Switching scopes ?

[Oldtrader3]

Normally I only swap when there is a problem and that is why I no longer own Bushnell. I am changing my Leica from the 35 Whelen to my 280AI as the Leica is more suited for the real flat shooting 280AI. I was able to pick up a Diavari from a gentleman who states he is starting to get tired eyes :mrgreen:.

Blessings,
Dan

I normally keep scopes for a long time, until they longer are able to keep up or have broken several times. This was the case with Leupold. I had been using Leupolds from 1963 until the late 1990's (almost 40 years) when I had (3) Vari-XII and Vari XIII scopes go bad and blink out on me in less than a year. Leupold service is always good and they stood behind their product and returned them repaired free of charge for me and I appreciate that. Then some friends in my hunting club in Utah started having VariX-III issues which were all fixed in good time. The Leupold attrition rate grew higher over time and to fix the problem, you could not buy an improved model for over 10 years which bore a Leupold name. This time when I made the decision to retire and when I bought my first German scopes. Then soon after, Redfield blew their business plan to hell and they became an Asian junk fest for ever higher prices and Leopold converted many of their Binoculars to Asian Branded, No Brand Junk! My response was to buy more Kahles, Zeiss and Swarovski scopes. By the way none of these Euro scopes have died or screwed up since 2001. I still have and use them all, frequently.

Finally Burris and Leupold have begun to understand what the optics business is to a family owned American company who represents what the sell or they become worthless Asian junk, having watched it happen the good and the less good! There are also many fine small companies in this country who make fine military and tactical scopes. Many of these are out of my budget now as I am retired and disabled. and my (20) hunting friends in Utah converted to Conquests, NightForce or Austrians, years ago! We all would love to "Buy American" everyday!

The problem as I see it for Leupold is to keep up and keep your eye on the business and thrive within your technology matrix, or immigrate to Asia! I now own (3) Leupolds, a Swarovski, (2) Kahles and (3) Zeiss Conquests, (2) Conquest DM 5 and (1) Zeiss Diavari scope. Sometimes you are shut out the door and can't afford to refinance your losses from "Buy America," but due to age and personal infirmity, it is not to be!

 

[cloverleaf]

Well I have done a lot of swapping in the last few years. But to be honest, I have just decided that the thing I hate most is having a scope that needs "adjustment" every time I pick it up. so I have been slowly up-grading to Leuplod's Then the erector and parralax went bad in the one VX-II I bought new so that required a swap too :evil: HOWEVER, the zero never moved. Do really like knowing the scope stays where I put it. I will give up some optical clarity and "light gathering" for that.

I know this. Dad put a K-4 with two minute dot on his Herters Seven Mag in 1964, when he bought the rifle. He let me know that I was never to TOUCH that scope's adjustments. I never saw him miss when it counted. One rifle, one scope and eventually one load. I could pick the combo up today and take it hunting with every confidence, from Jacks to ELK. NO swaps once its right. CL

 

[Elkman]

CL
Your experiences are very similar to mine. And your dad shares my same philosophy, if its not broke don't touch it. I also sent a newer Lupy in for the same issue. When you put two clicks in you expect a 1/2 inch not 6 .

 

[tddeangelo]

I am an occasional optics mover. I have a "vision" of what I want on my assortment of rifles, and I'm slowly getting closer to it. Of course, they need to be scoped in the mean time, so I play scope roulette in the meantime.

Right now, I need two scopes to really put it all to rest, but my taste in optics has grown past my ability to buy scopes "at will." So I make due till I can get what I really want instead of "ok for now".

The two scopes I need/want are:

A replacement for my 35 Whelen. It currently "suffers" with a Swaro Z3 3-10x42. Excellent scope, but not quite what I want for the Whelen. I want a better reticle for low light on that rifle. I currently have my eye on a Leica ERi 2.5-10x42 with a #4, then I'll slide the Z3 over to my 300H&H, where I don't mind the fine duplex as much. The 3-9 Conquest on the 300 now will go to my currently scopeless featherweight M70 in 257 Roberts.

