Thread: Mid range scope

What’s the best you think? Balancing weight, mechanical reliability, robustness, glass clarity, FOV etc. Nightforce, Leupold, S&B etc?

Power range anywhere from 2-20.

Meopta meopro 6-18 is good value European glass


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I highly rate the Nightforce compact NSX 2.5-10x42 with zero stop and in both red and green illumination, only in SFP no FFP.

Vx5 or I've got a nice lite nightforce 4 u

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VX5hd is veey good for a hunting scope.
It depends what your idea of midrange is and the intended use.

1-8, 2-12, 3-15 could all be considered mos range for different purposes.

Originally Posted by buzzman

Vx5 or I've got a nice lite nightforce 4 u

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Looks good bro


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Originally Posted by Danny

Looks good bro


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It's nice thanks bro

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First, could you narrow things down a bit ?

Are you dialling ?
Do you need parallax ?

What is "Mid Range" ? price ? distance eg up to 300m or 600m (hunting or target) ? or magnification ?

Otherwise this is just a random slingfest popcorn thread.

I suggest people work from a well know benchmark scope and compare others to that.

For example: the Leupold VX5 3-15x44 is quite popular this year and lots of people have seen one up close. There are better scopes and there are worse but if we all compare to this, we'll have a meaningful discussion.

For non dialling scopes, the benchmark could be the VX3i 3.5-10x40, which again a lot of people are familiar with.

Yup VX5 3-15 x 44, great scope, well made, good eye relief - box, great elevation dial. Get a standard Plex though their windage plex is shit.

Z5 - As you know is a great LW scope, 4W is best hunting reticle around & now you can get a illuminated version, is a long cunt of a thing & made of plastic.

Problem with all other Euro glass is it;s great but miles to farken heavy for a carry to the top of the hill hunting rifle

OK, here's one that I've got, a model which you see for sale second hand from time to time. It's the smallest lightest scope with parallax.

Vx3i 4.5-14x40 30mm tube Side Focus
Footprint and weight are identical to the VX3i 3.5-10x40 at 320mm (12 1/2 ")

Weight is its best point at 428g compared to the VX5 at 544 and Z5 at 450g. It's a lot shorter than the Z5 and has no plastic parts.
Mechanical
Ruggedness = VX3 (adequate) but perhaps not up to "hammering nails".
Adjustment during sighting in was spot on. I haven't done a formal dial/redial test yet.
Clicks are a bit soft compared to a S&B and the exposed dials can move while carrying, which is its worst feature.
Field of view is adequate but as you'd expect with this power range and objective, not the best on the market.
Eyebox and exit pupil, consequently, are a bit finicky so you do need to get your stock setup just right and practice. The 3.5-10x would be easier to use.
Leupold offer good customisation options if you want to pay the money and I got 1cm clicks and the heavy duplex reticle, both of which I really like. Those did bring the price up close to an off the shelf VX5 but now it's just the way I want it, which can be hard to achieve with other brands.
Glass is good. Light transmission is good enough and I can do dry fire practice at night using a candle to light the target. Resolution in daylight is as good as my fairly average right eye needs. At low power in the bush the image has good "pop" as they say.
Top mag at 14x is good, better than the 3.5-10 for fine shooting at longer range. The low end 4.5x sounds high but actually is just fine for snap shots. Back in the day we used fixed 4x and it was never too much then. It's only second focal plane, but then this is a mid range price/quality scope not a high end tactical model and you just have to accept you'll have to dial, not use reticle holdover.
The parallax focuses up nice and close and, for me, it can be made perfectly sharp at 14x at 20m
Accuracy is adequate and I can shoot MOA 5 shot groups at 100m. I haven't done extensive testing whether it hold zero, but I'm sure it does.

So, if you really want the smallest lightest dialable focusable scope and are prepared to compromise a little on other aspects, I think this is the best.

Thanks for replies. To narrow it down - used for hunting, needs parallax adjustment, can stand the odd heavy knock without bending in two, holds zero well when dialling etc.

As above vx3i 4.4-14 30mm tube, vx5 in the Leupold range. Or something like Nightforce, S & B? Heavy as fu$k. But supposedly bomb proof.

I’ve got a z5 on a saum and it just seems a bit flimsy.

For the record my interpretation of “range” definitions.

Short range is anything up to 300m, or yards, take your pick. Basically the range you can shoot using the MPBR principle and not need to make serious ballistic adjustments assuming you’re zero’d at the correct range.

Medium range is 300-600m. Some will say 700m. But for me, the game changes big time past 600m, especially with a 140-165gr bullet at non-magnum velocity.

Long range is 600m+. I’ve argued with my cuz about whether it’s 600 or 700m, or yards, but for me it’s 600.

So for a mid-range scope, you need a good ballistic reticle that matches your load for a given rifle, ballistic turrets are optional and definitely preferable if you’re routinely shooting 500m+. A magnification of 4x or 5x is good, so 3-15 or 4-16 or 4.5-18. Also depends what you’re shooting. I like using my mid-range rifles on smaller pests, so a 6-24 is helpful in some circumstances.

FFP or SFP is just a matter of personal preference and one is not “better” than the other. I like FFP for medium range shooting, for the ability to use lower magnification for a wider field of view, and still maintain the calibration on the reticle, very useful when tackling a mob of goats when you’ve not got time for dialling and you’ve got to make quick adjustments to your holdover.

Your first and most important specification @Ginga is how much you are willing to spend. I could go out on the hill tomorrow with a scope that cost $500 or a scope that cost $2000, and I’ll bet my left nut that I’ll come home with a deer regardless of which one I choose.

I have a Z5 and rate it now that I know how to use it. The elevation system is much faster for hunting to use than reading numbers because it can be adjusted by feel. I just sleeved the objective bell with some PN8 PE pipe which is very impact resistant. So maybe what you want is steering you in the face but just needs a sleeve. Or maybe a Z6 ??. The toughest scopes I have are steel tubed Kahles. Have a 4-12 x 56 4A that I would sell