[JOE PA]

So to elaborate on this subject, and about my
Redfield Crossbow scope, i find this reticle to be quick to get on target in the Mississippi River Delta palmettos. It’s not complicated and not electronic. It’s like the old Heavy Duplex reticle for hunting guns, quick to get on target . It’s also not made anymore. Leupold sold out to Academy Sports.

I could do without the range finder because i have a dedicated handheld, and often there is just not time to range. You should range unique things around you while waiting for deer. “ that rotten stump is exactly 35 yards . “

The reticle is in the 2nd focal plane, so the power ring is a speed ring. Good glass too.
75 yard parallex setting. Not bad. 50 would have been better.
60 yards max on reticles. Perfect for woods hunting, down in the thick bottoms. View attachment 279228 View attachment 279229

I agree, the Redfield (and Leupold Crossbones) are very good scopes. I have a very similar Horton Hawke 2-7x32 on 2 of my bows. For my eyes, they are as good as anything I have looked through, other than the Vortex XBR or Huskemaw, (and far better clarity than most newer crossbow scopes I have tried). They are much lighter than either. The bold reticle is unlit, but easily visible at legal shooting times here. One reservation I would have with the Wrath 430 the OP has is these scopes are more suitable for crossbows that are not shooting 400 fps. I tried the Horton on my Toxin (390 fps) and it was great on targets. The places I hunt, I don’t want a scope set close to 7 power to make the reticle subtentions useful.

 

[Moon]

Just read Boo’s posts and I’ve been there (81 now). Years ago I couldn’t get enough scope features on my crossbows.

I even convinced Zeiss to offer a crossbow specific scope years back. It was the XB75. Towards the end of the development stage, they would not listen to my recommendations. I told them the scope was too large and heavy, overpriced with no reticle illumination. They also did not listen to the quantity of the initial order (way too many). Needless to say, that $600 scope fizzled out quickly.
As time passed I’ve gradually regressed to simplifying my hunting gear and it’s where I need to be now.

 

[Moon]

Now:

 

[Boo]

Just read Boo’s posts and I’ve been there (81 now). Years ago I couldn’t get enough scope features on my crossbows.

I even convinced Zeiss to offer a crossbow specific scope years back. It was the XB75. Towards the end of the development stage, they would not listen to my recommendations. I told them the scope was too large and heavy, overpriced with no reticle illumination. They also did not listen to the quantity of the initial order (way too many). Needless to say, that $600 scope fizzled out quickly.
As time passed I’ve gradually regressed to simplifying my hunting gear and it’s where I need to be now.

Knowing what I know now, if I just started into crossbows, I’d buy a scope and build a crossbow package around it, then sell off the OE scope.

 

[Moon]

Here’s where I was 20 years ago:

🙄

 

[Zebrafive]

Just read Boo’s posts and I’ve been there (81 now). Years ago I couldn’t get enough scope features on my crossbows.

I even convinced Zeiss to offer a crossbow specific scope years back. It was the XB75. Towards the end of the development stage, they would not listen to my recommendations. I told them the scope was too large and heavy, overpriced with no reticle illumination. They also did not listen to the quantity of the initial order (way too many). Needless to say, that $600 scope fizzled out quickly.
As time passed I’ve gradually regressed to simplifying my hunting gear and it’s where I need to be now.

I agree, the lack of illumination, and price killed it. I doubt size and weight were a major issue. The Vortex XBR is bigger and heavier and still in demand.

 

[frederick d. be]

I think the Hawke scopes are really good for the price you pay for them. I really like the SR Pro and that lets in enough light when you need it. And, if you have a problem they will have you send it back...they take care of you just like Vortex.

 

[Ode1891]

Until you get into the $1K+ bows the scopes are mostly entry level and lots to be desires IMO. To stay around/under budget you can always look here for something a step or two up and at a reasonable prices.

Take-Off Scopes

These are scopes that have been removed from factory crossbow kits.

wyverncreations.com

Welcome to the boards.

rangemaster pro wyverns $129 no tax free shipping 100% ! Speed dial for sighting in is very accurate, field of view is great, and pins are perfect for deer hunting situations. All the 100 yard scopes are too cluttered for me. Lines are too fine and my brain demands a 20 yard crosshairs in dead center. I bought two of these from wyverns and I may buy a third as my forever scope. Manufacturers seem to be leaving us < 50 yard twilight deer hunters behind.

