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RedHead 6-24x42 Visao |
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thebookdoc
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/16/2009 Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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Posted: August/16/2009 at 09:39 |
I was looking around for a new scope with side-wheel focus either 6-24 or 8-32, and happened on dhgate.com. The site seems to have a lot of Bushnell scopes and some knockoffs, mostly in close-out lots and seemingly discount prices. For example:
BSA 3-12X44 CATSEYE $68 ($139 on a google search) millett 1.5-6x26L R12 $96 ($$!) Bushnell Sportsman 3-9x40 $37 ($55 in google search) BEC Gold Label Riflescope 6-24x44 $53 ($89 on Google search) They have a scope that looks a lot like what I wanted, but it is no brand I am familiar with: redhead. I don't want to make a huge mistake. For a 6-24x42 with side-wheel focus, the Redhead Visao was listed at $172. Perhaps this is just a chinese knock-off of another scope. At this configuration, there is a TASCO scope but it does not have side-focus, and there is a Barska -- also without sidefocus. All other scopes I can find that are 6-24x42 are high-end. SO...I'm wondering about opinions on the Redhead, if anyone knows the brand, uses the scopes, knows the value, thinks they are good/junk/otherwise. Thanks! |
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thebookdoc
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/16/2009 Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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One thing I did note...the only place I can find that even mentions these scopes is BassPro. The high-end model in their line goes for $189, but does not have side-wheel focus. Could this be a store brand and something that was discontinued because it was generally out of the price range of most consumers going to a store like BassPro for scopes?
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silver
Optics Master Joined: November/04/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2291 |
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You are not going to find anything in 6x24 worth taking home for less than 250 dollars. 400 bucks and up would get you a pratical scope in this magnification range. The magnification may be there, but they have cut way to many corners on the plastic lenses, but the resolution is not there. Magnification without resolution is useless.
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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Good glass trumps magnification EVERY TIME!
Redhead is Bass Pro's store brand, someone selling them on the side is almost definitely the Chinese maker dumping inventory. As Silver said, stay away, get less magnification and better glass - or you will be buying again! |
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thebookdoc
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/16/2009 Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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Thanks for the responses! One thing I don't mention in my post: I know quite a lot about photography. So, I understand the whole idea about the glass and how it can make a difference. I haven't been shooting for so long, on the other hand, so some of the brands of scopes are not familiar to me. Also, there are times when lenses close out, and you can sometimes pick them up on the cheap. As the scopes I priced off this site were running 10-50% off, I was hoping the Redhead was just a brand I didn't know that was closing out on the Visao line (I can't find anything on these). SO...I was hoping that it might be a nice scope at a nice discount. A little wishful, sure, but sometimes it happens. For example just last week I picked up a Remington Vantage 1200 airgun for $99. They list at $229. It is outshooting guns I paid 3-4 times as much for. I like getting good deals! On the other hand, I have no interest in throwing $170 at a piece of junk.
I admit I'm not hugely optimistic, but weirder things happen! |
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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If you know photography, stick with makers you already know: Zeiss, Leica, etc.
If you go on the cheap, you will be sorely disappointed. Since you know good glass, you will quickly regret buying bad glass. Voice of experience, my friend! |
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Freedom is something you take.
Respect is something you earn. Equality is something you whine about not being given. |
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thebookdoc
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/16/2009 Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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I know what you mean, but I guess the bottom of the point is this: I didn't know Helios lenses until there was an internet, and my Helios 85mm 40-2 is my favorite lens -- hardly a brand name. It is easy to run across consumer scopes (BSA, Barska, Tasco, Simmons), but beside Leupold and Burris and Nikon, it seems some of the better scopes don't get much notice in online stores.
Nikon has been making some sense to me. But again was just wondering if in this wide-world someone had experience with Redhead. I don't know that $170 on a closeout is 'cheap'... I appreciate your experience and good sense. There is just too much I don't know at this point about what is good and what is not, and I guess that was the question. |
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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Redhead is not good.
Unfortunately, you are correct in that most online stores carry the mass-market brands, and those are not always great - and most often not the best. Bushnell 4200 is about the lowest-priced, good scope you can get; anything below that will be decent at best (3200 ain't bad, but the extra money to bump up to 4200 is well spent.) It is just as wrong to put a crap scope on a great rifle as it is to put a great scope on a crap rifle - though, I guess, there is something to being able to clearly see what you cannot hit. |
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Freedom is something you take.
Respect is something you earn. Equality is something you whine about not being given. |
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Sandracer
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/11/2009 Location: Eastern Oregon Status: Offline Points: 141 |
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Don't buy the cheap crap you will always regret it later! The 4200 Elites in 3-9x40 are as cheap as I would go and they are really a scope you won't regret buying. I've made plenty of mistakes, buying things that were supposed to be a great buy, they cost more in the long run. Listen to the people on here that have a lot of experience and you won't go wrong!
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thebookdoc
Optics Apprentice Joined: August/16/2009 Status: Offline Points: 56 |
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Funny, one of my favorite old manual-focus lenses that I still use on my digital camera is a Bushnell. They don't get a lot of credence in the modern world, but my 28mm 2.8 is sharp. It was cheap...but I get what you are saying.
I could do the Bushnell 3-9x40 for $249...I'm wondering about whether to get that or a Nikon Monarch 4-16x42 (with side focus) which is closer to what I was originally looking for, for about $70 more ($320). Preferences between those two? |
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