Has your scope failed ?

I am curious if scope failure is as big of an issue as in the past (inside fogged ,cross hairs broken ,big time failure to hold Zero ). Most of my scopes are older an not that bright and clear ,example a 2x 7 Leopold that is awful compared to a free BSA .These modern scopes are bright and clear even the cheepies. So that leaves reliability as the big reason to choose $150 and $500 . I am not speaking of scopes for long range that need precise tracking for bullet compensating hashes ETC .I am mainly concerned with hunting scopes such as 3x 9 and 4x 12 with AO with no target turrets.I would think twice about cheepie scope if I was headed to Africa or the Arctic on a guided hunt !!

have had a nikon 2-7x32 on my 12ga slug gun , for 15 years , still fine

I have 2 of the nikon one slug guns and 5 vortex 2-7x32 that are not as old but seem to hold up fine on 308 , 30-06 and other rifles.

My .460 S&W broke a Burris 2x7. They were good for it and promptly sent me a brand new one that’s performed flawlessly ever since

I had a Burris 2x7 that would not hold zero or track properly on a 357 carbine. It was my 3rd full field 2 scope the first two were bullet proof.

I sent it back and had a new one in the mailbox in 4 days. But I lost confidence in them and replaced it with my 5th or 6th Leopold. If you add in how many rounds I wasted trying to get it zeroed and how lucky I was I aimed for a high shoulder shot and hit the deer low in the heart instead of wounding it + the two missed shots on the other deer I tried to shoot it's not worth the 50-100$ on a cheaper optic. I burnt that up in ammo quick trying to rezero. No to mention the aggravation. Finding out your scope not holding zero on a hunt is not a good feeling.

I have Leopolds from vx2 xviii, vx3 vx3i -mark 4s and have not had a problem with any of them. Optics are a lifetime purchase if you buy good ones and so far it eliminates a lot of aggravation.
I put the replacement Burris on a .22

Bushnell, Simmons and Nikon have all let me down now I'm all Vortex and Leupold except a couple cheap .22s have Tasco which it way better than you'd expect from a cheap scope. .

The only major let down for me was on a simmons (late 80s vintage) most of the rest have been flawless for me.Tasco has held up beyond my expectations, but will have to say that Burris, Leopold, and vortex are my go to scopes for handgun and rifle. I do have another unknown brand on my tc contender in ....22 that is not long for this world, but it was a 40-50$ scope to start with so i didn't have high expectations.

I have had 2 scope failures in 40 years of shooting/hunting. The funny thing is I made it close to 35 years before I had a failure. My first one was a Vortex Diamondback that failed 3 times (Crosshairs rotating in the tube) Vortex made good on it all 3 times. The second failure was a Simmons Pro Diamond shotgun scope that fogged internally after hunting two straight days in rain. The scope was 20 years old and had been mounted on an 870 express super mag so it had seen its share of 3.5" 12 gauge shells. The scope was like $50 new and I felt that i had got my fair amount of use out of it so I did not send it in for warranty. I replaced it with a Leupold. I primarily shoot Leupold scopes with a few Burris scopes in the mix as well.

I hunt with a pre-64 Winchester M 70 in 30-06. It has a Redfield Widefield 3 x 9 mounted on it. I'm not exactly sure when the scope was put on, late sixties or early seventies is my best guess.

There have been thousands of rounds shot through that gun since then and the scope is still performing well.

My son and I were hunting moose/ caribou in late November in 2010 . He got on a good herd of stags at 200 yards, gun on shooting sticks, shot hit it in the hind quarter. Second shot barely grazed it there also. I knew something was wrong, gave him my Ruger, killed it with next shot. He killed two good bull moose with my gun in the next couple of days.

He was hunting with a .300 WM Browning, with a 4x12 Leopold VX 2. When I got home, I put it on a lead sled, and at 100 yards it was shooting 22 inches to the right. The gun was dead on ( checked it on arrival in NL ), so somehow it lost its zero...badly. At this point I lost confidence in this scope.I sent it back to Leopold, with a letter explaining what happened....they sent me a new updated model to replace it.

I think certain guns just don't like scopes. My brother's 20ga rem 870 busted every scope out on it.my 870 never busted one.

Lost my Bushnell 2X bought it in 1972 used it till 5-6 years ago i guess Crosshairs started wandering off on their own

Bought a rifle in them 70s with a 3x9 variable. Think it was a Weaver. Scope took a blow on brick steps and got cross threaded. Weaver gave me a brand new replacement which i traded for a used Leupold.

5 or so years ago I had a brand new higher end nikon that was defective from brand new. New scope and new gun. Just never grouped as well as I thought it should. I would shoot 5 shots and get 2 touching and the other 3 would be scattered in a random group of 3 inches. I blamed it on many things including myself. Over the next couple years I tried a lot of different ammo, new rings and bases, remounted the scope many times. Nothing ever improved the grouping. I shot many deer with this gun, just never super confident in it. I never wanted to believe it was the scope because it cost to much lol. Then one day I threw a cheap $50 scope on it I had laying around and boom she shot .75 groups all day. This scope cost me a lot of ammo and frustration.

I tell you a MAJOR difference you will find in the low budget brands versus vortex, leupold, Nikon, ect. I have experienced this twice now.I recently purchased a savage 270 and a 243. One with a weaver 3-9 package the other had a simmons 3-9. both looked great scopes were clear. Killed 2 deer with them no problem. UNTIL one day my son was using the 243 and text me said he couldn't see thru his scope . All he could see was his orange vest glaring in the sight picture. I got the gun that evening put on my orange vest looked . Fine no problems. THEN couple days later I was using the 270. My stand was placed with the sun on my back. Doe control was what I was doing . Raised my gun and BLANK solid orange glare !!!! Sun was reflecting off lense and back onto my vest and hat . Both guns now have vortex scopes on them .......

I shattered the guts in a low end bushnell 3-12x56 with a 300 win mag. I have had all the low end scopes over the years and they have all failed me in one way or another. Not holding zero, fogging up, just not being clear enough in low light. I do believe you need to spend a little bit of money on a scope and in the end you will be happier for it. Basically buy the best one you can afford. There are some good scopes in the 250-350 price range. If you like red dots i have been playing with holosun and have been pleased with them.

I had two cheap Tasco scopes, mounted on the same Ruger 10-22, fail in 2 months, back around 1994. Both had the lens in the center of the scope turn sideways.

Keith

I had a Bushnell do that on me in 2016 I had had it since 2001 , sent it in and they sent me a new scope. that scope was on a 10/22 and a bolt action 22 never anything any bigger at least you can see it failed when it does that

I had a Tasco on Remington 760 30-06 and used it for 40 years with no problems. I also had a Tasco on a little Mossberg “jack rabbit special” .22 that I used for about 50 years with no problems.

My only scope failure was a cheap Simmons from Walmart that was bad right out the box. I only buy Leopold optics now. I do have one vortex crossfire 2 that I got as a combo and it will be replaced/sold for a vx iii this fall or next spring. You can find Leopold vx ii or vx iii for 2 to 3 hundred dollars quite often and are more than adequate for the 200 yards and under i shoot.

Never had a Leopold scope ever fail.

I have only had one to fail and that brand was mentioned here on this thread more than any of the others ! Thanks for the feed back .

I have had 2 leupold VX 3s 6.5-20x50 not hold zero and 1 vortex viper fog up on the inside

i have a hard time believing a BSA which is basically garbage is clearer than any leupold ever....i dont understand guys buy a 5,6, 700 dollare rifle and a cheap junk scope for $40 at walmart and cant figure out why it fogged up opening morning when the big one came by .junk will always let you down when you need it the most