Best scopes under $200

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Vector Veyron 3-12. can be had under $200



I picked one up for my Brocock Concept XR. Excellent little scope, small and light weight, has excellent turrets and I just played around this morning with tracking and repeatability of the turrets. excellent for the price point. Class clarity is quite good.



I like Second focal plane as I want to see the reticle in all magnifications. and unless you're mounting it on a long-range powder Buring rig where you want to the subtentions to be on at all magnifications, there is little point to a first focal for an Air gun scope.
 
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I agree about the Vector 3-12x44. Unfortunately I have the FFP version which is a target shooting scope only for me.

Discovery and Vector both make a SFP version and I believe are usually packaged with rings.

But I'd also look at the used market and in the closeout section of various online retailers.

@Batman2 had a thread on the Vector FFP version being available for $130, I think. Not sure if that included rings. Most people comment that the reticle is only useful between 6x and 12x, myself included. If that is okay you might look at that deal.
 
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Cvlife $50 on Amazon. There 4×16 scope is all I need on a .177 or .22 air rifle shooting 100 yards and less. Even further out this scope is fine. I just can't see spending a bunch of cash on a no recoil life shooting short distances. 

If your shooting close range a scope with an adjustable objective is a must otherwise the target will just be a blur.
 
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It’s hard to go wrong with any of these $100- $600 dollar scopes.

The Hawke Vantage 2x7x32 is probly the best $100-150 scope you will find out there and has that wonderful reticle as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Hawke-Sport-Optics-Vantage-Riflescope/dp/B00WN2669C

The Vector Optics Veyron and Discovery VT-3 scopes are both compact and lighter weight scopes in 3x12x44 with 30mm tubes. They are both decent for the money around $200 and both Mil/Mil scopes so none of that funky Hawke Mil/MOA stuff going on. So there is some give and take between the two and I like them both for what they are.

If you are going for an FFP the Veyron has a pretty thin reticle and it can get lost in a dark background at lower magnification. But it does focus down to 7 yards at full 12 power so that is not often a problem although your FOV will suffer. It weighs in at 17.6oz and has a nice Mil Hash reticle. It is available in a 2nd focal plane scope as well.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/vector-optics-veyron-3-12x44mm-rifle-scope.html

The Discovery will just barely focus to 10 yards if you turn the power down to 6 but it has a thicker reticle that is easier to pick up at lower magnification so it is not a problem either. It weighs in at 18.3oz and has a nice Mil Quad reticle. These are also available in 1st or 2nd focal plane.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000120149525.html

The Alph6 4.5x27x50, while not a compact scope, is in the same price range with very good glass and a very good scope for the money as well. Like the Veyron the reticle is a bit thin, for my taste, though.

https://www.budk.com/Aims-Alpha-6-4-5-27X50-30MM-Riflescope-With-MR1-MR-48240

For a bit more money the fixed power Immersive Prism Scopes are very nice. I bought a 10×40 and absolutely love it. It is for Airgun or non-recoiling guns only as it has very little eye relief.

https://airgunarcheryfun.ca/immersive-optics

EDIT;

For the last compact scope I found this USO TS-12X unit. It is much more expensive than the other compact scopes and the quality shows. It has slightly better lenses, turrets and a flawless finish. Once again it is an FFP scope so the turrets do get a bit thin under 6 power. Shop around for a better price I picked mine up for under $400 Worth $600?

https://www.usoptics.com/product/ts-12x//

If you can manage yet a little more money the;

SWFA, Athlon, Aztec and Element scopes are not as compact or light weight as the others but have better glass and turrets.

SWFA fixed power scopes are an excellent buy as is the Athlon Talos BTR 4x14x4.

Good glass and turrets on this one;

https://www.swfa.com/swfa-ss-3-15x42-tactical-rifle-scope-3.html

I don't have one of these but reviews are good;

https://www.amazon.com/Athlon-Optics-Riflescope-Illuminated-Reticle/dp/B01APT0G0E

Aztec; I love the reticle on this one I have three of them;

https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/index.php

Element; I think the turrets may be slightly better on this one;

https://www.pyramydair.com/search-results-ext

EDIT;

Not sure if any of these are rated for springers.


