Best Scope Under $500

[nelsonob1]

I can't decide. What do you think is the best scope to mount on my 7mm08 for under $500 and why?

[Carbon Caster]

We need to know what you plan to do with the rifle.

Deer, coyotes, elk????

What ranges????

What rifle????

[nelsonob1]

Browning A bolt Micro in 7mm08

Deer, elk, typically under 300 yards.

[Alberta Bigbore]

Nikon Monarch 3 2.5x10-42mm with or w/o the BDC. Awesome scope.

[mcreg]

Ziess - 3.5 x 10 x 44! or maybe the 4 x 12 x 42 but it may be a little closer to $600? WHY - German optics. Beats all N/A optics hands down. As well, I prefer buying the standard reticle & adding a custom turret about same price as the BDC or in this case Rapid Z-600/800.
I suggest you wait for a month as the "show demo's" will be available by then.
Good luck

[waterhaulerhunter]

The zeiss conquest 3-9x40 is really hard to beat, although they don't make it anymore but you can usually find good used ones in the 450$ range. The new zeiss Terra's I'm sure are worth the money aswell.

[rugatika]

Leupold FX3 6X42. Great glass at a great price. Right around the 500 dollar mark.

[Carbon Caster]

Leupold FX3 6X42. Great glass at a great price. Right around the 500 dollar mark.

YEP!!!!

Trying to find a gloss one right now myself!!!!

[Smokinyotes]

I see Cabelas has the Leupold 3-9x40 Canadian CDS on for $299.

[HunterDave]

I'll say either the Zeiss Terra 3-9x42 RZ6 if you want to have the ability to shoot past 300 yds in the future or the Zeiss Terra 4-12x42 with the Z plex. Both scopes are $509.99 online at Cabelas but there may be better deals out there or sales/promotions coming up. I have two Zeiss Conquest Rapid Z600 scopes and I just love them. Something else to consider looking through anyway. :)

[Dudes2010]

Nikon Monarch 3 2.5x10-42mm with or w/o the BDC. Awesome scope.

X2
I have 2 of these scopes now and they are awesome. Looking through them at dawn and dusk in low light conditions I CANT tell the difference in light transmission between the monarch and my leupold VX3. The BDC reticle works great, plus you have the Spot On website that can help dial in your shots to match your exact load. They are just under the $500 range for your hard earned money.
Cheers, Dudes2010

[norwestalta]

Any thoughts on the minox za5 or 3? They seem to be around the minox$500 mark.

[gtr]

VX-2,are hard to beat.

[dogslayer403]

The best thing to do is go to a store with a wide selection and see what glass looks best to your eyes cause as you can read on here not many people have the same opinion and like something different you might hate what others love

[north american hunter]

Nikon Monarch 3 2.5x10-42mm with or w/o the BDC. Awesome scope.

X100000, best scope for under $500 by far.

[sikwhiskey]

Get a Zeiss, great glass and I really like constant eye relief, no more moving your head/cheek weld while dialing up or down magnification.

[north american hunter]

The zeiss are gonna run you more than $500

[Pathfinder76]

Leupold FX II 6x36

[sikwhiskey]

The zeiss are gonna run you more than $500

Maybe, but worth every penny extra. A used conquest probably under 500, more like 350ish.

Anyone know if the Nikon Monarch has constant eye relief?

[north american hunter]

Maybe, but worth every penny extra. A used conquest probably under 500, more like 350ish.

Anyone know if the Nikon Monarch has constant eye relief?

I agree, I have a zeiss conquest 3-9x40, and it's one of the best scopes I own, but if he wanted to keep it under $500 with a new scope zeiss wouldn't be an option.

[HunterDave]

I agree, I have a zeiss conquest 3-9x40, and it's one of the best scopes I own, but if he wanted to keep it under $500 with a new scope zeiss wouldn't be an option.

Check out the prices for these Zeiss scopes.......$509.99

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/56438/zeiss-terra-riflescopes

[Smokinyotes]

Check out the prices for these Zeiss scopes.......$509.99

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/56438/zeiss-terra-riflescopes

How is the quality on the zeiss terra scopes? What are they comparable too?

[north american hunter]

How is the quality on the zeiss terra scopes? What are they comparable too?

I looked at the nikon monarch 2.5-10x42 and the zeiss terra 3-9x42, the nikon was nicer in my opinion.

[HunterDave]

How is the quality on the zeiss terra scopes? What are they comparable too?