The other "need" is for my Ruger 1v in 25-06. It has a 3-9 Minox I stole off the 257 Roberts so I could do load work for the Ruger. I want either a Meopta Meopro 6-18 or a comparable Conquest. Low light is not a major concern for this rifle, although those scopes aren't poor optics by any stretch. I just don't want/need to spend the money for premier low light performance there like I want to do for the Whelen.

The Minox can then push over to my sporter 1917, allowing me to retire the Weaver K4 that's on it, or use the Weaver as a "fill in" when a scope is needed in a pinch.

After all that, I'd like to up the scope game on my 45-70 from the older VariX III 1.5-5 that's on it, and get into maybe a VX6 or Meopta R2 1-6. That's another rifle where I would want every ounce of light transmission I can get.

Once I get to that "end game" I have in mind, though, I don't see myself moving optics much.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

I have a 6.5-20 Vortex Viper that I use for load development. Other than that, I only swap when I can afford to upgrade.

 

[Blkram]

Back when I was young, I bought and mounted a couple of Bushnell scopes on a couple of rifles, but mostly because that was what my friends and family were shooting, and what I could afford at the time. Those rifles and scopes went down the road as priorities and tastes changed.
When I got back into hunting and shooting, and had a little more money, I did a little more homework and bought the best that I could afford, and bought scopes appropriate for the rifles that they were being mounted on. In the end, most of my large game rifles that would be used in close quarters/brush country wound up wearing Leupolds in fixed and variable configurations... fixed 2.5, variable 1.5-5, 1.75-6 and 2.5-8, depending on the calibre and rifle configuration. For rifles that needed more power for the open country, they all got the 3.5-10 x 40. It took me 8 or 9 years to finally change the 3.5-10 to a 4.5-14 x 40 on my STW. I also put a 4.5-14x50 on my 6.5x284 Norma. My other 4.5-14x50 is the VX-L and is mounted on my 270 Wby and will be firing 110 gr AB's@ 3750 fps. (I prefer 40 mil objective lense scopes on my main hunting rifles)
In 2012, I bought my first Swarovski (4-12x50) and mounted it on my Sako VLS in 260 for target shooting, my first non-Leupold in about 20 years. I will be buying three more scopes over the next year or two, that will not be Leupolds. A Trijicon 1-4x24 for my 416 Taylor, another Swarovski, in 3-10x42 for my 280 Rem and a Nightforce 2.5-10x42for a custom that I am currently rounding up the parts for. And just possibly, but still not decided, but may end up with a Zeiss Duralyt 2-8x40 non-illum. scope on the Sako 85 Bavarian 9.3x62, when it arrives.
I have fired rifles wearing the Zeiss Conquests and Vortex scopes, but just didn't find them to my liking. And I've seen a number of Vortex tubes get crimped by the rings when mounted, where the scope ring screws were carefully torqued down as per manufacturer's recommendations with torque wrenches to, want to one own one myself.

In the end, I can only recall swapping out two scopes in the past 15 years. Not bad enough to be called an affliction! LOL

 

[Oldtrader3]

I always (now) use and preset a torque wrench for both the ring screws and the ring-to-mount screws in order to get a repeatable torque on these screws within specification. I have not damaged any scopes with use of this method. Plus, unless I add some new glass to the mix, I do not like to move scopes around much once I have decided which rifle they are for and have mounted and tested them.

You may find also that the Zeiss and all glass has been evolving and the design has markedly changed over the past 12 years since the Conquest scopes have predominated in the US market. I still use and have used Zeiss, Leupold, Kahles Swarovski and other scopes over the past 50 years and expect that the markets for optics will continue to move forward as technology changes and the sport changes.

