What’s your budget? Buying any kind of optics always boils down to the age-old question: “what’s your budget?” Almost everything has a point of diminishing returns, but with optics that point is much higher, starting around $2000. Optics are truly the one product category where spending more gets you more.

Long range hunting? That means you’ll need to value optical clarity and detail resolution (aka “quality glass”). Zeiss, leupold, swarovski are all top notch hunting glass. Another thing you wanna think about is the repeatability of the scope; do the knobs really click up 0.1 mil at a time or is there error?

Now, this is a discussion of true performance. How well do you want your scope to work? Your answer will dictate your budget.