Best Riffle scopes 2019

the riflescope category is in hyperdrive, with product introductions this year that will help you shoot better, whether your target is a big-game animal or a distant steel gong.

One victim of this innovation is convention. With only a single 1-inch riflescope in the test this year, the venerable 3-to-9 variable-power scope with a duplex reticle and 1/4-inch turret controls has become a quaint throwback, replaced with purpose-built optics that have gee-whiz capability but limited versatility. The other victim is restraint. The capability of these precision scopes is remarkable, but we hope brands put as much emphasis on coaching customers to shoot (and hunt) within their abilities as they do on promoting the bells, whistles, and milliradian reticles of their new products.

Our take-away from this year’s arsenal of bristling-turret submissions is that the industry is betting American hunters and shooters can’t get enough of these specialized optics. And new brands are in on the wager. This year we welcomed the first riflescope from Fujifilm, better known for digital cameras; a scope and binocular from the German gun company Blaser; a very interesting digital riflescope from Wyoming-based Revic; and a serviceable scope from Riton, a veteran-owned company based in Tucson, Arizona’s “Optics Valley.”

Consider the breakout riflescope in this year’s test. The promise of the BDX is that it can reliably place shots out to 800 yards. That might be a chip shot for a long-distance precision target shooter, but it’s unjustifiably far for a hunter. Too much can go wrong in an 800-yard shot at an animal, from unreckoned wind drift along the trajectory to the length of time the bullet is in flight, which is long enough that an animal can take a step or two from when the trigger is pulled to when the bullet arrives.

What about the neglected 100-yard deer hunter? Will he ever need a scope with 800-yard capability? Maybe not. But the other significant trend in optics is the normalization of the all-around riflescope. The wide variety in our versatile riflescope category attests to the value of a single scope to handle all shooting situations—from summertime varmints and treestand deer hunting to off-season target shooting. That approach doesn’t exclude any segment of our community. Instead, you might describe it as the best expression of inclusion.