Was just wondering what peoples opinion of these scopes was like...I used a 3-9x40 illuminated reticle with adjustable focus on a 223 for vermin control a few years back mostly hunting at night and it worked fine ,think i still have the scope stashed in the bungalow somewhere,more recently i put a 1.5-4.5 30mm tube on a siameese mauser in 45/70 again no problems until it dissappeared of the 45/70 and some how landed on my eldest sons rem7600 in 35 whelen.Every time i ask others about them i get some head shakes but they have worked just fine for me so i thought i would ask about other folks views about them.

That slow, swishing sound you hear is from shooters shaking their heads.

But does any one have any horror stories about them or is it just brand snobbery?

They're better than BSA! I'd put them on par with some Tascos. In fact, I've got a Barska on one .22LR that looks suspiciously like the Tasco I have on another. Not bad for what they are. But they aren't Nikon, Leupold, et cet.

LWD

Like i said earlier people shake the head but usualy cant say why,i have had heaps of tasco,s(wont put one on a gun now) and a few simmons,bsa,nikko stirling ,older redfeilds,Hakko leupold and meopta scopes pack it in on me after bugger all work yet the 3 barskas are still going strong 2 of them on pretty hard recoilers as well.

Robgunbuilder hates them.

Check with him.

George

I got two of the Barska 2.5x compacts cheap to put on the kids' .22 rifles. I don't think that's asking too much of them.

Still no personal horror stories,makes me start to wonder about real and or perceived faults and or snobberey..

I started off with a Barska red dot and put that on a AR 15 (remmington) and that worked just fine.

I figured I would then try out one of their 2.5 compacts (forget the exact model number) since I wanted a little bit more magnification at 100yds.

This scope did not have enough horizontal adjustment to site it in. This lead me to believe that something was drastically off internally to the scope itself.

Other scopes I had mounted to this AR just needed a few clicks on the horizontal adjustment to get them in.

Went back to the red dot. Works fine

Why risk it?! I do not own one for that reason. I'd be willing wager that's why you don't have the horror stories here. Nobody is willing to risk a trophy of a lifetime on an $80 scope.

Generally on these cheap scopes, the optic quality is low so as you increase magnification you start to pick up a lot of fringing. However, in a lower power variable or fixed scope, I wouldn't be surprised if things were just fine.

Look at an object through a Barska & immediately through a quality scope. Do this in low light conditions if you are likely to hunt early or late.
If you can't see the difference, then buy the Barska.

Among my collection of various budget scopes, mostly mounted on centerfire rifles, are a couple of Barskas, one on a Marlin 25-06 and other on a 6.5x55 sporterized Swede. No problems to report with my Barskas. Have held zero and adjustments on them function just fine. As to quality of their optics, while not comparable to a high end scope, their optics are more than adequate for seeing holes in 100 yd targets.

I have the 1.5-4.5 30mm also. It's like I'm looking through a lemon jelly bean.

quote:

Look at an object through a Barska & immediately through a quality scope. Do this in low light conditions if you are likely to hunt early or late.
If you can't see the difference, then buy the Barska.

And then go to the eye doctor!!!

LWD

quote:

Originally posted by LWD:

quote:

Look at an object through a Barska & immediately through a quality scope. Do this in low light conditions if you are likely to hunt early or late.
If you can't see the difference, then buy the Barska.

And then go to the eye doctor!!!

LWD

Sshhh!

Well maybe my eyes are stuffed but the first Barska i used for vermin control at night never had a problem seeing through it ,the other 2 have a 30mm tube and a nice big thick #4 reticle dont have a problem with them either.Couple of the guys we hunt with tried Lukes on his 35 whelen rem 7600carbine they loved it .the local importer here wants $264.96 plus postage for them,got mine from the states for around $100.Oh i wear glasses for reading but can still spot game quicker than the young fellas in the bush..