What is the best fixed 4x rifle scope available for less than $500?

Used or new.

Make? Model? Price?

Thanks

Schmidt and Bender can be found for your price range- excellent scope - on the heavier side though. The Swarovski 4x32 is another excellent one. They are both hard to come by

Get a Weaver or Leupold.

Low magnification fixed power scopes are all pretty good insofar as optics since (1) good optical glass is cheap these days, and (2) even "average" optics provide all of the resolution that 4x magnification can yield, anyway. If the magnification was to be 12X or 18X or 24X then you can begin to see a difference in ultra-high grade optics. Bottom line: Paying a lot of money for a fixed 4x won't buy you much in the way of optical improvement.

Similarly, fixed power scopes are also much less prone to something going wrong internally since they are simpler and without moving lenses for variable magnification. Most makers mechanics are reasonably dependable in fixed scopes.

In general, light weight and a compact instrument are helpful features in a hunting scope. That would point me toward the current Leupold 4X offering.

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Get a Weaver or Leupold.

^^^^ this

What do you want to put it on?

If your rifle is a design with the top side unchanged since about 1970, you might find Bausch & Lomb 'Custom' mounts to fit it. Then, look for one of their scopes for sale on the Internet. Old timey scopes like Pecars and Kahles should also sell for under your price. Mounts are easier to find if the scope has no rail.

I would trust the small reticle-movement variables in those brands, too.

The reason modern variables are less reliable is because the scroll and more lenses can add to the weight of the erector tube - more mass to be rocking around under recoil. The mass can be reduced by making the scroll and tube from alloy but that increases the likelihood of the metal galling. So, many makers use a heavy, greasy, brass alloy.

Also, most American variables have the reticle in the second focal plane so it does not fatten up as the power is raised. Trouble is that unlocks it from the image of the target and, if any slop develops in the scroll, the point of impact may change between magnifications.

I have the Weaver 6x, nice scope if a bit short for a mauser.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Get a Weaver or Leupold.

^^^^ this

I would opt for a used Leupold, the guarantee is still good for the life of the scope and they honor their guarantee...A nice used 4X can be had for $150 to $200. A 3X for 350. used..Ive used them for 0ver 50 years..without a single complaint. I buy them at gun shows and pawn shops..

I used Weavers for years when I lived in the warm Texas climate. I found they tended to fog up on rare occasion even in Texas, and that they were not for Idahos cold snowy clime. the fog up no matter what, the cross hairs pop loosed..That's when I went 100% to Leupold and have been using them for 40 years or so..never a problem to amount to much, just send them back and they come back in a week or 10 days fixed or replaced with a new scope, regardless of the circumstances..Ive sent a couple of them back over those 40 years...I don't care what a scope costs they all bread down on occasions, they are made by man you know..