Looking for the perfect hunting scope for your rifle? Some of the best optics nowadays are smaller, yet nimbler. Read these hands-on reviews.
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. Burris - Scout Scope
Highlight: The hunting scope can be shot with both eyes open.
Helpful review: Not everyone knows a scout scope, so let me give a quick overview. The scout scope is designed to be mounted ahead of the action, but some folks will say it is a mid-way mount. This allows fast target acquisition and shooting with both eyes open after the shooter gets used to using one.
I will also mount one of these on the M1 carbine I got from my Dad (not the gun in the photo above). I don't know why I have this need, but it will be a future project. The only hangup with using a scout scope is the mount. Ruger made a model that was born as a scout rifle, and Styer answered a request from Jeff Cooper once upon a time. I have a friend I used to work with who went with the Ruger, who loves it for big game hunting.
The main point of the scout scope is eye relief; it is definitely different. The eye relief is about 12 inches. Some folks use these with heavy-duty handguns for hunting. I have a customer who had me mount one on an old shotgun that shoots 3" magnum 12 gauge for whitetail. I did not hear back from him on how it worked. I can tell everyone that it looked funny and felt weird to look through when I shouldered it.
I shot my friend Ruger with the mid-mount scope, and it was great to pick up the target. Keeping the game animal in the scope makes working on a simulated moving target easy. Still, it takes some getting used to it. I could shoot with both eyes open, but when it came to actual target shooting, I closed one eye due to over 50 years of training the other way.
When I close one eye or use both eyes open, the scope works like a champ, just as it should. Burris is one of my favorite manufacturers. I have always liked them and can't recommend them highly enough. I have shot one on a stainless 44 magnum Redhawk, and the scope was stainless. It looked very biblical and awesome, not to mention fun to shoot. — Ben Green
Get it from Amazon now: $499.99 & FREE Returns
2. Vortex Optics - Diamondback Second Focal Plane
Highlight: Old school styling with modern manufacturing.
Helpful review: The Second focal plane, Diamondbacks, has the turrets capped, so if anyone needs the ability to do all the twisting at the range, this is not the one to get. The current adjusts the old-fashioned way, with a dime after I take the cap off.
My wife shoots a Savage Axis in .223; the gun came with a Weaver as the stock option. After she got comfortable shooting the rifle, we upgraded her to this Diamondback. She does not need to twist turrets or adjust the magnification much, so saving money for the second focal plane does not really matter in this application.
The glass is the standard Vortex perfection and has great coating options. I have never seen a dirty lens on this scope, along with dust, will not stick even if it rides along with us in the RXR down the dustiest roads in Utah. I have never seen the fuzzy outside edge of the sight picture using a Diamondback.
The materials are exceptional—aircraft aluminum, machined by robots, I am sure, due to the perfection levels. The turrets adjust by the slot and click very firmly into place. They will adjust easily for any level of shooter.
The one thing I like about capped turrets is the ability to place the level on the bare turret housing. This is the best method I can find to level a scope. The focus rings move easily along with the scope. From what the wife says, this scope will stay on this rifle until it rusts away from under the scope. — Jess Gerstein
Get it from Amazon now: $299.99 & FREE Returns
3. Burris - Fullfield II Hunting Scope
Highlight: Lifetime warranty.
Helpful review: I have one of these mounted on a Winchester in 270 and cannot say enough great things about it. The Burris was sighted in before laser bore sighters were readily available and have not needed adjustment since.
The glass is crisp and clear, and this will go toe-to-toe with my favorite old-school Nikon scope. That is saying something: I love the Nikon scope as well. The difference comes in the ability to take a hit; the Burris is much more robust.
The eye relief is excellent for this rifle scope; it keeps my eyebrows away from the rear ring. The eye box is OK, but it could be better. With this old wood-stocked gun, I am not too worried about getting my cheek down on the stock. The thing I have found about this scope is its ability to shoot well at low light; just before sundown, the sight is just as clean as it was at noon. The Burris does not sell itself on low light specialty, but it works like a charm, probably because of the coatings they use.
For some reason, I always shoot this rifle at 500 yards; that seems to be where the gun angels take me on the range. I seldom shot outside a two-inch target for the entire ammo box. Maybe someday I will take this rifle to the field and shoot some animals. I use the Winchester my grandfather gave me when I graduated from high school long ago. I don't remember why I bought 270 in the first place; it was probably a reasonable price for the used gun rack, and I could not leave the store without it.
