Swarovski Z3 is in your budget and better than most scopes listed.

You've got a few 1-6, 1-8 listed. Those are really difficult to make usable through their entire magnification range and keep them in a decent price range. If they're user-friendly at 1x, they typically suffer at max magnification, with a dark picture and very small eye box. I've used the Strike Eagle 1-6 and it was what I expected. I have a few Vortex products and really like them, but I stick with 3x and 4x ranges.

Vortex viper

I have a 50mm or larger scope on every hunting rifle I own. Why these whimpering ninnies seem to be outraged by those I have no idea. Best one I own is an older Swarovski Habicht fixed power 8x56. It’s a low light monster.

Have several Zeiss Conquest 3-9 or 3.5-10x50mm scopes and have loved them. Bought them all used and don’t have over $450 in any of them. Have a Zeiss Conquest 3-12x56 on my daughters .243 Sako and bought it for under $500 if memory serves.

Used premium brand scopes are your best bang for your buck. They will always have a ready market if you decide you want a different one later. Whether you can sell that 2x 20mm objective that looks like a mini Mag Lite that you paid $500 for later is a mystery to me. Maybe those smaller scopes have a strong following. It’s not in the wide open spaces where I hunt. At least not based on what I see on others rifles at camps I go as a guest.

Guy in Monroeville has a Zeiss Conquest 3-12x56 for sale for $550. I’ll get you a phone number if you’re interested. I’d buy it myself but that would only lead me to find another gun to buy to mount it on.

If you want to follow the advice given above mine, look for a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40. They can be found used for $300 or less usually and are great scopes. They were made by Meopta I’m told and are supposedly the same as their Meopro line.

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behind the Tikka cult.

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Sweet! I have my meopta on my Tikka .270.

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Sweet! I have my meopta on my Tikka .270.

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You’re going to fit in nicely. :cheers;

I’m a vortex fanboy. Not breaking the bank, but when I’ve held them up next to the same class leupold I prefer the vortex every time. And usually saving a few bills.

Midway has a Sig scope and rangefinder combo at a good price. I don’t think either are their top line.
I have a Sig rangefinder that’s great.

Past three weekends, I hunted with a few different rifles with different scopes and here’s my hot take on everything so far:

Vortex can suck it. I put a Diamondback 4-12x40 on my 35 Whelan for primitive rifle. Eye relief is horrible, quality of glass is horrible, low-light is cloudy as hell. If I moved my eyeball off the centerline of the exit pupil at all, the whole thing went solid black or solid white. In broad daylight, its fine, but eye relief still sux. This scope will be replaced with a Leupold VX3.

The next day, when normal rifle opened, I used a long range rifle with a Leupold VX6HD 3-18x44 on a pipeline. Holy shite what a difference – GLASS QUALITY MATTERS. Watching deer at 200 yds at dawn & dusk seems brighter thru the scope than by naked eye. I understand the two are apples & oranges in scope and quality of glass. This was just the first time I had a scope of that quality in woods and not looking at a 200yd target and I was blown away.

18x power zoom is A LOT OF SCOPE for deer hunting in the southeast US. You can count ticks on a deer’s arse at 200 yds. Had to zoom back to like 10-12 to see the whole animal and make sure I was aiming at shoulder and not the ass. I kept the scope on 12x the whole time and felt perfectly confident of a shot (that never presented itself )

So, over Thanksgiving I hunted with a “normal” rifle with a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40. The 14x power was more than plenty for a 200yd shot on a deer. Optics were great, it cost me about $350 on ebay, and I will be buying another one when my 6.5x55 SE is delivered later this week. You do not need to spend an extra $100 on the CDS version for this scope. Zero at 100yds, then 4 clicks up and you’re good to go for anything to 200yds. Aim an inch high at 300yds if you need to.

Nikon scopes have been an excellent value with great clarity for their price range. Too bad they’re no longer making scopes.