Jim,

Leupold is my first choice--on a budget an M84X, even a used one will work well. Weaver's are nice scopes which look an like they are OEM'd Nikons. If not on a budget a VXIII 2.5x8 or even a 6X42 would be fine.

Burris are heavy, and hold up well. Pentax are now made in Colorado at Burris. I own both and they work well.

Nikon can be had at a low price, have very nice optics. Thier eye releife is about 1/2 the Leopold eye relief. I'd put one on a .30/06 class rifle and have one on my SS '06. I did not like it on my .338 Win because shooting paper, the eye relief was too short to keep it away from my forehead.

BTW I have a Leupold 1.75x6 on my .375 H&H, an apeture site on my .458 Win.

Look at SWFA http://www.swfa.com/ for some idea of cost. Midsouth Shooters Supply is also a good place to look.

[ 07-25-2002, 06:43: Message edited by: Fish Springs ]

I would go to www.varminthunters.com and click on Bear Basin outfitters. This weeks special is a Bushnell Elite 4200 6 X 24 for 289.99. I would put it up against a Leupold vari-x III. I have a hard time shelling out big bucks for glass. But if you buy the Elite you won't be sorry. Get some good rings, I suggest Burris signature. Ken

Thanks for all the replies (even the one that called me a whiner ) Now I guess I need to make up my mind.

dnrsports.com Burris Fullfield II $159 one helluva value. I also used a Simmons 44 Mag on my .338 for a few years and it always held zero, although wasn't as clear as the Nikon I replaced it with. I bought at either Auction Arms or Gun Broker a burris 4x compact for $110 and it has Burris no fault warranty even though it is used. Never used but have heard really good things about Swift scopes as well. Hope this helps (notice I didn't use the "L" word once ) gabe

I own 12 B&L's, dollar for dollar they are the best on the market. I believe they are clearer than Leupold and I have owned probably 20 of the Leupolds.
Brooks

<Apparently you have never owned a Nikon Monarch.
And I have never had a problem with eye relief on any of them. The ER on the Monarchs is more than sufficient...>

Sorry I gota through a flag on this one.Yes the Monarch is a good scope but not on anything that kicks=The eye relief just isnt there not on the 5.5x16.5 anyway.
There is a reason there isnt a bsa,tasco,simmons or a bushnell on any of my firearms and it aint from lack of trying(they failed).There are however numerous Weaver,Swift,Burris,Sightron & of course a few Leupolds.The new B&L bushnells might be worth a look.
Bottom line IMHO is if your gona shoot paper to 500yards your gona need at least 12x & it pays to get as much as you can the first time.For the money its hard to beat a used Weaver 15x or 16x.If your gona hunt with it a verible 4x12 works=CJ

Jim,
Take it from a guy that grew up with cheap scopes. DON'T buy a cheap scope. I started with bushnell (owned by baush and lomb, btw), simmons, tasco, worn-out used weavers, etc. A GREAT scope is going to cost nearly what an off the shelf rifle will, but a GOOD one will go for less than 200. When I had "old trusty" (should have been called old and rusty, as it was a steel tube weaver) and failed a shot at about 65 yards, at what I thought was not dark.... well, let's just say I was a tad embarassed, especially as the night before I had been extolling that particular scope...
I keep that one in my gun safe... more of a joke that anything. One friend, being not so kinda, said "you know, that look like someone poured mike in it and shook it up" to wit I said 'come on, you KNOW it's not THAT clear"!!!!

Here's what you can do, and it'll be worth the drive. Go to your local store, and take out a tasco world class and a leupold. try to make it where the leupold is only double the price, so it'll be a vx1. set them both at lowest power, and look around the store, and in a dark corner. Look at the edges of the scope. notice how crisp, bright and straight both of them are. heck, the cheaper scope might even be brighter for this test.
Then, put it on the highest setting (should be the SAME power, if it's different, set at same X) and repeat. try to see into the dark corners far back in the store.
last test, and it has to be in the sequence, set them both at 6x (assuming 42mm bell) and repeat.

Just besure to bring enough cash to buy the leupold, because I think when you do this, side by side, you'll want to plunk the cash down.

cheap scopes are just seldom a value, but I've seen guys with weatherbys(750$, shooting weatherby ammo ($50 a box or more) with a 39.95 tasco "silver" ring scope... works great... until the 10 shot, and the scope is buggered.

oh, yeah, I am assuming you are shooting 30-06 or larger, and want a scope to last more than 2 years.

if you need a REAL deal, look for the tasco euro or titan series. 30mm tube, awesome optics, but too much money new. I am picking them up used for 100-150. Tasco actaully made these GREAT, but who in there right mind would pay 650us for a tasco?

good hunting,
jeffe

If you are looking for a good scope to shoot at paper with, then in my opinion, it is ok to try the cheaper ones (anything goes) you just might be lucky enough to get quality enough and save a bundle.
BUT when it comes to hunting buy the best!

In this topic everybody has talked about good american scopes.
There are alternatives with absolutely same quality. (and pricing as leupold)
Here are some: Zeiss optics (used in the Hubble telescope), Schmidt&Bender, Swarowski and one I recently found very interesting :Nightforce.
Use your Google search engine and they all come up.
Happy hunting
Niels