How do old riflescopes stack up against new riflescopes?
There are, for example, old Leupolds from >/=10 years ago like mark 4s or 6s that were considered tried and true at that time, but now, what are they considered? Are newer optics improved? If so, in what ways?
Haha. Great title.
Rifle scopes have changed quite a lot in the last 10 years.
Even 5 years ago, I’d go to gun stores all the time and see scopes with MOA turrets and mil reticles! That was quite commonplace n even though it never made sense. Scopes just weren’t made for long range shooting like they are today.
Tracking on older scopes was also more for sighting in than adjusting for distance. So tracking was often off.
Obviously this doesn’t apply to ALL old scopes so try it out and see if it meets your needs.
In the price ranged the overall low to high end range is more. I do not recall 4 or 5x zooms and certainly not six. 30mm did not exist. I have a couple VXIII Leupolds that were expensive to me back in the olden days. Also a few VX II. Clear scopes and nice enough but no reticles or turrets so as Jim says, long range hold over was a art not a science. And all without range finders. I used to golf and would use that to practice ranging guessing. Also we went with calibers as flat as we could get for holding dead on to 300-350 yds. 400 and on was really not a thing. Which brings up a point for me about stuff like cell cams or ranging rifle scopes. That technology seems to be selected or denigrated by some as not fair chase. But do those same people say anything about a 5-30 scope with turrets and a range finder? This is new technology. Not to mention GPS and OnX and I could go on.
I think the biggest change has been to the lower end of the market. We’re seeing tons of fully featured scopes in the sub-$1k range that are punching well above their price point. Glass is becoming a commodity and I think the practical difference between a sub-$1k scope and something like a night force or top end vortex is more and more negligible for most situations. The old adage of spending more on glass than on the rest of the rifle seems obsolete.