I am considering a second hand Weaver Grand Slam 4-16x44. Has anyone had any experience with these and any comments good or bad?
Thanks
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I am considering a second hand Weaver Grand Slam 4-16x44. Has anyone had any experience with these and any comments good or bad?
Thanks
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I use one on my .243 Win. Have for about 3 years. It has the EBX reticle, the load I use is tuned to the hash marks at 200m, 300m, 400m.
Bomb proof scope. It gets some unintended abuse but never loses its zero. Has had numerous drenchings, mud, falling over... I’m a clumsy bastard sometimes. The rifle sits for hours on the bike rack in all weather getting thumped around in the rough stuff. I’ll run it until one day I do something really stupid like run it over.
I fitted a clear UV filter in front of the objective lens to keep the crap off it. The only criticism is I struggled to find scope caps that fitted it, and gave up. Not a biggy as most of the time caps annoy me anyway.
Wouldn’t hesitate to buy another Weaver Grand Slam.
Attachment 94865
Nice buck Flyblown
i would never own a weaver scope again . 3rd shot from my BLR in 308 and the reticle fell apart, backup was terrible from nz agent too. luckily i was sighting in not on a hunt
I have an older model Grand Slam and the pop up turret cap Weaver Super Slam and a 2-10 capped turret SuperSlam, all are great, but if its one of the newer model Grand slams i dont know what they are like.
Post a pic or link to the one youre looking at
EDIT: I see Flyblowns is one of the newer ones, so all good
It was on Trademe but didn't sell but I got the guys number. Yes it's one of the newer ones looks just like flyblowns. Guy wants $500 which seems ok for a $1000 scope brand new.
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Nice buck alright. I have an older 4-16 and a new model 2-8...I like them both
https://www.natchezss.com/weaver-re-...cle-matte.html
When the NZD was higher these were ok value.
Now they would cost circa NZD $850 plus GST landed
$500 is a good price assuming its in good condition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brakelie
Reason I got this Weaver scope was because my one cuz in Alberta uses them almost exclusively and he brought me one in exchange for a couple of domestic flights on his last visit. He has probably a dozen or more Jap made Weavers on various rifles in various specs, plus some older US made ones. He has a two 1.5-5x32 (I think) Grand Slams on very heavy recoiling guide guns for grizzly country (that I remember fondly as the hardest kicking rifles I’ve ever shot). Its a big deal to those guys to have a tough reliable scope on those rifles.
The Jap made Weavers have a very good reputation in the US as robust, simple, well made scopes. For a long time Weaver kept it very simple, no fancy high tech tactical scopes.
Sorry @gonetropo that you had a bad experience, can you remember which model it was? Some of the cheap ones e.g. KASPA are made in China and branded Weaver which to my mind is never a good idea as they are seriously inferior to the Jap made ones.
If you've saved $500, do yourself a favour and save another $500 and then go buy a leupy and never look back.
I picked up my vx5hd 3-15x44 for $1200 with rings and it's so much better than anything half that price.
Worth eating noodles for a week if you ask me
Just a counter-comment @dannyb, I certainly don’t have anything against Leupold, but it is worth reminding ourselves that brands are one thing, cost, “made in” and the actual origin of components is another. Weaver Grand Slams and Super Slams are made by Light Optical Works in Japan. Now the list of brands made in that factory changes depending on who you talk to, and when I say “made” I specifically mean glass manufacture. Some or all of the Nightforce glass is LOW for example. Other brands are manufactured 100% there, e.g. Bushnell Elite.
Leupold glass is sourced from Asia and a fair proportion of it comes from LOW, so I am told by my cuz who should know these things as he and his wife own an agency that imports a range of specialist optical equipment for all manner of industries. His decision to go with Weavers was simply because the part he wanted to ensure was good quality was the same quality as many of the higher priced scopes. So its worth bearing in mind I think that sometimes, the price one is asked to pay for a specific brand might be double or triple, but the important part of the item (in this case the glass) might very well come from the same factory. I think this logic applies best to non-ballistic turret type scopes; when you get into reticle mechanics you need to trust that its robust and accurate and certainly some brands are better in this department than others.
That may well be the case but given the choice I know which one I would pick every time......no hate, not bashing weavers I'm just saying you can get a lot more scope for $1000 than you can for $500 be it leupold or any other brand, do ya homework and get the one that bests suits your useQuote:
Originally Posted by Flyblown
That's why I'm a bit of a fan of these Tract 'scopes. They are made in the LOW factory using HD glass and the top line ones (Toric) have German Schott glass. As well, they are direct sellers from the States so are cheaper than their competitors - and in many instances way ahead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyblown
Always makes me laugh in these threads when the OP says I want to/can spend $x and people go saying spend $2x or save up $3x.
Personally I set a spend limit on an item for a reason. If I could justify/afford $2x I would say I can spend $2x. I assume other people do the same.
