What you should fear the most about Budget Scopes/Rimfire scopes!

[ROLEXrifleman]

MOTHER****ER!
Yes, I said it. Even knowing INGO is a PG-13 website there is no other word that singularly describes how I feel right now.
So, buyer beware........... even after you deal with optical quality, internal construction and parts material you still have to have someone assemble it all correctly.
The Bushnell Rimfire scope I just got, well... after everything is said and done the reticle is canted between 5 and 10 degrees!
For those that don't know what it is, Google it. I'm way to furious to go into it right now. I'll probably do a follow up to this post after I calm down and call Bushnell tomorrow.

You know, sometimes I buy budget minded items just cause I think technology has come to a point where it will be at least usable. Either I expect way to much of things or we truly are still living in the age of you get what you pay for!!!!!

 

[Cameramonkey]

Just cant the scope the other direction. Problem solved.

You're welcome, I'm a problem solver, its what I do.


Seriously, good luck. Hopefully it started that way and didnt develop a cant. At least the former they should fix it.

I ran into a similar issue with a Baofeng radio. (cheap Chinese ham radio) OOB you could see a line of pixels that would only activate to 1/3 darkness. SO instead of black dots/bars they were light grey. Lucky for me I bought from the official us distributor so I was able to bypass the Amazon BS (return and buy a new one) and send it straight to them to be swapped.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

This is an out of the box new scope bought straight from SWFA.
The most recoil its even been exposed to is the USPS mail.



^
I made myself smile with that one

 

[M67]

It's a mass produced item. Things happen. Sorry for your luck but things slip past QC

 

[Cameramonkey]

Well, at least its a major player with a good reputation and not some fly by night knockoff/import.

I hope my rimfire scope lasts. I bought one years ago. Found out its counterfeit when I tried to download the manual before an appleseed so I would know more about the dial adjustments. (does the direction indicated move the bullet or the reticle?) in trying to find my manual online, I learned that BSA never made a scope with my specs. Apparently somebody took the BSA name/logo and slapped it on their scope.

Just glad it didnt fail and find out after wasting return shipping that it wasnt legit.

 

[NyleRN]

SWFA will probably just send you an RMA and exchange it for you since it hasn't been mounted and you just got it. I wouldn't think they'd make you go through Bushnell

 

[42769vette]

SWFA will probably just send you an RMA and exchange it for you since it hasn't been mounted and you just got it. I wouldn't think they'd make you go through Bushnell

I would make it right, but In reality, its Bushnell's fault, let Bushnell lose money on it, not SWFA.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I would make it right, but In reality, its Bushnell's fault, let Bushnell lose money on it, not SWFA.

I know this does not help the OP, but in case it helps someone else's choice on where to buy their optics, here's what I do:

I contact Allen at AAOptics and tell him my budget and use, then I buy what he tells me to buy. If I have a problem, I tell Allen and let him sort it out.

Nothing beats dealing with a "stand up guy".

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

Allen is a great resource and an excellent source for vortex, on that note, he should not be abused. Knowing the vortex line as I do, I knew there was nothing in their lineup for my need in this project.
what I do regret is not finding a Bushnell dealer like Allen, a stand up guy running a smaller shop the way he wants to. Buying from some of the bigger online sources don't always give you the added value of the smaller guys. Due to SWFA's policies my only recourse is dealing directly with Bushnell. No gripe here on that, I don't blame SWFA for having rules. I "blame" Bushnell for the issue with their product and now will work with them to get it squared up. Businessmen like Allen though go out of their way to assist after the sale with support, you don't get that everywhere, and in my case it would have been a nice to have someone in my corner.

 

[seedubs1]

Well, there's your first sign. Bushnell rimfire scopes aren't exactly known for their quality. Return that Bushnell and get something quality. What are you actually looking for in this scope?

This is (no joke) the reply I got from their engineering department when I inquired about one of their rimfire scopes in the past:

"Plastic is used throughout the scope.

Thank you,

Ryan
Customer Service Representative
www.bushnell.com"

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

There were a combination of features that made this my choice as they were all on my list.

1) Parallax adjustment down to 10 yards. It's almost impossible to find something that goes that low

2) High power, 6-18. I wanted something above 10. there are 12 powers then I saw this.

3) That price! At $130 I thought the fact that it was only rimfire rated meant that they did everything else right seeing as they didn't have to "beef" it up to handle real recoil and keep that price point.

If there is a scope out there that follows 1 and 2 and is under $250 point me in that direction.

 

[seedubs1]

A Sightron SI 4-12 will get you almost everything you want. A bit more money gets you into a SII that would get you everything you want.

Just remember, better glass at lower magnification is better than bad glass at high magnification. Large differences in glass quality trumps magnification.

