Topic: The Best Rifle Scopes of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 48 times)
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Topic: The Best Rifle Scopes of 2023, Tested and Reviewed (Read 48 times)
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Key Features
Pros
Cons
The best rifle scope for hunting will vary depending on your purpose, but if you need to make a snap 50 yards shot one day and a 300 yard precision shot the next, the Leupold VX-3HD is a great option. With few moving parts to break or tweak, this simple, durable workhorse will deliver years of reliable, if unflashy, service to shooters. It’s remarkable for what it isn’t. The VX-3HD is not a precision scope. It doesn’t have lots of dials and illumination modulation. It isn’t going to help you ring steel at 2,000 yards. But what it does have is restrained simplicity. If you add a custom turret, you simply range your target and dial to the distance, then hold right on and shoot. It doesn’t have any batteries or connect via Bluetooth to a mobile app.
Instead, it’s a straight-ahead rifle scope, with a duplex reticle in the second plane. Weighing only 13 ounces, this is the perfect co*panion for an under-6-pound mountain rifle.
The VX-3HD is fully functional right out of the box, but to get the most out of its somewhat pedestrian turret, spend the time to blueprint your load, and then order a custom dial. With the right CDS turret, this is a fast, close-enough hunting scope that is both affordable and durable enough to last longer than the rifle you mount it on.
Read Next: Best Thermal Scopes
Key Features
Pros
Cons
co*pare the Hawke with the Meopta (at over $100 more). Both feature similar duplex reticles and both are configured for all-around hunting and mid-range shooting. In terms of brightness and image quality, the Meopta is the better optic, but the Hawke has some sweet shooting attributes. They include the 10-yards to infinity parallax focus, a feature that makes this a good rimfire scope. I also like the relatively light weight of this unit, and the silky positivity of its controls.
The Hawke’s glass is also better than I expected for such a modest price. In all, it’s a scope with lots of versatility that performs with peers costing twice as much. The Hawke Vantage is also one of the best air rifle scopes for your PCP small game or big bore rifle.
Read Next: Best Rimfire Scopes
Key Features
Pros
Cons
The Razor HD line has Vortex’s best glass and controls, but the LHT (it stands for Light Hunter Tactical) brings a versatile first-plane reticle to the game. The MOA-based reticle has abundant elevation and windage references for shooters who like to hold for long shots. For those who prefer to dial turrets for their aiming solution, the locking elevation dial is nicely indexed.
Vortex has done a nice job of offering a hunting scope that will feel like a precision tactical scope for long-distance target shooters, and like a precision target scope for long-range hunters. It’s the ultimate crossover scope, with a first-plane reticle tuned to MOA references, a low-profile locking elevation turret that’s easy to dial, along with a capped windage turret, and a rock-solid turret zero stop. By co*bining features from hunting and long-range precision shooting, the Razor HD LHT is precise without being ponderously heavy and big.
At 21.7 ounces, the 30mm scope is not a featherweight, but would be right at home on a lightweight hunting rifle. And it keeps its trim figure by co*bining the illumination module inside the parallax dial. Inside, the Razor HD LHT features 75 MOA of total elevation adjustment and 45 MOA of windage adjustment. The glass is bright, coatings make the image pop, and it has great durability along with Vortex’s legendary lifetime transferrable warranty.
Read our full Razor HD LHT review to learn more.
Key Features
Pros
Cons
EOTech’s Vudu has long been on the leading edge of innovation in the low-power variable optic category, and the 1-10×28 version continues the legacy. The first-plane LE-5 reticle, based on MRAD values, functions as a close-quarters red-dot scope from 1x to about 6x, but from 6-10-power its precision references co*e into full view.
This year’s best argument for a versatile rifle scope, this hybrid optic from EOTech serves marvelously as a close-quarters scope for a variety of platforms. It’s a great personal defense optic for ARs, can serve as a ranch-rifle scope for a straight-wall carbine, and would be a great partner on a dangerous-game rifle in search of African buffalo or elephants.
But the EOTech’s true capabilities shine at magnifications above 6-power, when the first-plane reticle enlarges to reveal its precision references. My test model was a LE-5 tuned to MRAD references, and at powers above 6x, it reveals a Christmas-tree design with 12 mils of drop and 12 mils of windage hold, with 6 mils on either side of the crosshair center aiming point.
The push-button illumination module is precise and easy to turn on, off, and vary the intensity of the center aiming point. With a 34mm tube, this is a large scope for close-quarters work, but because it has so much capability in its 1-10-power magnification range, it’s at home on a wide variety of rifle platforms.
Key Features
Pros
Cons
Product Description
Once they graduate from the simple duplex reticle, most hunters want reticle references that give them holdover (elevation) marks and holdoff (windage) marks. But they also want a scope that won’t bog them down. Athlon’s Midas HMR is a good choice. It has decent second-plane reticle references inside a versatile package at a fair mid-range price. It has liberal mounting dimensions along its 30mm tube, and it has pretty good glass for the price.
Where the Athlon shines is delivering performance for an accessible price. In the case of the Midas HMR, performance items include resettable turrets with surprisingly tactile click values, parallax that focuses as close as 10 yards—making this a good rimfire scope—and a fairly useful reticle. While I’m on the reticle: it could use some additional reference points, and the alternating hash configuration is a little confusing. But for a scope that can serve every shooting pursuit from rimfire to big-game, there’s a lot to like about this Athlon.
Key Features
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While many brands are moving to specialist rifle scopes, specifically configured for long-distance steel targets or for AR-mounted close-quarters target engagement, Maven has introduced a useful throwback: a versatile hunting scope. The magnification range and 44mm objective make the CRS.2 a great fit for Western hunters or Midwestern whitetail hunters who might have to make longish shots.
If second-plane duplex SHR (Simplified Holdover Reticle) isn’t designed for long-distance precision work, its design enables both quick shooting and mid-range holdover shooting, by utilizing its three elevation references. With some work, a shooter can match those holdover hashes to the specific ballistic drop of their load, and then determine how much holdover to allow at specific magnifications.
While the turrets are nothing fancy, the glass and tight controls of the Maven are worth considering, along with the very accessible price from this direct-to-consumer brand.