Burris was the first manufacturer to offer a no-questions-asked warranty. They will even replace a scope that is burned in a fire. After this, all the major optics manufacturers have the warranty pioneered by Burris. — Josh Allen
Get it from Amazon now: $199.99 & FREE Returns
4. Crimson Trace - Hardline Riflescope
Highlight: Side-mounted focus knob.
Helpful review: When talking to hunters, the name Crimson Trace seldom comes up. In Utah, a group of hunters probably does not know CT makes hunting scopes. It is great to inform them about a great scope at an affordable price.
I never think about CT for hunting scopes; when I think of them, my mind goes to red dots and holographic optics. How wrong can a guy get? I am getting one to put on my Dad's old 30-06, so I have a better scope and can spend quality time with what they have on the market.
Crimson Trace is great at offering all of its scopes with a bullet drop compensator (BDC). If I had a gun to put one of these on that shot that exact round, I would do that, but no one makes a BDC for the old standby, the 30-06 round. I can get one in MilDot or MOA and do it old-school.
The materials, including the glass, are high quality, and this heavy-duty material comes with the price of heavy-duty weight on the rifle. The scope is extended, coming in over a foot long, 13.5 inches. The excellent glass is ground well, making the view crisp and clean. The turrets are exposed, click into place, and stay where I put them. The magnification ring is a little tight and will not be a fast adjustment, at least not right out of the box; it may break in eventually, but not being sloppy is the sin I would rather have than moving under recoil every time I pull the trigger. — Dave McCoy
Get it from Amazon now: $404.49 & FREE Returns
5. Vortex Optics - Venom (5-25x56) First Focal Plane
Highlight: Huge objective lens, highest magnification power on the market.
Helpful review: For a quarter of the price of a Nightforce scope, the Venom offers the same level of performance. I may not have enough space to gush over this scope in this article. I should also add that I'm a weird hunter, so I hunt big game a first focal plane scope.
The eye relief is perfect for me on the 7mm Mag rifle, and the eye box (where the eye sits to still see through the scope) makes this scope a high performer beyond comparison. The magnification ring comes with the throwing arm and makes adjusting smooth. It can be crept by portions of magnification. Many of the scopes I have used go from 6 to 7 power magnification; this scope will go to 6.2x magnification, which is an actual magnification. The diopter on the eyepiece will adjust so it is easier for me to look through the optic with my glasses, and whatever my astigmatism is, this diopter makes everything look perfect.
In my opinion, the turrets are the best on the market. They click into place with an audible and tactile feel. The elevation and windage are in the standard places, and on the other side of the scope is the side-mounted focus knob. The focus knob is a fantastic thing to use, and once I used one, I never wanted to go back. Not all scopes have the focus knob, and that is OK; I always like the side focus knob.
Vortex's glass is the cleanest or one of the cleanest sight pictures I have ever used. Coatings are one of everything that can be used for coatings, and they only help make good glass even better or near perfect. The first focal plane reticle is impressive, especially when long-range or target shooting. As I said, for deer hunting, I don't care whether it's a second-focal or first-focal. This scope is the ultimate shooter's optic. — Pete Robins
Get it from Amazon now: $499.00 & FREE Returns
6. Sightmark Wraith - 4K Mini Digital Night Vision
Highlight: Obviously, it can shoot in the dark.
Helpful review: This scope is the magic solution for those who need to take out wild boars, coyotes, or other things that should not sneak around in the dark. The only drawback of a night vision scope is that it only works in the dark.
Night vision works by seeing infrared light, so this scope needs an emitter to send the IR light ahead of the shooter. Emitters can be placed in areas like a sheep pen or chicken coop and flood the area with invisible light until the scope is used. Suppose I look at my security cameras when they go into night mode. In that case, they flood the area with IR light, and it looks like a headlight across the yard when looking from night vision cameras.
The 4K Night Vision scope is basically a camera that sees IR light and uses a reticle to place bullets. When I look through the scope, I am not looking from one end down the tube and out the front; I am looking in the viewfinder and watching a screen. When a very bright light, like a flashlight or flare, is suddenly shown at the Wraith, it will send a blinding light that can damage the shooter's eyesight.
The scope setup has three brightness levels to fit the shooter's vision and comfort. The scope uses four double-A batteries. This scope, and for that matter, any night vision scope, is a battery hog, so keep spares in your pocket, maybe two reloads of batteries.
This scope stores up to five rifles in its memory, which is supposed to allow the scope to be moved from one rifle to another. However, I don't think I will trust that much without a sighting-in session to ensure accuracy. When I pull the trigger, it is a 30-caliber bullet flying downrange, after all. I need to know where it is going. — Elijah Gilbert
Get it from Amazon now: $669.00 & FREE Returns
7. Bushnell - Engage Riflescope
Highlight: Easy to see crosshairs with hash marks to adjust holdover on the move.