 
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My favorite cheap scope for the buck is the Tac Vector Marksman fixed 10x. It has an outstanding reticle and is just easy to use and you can get it for $107. The Tac Vector Veyrons work well too I just wish the reticle was a little thicker on the 3-12x SFP version, cheap also at $130. The Athlon Talos 3-12 is very clear and has a very easy to see mil-dot reticle for only $159. The Aims Sport Alpha 6 is big and heavy but is bright and has a very forgiving eyebox that can be had for less than $200 quite often. I just got one of those budget sidewinders HK 6.5-20x and have been using and testing it this weekend. It's claim to fame is it's reasonably bright and has a good view for $130 but the viewbox is very tight and it is mil reticle /moa adjustment, which many (understandably) don't like. A scope that I was kind of 'meh' about at first but have come to really respect after a couple of years of solid performance, just goes over the $200 line a little, is the Primary Arms 4-14x ffp mil-dot.
 
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I bought my Primary Arms 4-14 x44 and my Athlon Talos 6-24 x50 for under $200 each but I looked on Optics Planet and both are a little over now. My PA has a simple mil dot recticle and is FFP 30mm tube, side focus. My Athlon is 1 inch tube and SFP and a little more complex recticle and also has side focus parallax. The Athlon Talos 3-12 and 4-16 were both under $200 at the same source and are better all around choices than my 6-24. Interestingly, while a 30mm tube is supposed to give you more elevation adjustment my Athlon actually has more than my PA. I've only used my Athlon a little, I picked it up on a Thanksgiving sale and am waiting on a gun to put it on. But I think I like the PA better, at least for hunting. It's recticle is thick enough to see when with the scope turned down but not too thick for good placement with it turned up. That can be an issue with FFP - it is on my West Hunter 4-16. It is an OK scope but the others are better IMHO. Recticle is too fine for me when I turn the power down and it shifted zero once. I also have a Hawke 2-7 on my Prod and for a $100 scope it is an excellant choice. But it is not as nice as my $150 West Hunter and is not nearly as nice as my PA and Athlon. But it also cost half as much. And it weighs about half as much.
 
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JimD, that is the thing that I have found with the PA scope, at first I thought well this feature, or specification, isn't has good as "x", but then over time I have found it to be more usable, has it is, than other scopes that do one or two things better. The mil-dot reticle thickness on the ffp version is the perfect example of this, as you have found out for yourself.

This thread is very interesting because I have bought a lot of these scopes over the years and the terrible thing is that you have to actually buy and try them to find out the real deal. Spec's will only tell you so much. I didn't mention Bug Busters because while some are good, some are very much not. The problem with the Discovery line is that they have been cloned by other Chinese scope makers so sometimes you get a clone of a clone. That mostly only happens on AliExpress where nobody polices anything. It's risky looking for deals but more fun than saving forever and pretty satisfying to find a good deal every now and then. 
 
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I'll vote for the Vortex Crossfire II 4-12x44 scopes. You may check this review here for more details about this scope. These scopes are lightweight and have smooth rotation when adjusting zoom. It's a good quality entry level Vortex scope, does not compare at all with the higher end Vortex stuff but still a reasonable product.
 
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Not sure if there is general interest in reviving this but since my previous post I got a couple more P35s. The 22 got the Athlon Talos 6-24 I mentioned previously. Still not sure how much I like it for hunting but I need to use it more. Small game opens October 1. I also got a P35-177 and ordered a Primary Arms 4-16 for it. It is not as nice a scope as the 4-14 but it's cheaper too and comparable to the Athlon Talos IMHO. Nicer than the West Hunter. But the West Hunter has a lot of features for the price and it's been working fine on my Avenger. If I order something else for the P35-22 for hunting it will likely be a Hawke Vantage 3-9. I think they are great for less than $150.
 
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