Better to google search the reviews for that answer.

[Backwoods Runner]

I picked up a couple redfields and so far have been just great. You may want to look at them.

[Sitting Bull]

Leupold FX3 6X42. Great glass at a great price. Right around the 500 dollar mark.
Love mine.

[vcool]

I have a minox za5 which i like quite a bit. No complaints about it. My next scope will likely be the same make.

[Highlander44]

Leupold Mark AR in 3-9 with mil-dot reticle for ranging animals effectively without a range finder

[elkhunter11]

Leupold Mark AR in 3-9 with mil-dot reticle for ranging animals effectively without a range finder

The average person can't range animals nearly as effectively with a mil dot reticle, as they can with a laser rangefinder.

[Cupped N Committed]

Where's the votex love? I've got a viper 3.5-10x50 on my 6.5x284 and love it. Under $500 and weighs only 17 oz.

[pikeslayer22]

Where's the votex love? I've got a viper 3.5-10x50 on my 6.5x284 and love it. Under $500 and weighs only 17 oz.
Just mounted one on a 7-08 will see how it goes only vortex I've had...not expecting much foe 200

[Cupped N Committed]

Just mounted one on a 7-08 will see how it goes only vortex I've had...not expecting much foe 200

You didn't get a viper for $200 unless you found a used one. I don't have a diamondback rifle scope, just binos which were bought when vortex was just out. I'm going to upgrade these soon. I've got crossfire II's on all my rimfires and have no complaints. Vipers or viper HS's on all my centerfires. Very happy so far. Also have an older skyline spotter that's being upgraded as well. Can't beat the warranty either. Leupold an Vortex have the best warranties in the industry.

[Highlander44]

The average person can't range animals nearly as effectively with a mil dot reticle, as they can with a laser rangefinder.

There is "minuite of angle" and "minuite of dead"... rangefinders don't work in fog, or in extreme cold-found that out this year the hard way at a 160 class whitetail. Mil-dot are easy to use 1mil=3.6"@100 Yards, or 1 mil=36"@1000 yards-so its 18"@ 500 yards... so if a deer is 18" backbone to brisket, and takes up 1 mil of space- he's at 500 yards....that easy. If it falls between that you can estimate, much better than a WAG (wild ass quess)- or have a small cheat sheet taped onto your stock like it do......

[elkhunter11]

There is "minuite of angle" and "minuite of dead"... rangefinders don't work in fog, or in extreme cold-found that out this year the hard way at a 160 class whitetail. Mil-dot are easy to use 1mil=3.6"@100 Yards, or 1 mil=36"@1000 yards-so its 18"@ 500 yards... so if a deer is 18" backbone to brisket, and takes up 1 mil of space- he's at 500 yards....that easy. If it falls between that you can estimate, much better than a WAG (wild ass quess)- or have a small cheat sheet taped onto your stock like it do......

I haven't experienced a situation where my laser rangefinder wouldn't function, where it was safe to take a shot at an animal. I have used it effectively in a lighter fog, and if the fog was much heavier, I wouldn't have seen a deer clearly at 500 yards, let alone what was behind it, to enable a safe shot. The issue with ranging animals with mil dots, is that animals vary in size. If a deer was 20" from backbone to brisket, instead of your assumed 18", you would be out by over 10% which at 500 yards would be an error of 50 yards, which is the difference between a clean kill, and a miss, or worse yet a wounded animal. Of course elk and moose are very different in size than a deer, and they can vary considerably as well. There is a good reason that laser rangefinders are so popular, while the optical rangefinders previously offered on several scopes, are no longer offered. Choose a good scope, and if you intend to shoot at longer distances, choose a good laser rangefinder, rather than compromising your ability to accurately range animals by trying to do it with the scope reticle.

[Pathfinder76]

I have had good range finders fail to read because of weather conditions in the field as well.

[Highlander44]

I haven't experienced a situation where my laser rangefinder wouldn't function, where it was safe to take a shot at an animal. I have used it effectively in a lighter fog, and if the fog was much heavier, I wouldn't have seen a deer clearly at 500 yards, let alone what was behind it, to enable a safe shot. The issue with ranging animals with mil dots, is that animals vary in size. If a deer was 20" from backbone to brisket, instead of your assumed 18", you would be out by over 10% which at 500 yards would be an error of 50 yards, which is the difference between a clean kill, and a miss, or worse yet a wounded animal. Of course elk and moose are very different in size than a deer, and they can vary considerably as well. There is a good reason that laser rangefinders are so popular, while the optical rangefinders previously offered on several scopes, are no longer offered. Choose a good scope, and if you intend to shoot at longer distances, choose a good laser rangefinder, rather than compromising your ability to accurately range animals by trying to do it with the scope reticle.


