Long zoom scope options

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I know one for close to 1/3 the price a $229 Alpha6 carries a lifetime warranty seller from eBay with FREE shipping no affiliation to seller nor company but bought a ridiculously insane amount of them from DVOR and BudK (and NO they are not forsale) and prefer them way better regarding sight picture and extreme eyebox friendliness no matter what zoom power set at and clarity and Leupold-like clear whitness brightness than any of my many $500-$1000 Hawkes and all of my SWFA SS scopes and all of my Japan Bushnell TAC 4.5-30x50 (Elite 6500) ($1300-$1450 Bushnell retail and $599 SWFA clearance.) I also find the daytime bright illumination superior to most of the scopes I tested it side by side against costing even more and up to $4000 that can't even see the illumination during the daytime. The illumination is so fine on first click in pitch black you won't miss your target in zero light conditions nor in broad daylight on max.

Many shooters leave it on max power 27x and shoot bench style or 200+ yard hunting.

It has a better eyebox than the super cheap Japan Barras I recommended as well.

If the Hawke 8-32x56 was clear all the way to 32x I would have bought more.

You better off with a Mueller 8-32x44 for $259.00 when compared to Hawke 8-32x56 clarity.

The Hawke 6-24x56 the new glass is great but compared to $229 Vs $749 clarity is about the same. Plus the Hawke warranty is only good to the original owner with proof of receipt so resale value is not good unless there are still ignorant buyers out there who don't read this forum and don't know the brands that supposed to be lifetime actually got NO WARRANTY when buying used scopes.
 
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I do not recommend certain Brands of scopes that have already proven to give many end users problems.

Hawke is one of them. Tracking issues most common complaints. Blurriness at high magnification.

AZTEC is another. Tracking issues simply won't zero One day for no apparent reason. Blurriness chromatic aberration throughout the entire zoom range some lucky blind eyed users can't even see can't say all SIX of mine 3-18 and 5-25x FFP and SFP all defective now can we? Be glad you got bad eyes not to see what I can see..

Vortex models that aren't Japan made and those that are not the Crossfire2 or cheaper Copperhead. Essentially the $400-$1000 ones are problematic that don't track well and crooked crosshairs outright poor QC. Doesn't matter no BS Lifetime Warranty your scope be in the mail and in the Vortex shop more than on your gun. Or you got canted reticle you don't even notice and wonder why you can't hit things at 100 yards when zeroed at 50 when you try to dial in.

Athlon I won't even go there but good for all you always constantly sending in for excellent customer service warranty replacement that alone is already nuff said.

I'd be embarrassed to brag my high dollar yet again failed to have the inconvenience to dismount from gun waste all that ammo thinking my guns broken plus pay shipping and insurance sending broken scope back then wait time you just added $$$ and wasted ammo and wasted time and aggravated stress onto the original price you bought that Athlon for. 

Why you think so many who are just done and OVER IT sell their BRAND NEW JUST GOT BACK FROM WARRANTY SWAPPED SCOPES? OVER IT OVER THAT BRAND EVEN SWFA JAPAN due to crappy eyebox and not as good as people claim them to be huh? At least not for the price of admission except the 10x fixed power fantastic scope BTW!

Do your homework read the forum buy them from return friendly dealers and but several different brands at a time and just return those that are not clear at max power. Simple. Keep only the clear ones that your eyes feel the smoothness and no fatigue with perfect non F iniky eyebox at min and max power zoom levels. 

Make your hard earned money count. 

Otherwise just buy a Leupold. Less chances it's gonna have to be sent back.

Or less grief with less money spent I say...
 
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I am loving the Uragan and the Element Helix combination, but would love a scope with a little more zoom. I am eyeing up the Hawke Sidewinder 8-32x56. Looks to be a nice scope around the $600 mark. 
Does anyone have one, or another option?
Click to expand...

I would never recommend a scope like that unless strictly a bench shooter. The minimum 8x is the reason. If it were 5x32 then I might depending on the clarity of the zoom all the way to 32x. I find my 5x25's a pretty good compromise, wish they were at least 4x on the min.. 25x's is plenty for 100 yards if clear.
 
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Just my opinion, but please don’t get that particular Hawke, the Uragan deserves better...

Odoyle is spot on about the issues, I unfortunately can’t recommend anything in the price range, but I can recommend that you look for ED or apochromatic glass if you must have high mag, as they generally handle high mag better.

Some ED or APO glass are really crap so my recommendation needs to be tempered with some research.
 
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Better dang straight believe it some ED and true HD and even so called APO glass are REALLY crappy even cheap a$$ scopes are clearer. Don't get ripped off paying high dollars for POS glass!!! Always buy from return friendly scope dealers. Buy at least 10 different brands at a time and plan to keep 1 or 2 or 3 and just return the rest that aren't clear all the way to max zoom power it's just that simple! Not like you keeping 10 grand worth of scopes because you keep only 1 or 2 or 3 of the ones your eyes like the best when doing side by side comparisons and everybody's eyrles are different and if you are lucky and don't have too perfect vision you won't see the imperfections that I can see that makes me dizzy and Nautilis and can get by with a really junk overpriced scope that isn't perfectly clear since you can't see chromatic aberration and milkiness nor distortion at 3/4 to max power.

