The optics you use on your rifle will have a huge impact on whether you hit or miss a target. Typically, you will spend several hundred if not even a thousand dollars on a rifle scope. In return, you want to make sure to get the most accurate optics for your shooting and hunting needs.
List of Rifle Scope Manufacturers
When looking at a new rifle scope you will find out that there are many brands out there. Some are well known while most people will never have heard of others. A good rule of thumb is to only look at the established brands and ignore the lesser-known ones. However, some of those lesser-known ones have by far the best optics that one can buy.
We compiled a list of rifle scope manufacturers where we think you can get accurate and reliable optics. Not everyone might agree that these are the ‘best’ scopes but any of these brands will provide you with a quality product.
Once you settle on a specific kind of scope for your needs, e.g. figure out what magnification you need, etc. then you can look at specific reviews for specific models. Many of those specific scopes will be from one of the manufacturers listed below.
We researched some background on the manufacturers below to give you a little information about the brand. By no means is this list complete and we also have not had a chance to research any and every manufacturer on the list. It is our goal to fill in the blanks regularly so you can get more information about each and every brand available. The list is alphabetic and does not reflect any preference or suggestion by us.
If you have information or experience with any of the listed manufacturers or think that we should include a specific manufacturer then please do not hesitate to leave a comment below. We will make sure to get back to you!
What are the differences between holographic vs red dot sights and scopes
Barska
Barska calls itself a sport optics company. The line of products includes rifle scopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, and telescopes. And pretty much anything in between.
Most products by Barska are very affordable. They are well made but are usually not the best optics you can get when you look at other scopes that are more costly.
Barska offers a wide range of rifle scopes. You can for nearly every shooting and hunting need find a Barska scope that matches those requirements.
BSA
BSA is a British manufacturer of shooting and hunting optics. The product range contains spotting scopes, binoculars, rifle scope, archery scopes, and others.
BSA has a long history and was founded over one hundred years ago by a group of gunsmiths. Since then BSA has grown into one of the best known and respected hunting and shooting optics manufacturers.
The rifle scopes are of good quality while staying rather affordable. The optics and quality of the scopes are overall good and you can rest assured to get a solid product for your money.
Burris
Burris has a relatively short history and was founded in 1971 by Don Burris, a former design engineer with Redfield. The products are concentrated around optics for hunting, tactical scopes, competition scopes, and mounting systems for scopes – Choosing the Best Types of Riflescopes Mounts
You can get great quality scopes with good optics for a fair price. Burris is quite innovative with its scopes and the Eliminator series proves that. The scope incorporates a laser range finder and provides holdover calculations for the cartridge you’re using.
Bushnell
Bushnell is one of the best-known brands when it comes to any sort of optics equipment. The company is in business for more than 65 years. The products available range from night vision devices, binoculars, and spotting scopes, to rangefinders, trail cameras, and rifle scopes to name a few of them.
The rifle scopes offered are for various uses ranging from tactical scopes to long-distance shooting scopes. Their range or AR optics that are highly rated by many that use them. Quality is great and most everybody using Bushnell is satisfied.
Hawke
Hawke is a UK-based optics company with a rather short history. It established its US headquarters in 2007. The products range from crossbow to rifle scopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, and laser range finders.
Pricing on Hawkes scope is rather low while the quality is reasonably good. You will typically get a good price-performance level but don’t expect to get one of the best scopes there is for the price you pay.
Leupold
Leupold is one of the best rifle scope brands there is. They were the first to introduce a fog-proof scope that was manufactured in the US. They are best known for great quality and outstanding optics.
You’ll find cheaper scopes than Leupold but you’ll have a hard time finding scopes that are better at the given price point. Besides rifle scopes, you can also get rangefinders and other optical equipment from Leupold.
Check out how to successfully and simply zero in your scope at 100 yards!
Meopta
Meopta is a manufacturer of some of the best rifle scopes and hunting optics available. They were founded in 1933 in what is today known as the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia at the time) under the name Optikotechna Company.
Meopta has a US subsidiary and designs and manufactures optics in the United States. They produce mid-level to high-end optics at a reasonable price. In addition to riflescopes, they also produce other hunting and shooting-related optics including rangefinders.
Mueller
Mueller offers scopes for nearly any use you can think of. Whether it’s for archery, crossbows, hunting, tactical, or competition shooting, they have a scope that fits. Mueller is a rather new competitor on the hunting optics market and was founded in 2003.
Their optics are of good quality at a rather low price point. You won’t find the highest quality optics in Mueller scopes but for the price, you will typically get a more than satisfactory scope.
