ED , HD , Tactical , AR223 , and other Useless Scope Terms.

JoeWayneRhea

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Apr 5, 2015
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Guys I see a LOT of scopes here lately labeled as ( HD ) or (ED) scopes . Take these labels as Meaningless unless you are talking about scopes that are on the Expensive upscale scopes .

TrueHD ( HIGH DENSITY ) Glass are scopes such as the Bushnell Forge I just reviewed, the HD SWFA scopes , Leupold Mark 4 , Weaver High end Tactical, Athlons , and scopes along those lines .

REAL ED ( Extra low dispersion glass lenses ) are True Teir 1 scopes . Bushnell DMR Pro, Swarovski 30mm stuff , US Optics , the truly Badass Zeiss stuff , any SB scope , top Nightforce and Vortex scopes . and scopes along those lines .

Don't let a couple of catch phrase phrases or Letters such as these separate you from your hard earned cash . The one and ONLY way to get truly great optics is to unass the money and cry as you hand it over .

It's that simple . You get what you pay for is never more true than with rifle Scopes . There are bargains and ripoffs at every price point . But as the price goes up you can rest assured that you are getting more ....mind your wallet . 
 
I'm sure Discovery ED lens are an upgrade from their regular lenses . But true ED lenses cause more than those scopes are selling for .. It's a term like fully multi coated used to be ...At one time it Truly separated good scopes from average . 

ED , HD and the such .....Think about this ......Nobody is making sure these terms are used honestly . And have certain standards . 

I'd much rather have a scope that cost $600 that doesn't have any of these terms slopped on them than a scope costing half as much that does . If my car is a " Sport " model does it mean it's better , faster , more exclusive....Or is it a term that sells cars ?

Not trying to bum nobody out . But don't wanna see guys spend hard earned money on a scope that can disappoint
 
Manufacturers that make the low end of scopes love to use terms that high end scope/ lens manufacturers created for their products. The discovery optics scope you asked about are still a lower priced Chinese made scope. If it really has Japanese made lenses and thats a big if the lenses were not finished or fitted in the scope in a Japanese facility. So if they can buy Japanese glass thats not finished then the quality of the lens will still ride on the people who do the final steps to finish the lens and install it in the scopes assembly. Im not positive on all the ins and outs of scope manufacturing but I do know those discovery scopes for that price are not Japanese quality scopes.

So just like Joe has said you dont get the quality of the top tier scopes that cost $1,000 + from a scope thats under $450. People love to say you are only buying a name but thats just not true when it comes to high quality optics. If the scope is cheaper then the top tier scopes out there something was skimped on to get that price down.


 
I'm sure Discovery ED lens are an upgrade from their regular lenses . But true ED lenses cause more than those scopes are selling for .. It's a term like fully multi coated used to be ...At one time it Truly separated good scopes from average . 

ED , HD and the such .....Think about this ......Nobody is making sure these terms are used honestly . And have certain standards . 

I'd much rather have a scope that cost $600 that doesn't have any of these terms slopped on them than a scope costing half as much that does . If my car is a " Sport " model does it mean it's better , faster , more exclusive....Or is it a term that sells cars ?

Not trying to bum nobody out . But don't wanna see guys spend hard earned money on a scope that can disappoint

I don’t know much about scopes but my eyeglasses have multi coat from nikon or hoya.

If you get a chance, can you compare the ED from discovery against the true ED scope? Just wanted to know value and quality. I get the label thing and I know you would tell it like it is. Is the true ED worth 10x more for example?

Thanks. I m learning. 
 
Price comes down as volume goes up. I just eyeball it... if it looks good and works good it is good.

I love the Discovery glass and function... but they look like they were designed by someone who never touched a gun and doesn't have a clue.

If you can get past the Fugly I think Discovery is the most bang for the buck.

Mr Rhea, on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the clarity and light transmission of best Discovery you've tested against the Bushnell Forge ?

Just for the record I like the Bushnell Forge 100x better than anything Discovery makes but I'm retired and have to spend carefully.
 
Clarity of the best Quality Discovery scope I've tested I'd say a 3-3.5 on a scale of 10 .

Bushnell Forge a solid 7.5-8 it's really Really Nice !!! 

As a Comparison I'd say a Leupold VX3 is a 5 . It's a good yardstick since everyone has looked thru them at one time or another.

It's not fair to compare them because of price . The Discovery is a nice Budget minded scope . It offers a lotta features and goodies for the price . It's about like the Weaver Kaspa . Or Leupold Rifleman series , or Vortex Crossfire scopes . Plenty good for the money . But it's not gonna blow you away by any means .

I can say this .... I would ONLY buy a Discovery scope from Brian at Edgunwest . That way I wouldn't have to worry if it had a problem . Just being honest . 

I like the Discovery scopes for the money , but if they were more expensive I wouldn't recommend them .. Sun Optics is a good example. At one time a lot of scope for the money . Now just my 2c ...They are overpriced. 

As long as Discovery keeps their prices down I think they are a good ( not great ) buy 
 
Clarity of the best Quality Discovery scope I've tested I'd say a 3-3.5 on a scale of 10 .

Bushnell Forge a solid 7.5-8 it's really Really Nice !!! 

As a Comparison I'd say a Leupold VX3 is a 5 . It's a good yardstick since everyone has looked thru them at one time or another.

It's not fair to compare them because of price . The Discovery is a nice Budget minded scope . It offers a lotta features and goodies for the price . It's about like the Weaver Kaspa . Or Leupold Rifleman series , or Vortex Crossfire scopes . Plenty good for the money . But it's not gonna blow you away by any means .

I can say this .... I would ONLY buy a Discovery scope from Brian at Edgunwest . That way I wouldn't have to worry if it had a problem . Just being honest . 

I like the Discovery scopes for the money , but if they were more expensive I wouldn't recommend them .. Sun Optics is a good example. At one time a lot of scope for the money . Now just my 2c ...They are overpriced. 

As long as Discovery keeps their prices down I think they are a good ( not great ) buy


Dang it, now you're gonna make me cut back on groceries to buy the Bushnell.
 
Clarity of the best Quality Discovery scope I've tested I'd say a 3-3.5 on a scale of 10 .

Bushnell Forge a solid 7.5-8 it's really Really Nice !!! 

As a Comparison I'd say a Leupold VX3 is a 5 . It's a good yardstick since everyone has looked thru them at one time or another.

It's not fair to compare them because of price . The Discovery is a nice Budget minded scope . It offers a lotta features and goodies for the price . It's about like the Weaver Kaspa . Or Leupold Rifleman series , or Vortex Crossfire scopes . Plenty good for the money . But it's not gonna blow you away by any means .

I can say this .... I would ONLY buy a Discovery scope from Brian at Edgunwest . That way I wouldn't have to worry if it had a problem . Just being honest . 

I like the Discovery scopes for the money , but if they were more expensive I wouldn't recommend them .. Sun Optics is a good example. At one time a lot of scope for the money . Now just my 2c ...They are overpriced. 

As long as Discovery keeps their prices down I think they are a good ( not great ) buy

Hi Joe, 

I think there are several lines of Discovery optics. ED, HD, VT and so on (priced descending order I think). Which discovery line did you test? Just trying to eliminate or add from my list for a scope. Thanks.