Basic Optics: Any recommendations?

Braces Airgun Masters
I have a Meopta artemis 7x50 on my 243. Good budget scope. Great for lamping and for all but the last few minutes of light. You know, the time when suddenly the deer think they are safe and start to leave cover! I have put an S & B 2.5>10x56 on the 308 and look forward to comparing them side by side under low light conditions.

Fred


Brithunter said:
This just goes to show once again how we in the UK are being ripped over prices :evil: . As I said I have seen any of the Minox products but those who have them on thses forums seem to be impressed with them. I will be looking for a new scope in a couple of months and have been considering a Meopta for Europtics ;).
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willie_gunn said:
Flanker

If you can stretch the budget by another £100 I'd be tempted to buy these Zeiss 7x42's from Gregor:

http://www.rmacleod.co.uk/optics/6034.htm

And maybe this Leupold scope:

http://www.rmacleod.co.uk/optics/5926.htm

If you can't, buy the binos and then save up for a scope ;). A 6x42 or 8x56 from a reputable manufacturer will be a good investment.

willie_gunn
Click to expand...

This is very good advice. I have just looked at that website and would be happy to buy either/both of those items. The Zeiss 7x42's in particular are outstanding binos and that is a good price. You could buy those items now, use them for ten years and then sell them again for the same money. You're not going to be able to say that about the also-ran brands. JC.
 
Gregor MacLeod has a 6x42 Swarovski 2nd hand with a 4A reticle for £225 which would be a good buy and leave you £275 plus whatever you can sell/trade in your binoculars for...
 
Milly said:
I have a Meopta artemis 7x50 on my 243. Good budget scope. Great for lamping and for all but the last few minutes of light. You know, the time when suddenly the deer think they are safe and start to leave cover! I have put an S & B 2.5>10x56 on the 308 and look forward to comparing them side by side under low light conditions.

Fred
Click to expand...


Milly I have an older Meopta 7x50A and yes I do like it.
 
Just seen this one for sale on Ebay....
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MEOPTA ARTEMIS 2000 3-12X50 SCOPE
 
look second hand and get your self either a schmidt or meopta for a budget of £500 you will be able to find both the only thing i would say stear clear of tho is a 6x42 schmidt, yes they are very good scopes but there is just not enough mag for what you want, just hold tight untill a deal comes along and it will do dont worrie
 
+1 I can also recommend eurooptics, the guy is an absolute pleasure to deal with.
 
If you can get a Meopta then you wont go far wrong. Optics warehouse may be a punt for a Leupold. As for bins there have been lots of very positive posts on the site for Minox.

Now I have a v good set of bins its transformed my shooting. Its often a case of who sees who first wins. So if you have good bins you can then get closer to the quarry. It all gets v difficult in the last few minutes of daylight, its frustrating to be able to see the quarry through the bins but not through the scope and an illuminated reticule can but the deer in the bag.

Your on a very tight budget and S/H is the only way to go, if I was you I get the best bins you can afford, remember you will spend more time looking through them than your scope!!

D
 
I can second Cyres on both counts, Optivs Warehouse provide a great service and Meopta build a great scope.

I have noticed here in Europe, certainly Switzerland, Austria and Germany that regardless of the make of gun people use, they will use nothing but Zeiss/Swarovski scopes. Most guns produced are more accurate than the person pulling the trigger, in other words, out of the box accuracy is more than adequate for normal hunting and more often than not, longer ranges as well. The same cannot be said for scopes. Good scopes are priceless and come into their own at dawn and dusk and bright hazy days, and dull couldy days. You are not paying for a label but rather quality glass!
 
I have a pair of the Minox HGs and as some will know have raved about them before. I'm not saying they are the best binos on earth but what I am saying is that for the money they are hard, or impossible, to beat and I think their low light performance is remarkable. In the case of the OP there are some folks selling lower range Minox binos for less than £200, do a search on this site for links/info/recommendations. I've looked through a range of "inexpensive" binos and a lot of them really are not very good at all and next to useless for stalking, by and large these were makes popular in the USA. I'm given to believe that many, maybe all, of the lower range Minox use the same glass as the HGs that I use and if this is the case then they are more effective in low light than my 8X56 S&B scope. In all cases I decide it is too dark to continue shooting before my binos or scope give up.

I'd say that £300 would get you a decent 2nd had European scope. I paid £250 for my 8X56 S&B though that was a little while ago but if you stick with a fixed mag then I think you will get some quality glass for that money. Many of the makes popular in the US tend to be sold on "features" rather than on the quality of the glass and for some reason they have a totally different attitude to what makes a good scope than we do in Europe. However, the new Minox scopes are assembled in the US from German glass and while I haven't seen them myself if they compare to the binos then they will give S&B and Swaro a run for their money. At the minute I couldn't recommend a Minox scope as I've never seen one but they are worth a look however buy on quality of glass and you will not go wrong.

One other thing to bear in mind is that you can probably sell a quality European scope for pretty much what you paid for it if you buy well second hand. That makes it pretty good value in my book.
 
Schott is good glass but they have huge operation in the US so why bring glass from Germany. Minox use "Germany" all over their stuff to the point where it makes you wonder. They imply they are made in Germany but are not.

Read betwen the lines and you will get my drift

http://www.minox.com/index.php?id=3969&L=1

MINOX Riflescopes are designed in Germany and assembled in the USA. Each Riflescope is crafted from lightweight, incredibly tough aircraft-grade anodized aluminum and features standard one inch mono-tube construction for easy, low-profile mounting. MINOX Riflescopes are waterproof and system purged with inert argon gas to prevent fogging on inner glass surfaces and provide corrosion protection for critical precision mechanisms. And each is covered by the MINOX comprehensive no-questions-asked warranty with service provided in
the U.S.

Good stuff mind, just a bit cynical about their marketing
 
Well gents, here's what I did with all your good advice.
Spent slightly more money, about £670 in total.
Bought a pair of very slightly used Minox Hg 8x43 binoculars and a used Schmidt and Bender 6x42 Scope.
I considered a used Meopta 7x50 but chose the S+B on advice.
Haven't got the scope yet, but the binoculars are utterly astonishing after my old Zeiss 8x30s - and I thought they were OK. They're now glove-box reserves.
Thanks for all the advice.
 
I don't think you will have any regrets about either item and you can be confident that you are stalking with just about the best glass money can buy so if you have a problem then it is your own problem and unlikely to be the fault of the glass. I've a similar Minox/S&B setup to you and have had for about 5 years now and if someone gave me £2k to spend on optics I'd keep the optics I have and spend the money on more stalking :-)
 
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