Heads-Up on a Nice, Cheap Low-Powered Variable (Weaver V3) - Cheap!

Jeff H

NW Ohio
OK, I know it's cheap, but take a look. It's a really nice little scope.

I posted here about a Leupold VX Freedom 1.5-4x20 and wasn't thrilled with it, so I bought a Weaver 1-3x20 Classic V-3 to replace it. I posted about that one too.

Once I got past the looks of the Leupold, I decided to keep it AND the Weaver. Pretty equal to my eye in clarity, distortion and quality. Both excellent "bargain" scopes, but the Leupold is ugly and it ticks me off they had to do that to it, but I sucked it up.

Well, The Weaver is apparently discontinued now and my guess is that the V3, 1-3x20 will still be around, but probably a Philippine version to replace the Japanese version? No idea, but I do really like the Japanese Weavers and especially like the 1-3x20, so I grabbed another one at $120 and free shipping. Dang, that's cheap!

The Leupold turned out to be nicer than I expected, but the looks (I knooow....) still turn me off enough that when the V3 went on sale at Natchez, I decided to dump the Leupold and pick up another Weaver. With the Leupold warranty, I may live to regret the day I let my superficial side defer to the slender beauty of the Weaver, but I've made my choice. The Leupold will be sold and another sleek, svelte little "looker" will take her place. Maybe I'm a rotten human being. I guess I'll just have to find a way to live with myself.


To be fair to Weaver - this is a really nice little scope and the price Natchez has on it is a killer deal. If anyone is going to snatch these up and enjoy them at such a bargain, I'd prefer it were those here who's company I have come to appreciate here as it's a great deal.
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
All those variables look cheap to me. A 6X will let me shoot sage rats at 300 yards, as far as I can see them in the sagebrush. IF I had to buy one today, the Weaver Classic would be the one for me, sorry, the rest are just plain ugly and too tall. The old curmudgeon.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
The Leupold 4&6x , oddly enough , are the least expensive fixed powers available if I recall they look just like the old Weavers but with 35 mm objectives . They're half the cost of new Weaver's too.

Slightly curmudgeony myself , I don't understand the need for 4 turrets on a scope with a power ring and 18 extra things on the view when with a little bit of trigger time and a fair duplex retical will get you by out to 500 or so with almost anything in the 06' family 30 and under and probably out past 300 up to 35 . Probably about the same in the 308 and Mauser clans .
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
RB, I have noticed that there is a generation of want to be snipers, and "hunters" who sit in stands and snipe animals. When you have all that time on your hands, you have to have something to look at and think about. Ric

p.s. I haven't seen a fixed Leupold 4X or 6X to buy for the last three years?
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Yup, not a lot of hunters up here but plenty of "snipers" sitting in an elevated stand taking "Hail Marys" at unknown ranges in the wind. I don't get it myself.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I have fixed 6x scopes and that's about my upper limit, but there are times when that's just way too much. Stalking vermin, varmints and predators around the place frequently brings you with FEET of said prey before you are aware of one another's presence.

3x to 4x is about max for the woods with a 357 Mag carbine. I do appreciate the light weight, simplicity, sleekness and durability of a fixed-power scope, but I don't have just one wrench in my toolbox either and occasionally use adjustable ones.;)

Since I've pared down my battery, more of my fewer rifles have become more "multi-purpose" and not as far-reaching. It's also as tough to find a decent low-powered variable without all the gee-gaw as it is a fixed power scope these days.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Rick, the scope I linked to on sale IS a Weaver Classic, although, yes, it is a variable. The objective and power ring are both "normal" sized - not the gawdy, bulbous ones so popular today. Sleek, compact, no-nonsense - an anachronism it seems these days.

RB, one of the reasons I posted the link here is because this scope does NOT have all the useless bells and whistles the - which is exactly why I bought the first one. It's lightweight, slim and trim, has an uncluttered reticle, no cute name and no batteries.


This is a ONE power to THREE power variable - so it won't appeal to mall ninjas and virtual snipers, with no knobs to twiddle, no Christmas-Tree reticle - possibly why it's listed as "discontinued" on most other sites.

I shared the link specifically because it has all the curmudgeonly aura a variable can have. I may have misrepresented the scope and/or the intent of the post, for which I apologize, because this is neat little scope and might be the last of its ilk before the busy-gizmo bacteria infects ALL new "affordable" scopes available to us.

Now, if the comments were just normal grousing about ephemeral superficialities polluting our past-time's equipment offerings, I'm in - I agree. And, I'll shut up. I just wanted to make sure you guys looked at the link because this is a great price for a normal-looking, uncomplicated scope without all the irritating, useless weight, bulk and complexity which suits the current "market" which seems to have a lot more money that sense or taste.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I got no grind with whatever a guy want on his/her rifle . Its just not my thing to have extra knobs and dials .
As close as I get is a Weaver V9 with the parallax collar on the objective end . That's on a rifle that by modern standards is way under scoped , but being an FN 98 264 WM imported by Inter Arms Washington DC it was likely the cream of the crop on a Leo one piece twist off mount with an added hooded ramp , Williams flip up rear sight and a flip up rear peep fitted to the rear of the mount .

I had a 30 yr old scope that a lot of people look down on , I hadn't had a turret cap off let alone made an adjustment in .... I don't know 15 yr maybe . So to prove to myself that it was sound I did a 3 round per station box check . I shot , then went up 16 clicks , shot , left 16 , shot , down 32 , shot , right 32 , shot , up 32 shot , left 16 , down 16 , shot .......... 7 stations , 6 groups and I may hav miscounted but when the load shoots 5 rounds at 1.5 OD it's hard to say at the end of 21 rounds in 45 min if the 1/4-3/8" is fouling , flinch , heat , or slop showing up in the last 3 of a 6 shot group .

I went to the Reno show the weekend after or closing of SHOT in Vegas and talked to the Leo factory reps there . They're catalogued . Mat black , shiney black and mat silver . Unfortunately it's rare to find them stocked anywhere , the road show crew doesn't even carry demos .
The Leo's are about $325 for 4× or 6× while the new Weaver's are some $650+ . They say it's the coatings that drive the cost .
 

jaysouth

New Member
Whatever I take to the woods is topped with a Nikon P-223 scope, 3X32. I have one on a Marlin 30-30, my hunting AR, and a 357MAXIMUM.

Like all great things I discover, they have been discontinued. So buy while cheap.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
I love the tall knobs, and fancy lens covers, and coil springs too, on Feckers, Unertls, and Lyman Super Target Spots. For huntin' scopes, I use El Paso Weavers, a couple of M8-4X Leupolds, and my super fancy state of the art in 1990 Leupold 1.5x5 Vari-X3.
The scope Jeff H linked to sounds like a deal and very useful.