Thread: Spend money on a spotting scope or buy a scope with higher magnification?

Originally Posted by Fatberg

In your opinion at what price point do you exit mediocre scope territory and get to the better stuff?

As others have said, a big can of worms here.
In some ways I've become a complete scope snob, I always had scopes that were in the $400-$800 range but one day a buddy bought a VX6 and I have been a changed man ever since.

Personally I think $2000 is where you start getting into diminishing returns, I've been through a few different scopes in later years and don't think I'd want anything less than a VX5 these days. The glass is a notable step up from lesser scopes but more than anything else the FOV is much better than most other scopes, and the eyebox is much more forgiving (the eye/head position isn't as sensitive).

$3000+ Japanese/European glass is definitely better than what you'll find in the VX5 but the jump is not the same as going from a cheaper Vortex or VX3 to a VX5/VX6.
After you get to VX5 level of scope you really need to want a particular set of specification or "need" better glass to warrant anything better, if you just want a SFP duplex reticle in a scope you can dial, a VX5 3-15x44 with a Firedot duplex is very very hard to beat for the money.

The most recenty scope I bought was an Athlon for well under $1000, many reviews said the glass was "clear" and it gave up nothing to higher end glass, all of which was totally not true. I'm not an optic expert by any stretch but there is a lot more to scope glass than looking through a scope for 30 seconds and thinking it looks nice.

I'm not in a position to recomend many hunting scopes as I like FFP in everything these days (which is not the norm based on most views on this forum) but if you can find a used VX5 3-15 for a good price you'll be right.