 

[maverick2]

I've never been one who swaps scopes, but find myself transitioning that way more as time goes on. More than anything else, I think it relates to how my shooting has changed over the years. Until recently, each of my rifles had their respective purposes -- they were scoped for that purpose and stayed in the gun safe until the particular time of year when "their season" had arrived, whether it be winter coyotes, spring squirrels, fall deer and elk, etc.... More and more now, I find myself pulling these rifles out at any/all times of year and target shooting with them. If I'm target shooting as practice for that rifle's season, I'll leave the scope alone. But if I'm target shooting for load development, checking accuracy (more the nut behind the scope than the rifle itself), playing some long range games, or other, I find myself wanting to use a scope that makes that game more enjoyable. As a result, I find myself more often than not pulling my long range varmint scope off the .204 Ruger and dropping it onto the rifle of the day. It's good glass, has fine cross-hairs, and allows me to choose/play games between the holdover marks and twisting turrets, which makes punching paper fun. I've never been too worried about finding the sweet spot any scope when it goes back onto its designated rifle, as I figured if I did it once, I can do it again (and it gives me another reason to loft a little more lead down range...)

Also, the evolution in rifle scopes taking place right now is pretty darn cool -- the advancements in scope size/weight, glass quality, coatings, reticles, illumination, turrets,... is phenomenal. There are some great features available right now in scopes, but no scope has all the features I want for all the applications I shoot. As a result, I'm upgrading to a couple high quality scopes that among them have all the features I want. When I want to use a particular scope feature on a rifle, I'll make the swap. The one thing that probably makes the above work for me however, is the fact that it's quick and convenient for me to swap scopes. I live in a spot where I can step out my back door, sight in at an established 100 yd target, and shoot. If it took more planning and effort for me to shoot (ie., having to load up gear and drive somewhere, use an established range, fit within a specific available time window,...) I don't know that I'd look at it the same way.

 

[nvbroncrider]

I've never been one who swaps scopes, but find myself transitioning that way more as time goes on. More than anything else, I think it relates to how my shooting has changed over the years. Until recently, each of my rifles had their respective purposes -- they were scoped for that purpose and stayed in the gun safe until the particular time of year when "their season" had arrived, whether it be winter coyotes, spring squirrels, fall deer and elk, etc.... More and more now, I find myself pulling these rifles out at any/all times of year and target shooting with them. If I'm target shooting as practice for that rifle's season, I'll leave the scope alone. But if I'm target shooting for load development, checking accuracy (more the nut behind the scope than the rifle itself), playing some long range games, or other, I find myself wanting to use a scope that makes that game more enjoyable. As a result, I find myself more often than not pulling my long range varmint scope off the .204 Ruger and dropping it onto the rifle of the day. It's good glass, has fine cross-hairs, and allows me to choose/play games between the holdover marks and twisting turrets, which makes punching paper fun. I've never been too worried about finding the sweet spot any scope when it goes back onto its designated rifle, as I figured if I did it once, I can do it again (and it gives me another reason to loft a little more lead down range...)

Also, the evolution in rifle scopes taking place right now is pretty darn cool -- the advancements in scope size/weight, glass quality, coatings, reticles, illumination, turrets,... is phenomenal. There are some great features available right now in scopes, but no scope has all the features I want for all the applications I shoot. As a result, I'm upgrading to a couple high quality scopes that among them have all the features I want. When I want to use a particular scope feature on a rifle, I'll make the swap. The one thing that probably makes the above work for me however, is the fact that it's quick and convenient for me to swap scopes. I live in a spot where I can step out my back door, sight in at an established 100 yd target, and shoot. If it took more planning and effort for me to shoot (ie., having to load up gear and drive somewhere, use an established range, fit within a specific available time window,...) I don't know that I'd look at it the same way.

Gotta love that! I have that option too. It normally takes me no more than 6 rounds to sight in. Love having my own personal range. I think if I had QR's on everything I'd be a scope swapper.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I do not have a personal range but I can be at the club range in about 10 minutes which during the day is normally nearly empty, except the pistol range. Being retired, time is not of the essence but in 1/2 hour I am sighted and ready.