Best Budget Scope Under $300 for Deer Hunting
- Thread starter Alan
- Start date
Tim Horton
Active member
Trivia.... At one time I got a pair of scopes as a package deal from Cabelas Canada... A 3x9 BDC set up for 30-06 and a 1x4 duplex variable.. I put the 3x9 on a 24" Husqvarna 30-06 and the 1x4 on the same action 20" Husqvarna 30-06 carbine... These were our ...go to... rifles for hunting and predator protection of our livestock on the ranch... They worked well...
CTom
Member
There lots of good, reasonably priced scopes out there. Vortex Crossfire scopes are very serviceable and cost less than 3 bills. I have 2 Crossfires. The Leopoldo American series of scopes are dandies but cost a bit over the $300. They're worth very penny more.
Leupold:
-US company
-well-known for decades
-assembled in USA
-no-BS warranty
-starting at about $250+/-
Don't get scared off looking at their $5K sniper/military scopes… the VX-Freedom line is all that most of us (or anyone reading this thread to learn about optics) really need.
You often hear people bragging about their Korean-, Phillipnes-, etc.-made scopes being "just as good as a Leupold." I've never heard a Leupold owner claiming their scope was "just as good as a Brand X." That's because Leupold is the brand that sets the standard for scopes, in America.
I have owned scopes by (no particular order) Bushnell, Bausch & Lomb, Leupold, Burris, Weaver, Nikon, Swift… and a few others. Many of them have been wonderful scopes, and most are still in use. A few have been sold or traded off. The Weaver of my youth is no longer, the new ones don't compare. Same for Bushnell. Nikon is out of the scope business, I believe the same is true of B&L. Swift seems to have disappeared. I had great hopes for Redfield when they were bought/revived by Leupold, but Leupold sold that brand, and now they're owned by/made in "who knows."
I avoid store-branded scopes (Cabela's, Scheels, etc.) for the simple reason that they tend to switch suppliers over time. Try to get parts for your 20 year-old store brand scope. Heck… try to get a definitive answer as to who even MADE your store-brand scope!
Now try to get your Leupold scope repaired. Go to Leupold.com or call 1-800-LEUPOLD, follow their instructions for shipping in your scope for FREE repair under their Lifetime Warranty.
The cost to get into an entry-level Leupold isn't THAT much higher than a comparable scope from many other brands. I'm not an optics snob, but if Leupold makes what I want… and it's not too much more than the "equivalent" product from Korea/Phillipines/China/etc… I'm buying the Leupold every time!
-US company
-well-known for decades
-assembled in USA
-no-BS warranty
-starting at about $250+/-
Don't get scared off looking at their $5K sniper/military scopes… the VX-Freedom line is all that most of us (or anyone reading this thread to learn about optics) really need.
You often hear people bragging about their Korean-, Phillipnes-, etc.-made scopes being "just as good as a Leupold." I've never heard a Leupold owner claiming their scope was "just as good as a Brand X." That's because Leupold is the brand that sets the standard for scopes, in America.
I have owned scopes by (no particular order) Bushnell, Bausch & Lomb, Leupold, Burris, Weaver, Nikon, Swift… and a few others. Many of them have been wonderful scopes, and most are still in use. A few have been sold or traded off. The Weaver of my youth is no longer, the new ones don't compare. Same for Bushnell. Nikon is out of the scope business, I believe the same is true of B&L. Swift seems to have disappeared. I had great hopes for Redfield when they were bought/revived by Leupold, but Leupold sold that brand, and now they're owned by/made in "who knows."
I avoid store-branded scopes (Cabela's, Scheels, etc.) for the simple reason that they tend to switch suppliers over time. Try to get parts for your 20 year-old store brand scope. Heck… try to get a definitive answer as to who even MADE your store-brand scope!
Now try to get your Leupold scope repaired. Go to Leupold.com or call 1-800-LEUPOLD, follow their instructions for shipping in your scope for FREE repair under their Lifetime Warranty.
The cost to get into an entry-level Leupold isn't THAT much higher than a comparable scope from many other brands. I'm not an optics snob, but if Leupold makes what I want… and it's not too much more than the "equivalent" product from Korea/Phillipines/China/etc… I'm buying the Leupold every time!
