When you get a new rifle or in case you simply have to replace your old rifle scope it’s becoming quite challenging to evaluate the different scope options you have. You can look around in the different stores and outdoors shops but you usually only find a limited selection of hunting optics.
Tips On How To Buy A Rifle Scope Online
A great way of finding the best rifle scope for a great price is to look online. Check out some reviews that guide you in finding the scope for your needs. Pricing online is usually more economical than in brick-and-mortar stores and you can find reasonably priced scopes that offer excellent capabilities online.
Our site strives to provide you with in-depth reviews on rifle scopes. You will find background information on manufacturers and on anything related to hunting optics. You will find out that there certainly are some extremely good rifle scopes available on the site.
Check the reviews to find the best rifle scope for your gun at the best price. Good quality rifle scopes, like when you compare scopes from Leupold or Vortex, do not have to cost a lot while still offering excellent value. – Check out the review of the Leupold Mark 3HD!
Buying Guide and Reviews for finding the Best 6.8 SPC Rifle Scopes
Steps To Find The Best Rifle Scope
Finding the best rifle scope that will fit your shooting and hunting (are there differences between hunting and target-shooting scopes?) needs is not a small task. You will find a large variety of rifle scopes on the market. To find the best rifle scope you can do a lot of reading and research.
You can however cut the research time by following these few simple steps:
Intended Use
Before worrying and considering any of the other steps outlined below, you have to figure out what you want to use the scope and rifle for? If you’re going coyote hunting then you most like won’t need a scope that’ll enable you to target 1000 yards into the distance.
You also need to consider your rifle! Are you using an air rifle (best air gun scopes)? An AR 10 (best AR 10 optics) or an AR-15 (top-rated AR-15 sights and scopes)? Or an AK 47 (highly rated AK 47 scopes)? A Remington 700 (best Remington 700 scopes)? Or any other rifle that has scopes that are best suited for the weapon? Get yourself clear on your intended use and what rifle you use to then be able to match the technical specs of a scope (range, magnification, etc) to the rifle.
What ranges will you shoot? That’s not a straightforward answer to give but are you typically in the 200-yard range (best 200-yard scopes)? 500 yards (best 500-yard scopes)? Or long-range like 1000 yards (best long-range riflescopes)?
Budget
Decide on a budget for your scope. Just like any major purchase, your choices range from cheap to very expensive. Though it is clear that your budget does depend on your financial situation.
However, the single biggest mistake that you can make – along with many other hunters and shooters – is to underspend on your rifle scope. The advice you’ll get from many serious hunters is that you should spend as much on your scope as you do on your rifle. That does not mean that an affordable scope won’t be good to use. For example, the Vortex Crossfire II shows in our review to be an excellent scope at a reasonable price. – Find the best scopes under 300!
Now, this might not be practical or affordable but make sure you budget a reasonable amount for your next rifle scope. Most scope manufacturers have reasonably priced offerings in addition to their highest-prices scopes. Look for example at the Leupold VX-Freedom scopes that are affordable and come with top-quality!
Objective Size
Pick the right scope objective size for your shooting style. The rule of thumb is that the larger the objective, the more light is gathered which results in a brighter sight picture.
The trade-off though is the larger size of the scope. You have to pick a rifle scope that is not too big for your rifle setup while letting enough light in to produce a bright sight picture. If you’re hunting in low-light settings then a larger objective lens diameter will provide you with more time during dusk and dawn to hunt. Check out our reviews of the best low-light scopes!
Finishes
This next point is probably not the highest selection criteria on any hunter’s list. It’s more of a style question and our suggestion would be that you match the finish of the scope to the finish of our gun.
Most scopes are available in a range of different finishes. Usually, you can get matte, camo, gloss, or silver finishes. Again, this is not the biggest issue but you might want to somewhat have things match.
If your rifle, for example, has a blued barrel then you might want to go with a matte finish. Silver might look a little out of place in that case.
Reticle
Decide on the best reticle. You will find that nowadays there’s a large number of choices when it comes to cross-hairs or reticles. Your major decision is usually either to with a standard duplex style or a mil-dot style reticle.
A duplex reticle is where the cross-hairs are thick on the edge and then step down to a finder reticle in the center of the target. A mil-dot style reticle has hold-over marks below the intersection of the cross-hairs. These marks are used as aiming points on distant targets. – Check out what you need to know about holdover!
Magnification
Probably the most important choice you have to make is the magnification of the scope. You want to match that to your hunting or shooting style as well as range you’re aiming for. – Here are the top-rated scopes for the Ruger 10-22!
A large magnification usually results in a smaller field of view so only pick a large magnification if you really want to do long-distance shots. If you usually shoot at closer ranges then use a scope with a lower magnification.
Most rifle scopes today come with variable ranges of magnification (variable power scope or fixed power scope?) and the most often used ones range from 3 to 9 x. These scopes have shown to be usually a good fit for most hunters and shooters.
Where to Find a Rifle Scope
In many cases more expensive doesn’t automatically result in a better quality scope. You can often find good scopes and possibly the best scope for your shooting style for less money than you think.
Check out our reviews and also specifically the feedback from other customers on specific rifle scopes. Don’t simply take our word but check on what others have to say about a specific scope.
Research our reviews as well as customer feedback so you get the best rifle scope.
What is more important? The rifle or the scope?
One thing to keep in mind is that when you buy a rifle scope you should match the quality of the scopes you consider to the quality of the rifle. A rifle scope helps you aim the rifle but the overall shooting accuracy depends mainly on the rifle itself.
