Can a Scope Be Budget Priced and Still Perform?

One truly beautiful thing about today’s firearm and firearm accessory environment it that it’s getting harder and harder to find a “dud” product. Rifle manufacturers are turning out budget rifles that can shoot sub-moa from the factory. No need to pay the gunsmith to work your action and trigger over, just get it out of the box and head to the range. There have been several personalities on YouTube and elsewhere who have tuned an over the counter entry level rifle into sub-$1,000--1,000 yard guns by simply swapping out the stock, dropping in an aftermarket trigger, installing a quality scope base and topping it off with modest scope.

For less than the cost of some standard bolt rifles, and certainly less than the cost of top shelf glass, shooters are taking advantage of their shooting dollars with budget priced but high performance gear.

If You Have to Ask the Price, You Can’t Afford It!

In a former life, I was a teacher and on occasion I taught a section of oral communications. One of my favorite parts of that class was to teach kids about persuasive speaking. Under that topic heading we explored the logical fallacies. Oh, how often do we fall prey to those logical fallacies! In the world of “stuff” we learn from an early age that the really nice stuff comes with a really stiff price tag. “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it”—the appeal to elitism is one of those fallacies that we all fall victim to in one way or the other. This one can cause a lot of unneeded pain and deprivation for yourself and your family. We are taught to feel shame when we show up with less than top shelf gear or we go without while saving up for an item. I’d rather know the time now on a department store Casio than to know it five years from now on a Rolex. But that’s just me.

If the price didn’t matter to me, then this would be a different answer. I’d not have to worry about busting a gold watch band bearing down on a 3/4” breaker bar while working on my tractor. I wouldn’t own a tractor, or the tools to work on it. And if I did own one, I’d just pay the burly gents over at the John Deere dealership to get their paws greasy fixing it.

It takes more than the top gear to achieve top performance

Now here’s a story that my brother relayed to me from a high-power shoot he attended several years back. The firearms world, as I’m sure you are well aware, is certainly not immune to the appeal of elitism. The field that day was populated with rifles and shooters of all stripes, but the high-browed big money open class guys were rather making asses of themselves looking down their noses at the “common folk” and any set-up that was less than a bespoke rifle and accoutrements. As he did not shoot this class, my dear brother was just watching the cadre shoot and took note of a dried up septuagenarian who made his way to the firing line with an equally aged ’03 Springfield. With each shot this little old veteran was knocking the “high-speed, low drag” fellows further and further down on the score card. At the end of the event they were kicking around in the gravel wondering why their equipment let them down in such an embarrassing, humbling manner. No doubt that Springfield was a quality rifle, but it takes more than the top gear to achieve top performance.

An Optic That Takes the Bang Without Taking Your Dollars

One of the things we here at Axeon take pride in is offering shooters excellent bang for their buck with our scopes. Before we released them onto the market we knew our Hunting Series scopes were tough based on an independent lab evaluation. From that same evaluation we also knew they were bright and exceptionally clear. As such, I decided to push the envelope on the lowliest of the Hunting Series trio, the 2-7X32. We called that test “#projectrentedmule” for our fans on social media to follow. It was this campaign that got the attention of a fellow who later became a brand ambassador for us. Mike Tovar (@shooter_tovar82 on Instagram) had already purchased one of our red dot sights for his AR15. He was also impressed with what the Project Rented Mule scope was enduring. He ordered our 4-12X40 optic for his deer rifle to replace the failed competitor’s scope that had cost him some meat in the freezer that season. With that scope mounted, he sent a picture back to us of a center-drilled orange target dot that was set out at 200 yards. That was on Valentine’s Day and the .30 caliber hole in the middle of that dot was a great gift to us!

He’s had that scope for a couple of years now and is still happy with the results he gets from it when he goes out to shoot.

Get More From Axeon Optics in 2020

Our scope offerings have grown this year with a 4-16X44 Etched Dot Reticle Scope and a LPVO 1-6X24 Dot Reticle Scope. We are looking forward to 2020 to expand our lines even more. One new-for-2020 item we are very excited about is our Dog Soldier Predator scope. This will be an illuminated 4-16 powered optic with a 30mm tube and a huge 50mm objective lens. Another new item we can’t wait to get out is our Mini Dot red dot sight. This is a compact, lightweight electronic sight with great battery life will be a perfect fit for MSR platform firearm.

Our chief concern is that we absolutely deliver above the consumer’s expectations for the money they are spending for our products. If you are looking to build a budget 1,000 yard rifle or just fill the freezer this hunting season we are confident that an Axeon Optics scope can do the job for you. Of course we hope you never need it, but the Axeon Optics scopes come with a limited lifetime warranty.

If you are in need of a scope for this upcoming season and you are not afraid to try something a little different, get ahold of one of our scopes for your rifle and see if we don’t live up to word.

Mark Davis, family guy, avid outdoorsman, and outdoor writer is the social media specialist for Axeon Optics.