Best bang for buck ar10 scope

[lsnone]

I am doing a ar10 build and need a nice long range scope. I will be shooting at least 200 yards and more.  I have read great reviews on vortex scopes, but vortexs cost alot. Any ideas on a low cost good scope?

[dpete]

53 minutes ago, lsnone said:

 Any ideas on a low cost good scope?

First of all what is your budget for the scope?   Then you have to realize that you can generally get a low cost scope, or a good scope, but not both.  It all comes down to what your spending limit is, what features you want, and what clarity of glass you are willing to use. 

[Albroswift]

I have several Vortex scopes among others, Vortex has several levels of quality and several countries building them. Brother has a Crossfire 2, bottom end Vortex, I have mostly Viper HST's and PST's which are mid level + and can tell the difference between those and the Crossfire. Have a couple Lupolds, couple Burris, All good warranties and good scopes. Everyone will probably tell you something different but 700-1000 for a scope you can get into pretty clear optics up to about 24X and see a fly on a 200 yard target. If you want more magnification, either you will pay more or loose image quality. According to one of the Cerakote Ninjas I trade posts with, the Vortex will not take the heat that a Lupold will, if that makes a difference. 

[shooterrex]

Good glass is expensive but good glass almost always comes with a lifetime warranty. You only buy it once. You can always put it on another gun down the line.

The Bushnell AR series scopes have been on sale a lot of places. I have one on a rifle. When it was on another rifle I hit steel at 800 yds.

The 1" tube ran out of elevation and I had to use the reticle to get the rest of the elevation. Inside 500 yds the scope works fine.

[lsnone]

2 hours ago, shooterrex said:

Good glass is expensive but good glass almost always comes with a lifetime warranty. You only buy it once. You can always put it on another gun down the line.

The Bushnell AR series scopes have been on sale a lot of places. I have one on a rifle. When it was on another rifle I hit steel at 800 yds.

The 1" tube ran out of elevation and I had to use the reticle to get the rest of the elevation. Inside 500 yds the scope works fine.

What Bushnell model scope did you buy? 

[lsnone]

What model Bushnell did you but?

[Rsquared]

Scroll through Primary Arms. They sell decent glass at affordable prices. But as everything else in life. You get what you pay for. A rule of thumb that some people use is that the glass should almost equal the price of the rifle. But everybody has their own opinion. And we all know what opinions are like.

When you have a moment. Why don't you swing by the introductions area and give us a little insight on yourself, and the plans for your build.

We're a friendly bunch for the most part and don't bite.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Rsquared

[shooterrex]

This is the one I bought. I moved it to my 6ARC pistol I built.

https://www.natchezss.com/optics/rifle-scopes/45-18x40mm-ar-optics-black-illum-wind-hold-box-5l-bhar741840ei

This what I replaced it with.

https://athlonoptics.com/product/argos-btr-gen2-6-24x50-apmr-ffp-ir-mil-copy/

[SolidBuilt]

I have the Sightron s-tac 3x16x42, and the glass is superb. Midway has it on sale.

I also have the Arken Optics 4x16x50 SH4 but the turrets are bulky... super clear glass.

Vortex, however, has been great to me for a few customer service issues.. 

But, my favorite scope is my Leupold VX-3HD 4.5-14x40. 

[98Z5V]

On 11/5/2022 at 9:54 AM, Albroswift said:

According to one of the Cerakote Ninjas I trade posts with, the Vortex will not take the heat that a Lupold will, if that makes a difference. 

I get around this by not baking the glass.  I still used the Cerakote H-Series, I just let it air cure.  It gets a 3-minute quick flash in the oven, just to set it, but I don't let it do a full oven-cure.  The only reason for that it not baking o-rings and other seals that might be throughout the scope, turrets, etc.  

For the record, I've done a full bake on an EOTech 512 - twice.  That thing is still alive...  

Edited November 14, 2022 by 98Z5V

[Albroswift]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:26 AM, 98Z5V said:

I get around this by not baking the glass.  I still used the Cerakote H-Series, I just let it air cure.  It gets a 3-minute quick flash in the oven, just to set it, but I don't let it do a full oven-cure.  The only reason for that it not baking o-rings and other seals that might be throughout the scope, turrets, etc.  

For the record, I've done a full bake on an EOTech 512 - twice.  That thing is still alive...  

You should be able to bake it to the same temp it would experience in a car on a hot day. Difference is Vortex would stand behind the hot car, maybe not so much if it had evidence of a baked on coating. 

[jtallen83]

On 11/15/2022 at 10:08 PM, Albroswift said:

Vortex would stand behind the hot car,

Way past that, I've seen them warranty a red dot that was melted in a fire, if there is enough there to ID as Vortex I've never heard of them turning anyone down.