$300 budget and too picky and ignorant too decide

[mateba]

I have a $300 budget for glass and mount. I am thinking about the aero precision ultralight spr mount, 3.25oz and $75 shipped. I like Nikon scopes for the price and weight (3-9x40 13oz $100). I also like the Primary Arms .308HUD ACSS reticle and they offer it in a 4-14x44 (25oz, $280) with a first focal plane scope. Maybe this is just a second kind of cool to me but those two feature accent each other and seems to me that it would be a fast range-finding scope. No? Hype? So instead of asking you to literally choose my scope for me. I am going to ask you if you think, in general, do the scopes in my price range have turrets able to track accurately enough to make first shot hits? And if you want to tell me what to buy as well, that cool. But I really could use your perspective on turret quality at my budget level. Thank you.

[65Whelen]

I paid $300 for a Vortex Crossfire II that tracks good, I've had no problems with it and it's performed well. The only shortcoming is it doesn't have a lot of adjustment to it, 40 moa total.

[Bigs28]

What distances are you shooting? Does variable power matter or can you use a fixed power?

[A5BLASTER]

I like the aero mounts that's what I use but be warned there torque spec is 15 inch pounds on the screws that mount it to the rifle and 12 inch pounds on the screws that hold the scope.

Use blue locktite on all screws and don't go over torque spec are it will break every time, I know I have broken several now.

But as long as you hold to the torque spec's they are great and hold tight.

I would save a lil more money for the scope I'm not saying you have to have the most high priced scope, I just think you will be disappointed with the tracking of the turrets on the scope listed.

Hope this helps you sir and good luck finding the right set up for you.

[Rickc]

I like the aero mounts that's what I use but be warned there torque spec is 15 inch pounds on the screws that mount it to the rifle and 12 inch pounds on the screws that hold the scope.

Use blue locktite on all screws and don't go over torque spec are it will break every time, I know I have broken several now.

But as long as you hold to the torque spec's they are great and hold tight.

I would save a lil more money for the scope I'm not saying you have to have the most high priced scope, I just think you will be disappointed with the tracking of the turrets on the scope listed.

Hope this helps you sir and good luck finding the right set up for you.

Save a little more money and look at the vortex HST or PST if you like tactical or leupold.3i if you want a lightweight hunter

Leupold makes.some relatively inexpensive AR mounts that are rock solid

[Rickc]

Here is a good scope and mount

http://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-leupold-vx-3i-3-5-10x40mm-riflescope.html?_iv_code=LU-RS-3-5-10X40-170682-KIT1

[Retro]

You also might want to look at an Athlon Talos BTR 4-16X44 for $159. I believe that there is a group buy on this forum or Opticsplanet has one for $299. I'm not sure if the group buy has this particular one but they have the next model up which is the Athlon Argos BTR. Once again, don't know the asking price on group buy. I do know that if you call Opticsplanet and ask for a discount that they sold me the Argos for $325 and gave a great discount on a Viper cantilever scope mount also. I have a Vortex Viper, a Primary Arms and a Bushnell and the Athlon beats them all hands down.

[thedudeabides]

I've had one of those Centerpoint 4-16 ones on my .300 wm that held solid and accurate, so I tried out the power class, higher cost(for the Centerpoint brand anyway) for an AR. $250 or something: 3-12x44 side focus ffp. I'm tickled with it for the price. It's clear and been rock solid and holds sub moa on the grendel.

[mateba]

Wow, thanks y'all for replying.

I paid $300 for a Vortex Crossfire II that tracks good, I've had no problems with it and it's performed well. The only shortcoming is it doesn't have a lot of adjustment to it, 40 moa total.

Thank you, I'll take that into consideration.

What distances are you shooting? Does variable power matter or can you use a fixed power?

I'm not shooting yet. I have bought some of my parts but I have yet to assemble the rifle. I plan on developing reloads at 100yards at a local range (20min) and shooting up to 600 yards at the CMP range (45min). Otherwise I would really like to shoot at lots of steel on privately owned land, which could exceed 1000yards (2 hours). Looking forward to hunting hog and deer too(2 hours). I think a variable zoom would be nice.

I like the aero mounts that's what I use but be warned there torque spec is 15 inch pounds on the screws that mount it to the rifle and 12 inch pounds on the screws that hold the scope. Use blue locktite on all screws and don't go over torque spec are it will break every time, I know I have broken several now. But as long as you hold to the torque spec's they are great and hold tight. I would save a lil more money for the scope I'm not saying you have to have the most high priced scope, I just think you will be disappointed with the tracking of the turrets on the scope listed.

Hope this helps you sir and good luck finding the right set up for you.

