By Tom Bulloch
For nearly 30 years, I worked closely with two of the most respected riflescope
manufacturers in the world—one German, the other American. What I learned changed
everything I thought I knew about hunting optics.
Yes, rifles are sexy things. Beautiful wood, casehardened and blued steel, perhaps
some fine engraving. But the fact is, just about any humble off-the-shelf rifle will shoot
extremely well…IF equipped with a high quality riflescope. Conversely, the most
expensive custom rifle will never reach its potential when topped with inferior optics.
With top-of-the-line riflescopes now retailing for several thousand dollars, that message
is a hard sell. After having dropped a sizable amount of cash for a fine rifle, for many, a
riflescope becomes a necessary evil; an added expense with little or no sex appeal.
Thousands of dollars for a black tube? Really?
What all those years in the optics industry taught me is that there are huge differences
between a four-figure riflescope and even some of the best-known “affordable” brands
on the market that are buoyed more by marketing claims than by engineering and
construction. Unlike many things in life, when you buy a top-notch riflescope, you’re
getting what you pay for.
The differences are not obvious within that sealed black tube. For example, one of the
companies I worked with insisted upon using highly polished titanium springs to operate
their scopes’ windage and elevation adjustments. Those springs cost $4.00 each. A
lesser scope will use spring steel; cost, 10 cents. Titanium will not develop a “memory”
as does spring steel. The titanium springs will outlast the scope’s owner. Plus, they
ensure absolute, positive and repeatable adjustments over decades. When spring steel
wears and fatigues, it will give you different results that can easily make the difference
between a hit and a miss.
Consider what that hot new magnum caliber—let alone a .470 Nitro double rifle—feels
like on your shoulder. All of that recoil energy is being transferred with every shot to
your riflescopes and mounts. While the innards of a quality riflescope are machined
with tolerances you’d find in a Swiss watch, those components must at the same time
be robust enough to absorb thousands and thousands of foot-pounds of recoil over its
lifetime. That is no country for second-rate materials or construction. I’ve had
professional hunters in Africa tell me about clients whose scopes or mounts literally fell
apart in the field. Not something you want to happen if that Cape buffalo you’re trying to
shoot is in a particularly bad mood.
That riflescope you use in sweltering Africa might find itself on a freezing, snow-covered
Alaskan mountain for your next hunt. Metals—and glass—expand and contract at
different rates when heated or cooled, according to their inherent physical properties.
Lesser riflescopes keep costs down by simply gluing its lenses to the scope tube. High-
end manufacturers use expensive, proprietary bedding to secure their lenses. No glass
touches any metal, making them immune to thermal impact and ensuring perfect lens
alignment. This technique also ensures a perfect seal; break that seal, and a scope is
essentially useless.
Modern riflescopes contain between 50 and 100 different components. There is a story
behind each one of those components that differentiate a superior riflescope from an
average optic.
The modern emphasis on long-range shooting has made the need for top-notch optics
even more critical. What is “close enough” at 100 yards can be “not remotely close” at
1000 yards.
So yes, you must be a rich person to hunt with a cheap scope. You must be able to
replace failing riflescopes multiple times over the years. You must be able to afford
another safari or two after your scope caused you to miss a trophy at last light during
your most recent trip. You will burn a lot of expensive ammo zeroing and constantly re-
zeroing a riflescope that has a mind of its own.
Or, you can simply bite the proverbial bullet and buy the best possible riflescope you
can, no matter how much it impacts your bank account. You’ll get a lifetime of reliable
service from it, along with the confidence of knowing your bullet will go where you aim
it—today, tomorrow, and years from now.
Amortized over a lifetime of hunting and shooting, that makes a four-figure riflescope a
real bargain.