Helpful review: Bushnell is known for making budget scopes. Many hunters don't know that they also make high-end hunting scopes. They have options that use all the exposed turrets to be adjusted on the shooting bench and all the super cool stuff that comes with the more advanced optics.
The Engage scope uses an old-school crosshair reticle. The reticle is 0.18 wide, making it easy to find the crosshairs on the target. Along with good crosshairs are the hash marks set along the windage and elevation. With very little practice, using the hash marks makes adjusting for creatures moving fast and easy.
I can leave the streets alone by hanging the hash marks on the reticle, as a hunting scope should anyway, and use holdover shooting. The side-mounted focus knob is excellent to have, and it makes keeping the scope on game animals as they move around easy. The knobs adjust well and stay where I leave them to this point.
I mounted this scope on an old 243 bolt action rifle, and with that amount of recoil, this will never damage the scope or screw up the crosshairs, or move the scope in the rings. The tube on this scope is 30mm, allowing a lot of light down the tube. The thing about it is to make sure the rings and mount that are bought will fit; most Bushnell owners try to use the same rings as the old scope they are replacing, so check and make sure.
This scope costs about 500 bucks; for some, that money for a Bushnell is a little high. However, the higher-quality Bushnell stuff is worth the money, and if paying that much makes anyone cringe, take that money and get a competitor if the name on the box means that much. — Ron Bussiere
Get it from Amazon now: $449.99 & FREE Returns
8. Leupold - VX-Freedom Series
Highlight: Upgraded glass.
Helpful review: I have always loved Leupold scopes. The storyline behind Leupold is one that everyone should read someday. This scope is the golden egg all the other scope makers chased for reality, giving us the fantastic field of optics we all enjoy today.
Leupold has a weight advantage over many quality makers. A Leupold does not throw off the balance of a rifle, especially if the gun has a wood stock, as the Bible says. The materials are excellent, and the glass cannot be beaten.
This scope has capped turrets, and the magnification ring is just before the eyepiece. Regardless of the price tag, Leupold's standard is the diopter on all its offerings. This scope is low-powered and has a small footprint. I think this one is going on a Marlin 366 at 30.30. I would only mount it on the lever action to try it and see how it works.
The only thing missing from this scope is the gold ring around the objective. That is the best thing about Leupold when I take it to the range. As they say nowadays, bragging rights, or flex, make me feel good for some reason. I will work on the tuberus later. I want to brag just a little when I haul out the expensive gear.
The Freedom series is the no-nonsense basic scope from Leupold, and for a first-time scope, the clarity of the glass will blow the doors off of anything else. The diopter adjustment for a shooter wearing corrective lenses will be appreciated more than you think. The Freedom series is like the old-school Datsun mini trucks; nobody liked them when they came out. No one can find one because they ran until they rusted away from the frame and the engine fell out. This scope will be the same; if mounted on the right gun, it will most likely never be replaced. — Mark Anderson
Get it from Amazon now: $299.99 & FREE Returns
9. Vortex Optics - Diamondback (6-24x50) First Focal Plane
Highlight: The perfect hunting rifle scope options.
Helpful review: To me, the Diamondback is the perfect hunting scope. Why do I say that? It offers Vortex's options and built-in perfections at a price the average hunter can afford. There are better scopes, even in the Vortex line-up, but they are much more expensive.
The Diamondback has never disappointed me in any hunting situation, including an impromptu target competition with buddies. I am not sure I honestly need anything more. If I improve my skills 300 percent, I won't be as good as this scope can shoot. The scope sits nice and tight to the rifle action and barrel. This smaller profile is great for hauling the gun around on my shoulder in the trees and brush—anything I can do to stop nature from trying to yank my rifle off and throw it on the ground.
The glass is clear, bright, and fully coated. When looking at the target, I cannot find any distortion or fuzzy stuff around the edges in the images. The tube is fully O-ring sealed and filled with Argon gas to keep the fog out of the scope, even when the rain and clouds settle in and make hunting miserable. The scope never fails; it always performs just like it did the day I took it out of the box.
The turrets are exposed and fingertip adjustable. They turn smoothly and click into place with a good feel, not so many audible clicks. The side mount focus knob is one of my favorite options for any scope maker. The magnification ring does not come stock with a throw lever. Still, one can be bought and easily attached to make magnification adjustments smooth and fast. The final adjustment that I like so much is the diopter adjustment on the eyepiece. — Christopher Taum
Get it from Amazon now: $399.99 & FREE Returns