Scope for long range

I have used all of your choices and they are excellent.

Other great scopes that I currently own/use are IOR/Valdada, Schmidt & Bender, MeoPta and Kahles.

The new Heritage Premier scopes are supposed to be close to flawless, too. And the Pride Fowler scopes passed recent US Army trials with the highest marks. And they are sold by Smith Enterprise, so must be awesome. They are cheap, too. But I have not used either of these, so will reserve further comment.

The IOR scopes use German Schott Glass, the best available, and are very well priced. Durability is amazing.

S&B is the current daytime USMC scope. All I can say is "WOW!". I like the current S&B's better than the ones from the 80's/90's. King of the hill, if you can spend the dough.

MeoPta glass is typical of Euro glass-flawless. I had an issue with their Customer Service dept after my acct rep left the Company, so I don't buy them anymore. I currently have several mounted on hunting rifles and am very happy with them.

Kahles. Very underrated in this country. Limited availability, but world class in every way. I have a WW2 bring back K98 Sniper with a Kahles scope on it. Clear as a bell, even after going to hell and back. The new ones are WAY better than the WW2 vintage. They have a 6X42Sniper that is close to perfect.


And NightForce has one of their scopes that they show off at trade shows, etc. It took a 7.62 round clean through the erector tube in Iraq. Not only was it unfazed by this, but the scope still tracks like new. Obviously not waterproof anymore (with 2 .30 cal holes in the tube!), but still good to go. Pretty amazing.

When choosing a rifle scope there are so many variables to consider. Each eye is different, so one scope may be great for shooter "A", but shooter "B" may find another to be better. I suggest you try them all, and choose the one you like that fits your budget.

And just because it is the right scope for me, doesn't mean it is good for you. Don't get sucked into the "higher power is better for long range" myth, either. Unless you are shooting a VERY long range rifle, you will do fine with something in the 10 or 12 power range. At least to about 1,000 yards or so. I'll take a high quality 6X42 over a good quality 3-18 any day.

Invest in a really good spotting scope, too, if you want to shoot beyond 800-1,000. Swaro, Leitz, Optolyth, Zeiss, Leica, etc. The Optolyth is probably the best available currently.

I currently own 2 NightForce scopes, both are 12-42x56mm (30mm body diameter), and 1 is an NXS and the other is a Benchrest. I also own 4 IOR Valdada scopes, 3-18x42mm (35mm body diameter), 4-28x56mm MX7 (40mm body diameter), 6-24x50mm (35mm body diameter), and a 9-36x56mm (35mm body diameter). All are the Tactical models with the MP8 illuminated reticle.

The quality of the optical glass, and the durability of the scope are of utmost importance to me. If I can't see the target with clarity and enough magnification, then how can I effectively engage it? A scope must also be able to take a beating if it is to be used in the field. I put an IOR Valdada Tactical scope on one of our Spartan sniper rifles going to Afghanistan and the operator was sitting in the door of a Blackhawk on the way to an insertion and fumble fingered the scope out the door while the chopper was in flight. The scope was recovered and found to still hold zero and was fully operational for 14 more months of service before coming back to CONUS.

This is the IOR Valdada 4-28x56mm MX7 on a Spartan MK1 Sniper Rifle in 7.62x51mm NATO Match.