Nikon
Nikon is known outside of the outdoors arena as a manufacturer of world-class cameras. Their optics are some of the best that can be found. This is not only the case for their camera lenses but for any optical devices they produce including their rifle scopes.
In the outdoor market, Nikon offers rifle scopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, and rangefinders. They are all hailed for their excellent optics.
In fact, Nikon was the first to reach 95% of light transmission in rifle scopes. The selection of available rifle scopes is astounding and covers any possible need for a scope. There’s not much you can go wrong with if you choose a Nikon rifle scope.
Nikon is no longer offering rifle scopes and optics for hunting. If you can find any Nikon scopes online, in your local store, or used then don’t hesitate to check them out as they are top-quality riflescopes!
Redfield
Redfield is an optics manufacturer with a history that spans over 100 years. The offered products include range finders, binoculars, spotting scopes, and rifle scopes.
The company was acquired by Leupold in 2008. You will get high-quality scopes and optics at a reasonable price. The products are positioned in the market to stay below the Leupold product lines in pricing.
Sig Sauer
Sig Sauer is mostly known for its excellent pistols that are used globally by military and law enforcement. The company initially was founded in 1853 in Switzerland producing wagons and railway cars.
In 1864 they produced their first muzzleloader rifles and in 1949 their first pistols. 1985 marks the year that they came to the US under the brand SIGARMS.
2015 saw the expansion into other areas including optics. Sig Sauer produced some of the finest riflescopes available since then. They also focus on combining optics with electronics and are a front-runner in the innovation of digitizing riflescopes. Great examples of this are the Sig Romeo5 red dot and the Sierra 6BDX!
Simmons
Simmons offers quality hunting optics since 1983. They are owned by Vista Outdoor Inc which also owns other brands like Bushnell and Weaver. The product portfolio includes binoculars, trail cameras, spotting scopes, rangefinders, and riflescopes.
Simmons scopes are priced on the very low end. Quality is acceptable but be aware that you can’t expect to get optics in a cheap scope that would match the optics in an expensive scope.
Steiner
Steiner Optics was founded in 1947 in post-war Germany. The founding premise was to produce the highest-level optics that were possible to make.
Steiner by now is a division inside of the Berretta Group and they produce their optics in various countries including the United States. They are very innovative with their optics designs and are some of the first to combine electronics like laser rangefinders with optics.
Getting a riflescope from Steiner means that you will get top-quality and amazing lens clarity. The scopes and all other optics are built to last. Pricing is typically on the high-end but in line for what you pay for top-of-the-line hunting optics.
Swarovski
Swarovski is an Austrian optics manufacturer with a long history. The optics division of Swarovski was established in 1949 and has since then produced some of the highest quality hunting and shooting optics available. The products include spotting scopes, binoculars, and rifle scopes.
Their rifle scopes are anything but cheap but you will get some of the best optics that money can buy. You’ll be hard-pressed to find anybody owning a Swarovski rifle scope that is not in love with it. If you have the money, then go ahead and invest it into one of the best optics you can get your hands on.
Vortex
Vortex has built a reputation for offering some of the finest optics available on the market. They were founded in 1986 and are located in Wisconsin. The products include riflescopes, range finders, spotting scopes, monoculars, red dot scopes, and various others.
The rifle scopes offered are reasonably priced and provide excellent optics. The quality of the scopes is usually hard to beat and no matter what kind of scope you’re looking for, you should take Vortex into consideration.
Weaver
Weaver is part of the Vista Outdoor Inc company which also owns Bushnell and Simmons. The offered products include rifle scopes, tactical scopes, binoculars, and laser rangefinders amongst others. A very well-known product line of Weaver is their rings and bases which are used by numerous hunters.
The scopes are spreading all over the pricing range and offer good quality for the money. The rifle scopes satisfy any shooting and hunting need you might have.
Zeiss
Zeiss is in the optics market for more than 150 years. They are located in Germany and are best known for their outstanding optics. The products offered include binoculars, rifle scopes, and spotting scopes among others.
Zeiss is definitely producing scopes that are on the highest end of quality and optics. The entry-level scopes remain affordable but if you put your sight on one of the higher-end scopes then be ready to pay for what you get which is a super-quality scope that will completely satisfy your needs for hunting optics!
Also of interest: Best Scope for 270 Win
You will be hard-pressed to find a bad rifle scope today. There are quality differences and they are typically reflected in the price. In any case, you should under no circumstances be cheap on your hunting optics.
You will be more satisfied with a better quality scope and it will last you a long time. Nothing is worse than trying to hunt your game to only find out that your rifle scope will not perform to your needs!
Check out our reviews of rifle scopes to find the best scope for your needs!
