Cheap scopes?

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Is it just me that only uses cheap scopes as less than $100? It is hard for me to break down and pay over $100 for a scope when I,m only

shooting 50 to 75 yards. Maybe 100yds

at times. It is so hard to justifying laying two, three or more for a air rifle scope. Is it just me or are there others out there like me?
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Fly
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Is your view through the scope clear under varied lighting? Does your scope hold zero once you sight it in? Are you consistently hitting what you’re aiming at the way that you need you when you need to? 
 
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Well I think I can answer yes for the most part. I have had one scope I retired for the cross hair screwing up. The question (are you hitting what your

aiming at?) Well after years of shooting during my life time I,m shooting almost as well as I once was given my age. I can say when I miss it not

the scope, it is me.🤭. Let me say this. If I was completing on a weekly bases I would up grade me scope or scopes. But hunting no! I usually hit

what I,m aiming at.
Fly🤠





 
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I have several scopes under 100$. I was lucky and nabed 2 bushnell 3.5x 10 22lr drop zones for 75$ normally over 140$. I like to grab the closeout models or what not. I agree about the 100$ budget. I’m shooting 60yd and under on an air gun and not competing so it doesn’t need to be super clear just has to function. My most expensive scope a vortex needs to go in for repair 😔.

There are certain brands I a void and I don’t count clicks. Mid dot hold for me. I feels in the 100 to 150 a lot can be had.
 
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Well I think I can answer yes for the most part. I have had one scope I retired for the cross hair screwing up. The question (are you hitting what your

aiming at?) Well after years of shooting during my life time I,m shooting almost as well as I once was given my age. I can say when I miss it not

the scope, it is me.
1f92d.svg
. Let me say this. If I was completing on a weekly bases I would up grade me scope or scopes. But hunting no! I usually hit

what I,m aiming at.
Fly
1f920.svg





Click to expand...

If that’s the case and you’re satisfied with those results, I see no need for more than you already have. 
 
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Just bought a refurbed Avenger for $180, so putting a $400 or $500 scope on it doesn't make sense to me. I'll be using a 15 year old CenterPoint 4-16. Cross hairs are thick but seems to do the job. Rings are out of the old, used Scope Rings pile. So the scope will have a Zero cost, which is about right for a $180 gun. At least I think that's about right.

I do use more expensive scopes on higher end guns, but I can't bring myself to pay $700, $800 and above for a scope. I top out at about $350 for a low end Vortex or something similar. Athlons are great too, about the same price range. As long as the parallax can go down to 10 yards, I'm good with most scopes.
 
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If you are only using a scope as a gun-sight and you use holdovers and don't click, than you might get away with using just about any cheap scope on a babied pcp. If you want to do video, or actually watch your pellets fly, and you are a clicker, than you have to fork out no less than $300. Watching the pellets fly is very helpful and I recommend you get at least one scope that can, just to figure out what is actually happening when you shoot. A lot of new airgunners with cheap scopes think that their guns shoot like crap when actually the pellets are spiraling and if they know that they can change speed, pellet, or clean their barrel to correct the problem and not blame the scope, pellet or gun, whatever the case may be.
 
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I made a foray into cheap scopes and really regretted it. (truGlo, Sportsmatch) I've since parted ways with them all. The only "cheap" scopes I have found to be any good so far were when the Covenant line from Cabella's goes on sale. These definitely punch above there weight. Id be happy with them if I paid full price, (which is still pretty affordable) but on sale they seem to be a steal.
 
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I'm on fixed income. I "cheap out" wherever I can & not ashamed to admit it. I've even built my own "accessories" where possible. I've learned that, for me, if a part serves the purpose I need it to without having spent big bucks than I'm satisfied. If you want a certain performance from your equipment & are getting said performance, cheap scope or not, than more power to you! Don't second guess yourself. Just enjoy what ya got! I've never spent more than $60 on a bipod or $25 on scope rings & I do just fine. Could I AFFORD $150 scope rings or a $450 bipod, yeah, if I saved up. Could I afford the divorce if I bought that stuff? Most likely not!
 
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I had a UTG bug buster that shifted zero repeatedly. UTG said they would fix it under warranty and gave me a return authorization but I'm still waiting over a year later. It's a roughly $100 scope. The Hawke Vantage 2-7 replacement works great, however. Same price range. I have a West Hunter 4-16 on my Avenger and I like a lot of things about it but it shifted over an inch at 25 yards once. It got it with all the extras and I think I paid $150 for it. I have a Primary Arms 4-14 on my P35 and I bought an Athlon Talos 6-24 for another P35 I don't have yet. I put the Athlon on the gun I have for awhile and I like it. But I think I like the Primary Arms better. I paid about $200 for these scopes. I think they were worth the extra $100. But I don't try to click for windage or distance with any of them. I think I'd need to go to about a $400 scope to be able to do that reliably.

I think you have to be careful and possibly lucky to get a scope that is reliable for $100. Easier to get something that works as you go up in price. I won't be using the West Hunter if it shifts zero again on me. To me that is the biggest issue with a scope. I can live with adjustments that do not move exactly what they should for the clicks I give it. I can live with it moving a little for a few shots as it settles down. But if it starts moving when I did not tell it to, it is risking going in the trash bin or back for service (for UTG that seems to be the same thing except sending it back costs you shipping).

Long way of saying I've wasted money on $100 scopes (the UTG was the first on an air rifle but it's happened to me on powder burners too) and plan to shift my price point up a bit going forward.
 
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