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Roundups with a beginner, intermediate and expert pick in every category, from first scopes and low power variable optics to long range glass, red dots, spotting scopes, rangefinders, rings, bases and the tools that mount them.
Every page is researched from manufacturer specifications, published optical and ballistic formulas, and the consensus of verified owner reviews, not hands-on testing. Sourced figures and shooter convention are labelled separately wherever both appear. Every table on this site is plain HTML you can quote, and every calculator shows its formula on the page.
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The cheapest first focal plane scope worth owning, and the one that makes the case for the whole category: the reticle holds its subtension at every magnification, so a hold is a hold rather than a calculation.
Best for: a first precision rifle scope, or a hunting rifle that will be dialled
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Direct-to-consumer pricing on a 34 mm tube with a locking zero stop, which is where the internal elevation that long range shooting actually consumes comes from.
Best for: maximum internal elevation travel per dollar
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The default first centrefire scope, and the reason is the warranty rather than the glass: Vortex transfers its lifetime warranty to whoever owns the scope, with no receipt and no registration, which is worth more over twenty years than a modest optical upgrade.
Best for: a first deer rifle where the scope should outlast the rifle
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The cheapest scope on this site we would actually mount on a rifle. Bushnell has been making the Banner for decades and will stand behind it, which separates it from the identical-looking unbranded listings beside it.
Best for: the lowest honest price for a working hunting scope
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