Looking to get a scope for my Ruger American. Wanna spend at most $200. Rifle was only $300, so can't justify to myself spending anymore on a scope for this rifle. Want something with some zoom to it, although I will probably only be shooting to 200ish yards (Range 14). Been eyeing up the Oculus scopes by Bass Pro. Anyone have any experience with them?

http://www.basspro.com/Oculus-Pro-Team-HD-Rifle-Scopes/product/1312191455565/

 

Anyone able to suggest anything else that's around that price range that can handle .308 recoil?

No info on the Oculus but I have two AR Bushnell's a 1x4 and a 4.5x18, your welcome to look at them at Range 14. I was set on a Vortex but I liked the reticle and the shorter length of the Bushnell's. (From what I've read the Oculus is similar to the Bushnell Elite series.)

At that price point I would get a Weaver Nitrex scope. Natchez usually has good deals on them. The glass is nice and comes from Japan. Dont forget you will need rings too.

 

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=WE94563

What power are you looking for?

Vortex crossfire line....never buy glass without lifetime warranty

I have a Nikon Monarch on my .308 tactical/bolt-action build.  Truth be told I have a platoon of Nikons and have always had success and love them for what they are, outstanding value and quality-to-price ratio.

 

I fully acknowledge they are not $1-2000 scopes but that is not at all what they are supposed to be compared to.  My Monarch 5-20x44 Side Focus/BDC reticle scope was like $550 retail price and I got a 25% off code and got it for $397 on Cyber Monday 2012... and it has been outstandingly clear & crisp while very bright and features Nikon's BDC reticle which corresponds to their SpotOn ballistics software.  Initially SpotOn was only a website-based ballistics calculator, but now you can get the app for your phone or tablet.  Then you enter all your data: for example, I would fire it up and select my scope, the (now-discontinued model) Nikon Monarch, 5-20x44mm SF BDC scope.  Then select the caliber, in my case, .308 Win.  Select the company of ammo I am using, for example, Hornady, and then the specific load that I am firing at the time, say, 168gr. Z-Max.  Then I pick the range to the target (Let's say I am shooting in an indoor, 25 yd range) and that I want to have a 100 yd zero.  It then shows me how to set my zero so my point of impact is like, 3/4" low at 25 yds, to be dead-on at 100 yds.  ** BUT MORE **, it then shows me the point of impact of the 4 BDC dots below the reticle, at any magnification between 5 and 20 I choose [by sliding the marker to where I want].  So it might give me something like 500, 650, 770, and 1010 yds at 5x so I have 4 hold-over BDC dots to hit at those corresponding distances.  With a little bit of playing around you can either make yourself a ballistics -chart book to carry for your caliber/loads or say, take your tablet with you and do it on your range etc. (I do as I have a range on my property now).  I also have a BDC reticle Nikon ProStaff 4-12x40mm on my Savage Mark II .22LR rifle, so I can do the same thing, but in much smaller scale- the BDC impact points are obviously a lot less distances.

 

 

 

A lot of people have bashed the BDC reticles w/o realizing the relevance of the Spot On software, it's a huge huge asset to someone not necessarily looking to shoot mil-dots.  At the time I wasn't, while i have some experience in that field I wanted something user-friendly to several people who could use the rifle in an emergency.  -

 

Anyway, you can of course get Nikon's without that reticle and you can get their other scopes for less money, starting with the ProStaff line, going into the Buckmasters, and the Monarch is their top-of-the-line.  I have 4 Nikons, love them all, haven't had anything but success, and they also come with lifetime warranties, for the life of the scope.

Meh. Just ended up getting a Leupold VX-1 3x9 for it. Found one on sale for $150ish. lol. Thanks guys!