Is there a scope brand or particular model just about all here agree is awesome?

A lot of important factors have been covered but in my opinion illumination is a lso a very important factor especially for a hunting scope. What I have experenced over the time is that it is quite difficult to hunt with a non illuminated reticle. Much of your concentration is diverted to acquiring the reticle than your quarry. While with an illuminated reticle you can concentrate on your quarry and the reticle is easily visible. Illuminated scopes usually weigh more but for me it is a mandatory feature in a scope. Personally I am eyeing a SigSauer Whiskey5 3-15x52 with MOA reticle. It is a US$1000 scope, much higher than to OPs budget but packs great features.

So the answer to the OP question is "NO". We can't all agree on one scope being awesome. Just too many choices. 

If you want the best bang for your buck, stay below 500$, have a high quality scope, suitable for any airgn, and dont care about features such as variable zoom, battrypowered reticle etc, then there is only one: swfa fixed 10x or 12 x.

do an extended search on the internet, and you will see this is a consistent conclusion among very very many. 

to be honest probably a vortex ffp diamond back tactical 349 to 399$ and they come with an unconditional warranty for life, remember that UNCONDITIONAL WARRANTY.

Another vote for the Vortex Diamond back. I just bought the 6-24x50 (I mean, just got off the phone with Optics Planet kind of just bought). It's listed for $499, 20% off (supposedly, other sites also have it for $399), then when I called and was about to hang up, the customer service rep offered a 10% discount and free shipping. So, for $360 plus sales tax (yes, they do charge sales tax for your state), it'll be shipped as soon as it comes in.

I bought the mil-dot version, which they are currently out of stock. The MOA version is in stock now. Not in a hurry as I haven't bought the gun to go under it yet.

What was I supposed to do after he offered the discount? Walk away or something stupid like that? Unfortunately, I had a credit card handy, and it had enough credit to do the deed. Can hardly wait for May 1, it should be here just before then. I think my Impact needs this scope, so the scope on the Impact will move to the Marauder, and the scope on the Marauder will go into storage for a bit. Oh decisions, decisions, Where did I go wrong?

And yes, the clear glass, flawless mechanics and optics combined with that lifetime, transferable warranty seduced me to buy.

Like I said, another vote for the Vortex Diamond back. 

One other thing if your a Veteran Vortex give a 40% discount 

Just a wild guess-there probably isn't one single scope or type of scope that will work acceptably for everyone.

One other thing if your a Veteran Vortex give a 40% discount

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Really? I did not know this... I may have to give myself a reason for another new scope.

As long as the item doesn’t say limited availability on their web site you can get just contact Vortex with a copy of your dd214. They limit you to 2 of 1 type a year for example 2 binoculars, 2 scopes , 2 red dots. It’s been a few years since I bought so it may of changed. 

The Athlon Helos is in your pricerange and IMHO is a fantastic FFP scope. I have two of them, one on an Impact .30 and one on a HW98. I'm about to have 3 of them as I just finished paying for an Edgun and that's what it's getting too.

The Vortex Diamondback is break barrel rated, also. I heard about this, and called Vortex to verify.



im currently in the same boat as the OP, gathering search knowledge on which scope to put on my recently aquired Wildcat. I was leaning towards the Discovery, but being that I favor MOA turrets and reticle, I may look elsewhere. The items I’m looking for in a scope in order of importance:

1. FFP.

2. MOA turrets and Reticle.

3. Lockable and resettable turret knobs with side focus knob for parallax adjustment.

4. 30mm tube minimum, with a 50mm objective, and I really don’t need anything more than 18 power in the variable power department.

5. Xmas tree reticle for better windage holdovers.

I don’t need illuminated reticle, and if it comes with it I’m ok, I guess. IR just adds unnecessary weight to a scope. The lighter the better.

Im having trouble finding one with all these combinations, in a $350 price range(wife’s budget, not mine, lol)

http://www.dvor.com/vortex-6-24x50-diamondback-tactical-ffp-riflescope.html

http://www.dvor.com/vortex-4-16x44-diamondback-tactical-ffp-riflescope.html

Here's 2 good buys .

http://www.dvor.com/vortex-6-24x50-diamondback-tactical-ffp-riflescope.html

http://www.dvor.com/vortex-4-16x44-diamondback-tactical-ffp-riflescope.html

Here's 2 good buys .

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I wish it had locking turrets like my Helos. And it lacks the reticle illumination. But the reticle looks OK and it is a little lighter and lower priced than the Helos. I like my Helos 6-24x50 MOA a lot, but I might try that Diamondback 6-24x50 EBR-2C at some point.

Edit: I use the reticle for ranging. Both have 1moa minor spacing on both axis. After comparing the Helos to the Diamondback, I prefer the Helos reticle. The 10, 20, 30moa... major spacing seem easier to deal with then the 8, 16, 24moa..., when straddling the horizontal or vertical reticle. Though I could get use to either. The Diamondback also has 1/2moa marks near the outer stadia. Good for ranging precision, but having them near the center could have helped for holdover usage.

Totally understand bud.

I went with a discovery hd 5-30x56 ffp ,it cost me 320$ and it's super nice but I totally wish I had gotten the vortex diamond back ffp just because of the lifetime unconditional warranty that transfers owner to owner .

My discovery has a one year through whom I purchased it from then it's up to the manufacturer after that.I heard that shipping off to China is very costly for warranty work.I did have a athlon at one time that was very nice also and I think they have a lifetime warranty also just maybe not unconditional.I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another athlon as their customer service seemed very good too.

Totally understand bud.

I went with a discovery hd 5-30x56 ffp ,it cost me 320$ and it's super nice but I totally wish I had gotten the vortex diamond back ffp just because of the lifetime unconditional warranty that transfers owner to owner .

My discovery has a one year through whom I purchased it from then it's up to the manufacturer after that.I heard that shipping off to China is very costly for warranty work.I did have a athlon at one time that was very nice also and I think they have a lifetime warranty also just maybe not unconditional.I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another athlon as their customer service seemed very good too.

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If they had that scope in MOA/MOA with a decent reticle, I might get one. That 1/2 MIL reticle looks good, but for FFP scopes over 16x, I prefer the even finer MOA.