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good value/inexpensive long eye relief 3x9 rifle scopes?

thedutchtouch

thedutchtouch

Well-Known Member
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Joined
Oct 22, 2020
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Maryland
looking for a decent scope to go on a used 300 WM hunting rifle that i'm about to pick up (TC venture weathershield - nothing fancy) . this gun's going to be a used and abused SE alaska gun, so it's going to spend a lot of time in the rain or on a boat/saltwater environment. longer eye relief to not scope myself is a plus. i'm looking for a basic/cheaper(but not cheap) rifle scope if that makes sense. to be honest, there's a ton of info out there, i could spend hours googling, or i could press the easy button and look for some reccomendations from hunters that i'd trust the opinions of... so here i am lol. is this one of those "all major brands have decent scopes at this pricepoint" thing? or are there specific brands to look for or avoid at a 250ish or less price point?
 
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Take a look at Vortex, either the Crossfire II or the Diamondback. Crossfire runs around two bills with the diamondback being a bit over three iirc. I had a crossfire I absolutely mistreated and it never skipped a beat, my diamondback I’ve run on a 30-06, 308 and 556 with zero issues in the heat, rain, snow, cold weather etc. Vortex also has a no questions asked lifetime warranty. Dropped my rifle out the tree and broke the front lens, asked Vortex how much to repair it and they were like meh, send us the old one. A new one showed up in my mailbox three days later. If you had to replace it in AK in a hurry I know Fred Meyer used to carry them and the Indy shops prolly carry them as well. If you have access to a military base the BX carries Vortex.
 
Cheap in a scope can be dangerous at go time. Cheap also means cheaply made. I think the cheapest I would even consider is Bushnell or Vortex's lower end. You talk about abusing it, but take the SEALS or any SF team. They will abuse a scope more in one deployment than you and I will added up in a lifetime. They run Nightforce, S&B, high end Vortex and high end Leupold. What I am getting at is you get what you pay for. I know and I understand you don't want to spend Nightforce prices, but when you finally put the cross hairs on an animal, on the third mountain you have hiked today, and your cross hairs are canted. It was not worth the couple hundred dollars you saved.

The previous scenario happened to me on Kodiak Island on my first Sitka Blacktail hunt.

Edit: 300wm will put A LOT of stress on a scope. Make sure 300wm is in the ratings of the scope you decide on.
 
I’d like to start and second avoiding “cheap”. I will say though sometimes scopes are cheaper not because of lesser build quality but more less features. Stuff like more variable zoom, side focus, illuminated reticles or even the reticle design themselves.
I have a Leuopld freedom and it does well. It’s on a muzzleloader.
 
Gone are the days of Nikon pro staffs:( the best under $200 scope ever made. I’ve always been a fan of vortex but recently when I went in to get a vortex for my rem 700 the guy talked me in to a Burris of comparable price ~$200, the Burris is surprisingly clearer glass, better parallax and apparently has a better (easier) warranty service than vortex, this scope has been on the Rem for nearly a year now with maybe 150-200 rds through it and I’m highly impressed and it didn’t break the bank. Granted im whitetail hunting in Louisiana so it’s not getting beat up too bad, but I did drop the rifle off about a 4ft ledge onto concrete by accident and it’s still true minus a small ding. Most general rule of thumb I follow with optics is stay above the $200 mark or right at as a minimum and go up from there, anything less you’ll most likely be disappointed.
 
I own a Vortex crossfire II, Leupold rifleman, Leupold VX II, and Nikon Buckmaster. I’m not sure if any of them are even made any longer but I’ve ran them all through the wringer with no issues. The VX II has probably been abused the most an currently sits on my.300 win mag. It’s the rifle I used to elk hunt with and is my oldest scope. All good 3x9x 40 and 50’s. I would recommend any of these and would buy them again if need be.
 
Thanks for all the feedback all, @BTaylor you're right, I am going a bit nuts right now but the rifle is more of a short term "necessity" than a bow sight, as I have the ez v (and a cheap trophy ridge multi pin) but I'm not going to back my brother up in bear country with a bow (that's more being alternative/additional bait than a backup lol). He's the hunter (resident tags), I'm the companion/pack mule for this one and I am feeling more comfortable/accurate with a rifle than a handgun currently so carrying a 300 wm and possibly bear spray is my plan, he'll be carrying a 30-06 and his 10mm G20. We're going sitka blacktail deer hunting in brown bear country, and if/when he shoots a deer I'll be doing most of the quartering/breakdown, so I think this arrangement will work out. If we see a big brown bear he may swap rifles with me or shoot it with his 06 with some hot handloads so while I don't need a crazy good scope, I want something "good enough" for out to 200-300 yards or so in case he uses my rifle. Very high likelihood this rifle just gets carried around and not fired during this trip, so while I understand the buy once cry once mentality (and use it as an excuse to get nicer things on the regular) I'm on a tighter budget for this purchase, I've been going a bit wild lately. The flip side is that if this is a safety/not getting eaten by an angry bear thing it should be fully functional at all times, which is why I don't want to slap just anything on it. (Though it's not realistically getting used in a short range charge scenario)
 
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I was researching last year so maybe there's something new available.....and I haven't owned long enough to abuse enough to give 100% endorsement....if u wanted to be well under 200 bucks the Bushnell banner2 could be an option for u....I have mine on the AR in 350l. It took 3 days of bike rides down 2 tracks/limestone gravel roads no issues. Pretty much all the searching on the interwebs and utubes I saw has positive things to say. There's obviously better options.....u know ur shot will be under 50yds in the devil's club anyway hehehehe.....12ga?
 
