Bullseye,
The trouble with scopes is you don't always know if everything is working like it should. Scope precision is the most underrated reason why bullets go where they go. When things go wrong shooters often blame the wind, the ammo and of course themselves, but rarely the scope.
You can do Tall Target tracking and plum line tests till the cows come home but when the zero shifts ever so slightly every time that gun recoils you will never know by how much. This is called repeatability and it is rarely discussed; probably because it is so hard to discern from all the other reasons bullets print on the target, and there's nothing you can do about it anyway. You might have an idea after a while but it will just be a general sense of how good the whole gun is. Unless you have two scopes and swap them over in the same conditions you will never know. Repeatability is not something that is externally evident and no manufacturer lists this on their spec sheets. For the avoidance of doubt, repeatability is not tracking. ALL scopes shift zero every time they kick, but some do it more than others.
If you just want a plinker then sure, spend as much as a night out on a scope. But if you want the gun to shoot better than you can you have to accept that you get what you pay for.
The trouble with scopes is you don't always know if everything is working like it should. Scope precision is the most underrated reason why bullets go where they go. When things go wrong shooters often blame the wind, the ammo and of course themselves, but rarely the scope.
You can do Tall Target tracking and plum line tests till the cows come home but when the zero shifts ever so slightly every time that gun recoils you will never know by how much. This is called repeatability and it is rarely discussed; probably because it is so hard to discern from all the other reasons bullets print on the target, and there's nothing you can do about it anyway. You might have an idea after a while but it will just be a general sense of how good the whole gun is. Unless you have two scopes and swap them over in the same conditions you will never know. Repeatability is not something that is externally evident and no manufacturer lists this on their spec sheets. For the avoidance of doubt, repeatability is not tracking. ALL scopes shift zero every time they kick, but some do it more than others.
If you just want a plinker then sure, spend as much as a night out on a scope. But if you want the gun to shoot better than you can you have to accept that you get what you pay for.