I use both a Swarovski rangefinder and a mil-dot reticle- I love the rangefinder, but being electric it has failed, and I know I'm not the only one. And it's probably not the rangefinder- it's the batteries, they don't like the cold. -You are correct on the longer 500 yard shots, with my 280 and a mild load it would be 13" low with the scenario you described, estimating a deer @18" back to brisket when it was actually 20". Most hunters never shoot that far... So for deer estimated incorrectly by 2"- at 200 yards it would mean the bullet hitting 1" low, an animal estimated 300 yards would mean being 35 yards off-making a hit 5" low- still in the "minuite of dead" With the bigger animals you can use Mildots effectively past 500 yards. Mildots are not the end-all and be-all, buts it's another tool to use when technology fails us. Part of the KISS principal

[elkhunter11]

Most hunters never shoot that far... So for deer estimated incorrectly by 2"- at 200 yards it would mean the bullet hitting 1" low, an animal estimated 300 yards would mean being 35 yards off-making a hit 5" low-

When using most high powered rifles, a rangefinder is totally unnecessary at 200 yards, and if I wasn't shooting past 300 yards, I wouldn't bother with one myself. They don't really become worthwhile with most high powered rifles until past 300 yards, where a range error of 10% can mean the difference between a fatal hit, and a wounding shot or a miss.

[Lefty-Canuck]

I have had good range finders fail to read because of weather conditions in the field as well.

X2....snow and fog can render the range finder feature useless....but if they have good glass they can be invaluable.

LC

[MadMarty911]

Weaver Super Slam. On sale at cabelas. Fantastic scopes!

[Highlander44]

Just came home and pulled out my cheat cheats and had a look-with a size estimate of a 20" deer that actually was 22" back to brisket, @400 yards you would be 5.7" low (441 would be actual range) and 450 yards be actually be 496 yards and 7.5" low. and at 500 yards (animal measures 1.1 mil) it would hit 554yards, 10" low-and that is on a small deer. So shooting at a deer you can be very effective to 450 yards, if you are shooting at an elk or moose, you can extimate at ranges much greater than that. The other benifit to a mildot is the Horizontal mils used for holding over in wind. With my 280@10mph wind it drifts 0.8 or 14" at 500 yards- and my wife's .308 drifts even more. The mils give you a great point of reference other than just "winging it" on wind holdovers, and guessing on your fine-duplex reticle where 14" is.

[TOG]

Where's the votex love? I've got a viper 3.5-10x50 on my 6.5x284 and love it. Under $500 and weighs only 17 oz.

X2
Great glass for the price. That includes their whole line of optics.

[Highlander44]

Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40, $439.00, 12.4 oz, lifetime warrantee, and Sevice is in Okotoks-have used Korth group on several occasions and they are excellent:happy0180::happy0180:

[thecashier1]

Nikon Monarch may be a good option.

[Leeper]

My choices would be the Leupold FXll in either four or six power. They are light, compact, rugged, and they have good glass. I would be perfectly happy with a standard duplex crosshair. If I couldn't tell how far away the animal was but knew it was far enough that it mattered, I would try to get closer. If I couldn't get closer, I would try again tomorrow. I accept that I am out of step with current trends. Leeper

[gitrdun]

Where's the votex love? I've got a viper 3.5-10x50 on my 6.5x284 and love it. Under $500 and weighs only 17 oz.

Right here. Not in love with it, but it will do. I just purchased a Vortex Crossfire to mount on a 7mm-08. I wanted something economical with a target dot. Going through load development for the rifle with this scope has worked out well. I think that it is decent value for the $269.00 price tag. Another brand that isn't spoken of much but also seems decent at first glance is the Mueller line. I believe the dealer is in Manitoba. :)

[MaxxPower]

Bushnell Legend Ultra HD is also a great scope for the $$$. Lots of options for under $500.

[Metalmike123]

Really liking my Vortex Viper 3-9x 40, but I would probably hand it to my Nikon Monarch 2-8x32 if were talking spending a little bit more.

[DaleJ]

Leupold Mark AR 4-12X40mm. Features a zero lock-out. Cost less than $500.