How are you sourcing these Tract scopes @Tahr? They look very interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Ive had a few weavers and I would have another if i was given it or if one came up 2nd hand cheap but it wouldn’t be my 1st choice
Don’t rule out a Nikon monarch
Awesome scopes
Haha yep, I only have 50% say on my budget!Quote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
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Straight off their web site. They only direct sell. A dialogue box comes up. Say you are from NZ and what you want and Jon will email you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyblown
You know what, I've bought enough average gear wishing I'd spent more and bought what I really wanted instead of making do, optics is certainly worth clearing the gorse out of your pockets or selling your ass on the corner to go that little bit better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
Was only trying to pass on what I have experienced and save you the hassle of buying something you may end up wishing you'd spent more on, and unlikely to get your money back on when you decide you do really need better optics or something more suitable for your needs.
If the O.P only has $500 you could certainly do worse than a weaver but to be fair I also think there are better scopes out there for $500 too.
I think that's what he is wanting to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyb
Yes please, if anyone has something better please let me know. I want to put it on a 223 so I like the 4-16 range for hares, rabbits and magpies to @300 and I'm a simpleton so not really into dialling but like the Weavers ebx reticle with the holdover linesQuote:
Originally Posted by Shearer
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The Nikon Monarch range is well worth investigating then.
I've got 12 Weaver scopes, from a very old 3x steel tube right through to 3 Grand Slams. I've never had much spare cash and found that Weaver was good value for money. I like 'em, I use 'em, cant fault 'em. Now that I do have access to some cash occasionally I buy Kahles, but if $500 is your budget, then it appears to be a good scope for what you want.
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by Husky1600
I have one fairly old Weaver and it just trucks along. I think at the price you'd be a mug not to grab it.
Ive had 7 weavers now i think, classics, grand slams and super slams. Comparing light transimssion of weaver and leupold, turrets, warranty weaver won. Dialled them heaps, used them hunting and target shooting and have never had an issue except losing a turret once. Emailed weaver and 2 more turned up free of charge. Didnt even pay postage so thumbs up for me but as above, research specs and make decisions you personally will be happy with. No matter what brand amd modelyou get someone will love it and someone will hate it.
+1 on the Weavers, they're great scopes for the money - I've always thought the Jap made ones were the same if not better then VX1's & some 2's. I'm selling one fairly soon to get another one with more magnification.
I have been using Weavers and Leupolds for over thirty years.
Weaver eye relief is always what they say it is. The older style Leupold scopes tend to have about 2/3 of what is advertised, e.g. the old M8 4x (3.6x28) that I bought new in about 1990. Advertised eye relief was 4.4 inches, Actual eye relief was 3.4 to 3.5 inches. The Weaver K2.5 that I purchased a year or two earlier, had an advertised and actual eye relief of 3.7 inches. The clean sheet designs, e.g. all the Leupold 30mm scopes (like my current variable) seem to be as-advertised.
Parallax adjustment numbers are more reliable on Weaver scopes for close range. For decades Weaver scopes (both steel and alloy tube) were the only AO models on the market that worked properly below 75 metre distance to target. You had to get a hole drilled in the centre of the steel threaded objective lens cover for a Leupold 6.5-20x40 (and you still do) to get reliable performance for .22 lr shooting. About ten to twelve? years back, Leupold brought out a special version of that scope for .22 Rimfire shooting.
I currently own two Leupold variables and have been waiting months for the lazy beggars in Beaverton to make another (standard catalogue item) one for me. I also own two Weavers (one fixed, one variable), a Kahles fixed power, a Schmidt und Bender fixed power and a couple of other optical sights.
Grand Slam is good. Anything lower than Weaver Classic, i.e. Asian made but not at LOW, is dubious. Do proper research and you will not go wrong.
NB When Kahles brought out their Z6 variable power scopes, they spent significant money on new production machinery to obtain the required precision. When Leupold introduced their big 30mm tube variables, maybe twelve years back, they started out with their existing machinery, hence the ridiculously high number of warranty repairs to NZ purchased scopes.
Which ones have you tired so fat Tahr?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
Toric 3-15 ‘scope. Brian has one too. Mine has the ballistic ret and his the t plex. We are both very pleased.Quote:
Originally Posted by StagDown
I’ve used mine out to 500 yds dialling. Excellent zero stop and track well.
I also have the Toric 8x Binos. They are outstanding.
Sorry for hijacking the tread - They look good Tahr, I wonder how the model down performs the Turion 2.5-10x42 or 3-12x50, they look good for the more also - did you have much trouble importing? Was the shipping expensive? CheersQuote:
Originally Posted by Tahr
.Quote:
Originally Posted by StagDown
The Turion are the same as the Toric pretty much but just ED glass, not Schott. And no zero stop kit like the Toric unless you buy one. Importing easy peasy. Postage costly-ish. Watch the cost against our recent low dollar - and add GST. There is a user group on Facebook.
Thanks for all the advice on this scope.
Not sure what's going on with the seller, asked for account details a couple of times and haven't heard anything back. Am picking they don't want to bother posting it and I don't want to drive 3 hours each way to collect it. Oh well hopefully some good deals at the sika show.
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I've got several Weavers, grand and super slams all have been very good as have monarchs and the elite bushnells.
