Taking a cue from Old Hippie, here is a new thread devoted to discussing scopes (otherwise known as "optical gun sights").
Virtually all of my Sakos are mounted with Leupolds. The oldest one I have dates to 1965 (an original Vari-X 3-9 on a four-digit .264 Finnbear). It is still going strong and the Finnbear always puts its first shot dead center and 2" high, exactly where it did the last time it was fired (sometimes as long as five years).
I do have a couple of Sakos wearing original Denver Redfields. And I do like to have my Sakos fitted with scopes as close to contemporaneous with their age as possible. While I've given up and mounted some matte finished scopes on later Sakos, I much prefer the gloss to match the bright bluing of the rifle, especially on Deluxe models.
Although European made scopes have outstanding optics (insofar as clarity and focus), they often exhibit characteristics that I find unhelpful in a hunting scope. First, the eye relief and lateral eye placement tend to be very critical (your eye has to be just the right place to see the sight picture). This makes them slower to use and more difficult to use if your shooting position happens to be unusual as sometimes occurs in the field. Second, they tend to be somewhat heavier and bulkier than the Leupolds, which is hardly an endearing quality in a riflescope. And finally, most exhibit what is called poor "field blending" -- the tendency for the sight picture to be restricted with a large black ring around it and look like you're peering down the center of a cardboard paper towel tube. This is partly due to an optical/mechanical trick to keep the eye relief relatively constant as the power is changed on a variable. Constant, but critical.
I agree with most that there is no place for one of today's cheap Chinese-made scopes on a Sako. However, one of them in fixed power is a pretty good buy for a casual rimfire rifle or a "loaner" deer rifle (of lesser make than a Sako, of course.)
Opinions and experience vary, so feel free to express your own likes, dislikes, and prejudices (which of course none of us harbor, but which our well-studied and fact-based opinions are sometimes mistaken for
).
Virtually all of my Sakos are mounted with Leupolds. The oldest one I have dates to 1965 (an original Vari-X 3-9 on a four-digit .264 Finnbear). It is still going strong and the Finnbear always puts its first shot dead center and 2" high, exactly where it did the last time it was fired (sometimes as long as five years).
I do have a couple of Sakos wearing original Denver Redfields. And I do like to have my Sakos fitted with scopes as close to contemporaneous with their age as possible. While I've given up and mounted some matte finished scopes on later Sakos, I much prefer the gloss to match the bright bluing of the rifle, especially on Deluxe models.
Although European made scopes have outstanding optics (insofar as clarity and focus), they often exhibit characteristics that I find unhelpful in a hunting scope. First, the eye relief and lateral eye placement tend to be very critical (your eye has to be just the right place to see the sight picture). This makes them slower to use and more difficult to use if your shooting position happens to be unusual as sometimes occurs in the field. Second, they tend to be somewhat heavier and bulkier than the Leupolds, which is hardly an endearing quality in a riflescope. And finally, most exhibit what is called poor "field blending" -- the tendency for the sight picture to be restricted with a large black ring around it and look like you're peering down the center of a cardboard paper towel tube. This is partly due to an optical/mechanical trick to keep the eye relief relatively constant as the power is changed on a variable. Constant, but critical.
I agree with most that there is no place for one of today's cheap Chinese-made scopes on a Sako. However, one of them in fixed power is a pretty good buy for a casual rimfire rifle or a "loaner" deer rifle (of lesser make than a Sako, of course.)
Opinions and experience vary, so feel free to express your own likes, dislikes, and prejudices (which of course none of us harbor, but which our well-studied and fact-based opinions are sometimes mistaken for
).
is one of my favorites. Leupold VXII c 3-9x42