Sightron SIH-TAC4-12X40 AO HHR, SI Hunter 31012

You could also look at some of the Crossfire2 scopes with AO from Vortex. Diamondback AO and Diamondback HP models from Vortex also go on sale from time to time, but parallax adjustment on most of those is a minimum of 25-30 yards.

As far as the thoughts on getting a less robust scope on a rimfire, I have a different view on the subject. I target shoot mostly (not hunting). Someone only shooting their 22 to sight it in and hunt may have a different viewpoint. My 22 sees many more rounds than my center fire rifles. Because ammo is so cheap, and a 22 is such a great training rifle, I am behind the glass much more. It also probably sees more abuse due to the amount of shots taken than my centerfires. Each impulse is less, but it sees thousands and thousands more shots. Because of that, I try to put the best scope I can on my 22.

The good scope manufacturers realize this, and their rimfire scopes aren't much different than their centerfire scopes in that they are just as robust. The main difference is the parallax.

 

[Sniper 79]

I know a lot of rimfire dudes shoot the Mueller or the Sightron scopes. Looking at buying one myself.

My guns are currently wearing Bushnell. Couldn't beat them for the price. Bushnell Trophy XLT on sale coupled with factory rebate. Snagged a couple of them at 50 bucks each! Good scopes to keep around although my 17 cal. can out shoot the scope. Never had problems with Bushnell.

 

[Leo]

Cheap price = cheap product. Cheap products are far more prone to problems. Hard to get away from that.

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

Going to end up "upgrading" to something I can sell off easier. Now for Bushnell to answer my e-mail. 1st two were were answered within a day, I've been waiting on a response for 2 days now and I'm dealing directly with an agent.

This is a portion of what I explained:

I use the feeler gauge technique in mounting optics so that the reticle is level. In this case a set of feeler gauges is used along with the flat underside of the scope and the top of the scope base. The feeler gauges keep the two planes parallel to each other ensuring a level reticle IF the reticle is centered correctly in the scope, brining us to the next issue with this scope. Upon completion of mounting I looked through the scope only to find the reticle was canted off center by 3-5 degrees if not more. I loosened the rings so I could turn the scope and level the reticle. This brought the turrets to a ridiculously canted degree.

What he didnt see were the pics. At one point I had 4 levels on thsi making sure it wasnt me.

heres looking at the front of the rifle where the rail is level ( yes the rail and receiver are both parallel to each other) :




The reticle was centered which left the turrets like this:




So I'm so mad I'm just going to toss one of my back up scopes on it and call it a day

 

[1988-4551]

Just cant the scope the other direction. Problem solved.

You're welcome, I'm a problem solver, its what I do.


Seriously, good luck. Hopefully it started that way and didnt develop a cant. At least the former they should fix it.

I ran into a similar issue with a Baofeng radio. (cheap Chinese ham radio) OOB you could see a line of pixels that would only activate to 1/3 darkness. SO instead of black dots/bars they were light grey. Lucky for me I bought from the official us distributor so I was able to bypass the Amazon BS (return and buy a new one) and send it straight to them to be swapped.

Not to hijack the post, but did you ever get ham certified cameramonkey? I'm probably within ten miles of you and am curious how simplex transmission would sound with someone about that far away.

 

[MohawkSlim]

1) Parallax adjustment down to 10 yards. It's almost impossible to find something that goes that low

What is the maximum possible deflection caused by parallax at 10 yards?

 

[ROLEXrifleman]

What is the maximum possible deflection caused by parallax at 10 yards?

In relation to what? If you have an adjustment made to that distance then 0.
if the lowest you can go is say 50 yds on your adjustment then the level of error would vary with the placement of your check to the rifle, alignment of the eye to the reticle and the reticle on the target. At 50 yards it has been measured at 1/2 inch under some tests. At 10 yards I want to eliminate every variable possible and if 1/4 is the number at 10 yards I don't want to just give that spread away.

For someone who is a pliker it is not even worth the discussion, if you wantto put all the bullets in one hole is an issue that has to be addressed.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Not to hijack the post, but did you ever get ham certified cameramonkey? I'm probably within ten miles of you and am curious how simplex transmission would sound with someone about that far away.

No. Been too busy to even crack the ebook.

/hijack.

 

[MohawkSlim]

At 50 yards it has been measured at 1/2 inch under some tests. At 10 yards I want to eliminate every variable possible and if 1/4 is the number at 10 yards

I don't want to seem nitpicky but I've never seen much data on this issue yet it's a huge deal on the internetz. Does real life data coincide with the concern?

If you have facts, figures, tables, etc., I'd love to see them. And I'm not disagreeing on the issue of parallax causing misses when trying to shoot holes in holes. I get the math part. Just wondering where it comes from. Thanks!