What's a good, cheap scope for a 10/22?

[Jeff Higgins]

Cheap scope? The cheapest scopes I own are all Leupolds. Yes, I own a few Weavers, Bushnells, Tascos, and the like - all of which cost less than even the least expensive Leupold. But the Leupolds are still the cheapest. Let me explain.

Many years ago (like 25-30) I bought a Leupold 3-9x used at a gun show. I had no idea how old it was. It bounced around from rifle to rifle over the years. Then one day something went wrong with the windage and elevation adjustments; the erector tube had come loose or something. I contacted Leupold, told the nice lady I had purchased it used over a decade prior, and that I just wanted to get it repaired, if possible. She told me to send it in and they would look at it, then let me know if it was repairable and what it would cost. I mailed it on a Monday, from Lynnwood, Washington. It was back in my mailbox that Thursday, four days later. Fully repaired and recharged. No charge. I called the nice lady, thanked her, and told her there must be some mistake - there was no charge. She told me there was no mistake; "it's a Leupold and it didn't work. Now it does. We don't care how old it is or where you got it".

A buddy's son was elk hunting in Oregon one day and managed to roll his Bronco down a sidehill. The Leupold scope on his rifle got bent like a banana, popping both lenses out and both turrets loose. He drove over to the Leupold factory some months later, simply looking for one just like it. He showed it to the customer service guy behind the counter, who said he thought he could match it. He came back with a new scope, handed it to him, and said "have a nice day". He reached for his wallet to pay, and the Leupold guy stopped him. "It's a Leupold and it doesn't work. We don't care how old it is or what happened to it. Now you have one that works. Have a nice day."

Try that with any other scope. Or any other mass marketed consumer product, for that matter. I have purchased nothing but Leupold in the decade or so since my experience with the 3-9x.

A buddy had purchased a brand new, under warranty, Burris at about the same time my Leupold went south. One day when we were heading out to shoot some coyotes and ground squirrels, he knocked his M70 over in his living room and it landed on the carpet. The horizontal stadia wire broke in the new, still under warranty Burris. He sent it back for repair. That started three months of back and for arguing; Burris called knocking it over "abuse" that was not covered. In the end, they wanted to charge him darn near a new scope price to fix it. He told them to insert it where the sun never shines, that he would never buy another Burris, and all about my Leupold experience. All of his rifles wear Leupolds today.

[charleskieffner]

i blew up the stadia on (2) TWO leupold 3.5 x 10 scopes with my .338!

both times no questions asked. 3rd time i blew stadia up..............leupold told me to pick WHATEVER SCOPE I WANTED! FOR FREE!

and thats how i got my 6.5 x 18 leupold. FOR FREE!

[vash]

3.5x10. that would be the varix-3. i have that scope. i dropped my rifle (.257 weatherby) saving myself from a fall. i crushed one of the turret caps. i was sooo bummed. the rifle got scratched, the scoped dinged. it still shot straight. my zero never moved. i got a new cap (dinged it later) and i am still good to go. the prices rocketed on that scope. i could only afford a VX-II for my old beater .06. i had to replace that scope because my original WEAVER fogged. it did it 3 days before my elk hunt. i ran and bought the leupold, sighted it in, and never looked back. cheap scopes are lame. having said that, they are getting better and better. it still amazes me that someone will spend hundreds on a rifle and put a $50 scope on it. it is all part of a system. weakest link stuff. no skimping in the field.

for the 10/22 buy a single power 4x scope. those are cheap to begin with. you dont need a 9x adjustable scope on a .22.

[charleskieffner]

yep 9 power makes bunnies LOOK LIKE GODZILLA!