AusVarmint

Hey all been doing a little shopping around for rifle scope to go onto the new gun. While having a look at some the other day came across centre point rifle scopes in a shop. Ended up getting a look through one and was pretty impressed by the clarity considering their price. Compared to a similarly priced nighteater, it was noticably clearer. Now I know that a lot of you guys spend a fair old amount on scope and would proabably not look at nighteaters but for the average bloke on a budget they are IMO a good option for a decent scope for the price. These centre points did look clearer but I do have to qualify that I did not get to look through one mounted of a stock and could not look long distance due to the shop being a shed with no windows! Anyway just wondering if anybody else had look at them and what their opinion of them was. Oh BTW they are made in China......yeah I know.

Vortex Crossfire.

I second looking at vortex.
Plowboy if necessary save longer and get the best you can afford.I have seen so many nikkos/tascos/no namers come to pieces it is not funny.For every success story with a cheap scope their are a hundred horror ones.
Vortex,lynx,weaver are good scopes at reasonable money.
cheers,
Macca

If I remember correctly, you've already gone to the trouble of putting a roof mount spotlight on your ute and you're shooting pests off crops?

If that's the case, you're going to be doing a lot of shooting and you'll be heading out a few nights every week.

It'll be well worth your while spending a decent amount to get a quality scope. Consider starting with a budget of at least $500 plus rings/mounts.

On the other hand, if you're just looking for a scope for a rough 22 to have handy when you're out and about, then a cheapy will be ok.

Plowboy I think you would be wasteing your hard earned with one of those or a Nighteater or any of the Generic branded Chinese scope.Mate my suggestion would be to Troll the for sale sections either here or wherever.I have picked up 2 Sightron s11 Bigsky from Lewis that you could only describe as perfect for less than half price . I also picked up a Bushnell Elite from Dave of this site for less than half the Aussie recommended retail.I believe Dave 223 has a Bushnell Elite that would be excellent buying or I think Trev has a similar scope .Either of these scopes would cost you not much more than the Chinese scopes you are looking at and give you years longer service.Remember mate you can`t see them you can`t shoot em

Just a note fellas I was only interested in them as a point that I had never heard of them. Wasn't seriously considering buying one. I have a nighteater and I am happy with it so I would not say they are not so bad. I will have a look around for some scopes but really fellas some of you really do have a thing with spending craploads of money on a scope etc. when a more modest priced one will do. Yes they are fine if you can afford them or justify spending that much but really if a scope can still see the object for you to hit it it is good enough for me.

I realise this is a hobby/sport for most of you and spending money is just part of enjoying the shooting but we are not all blessed with the funds to splash out on something with all the bells and whistles. I run a farm and shooting ferals is just part of that. If something will do the job, it doen't need to have more bells and whistles(cost) and the same will be applied to a scope for me. It would be nice to see the expression on a foxes face as a slug smashes into it's chest but for the extra few hundred bucks to me it just plain aint worth it if I can still hit the bloody thing with a nighteater! I doubt whether my shooting skills would be good enough to consistantly hit stuff at much more than 300m anyway! Nighteaters do fine out to that far. If I can find a scope that is better quality for the same price I will buy it but as to spending over $500 on a scope well... na I need a newer tractor more than to see if a fox has brushed it's teeth. Just my 2c

its not just about how much you see, its as much about will the cross hairs still be on the point were the pill is meant to land etc etc. Cheap scopes arent as reliable as quality scope, simple.

Vortex crossfire are in your price range. or buy a bushnell elite 3200 from the US to make your dollars go further

Trevor scopes are get what you pay for no doubt but you also have to take into acount what you are using them for. No need to get a competition scope for plinking and fun. Want is a different matter. Yes I am aware that I am better off spending as much as I can on a scope in the long run. But the budget WILL not be blown for the sake of something that is just not that important like rabbits/foxes. If they were that important, I would bait and rip more often(it costs less!). Priority is in other areas but your opinions are noted.