The clarity vary from family of model in different magnifications in the same brand too.

Example Discovery HD FFP 4-20x50 30mm is really clear almost as clear as the Alpha6 and the Discovery HD 5-30x56 FFP 34mm is a real piece of crap past 20x it's disgusting to pay $399 and it's only clear from 5x-17x realistically. Reminds me of the $649 MTC VIPER PRO 5-30x50 no good past 20x that's only decent at 5-18x but has unreliable tracking even if it's meant to click with the novelty ballistic geared knob.

I crack up hearing folks say their scope is clear all the way to max power when it's one of the easy ones I took a 5-10 second look starting from max power and not even remotely clear just can't focus sharp then returned for refund.

I use the Alpha6 4.5-27x50 as the minimum acceptable clarity for any scope that cost more than $200 as a base minimum clarity and brightness and eyebox guideline. Most sub $1200 gets returned for refund because they aren't clear at max power and eyebox not even close to the Alpha6.

I kept the Hawke Sidewinder 30 6-24x56 because it's a newer improved model and got it for almost half price thats all. It is very close optically to the Alpha6 but cost almost triple and questionable tracking reliability history.Do a search on this forum and be educated why many will never buy another Hawke brand and it didn't come from me. I used to spend tens of thousands on Hawkes before I found a superior cheap as hell scope that's more soothing to the eyes. If you don't see the imperfections in Hawke and can afford to buy them by all means but know the next owner won't have any warranty even when that day comes you send it in to Hawke for warranty after it fails for a brand new swapped scope you sell it on the classifieds as brand new and if you are honest to state it has no warranty. Nobody stated it that I know of so 2B4U warranty next ignorant buyer. They deserve it IMHO for not doing their homework when buying used.
 
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For the record the JSAR FFP does not have the same glass as the Alpha6 they are similar but aren't clear all the way to 27x like the Alpha6 is and eyebox definitely not as good. But eyebox not as bad as a SWFA SS 3-15x42. The glass appears to be a step lower that's more like the Discovery and Vector optics. Except the JSAR is a better scope optically than the Discovery 34mm HD 5-30x56 and $649 MTC VIPER PRO 5-30x50 at least it's still ok up to 22x.
 
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If you buy the Sightron SIII 10-50x60 at least that's good till 35x on broad daylight. That for sure beats the $229 Alpha6 in clear magnification Since its higher mag at least clear to 35x. If you shoot dark overcast days the Sightron imperfections seem to be mild and can use up to around 40x in dusk and Dawn but not at noon or on bright sunny days.

If you can find an old Bushnell Elite 4200 8-32x40 AO front focus duplex reticle that one is clear all the way to 32x but only duplex reticle and 1 inch tube and front focus.

Oh the Nightforce Benchrest SFP 12-42x56 front focus is really clear and worth buying for around $1300-$1400. Anything under $2000 won't match it at high magnification. Only other scope in the just under $2000 would be the Tract Toric. Next level up is low to mid $2000 to just under $3000 Nightforce NX8 and Kahles and March non illuminated for noticeably better optics.


 
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A lot of good stuff said here. As said, I only use high mag scopes on rifles strictly for the bench, because why not aim at the most accurate point possible!

In your price range, with the current Sightron close outs, it is an easy decision for me. Sightron all the way. See my mention below. Scott will hook you up. I have owned that 25145 model that is $550. Worth much more than that in quality. Also, go with the 10-50 Sightrons, not the 8-32.

https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/sightron-deal-is-back/
 
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I've been around optics since the early '70's. I have long camera lenses, short lenses and about everything in between. Still have scopes I bought in 1980's. To be honest, anything over about 18X to me has issues. The higher the zoom, the less light the scope lets in. Longer the zoom, the more you notice every shake and vibration. Longer the zoom, smaller the eye box and more difficult to get eye to scope alignment. 

I have a couple 4-14's and 6 - 24 scopes. 18X to 20X is about as far as I go, and my eyes are old and getting worse. Often I'll back off to 10X because the shake really unnerves me and 10X doesn't show the shake nearly as much. 10X will get you the picture you need without the distractions.

I don't usually pay more than $300 or $400 for the scopes and am highly impressed with the glass on all of them. I am mostly a bench shooter so the box test isn't that important to me. I care that it holds zero, parallax is accurate, and elevation returns to zero when I want it to. I have Vortex, Athlon, and BSA. I understand I got lucky with the BSA as their quality can be a bit of a crap shoot. I continue to hear good things about Athlon and Vortex. Since I don't pay $thousands for my scopes, I can buy more guns and accessories. It's all a trade off. My Athlon and vortex both perform extremely well and are very clear.

Physics of light really restrict brightness at higher magnifications, so in the world of compromise, I'd probably back down to a 6 - 24 or maybe even my favorite 4-14. High magnification sounds sexy, but it's got limits.

Good luck with the choice, 
 
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