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what is the most common complaint with optics?

bobski
what causes customers to spend years trying to achieve the perfect scope performance? what breaks or fails or fails to perform on a rifle/pistol scope most often?

former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • rusty1
    its the person behind the scope that counts.

    rusty1
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  • bobski
    anyone else willing to to help? im not evaluating humans, im evaluating the most common reason for people buying a new scope. i/e: fog in lens, broken hairs, blury glass, darkness issues, object too far away to see, change in caliber requiring more power, mismatch of recoil to sensitivity limits of scope, etc... thanks in advance.
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  • Rafter-S
    I venture to say "durability" is one of the primary reasons most people buy another scope. Cheap, poorly made scopes don't last like the better ones do. I have an old Redfield that's been on my 30-06 for over 30 years, and it still is a good scope. (The newer Redfields may not be as good) It gets carried in my truck every day. I also have many Leupolds, some over 20 years old, that have never failed. Been hunted with every year and seen lots of abuse.

    By the same token, I have friends who buy $100 Walmart scopes and are so happy with them...for a year or so. Then they are out buying another scope because their "bargain" won't hold zero or fogged up.

    That's my opinion...and worth about what you paid for it.

    Rafter-S
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  • Rembrandt
    Most people bring problems on themselves by buying cheap optics..."get what you pay for"...
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  • select-fire
    I always like to see two hunters compare their rifles in the field. Especially when one looks thru a GOOD scope and their reaction to the clarity of it. A great shooting rifle is average with cheap optics, yet a poor performing rifle will shoot better if you can see clearly your target.
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  • rusty1
    the handling of the gun is important after a little use the cheaper brands seems to need resetting, and some are not clear. the way i test scopes is while they are new i put them on a magnum air rifle if the spring action don't break it and it stays set its a good one.if it break take it back ot the store.

    rusty1
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  • moose56
    I GET A KICK OUT OF WHAT PEOPLE CALL "JUNK OPTICS". MOST OF US HAVE OUR FAVORITES WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT WE BUY, BUT I HAVE HEARD STORIES OF THE HIGH-END SCOPE FAILURES AS WELL. THOSE THAT COST SEVERAL BEN FRANKLINS USUALLY ARE SHIPPED BACK TO THE GIANT OPTIC MAKERS FOR REPAIRS, BUT IF YOU PAY 40 BUCKS FOR A SCOPE AND IT GOES BAD- YOU'RE OUT 40 BUCKS! IF I WERE TO PAY 3-6 FRANKLINS FOR A SCOPE, I MOST LIKELY WILL NOT RUSH RIGHT OUT AND BUY ANOTHER TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. SOME PEOPLE DON'T TREAT THEIR OPTICS ANY BETTER THAN THEY DO THEIR RIFLES. SOME PEOPLE DON'T CLEAN THE DUST OFF THE LENSES FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT UNTIL THE NIGHT BEFORE SEASON OPENS AND THEN THEY GET BENT OUT-OF-SHAPE OVER SOMETHING NOT WORKING PROPERLY.
    I HAVE NOT EXPERINCED A SCOPE FAILURE AND I HAVE SEVERAL BRANDS ON DIFFERENT WEAPONS.
    MOOSE
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  • Travis Hallam
    What drove me off the deep end to high end optics was clarity in the shade. I watched a deer for 35 minutes with his rack in the brush but his body in the open. It was bright out but I could not see his rack with the scope but I could see it with my eye (just not enough to determine the size). Decided to shoot and it was a small rack. Went to Schmidt & Bender and Swarovski after that.

    My cousin has a midrange scope ($300) and it performed very well except it could not handle the recoil of a hot load out of his .338 win mag. It must have lost the nitrogen seal because it fogged up.

    Also some will not hold a point of impact well. Others will change the point of impact as the magnifications change. Durabilty is also a big issue. I fell twice while walking in deadfall during an elk hunt and had a horse buck with me while I had my rifle on my back. My Schmidt & Bender never lost it point of impact.

    Mad Dog
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  • chuck
    I shoot a lot of 300s and 338s and the scopes do not seem to hold up to the recoil, Mine go bad when I adj for P.O.I Several times I get good groupes then when I adj for poi the groupes open up to an inch or two. and at the cost of scopes, they should be better, a good scope will cost as much as the rifle. And I think it costs less to build a scope than a Rifle. [V][V][V]
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  • He Dog
    Durability and quality of optics and coatings are certainly factors, and another is whether the reticle moves as it it supposed to. This is more likely to be the case on higher end (mid price range, not Euro optics). There is a point of deminishing returns here though. Most Euro scopes are actually built for a very different set of hunting conditions than are even legal in the US. It really does not make a lot of sense for most US hunters to pay $600-$1200 for optics designed for shooting at night in Germany. You are simply not going to use them that way (unless you are in fact jack-lighting) here. You don't need a 56mm objective, or a 30mm tube.

    My heros have always killed cowboys.
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