My problem - USA scope sellers cannot ship to Canada because of ITAR. I am not going to pay 2-3 hundred bucks for a stupid US export permit.
What European scopes you guys can recommend?
What European scopes you guys can recommend?
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Question to target shooters only - what scope?
- Thread starter bigHUN
- Start date
Or, buy a used Leupold from a Canadian. Leupold have a lifetime warrantee, and for benchrest target shooting they are the gold standard by which all other scopes are judged. I have many of the 40x45 comp series scopes and from what Ive seen of the 35X, 40X, and 45X, the 40X's are the clearest glass. You could also try to find the now discontinued March 40x52mm used.
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I recently acquired this Sightron fixed power for the exact purpose that you describe.
I can be had with simple crosshairs or crosshairs with a tiny center dot.
This ED glass, 30mm tube version comes in 36 or 45x. Mine is 45x - its insanely clear !!
sightron.com
I can be had with simple crosshairs or crosshairs with a tiny center dot.
This ED glass, 30mm tube version comes in 36 or 45x. Mine is 45x - its insanely clear !!
SIII Competition 45x45 ED
Built for competition target shooting applications up to and exceeding 1000 yards. Sightron's SIII 45x45 Competition Long Range rifle scope delivers superior optics and accuracy when it counts.
sightron.com 
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I have one of these on my RAW HM1000x and I agree, it's a great scope for known distances.I recently acquired this Sightron fixed power for the exact purpose that you describe.
I can be had with simple crosshairs or crosshairs with a tiny center dot.
This ED glass, 30mm tube version comes in 36 or 45x. Mine is 45x - its insanely clear !!
SIII Competition 45x45 ED
Built for competition target shooting applications up to and exceeding 1000 yards. Sightron's SIII 45x45 Competition Long Range rifle scope delivers superior optics and accuracy when it counts.
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I have a 45 and a 36….and the 36 is much clearer and brighter than the 45. It’s a great scope for the money. Sometimes they are on sale from Sightron for around 800$.
Mike
Mike
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Lou, as you probably know that's a very old scope that's the BR-D model before the Comp series came out, and with the reticle in the upper quadrant there's only a few guys that worked on that scope and Leupold wasn't one of them, Cecil Tucker, Vic Swindlehurst, or Cheryl and her father Bill Ackerman at Optical Services.
This model is not the competition series and has front objective parallax instead of side parallax. Its also a 1" tube. The reticle in the upper quadrant was done for 100 yard and 200 yard benchrest... It allowed the shooter to see his last flag out in the bottom of the scope, while shooting the NBRSA or IBS group Target with 2 eyes open he could see the first 4 flags naked eye. At Benchrest 25M and 50M for airgun, I doubt there is much use in this type reticle.
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I have the Sightron 45x45 Competition ED glass very hard to beat. Can focus at 10 meters,, great glass, and very good tracking. Anything past 45 power image starts to get darker.
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this is the first time i have ever seen an upper quadrant reticle
don't think i would like it
don't think i would like it
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its definitely goal oriented. You do lose some windage adjustment with the reticle that high up in the scope. but it's designed for short range (100-200 yards known distance) BR exclusively. a formula 1 race car is cool too, but mostly if you're racing formula 1 races.
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I just put a March 48x on my BR rimfire rig and it would be excellent for airgun BR too.Posting my question here instead of Optics thread, I am shooting target papers only and not really interested for hunters imput.
My .25 cal FX Impact is a dedicated BR gun for 50-100-125 meters, and my primary target scope is a Falcon X50 SFP (10-50x60).
Setting up now my next .22 cal airgun for 20-100 meters, and shopping for a target scope with a clarity again that I can see the projectile chewing the hole edges.
I had tried many scopes in the past impulse buy from whatever utubers influencers and hunters, that won't work again, I got rid of all the scopes kept the Falcon only.
Along my way I have developed some preferences:
- SFP, I cannot stand the reticle growing or changing size;
- parallax adjustment down to 10 meters;
- minimum power 24 and up;
- or fixed power about 40 ish;
- I like the B20 style or any other simple reticles;
- I click dial the known distances so holdover/under is only secondary thought;
- a full clarity and sharp edges at full power setting;
- for a secondary scope I would set the dollar cap to 5-600;
- second hand may give me a better glass for the money;
- I can wait couple months for a deal;
What would you recommend?
It has the upper quadrant crosshair reticle but I’d have to set my far wind flags closer to the LOS than I’m used to in order to take full advantage of it. I read elsewhere that at 100y the last two flags can usually be seen.
At first I thought the glass wasn’t very crisp but then I realized I was seeing minute mirage at the target.
David
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Last year I picked up an older NIKON Monarch 6-24 having the thin cross hair / dot reticle.
IMO it's got pretty dang nice glass. Ended up on my .17hmr rig. tho more ideal for BR type work.
IMO it's got pretty dang nice glass. Ended up on my .17hmr rig. tho more ideal for BR type work.
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Hi Thomasair,
I’m thinking of getting another Sightron SIII target scope for another rifle.
I have the 45x it’s pretty awesome. So you feel that the 36x is noticeably better in clarity and brightness?
I’m undecided between the two…
-Ed
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Sightron S3, 10-50X60 with MOA-2 reticle. I use these for rimfire and air rifle BR from 50 to 100 yards. at around 35-40X magnification. Shop around, you may find a good deal on Dvor or if you are a veteran, call Sightron and get a nice discount as long as you have a DD-214.
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Lets face reality here, if youre lucky, you get what you pay for, and in that price range youre NOT being realitic. There are some very good target scope options that you can get for that money, (the Vector Optics Minotaur series immediately comes to mind as best in price class) but your not going to get the best of everything. Santa Claus deals on used equipment are rare, but they do occasionally pop up but youre unlikely to find a March or a Kahles 50 power at even 3x that price point. Realistically, looking for another Falcon, a Delta Styker or a newer/newest version of the Sightron Slll would be my recommendation.
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I’m thinking hard on the Sightron 36x42 for 50-100y Benchrest. The Sightron 45x Competition seems dark to me, but the magnification and target dot reticle is fine. Just disappointed with how dark it is.
I think your reference above was directed at the 36x45 competition ( $1100 scope ). I’m wondering how much better this is vs the much cheaper 36x42? Mike - Any experience with the $519 Sightron 36-42x Target dot?
Thanks, Tom
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Yes, I have both. The 36x42 is not even close to the competition 36x…In many ways besides the clarity and brightness.
If you have ever been or are currently in the military, police, first responder, etc….you will get a hefty discount (40% if I recall correctly) directly from Sightron.
Mike
If you have ever been or are currently in the military, police, first responder, etc….you will get a hefty discount (40% if I recall correctly) directly from Sightron.
Mike
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I have a buddy who owns both 36X Sightron scopes, one is an SII with standard glass and one is the SIII Competition model with ED glass. I looked through both scopes at 100Y, side by side on two different rifles and his standard SII glass was brighter and crisper than the SIII ED glass. I know that this makes absolutely no sense and I am not doubting Mike's valuable input or his scope's clarity but I saw what I saw in this instance. His brother was also there on the next bench and his scope was an older out of production Valdada 36X and the SII was equal or very close to it as I vaguely remember. I have since bought two 36X SII's and both of mine are equal to my buddy's SII. Perhaps there was a quality control issue with his SIII ED scope, I dunno?
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