter and what not but when they all fail I wonder why we pay so much money to get the same result? Keep in mind this is target shooting not hunting, different game.

 

[std7mag]

Well, Jeff.
You know I'm on the budget end of things!
Heck, even your Sightron is at least double what I paid for my SIII 10-50X60. (Still really love that scope though!)

Shooting with it though, I've only been able to crank it up above 28X a couple of times in the dead of winter.

I quit buying Vortex due to them flaring out so easily.

Burris QC is sadly lacking. At least one control on each that I have is stiff enough that you almost need pliers to move them.

The Sightron STAC 4-20X56 is enough to see the mirage, but not enough to see.224 bullet holes at 200 yards. Controls function smoothly and tracks well.

Is the answer to buy yet higher priced glass?
Lower magnification?
Glare shield?

I don't know.

 

[marchx]

Jeff, what would be your advice to the Majesta shooter? is it indian, not the arrow kind of wisdom…?

 

[rwj]

Jeff, what would be your advice to the Majesta shooter? is it indian, not the arrow kind of wisdom…?

Once environmental conditions refract light, it can not be “undone” by any optics. Buy the scope that best fits your budget and has the best clarity to your eyes.

 

[marchx]

Once environmental conditions refract light, it can not be “undone” by any optics. Buy the scope that best fits your budget and has the best clarity to your eyes.

Why not buy best scope money can buy?

 

[NZ_Fclass]

-On my hunting/varmint guns - other than a Leica Magnus 4-16 ( best glass that I own BTW) on a 6-5/06 AI, a Leupold 6.5-20 LRT on a 6mm SLR, and a couple of Leupold 2.5-8's I have some good asian scopes. 2 Chinese built Falcon 3.5 -18. an excellent FFP . A Falcon 10-50 - a scope that I bought for F-TR, when I was broke - makes a fine sniper on a 222. A Bushnell 6-30 LRS, on a 22lr and I will soon add an Arken 7-35 for a 257 Roberts AI. I'm using a Burris XTR-2 8-40 (made in the Philipines) on my 6BR. for F-Class. I also own a Valdada Recon. Dunno that ones origin. - Japan? Nice scope - suits the 338 Lapua perfectly.

But on my serious competition rifles - Kahles, March, Vortex and Sightron. All have proven optics and reliability and for me, worth the money.

 

[Fuj]

Lets argue.....Jeff's point is spot on to a simple reasoning. The "best"
glass is engineered to be as perfect as can be with current tech, and
in "perfect", steady, conditions. Lets put it this way.....You can get a
scope that will show a fly on the wall. You can get a scope that will
show you that the fly has fleas. You can get a scope that will show
those fleas have balls......Now with that most extreme and expensive
glass, with high magnification numbers, bad conditions now become
nuts.....In perfect conditions, the top tier, high end glass will be superior,
but you only need to hit the fly......

Lets argue.....

 

[lb-ft]

Well that’s the most fantastic analogy I’ve read in a long time. Great stuff @ fuj

 

[rwj]

Why not buy best scope money can buy?

If you have the financial resources, by all means please do! Just don’t expect it to resolve refracted light as reported by the OP.

 

[blades]

There are times when the old irons will beat your pants off and mostly driven by older gents than your self at the time. I ve had the good fortune to be taught a few things that way over the years.

 

[JEFFPPC]

Jeff, what would be your advice to the Majesta shooter? is it indian, not the arrow kind of wisdom…?

No it's the realization scopes have a limit....all of them. So would I be farther ahead with a 1500.00 scope and money left for a practice barrel and the components to burn it up with rather than a 4000.00 scope. Scopes get more costly for what? I still can't see Fuj's fly on the wall or the flea, besides the flea is a girl, no balls..... some days.

 

[rwj]

There are times when the old irons will beat your pants off and mostly driven by older gents than your self at the time. I ve had the good fortune to be taught a few things that way over the years.

How do open sights help see thru refracted light?

 

[6BRA]

No it's the realization scopes have a limit....all of them. So would I be farther ahead with a 1500.00 scope and money left for a practice barrel and the components to burn it up with rather than a 4000.00 scope. Scopes get more costly for what? I still can't see Fuj's fly on the wall or the flea, besides the flea is a girl, no balls..... some days.

A new bbl will last around 1000 rounds...odds are that will be 10 to 20 shooting sessions. Odds are that 75 percent of those sessions will have conditions you wish you had the 80x. Get you a Tasco and get a couple more bbls while at it, and put the odds in your favor. Heck iron sights worked for Davy Crockett!