BTW most of my missed shots are due to my lack of shooting skills not the scope! IMO it is very hard to blame the scope when shooting in the field as it just as easily a factor of the gun moving when fired as it could be the scope. Of course loosing zero by a big way is another matter.

If you are spotlighting get the best you can afford. Don't buy one of those centrepoint or night eaters mate I'll send you an old tasco or simmons for free that will be as good as those. But look at the crossfire as I think they are the pick of the bunch.

Keith,

Feel free to send me one of your crappy scopes. I'd like to try scoping my old 22lr single shot.

Plowboy,

I reckon scope quality makes more difference under the spotlight than it does in full daylight shooting.
You'll make more hits if you can see better to place your shots, especially when you're trying to place headshots.

To see how little light you're actually working with, try this quick experiment.
Head out at around 5pm. Set a target up out in the paddock at around 100m, (with a good backstop; dam bank can work well). Take a look at the target through your scope. Put your spotlight on the target, look through your scope, turn the spotty on and off and see if there's any difference.
If you can't see a difference, wait a bit for it to get darker and repeat.

When it get's dark enough that you can see the spotlight make a difference, then that amount of daylight (or twilight) is roughly equivalent to what your spotlight gives you.

If you then consider that once your ferals get a little more gun-shy, light-shy, etc, you may be trying to hold them in the edge of the spot, you'll see that you're working with even less light a lot of the time.

A scope is just another tool that you use on the farm. There's no point skimping on something you should be using regularly to protect your income.

Cheers
Clive

Clive summed it up well.
I made my living shooting for five years and optics are equally,I actually think marginally more importent then the rifle,I can tailor a load to get most rifles shooting well to 400 meters,I can't fix crappy glass.
I used a 8x Kahles then a 10/12x and Swarvoski for most of my spotlighting.A zeiss came my way on a rifle and that made night shooting so much easier it wasn't funny.
I now run nightforces because they are robust and give me the best value for my dollar.I can't afford 6 S&B's or Zeiss Victories.
A good scope is an investment for a lifetime for most people.You don't have to buy a top end Euro but buy a good one in your price range.
The vortex,weaver,lynx leave the others in their bracket a fair way behind.I just hate to see people waste a good set up with a crap scope.
cheers,
Macca

Good experiment there Clive will try that when I get time. With the nighteater I have (4-10x40), I can clearly pick out a fox at 300m under my spotlight(yes it pretty small) I have measured it. ATM that is way past my range and will be about as far a I would be willing to have a crack at a fox. Now I will invest as much as I can in a scope and will probably end up with a vortex if I buy new. I was told the other day to try and get the biggest lense I can to increase light gathering. Do others find that having a bigger light gathering lense make a difference or is it all down to glass quality?

Glass quality will trump objective size to a point.If the glass quality is equal then bigger objectives will be better for gathering light.
Some don't like the extra height that comes with the 56mm fronts over the 50' and 40's but I use them and am very happy with the results.
See if you can look through a couple of different sizes at something in the shadows it'll show better then any explanation.
cheers,
Macca

kjd wrote:If you are spotlighting get the best you can afford. Don't buy one of those centrepoint or night eaters mate I'll send you an old tasco or simmons for free that will be as good as those. But look at the crossfire as I think they are the pick of the bunch.

Mate were you aware that Vortex scopes are made in China?? Only realised that when mounting it and saw the little "made in China" sticker on the tube. It's good don't get me wrong but just thought I would point out that they are made in the same country. When I picked up the rifle I got the dealer to mount the scope. He was quite keen for a look through it and said he would try and get them in if he liked them. we got them out for a side by side comparison and clarity wise they were esentially equal. The centrepoint had slighly more field of view than the vortex but that was probably because of the 55mm objective. Campared to a nighteater they were both clearer. Both have the same warranty. It is about the same price the only thing that I would say was better was the windage adjustment on the vortex. More adjustment due to the bigger turrets.

I don't know if anyone has one on a rifle but they are in the ballpark really.