Above, are some of the scopes that I find work just great for the type of hunting that I do with my airguns. Top to Bottom. MTC Viper 4-16x50mm, Leupold Vari X II 4-12x40mm, Bushnell Legend 5-15x40mm, and a Leupold 3-9x33mm EFR. In addition to those shown, I have others from Crosman, Nikko Stirling, and Simmons that are mounted on various guns, and ready to hunt.
When talking about scopes and prices, the sky is the limit, $800, $1500, $2000+, Swarovski, Zeiss, Leupold are some examples, and there are others up there as well. For sure there are some differences in the mechanical build, and optical quality, between the premium priced scopes, and the value priced units, but do I really need that difference on guns that have no recoil, and rarely get shot past 100 yards. I decided some time ago that the answer is no.
Up until four or five years ago, I had a couple of Leupold 6.5-20x40mm EFR models mounted on a couple of my air rifles, and they were really nice scopes. Around that same time, I picked up a used FX 2000, and started looking for some glass to put on it. I settled on a Bushnell Elite 3200, 7-21x40mm with mildot reticle. At the time, I think it was around $325 bucks. It turned out to be a very nice scope mechanically, and optically, and the performance on various hunts, was everything I could ask for and then some.
I sold off the Leupolds, and bought myself a nice AA 410ERBSL .22 cal PCP with the money, and at the time, dropped a $200 dollar Bushnell Legend 5-15x40mm scope on it, and never looked back
I currently hunt with scopes by CenterPoint, MTC, Bushnell, Simmons, Nikko Stirling, and Leupold. The price range is from $114 dollars, to around $400. Some were picked up on sale, and others were purchased at the going price of the day.
The big CenterPoint, MTC, and Nikko Stirling 4-16x50/56mm scopes are all on my prairie dog rifles, and they work great when looking to put a pellet through a prairie dogs head at 100+ yards. With these scopes, I can easily spot a prairie dogs head sticking up out of the prairie floor at 100 yards, and dropping a pellet onto it is not a problem.
A high dollar scope might also let me see the whiskers, on the prairie dogs nose, but do I really need to see the whiskers, to drop a pellet down a dogs ear hole, that I can plainly see with my value priced scopes? Not really. A nice clear image of the dogs head is all I need to get the job done, and all of these value priced scopes that I use, give me that.
Some of my hunting rigs, and the scopes I run on them. All the scopes are variables, and set at 8X.
Leupold 3-9x33mm, on my FWB 300S .177, duplex crosshair.
Bushnell Legend 5-15x40mm, on my Benjamin Discovery .22, mildot reticle.
Leupold VariX II 4-12x40mm, on my RWS Rapier .22, duplex crosshair.
Bushnell Elite 3200 7-21x40mm, on my FX 2000 .22, mildot reticle.
Nikko Stirling Nighteater 4-16x50mm, on my AA 510 TC .22, mildot reticle.
Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5-20x50mm, on my FX Whisper .22, mildot reticle. Thick crosshairs, but this is a dedicated cottontail rifle, so it's a non issue.
MTC Viper 4-16x50mm, on my AA 410ERBSL .22, SCB reticle.
CenterPoint 4-16x56mmAORG, on my Benjamin Marauder .25, mildot reticle.
CenterPoint 4-16x56mmAO, on my Benjamin Marauder .22, mildot reticle.
With just about any of these scopes, I can see the ticks in a jackrabbits ear at 90 yards. With a much more expensive scope, I might be able to tell the gender of the ticks in that jackrabbits ear, but I don't really need that capability to drop a pellet down that hares ear canal.
So like I tell folks all the time, when it comes to scopes for airguns that are recoilless, and rarely get shot past 100/120 yards, it's your dime, spend it how you want, but for what I do with my PCP's, these value priced scopes have all performed to perfection for me. Never an issue of any kind with any of them, and I have never thought to myself, "man, I've got to get some better scopes." YMMV.
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