So you just opened up another can of worms. You do not want a scope on a rifle you're going to be shooting a charging brown bear with. First off, if you shoot a brown bear out of season or without a tag, you are going to jail. In my five years of guiding in Kodiak I only carried a shotgun once for Bear protection. You want a gun you can shoulder quickly and put five rounds down range RIGHT NOW. We used to carry a 12 gauge with solid brass slugs. Also on a charging brown bear you are not trying to kill him, you are trying to break shoulders, maybe hit vitals, and then kill him once he's on the ground. The size of the target on a charging brown bear is minute. Another guy I used to know used to carry a double barrel of shotgun for bear protection. The first round was number six squirrel shot that he would shoot the bear in the face with, the second round was double up buck that he would shoot the bear broadside once it was rolling on the ground with all the number six shot in its face. He had killed four black bear like that around the Anchorage area. You are shooting a charging bear at 10 ft. If it is farther than that, fish and game is going to eat you up, because it was a false charge. I was false charged 7 times over the years. 99% of the charges are false charges, the 1% it doesn't matter what you have, you are already dead. You will understand that the first brown bear you see.
 
Not really looking to turn this into a legalities of me shooting brownies thread. My brother is the hunter, and will have a resident tag. I don't want to be in brown bear country with nothing on me, and it makes sense for me to carry a backup rifle- there's a slight chance he will use my rifle to shoot a brown bear at up to 200-300 yards, or a deer if he has a rifle malfunction or something, so asking for scope recommendations only, though I appreciate and echo your concerns. I may end up carrying a handgun as well as the date gets closer/I get more range practice, but that's a separate thread. Edited my prior post to remove any confusing language.
 
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I understand your thoughts. I just wanted to throw it out there. Reminds me of the south park episode, "shoot it, it's charging". I saw a lot of stuff and met a lot of people guiding up there. I will quickly shoot any apex predator out of season, rather than get attacked or die.

Throw a Bushnell dawn to dusk on the 300wm and call it a day!
 
That Bushnell Banner is a good choice I've used also. I have a 4-12 Nikon on my .270 that works very well and is not too pricey.
 
Loopwing said:
I understand your thoughts. I just wanted to throw it out there. Reminds me of the south park episode, "shoot it, it's charging". I saw a lot of stuff and met a lot of people guiding up there. I will quickly shoot any apex predator out of season, rather than get attacked or die.

Throw a Bushnell dawn to dusk on the 300wm and call it a day!
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I appreciate it, and you definitely know a lot more than me about this particular subject/I understand the shotgun is likely a better defensive option if I'm not feeling comfortable with a g20 (working on overcoming a bit of flinch still though much improved compared to a few months ago). Heck maybe I should carry the backup rifle strapped on my pack and a shotgun on my shoulder, but that's adding a lot of weight I don't really want to carry up and down those mountains. I think I made it seem like I'd be trying to shoot one at long range without a tag, which is definitely not the plan. In the next few years (with a tag) sure, but for now, since we are newer to this and my brother is a resident/his tags are so much cheaper than mine would be, I'm just carrying stuff around for him and going along for the adventure.
 
I've got a Nikon 2-7 shotgun scope on my .444. Shotgun scopes generally have longer eye relief than rifle scopes, and 2x is better than 3x for oh-poop-up-close shooting. Since Nikon isn't in the sport optics business anymore maybe a stainless Vortex scope will do what you want. Carry it dialed all the way down to 2 with clear scope caps on it - I like the Butler Creeks - and set your eye relief offhand instead of prone or benched.

Just this week I was running drills at work with a 4X ACOG - certainly doable, but my red-dot is noticeably faster. If your brother isn't shooting past 300, consider an unmagnified red dot. I've made prone shots out to 300 with a red dot, including headshots on steel. I'm not trying to brag - I'm a pretty average rifleman - but a stout red dot is absolutely viable on a 300WM intended for close-up defensive shots and opportunistic shots out to 300+. POI at 100 is top of the dot, I expect that at 300 hold top of the dot even with the top of the spine will get you in the vitals. You'll want to verify your DOPE on the range, of course.

In your shoes I would personally go with a lever-action .45-70 with peep sights - XS, Williams, or Skinner. The Tikka is a fine rifle, and very versatile, though.
 
thedutchtouch said:
I appreciate it, and you definitely know a lot more than me about this particular subject/I understand the shotgun is likely a better defensive option if I'm not feeling comfortable with a g20 (working on overcoming a bit of flinch still though much improved compared to a few months ago). Heck maybe I should carry the backup rifle strapped on my pack and a shotgun on my shoulder, but that's adding a lot of weight I don't really want to carry up and down those mountains. I think I made it seem like I'd be trying to shoot one at long range without a tag, which is definitely not the plan. In the next few years (with a tag) sure, but for now, since we are newer to this and my brother is a resident/his tags are so much cheaper than mine would be, I'm just carrying stuff around for him and going along for the adventure.
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Enjoy the adventure, ALASKA is an amazing place!!!
 
If you’re willing to stretch a little further in your budget, I’d recommend something in the SWFA SS line. Perhaps the best value scopes available and more durable than anything I’ve seen listed here.
 
My recommendation is to buy a Leupold VX-Freedom series. The eye box is more stable throughout the variable power range than some of the others listed. Not knocking other scope brands, just knowing my preferences and personal research/experiences. There have been brands recommended that I personally would stay away from, for no other reason than, because of the eye relief requirement.
 
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