When choosing a scope, you have to assess your needs and decide whether you want the flexibility of a variable-power scope or the relatively lower price and somewhat increased reliability of a fixed-power scope. One problem that often arises, but that the average hunter and shooter doesn't seem to know much about, is that some variable scopes will allow point of impact (where the bullet hits) to change according to where the magnification setting is. This is, of course, not at all desirable, and it is almost always found in cheaper scopes.
Another caveat is that eye relief often changes with the power setting, too. Eye relief is the optimum distance between your eye and the scope's eyepiece to get the proper view of your target. With a variable scope, that distance will often change somewhat depending on where the magnification is set, meaning that the position of the cheek on the buttstock will have to change as well. Again, this problem is almost always present in cheap scopes, but it also finds its way farther up the ladder of scope values than does the point-of-impact problem. In comparison, this is a less important malady than a shifting point of impact.
A fixed-power scope solves both of these problems by maintaining a constant setting, and therefore constant eye relief. Because the power doesn't change, point of impact won't, either (as long as the scope doesn't fail) - but you're stuck with one magnification for all of your shooting.
I own only one fixed-power scope, and it's one that I found. I don't think I would buy one myself, because my hunting situations are so varied, and almost all of my guns are used for hunting. But if you can't afford to buy a better scope and must get by with a cheap one, then definitely buy a fixed-power scope rather than a cheap variable. Cheap variable scopes are essentially garbage, in my opinion. Some will work okay sometimes, but every one that I have used will shift point of impact when changing powers, and they are also known to just plain quit working and no longer hold any kind of zero, for no apparent reason.
You Get What You Pay For.
It didn't take me long to learn that this old adage is true of scopes moreso than anything else in the shooting realm. You can buy a lower-priced rifle and get excellent accuracy, often with run-of-the-mill ammo that's available at your local Wal-Mart - but all of that accuracy is moot unless your scope is worthy of the gun and ammo.
Many manufacturers sell "package guns" that include a scope, sling, and other trinkets with a new rifle. In my experience, the scopes that come with these deals are strictly for the birds. When pricing a new rifle, you would do well to ignore the scope on such guns and figure to maybe use it on a 22 for squirrels and such, and factor in roughly $200-$250 for a good scope. You can easily spend more than that amount for a good scope - prices for quality optics climb rapidly, even into the thousands - but it's not necessary to do so to get a good, serviceable scope.
Myself, I keep the cheap scopes that I've gotten when buying rifles. One of them lives on my old Savage 22 mag, which I use to hunt squirrels. The others spend most of their time in a drawer, and if I sell a rifle, my more-expensive scope comes off the gun and a cheapo goes on it, to be sold with the gun. This way I don't have to buy a scope every time I buy a rifle... not that I buy many, for I'm happy with what I have now.
I want a good scope on any gun that I hunt with, and I'm willing to pay the price to do so - even though I am admittedly a bit of a tightwad about many things. I've learned the hard way that cheap scopes are worth even less than their purchase price. That's not to say that some hunters haven't killed deer and many other game species using cheap scopes, because they have. But they are far less reliable, clear, and rugged than the scopes that I choose to use.
(Continued)