Thank you A5, that does help. I'll heed your warning about the AP mounts. I'll be sure to pick up an appropriate tool and use my loctite. I am concerned about the quality of turrets on variable zoom scopes inside my budget. I don't have a lot of experience with scopes. But, if I had to guess, it would be that it is normal for scope in my budget not to track well enough to make one shot hits without assuming a 10% or more degree of error that I would just have to learn and get a feel for. I am thinking that I won't need to track with ACSS reticle and that it is not meant to be used this way. I would just use it at whatever magnification I want and just shoot once the range is known. This is really where I am at a lack of knowledge. So if I can't afford scopes that feature precision turrets that can track and return to zero from any direction, that's fine. I'd just like to know so I can be realistic. I am really looking for options within my budget.

Save a little more money and look at the vortex HST or PST if you like tactical or leupold.3i if you want a lightweight hunter. Leupold makes.some relatively inexpensive AR mounts that are rock solid. Here is a good scope and mount http://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-...40-170682-KIT1

Thank you, I'll take that into consideration.

[mateba]

You also might want to look at an Athlon Talos BTR 4-16X44 for $159. I believe that there is a group buy on this forum or Opticsplanet has one for $299. I'm not sure if the group buy has this particular one but they have the next model up which is the Athlon Argos BTR. Once again, don't know the asking price on group buy. I do know that if you call Opticsplanet and ask for a discount that they sold me the Argos for $325 and gave a great discount on a Viper cantilever scope mount also. I have a Vortex Viper, a Primary Arms and a Bushnell and the Athlon beats them all hands down.

$160 is a fantastic price! I'll check out the group buy and see what I can come up with. Thank you for recommendation.

I've had one of those Centerpoint 4-16 ones on my .300 wm that held solid and accurate, so I tried out the power class, higher cost(for the Centerpoint brand anyway) for an AR. $250 or something: 3-12x44 side focus ffp. I'm tickled with it for the price. It's clear and been rock solid and holds sub moa on the grendel.

Thank you for the recommendation. I think I'm having trouble finding the scope you are referring too. Is the model number/name CPGT312R?

[LRRPF52]

$300 is pretty constrained when looking for both an optic and a mount.

There isn't much on the market that will be reliable given that price point.

[Bigs28]

If your wanting to shoot to 1k then you will either want a 20moa mount or a scope with enough elevation adjustment to reach there. The swfa fixed 10x has the adjustments to make it there with reliable turret tracking and is 299 but fixed power 10x.

[mateba]

$300 is pretty constrained when looking for both an optic and a mount. There isn't much on the market that will be reliable given that price point.

Thank you for just saying it. I'll need to save some more. How much is enough? Is there a list of preferred options you can link me to? How do you feel about used scopes?

If your wanting to shoot to 1k then you will either want a 20moa mount or a scope with enough elevation adjustment to reach there. The swfa fixed 10x has the adjustments to make it there with reliable turret tracking and is 299 but fixed power 10x.

I have heard good things about that scope and have seen it track accurately in reviews. Maybe I should consider a multiple optic solution?

[GarandThumb]

$300 for the whole setup is tough. If I were buying for myself with a very limited budget and with the intention of getting in some long range work this is what I would go with:

RRA Hi-Rise Cantilever Scope Mount, 30mm Rings
$65

https://rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=385

Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50 PA - Dead-Hold BDC
On sale for $320 at Cameraland

http://cameralandny.com/spec-sheet.html?catalog[name]=Vortex-Viper-6.5-20x50-PA---Dead-Hold-BDC-%23VPR-M-06BDC-Viper&catalog[product_guids][0]=1391978

I think Midway and a few other places have the 44mm objective version of the same scope for ~$330.

It'll cost you about $100 more but it would be worth it. The RRA mount is a little on the heavy side, but its also very solid. I've had one for many years on my 556 AR. The standard Viper scopes are still solid scopes with good glass and nice resetable turrets. You get about 65 moa total travel. You'll come up a little short at 1000 yards without a canted mount but you can use the hash marks to help hold over.


Good Luck!

[NugginFutz]

As some have said, just pick the scope and mount that meet your requirements, and then save up for that. Patience => virtue => reward.

You've heard it said everywhere, "By once, cry once." I've gone through enough cheap scopes when I was first getting into the game, with no shortage of regrettable selections - all of which either went back to Midway/Amazon or were sold outright. I kept none of the junk.

Cheap always has at least one source component. Either the glass is mediocre, the mechanism (erector or turrets) is unreliable or doesn't track, reticles are susceptible to dislodging and on and on...

Sooner or later, the reason a cheap scope is cheap will reveal itself, and that moment is almost always in the field - never on the bench.