 

[Ode1891]

I like the TenPoint RangeMaster Pro Scope @ Wyvern Creations for about $130. Three large crosshairs work better for my old eyes, & I'm not interested in shooting beyond 60 yards.

Take off Rangemaster Pro Scope

• 8.25 inch aluminum scope
• variable sped & arrow-drop compensation setting for crossbows shooting between 275 & 425 fps with no adjustment needed for distance
• 3 duplex crosshairs
• 5 dots calibrated for 20, 30, 40, 50 & 60 yards
• available with a non-illuminated black dot; or one of two rheostat controlled, illuminated colored dots (red or green)
• etched glass reticle & fully multi-coated 1.5 to 5x optics reduces loss of light transmission
• 30mm tube heightens light-gathering & durability

INCLUDES SCOPE RING

X 10 !!!!!

 

[Iron Duke]

Just read Boo’s posts and I’ve been there (81 now). Years ago I couldn’t get enough scope features on my crossbows.

I even convinced Zeiss to offer a crossbow specific scope years back. It was the XB75. Towards the end of the development stage, they would not listen to my recommendations. I told them the scope was too large and heavy, overpriced with no reticle illumination. They also did not listen to the quantity of the initial order (way too many). Needless to say, that $600 scope fizzled out quickly.
As time passed I’ve gradually regressed to simplifying my hunting gear and it’s where I need to be now.

I still have ... one on a shelf. I helped train some shooters who came over from Japan to become NWCOA certified so they could do wildlife management back home. Gun laws are extremely strict over there so they needed this certification. For what it's worth the head man took the Zeiss XB75 and put it on my Browning X-Bolt .22lr for training purposes. Good piece of glass.

Burris 3-16x - Vortex Viper 2.5-10x XBR - Zeiss XB75 - Zeiss Rimfire 3-9x.

 

[Moon]

Duke, I spent many hours developing the XB75 reticle for what I thought the average crossbow hunter would like. I still have several in the shop. As stated above, Zeiss screwed things up for not listening. I told them the scope was too large and too expensive for that time period.
I’ve regressed now to small, lightweight and simple 3 dot Truglo sights ($72) from Amazon. I have them on 5 crossbows. I sight the top dot in for 20 yards and then see what distances the middle and bottom dot represent and note that on the sight’s base. My R26, for example, shooting 423 grain arrows, is set for 20-40-60 yards. Works for this ole fart🤣.

 

[BirdDogUni]

Hello everyone,

I am totally new in the world of crossbows. Just picked up a Wrath 430 on sale and have been doing oodles of research. I read quite a bit of negative opinions about the Wrath online but honestly it's a very impressive and well built piece of kit, especially for the 800 CAD I paid. The one gripe I have is with the accessories. There are some minor annoyances, such as the arrow inserts being permanently glued in (although the arrows are of exceptional quality compared to some others!) and the crank unlocking mechanism jamming if it is accidentally overcranked. Yeah, I learned that the hard way. However the only thing that seems to be of noticeably lower quality is the scope. The scope image seems narrow and dim.

I've looked into crossbow scopes a bit and it may be that I don't know what I'm talking about, but I get the feeling that manufacturers do not take crossbow optics as seriously as rifle optics. I was able to get a scope for my pellet gun, a $100 Tasco World-class, which is beautiful for the price. 40mm optics, wide field of view, variable magnification, and a bright and clear image. Yet the same money in the crossbow world seems to only get dinky little scopes with darker 32mm optics and no extra features. It looks like there's no significant increase in quality over a stock scope until the $200+ range, and then there's a jump from there to the pro stuff which is way beyond my budget. Am I missing something? I'm almost tempted to just switch my scopes around; only the differing reticles are holding me back.

Amazon.com

Sounds like you know what you want. I have this scope on my CP 370 Sniper and bought another for my new CP Wrath 430X... Different people like different things. I happen to really like the reticule on this one. Works fantastic with my range finder...

 

[BirdDogUni]

The scope is the one thing I really didn't like on my 430x. It works, but not that well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GRCCLTR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Just bought this one for mine.

 

[miles58]

Hello everyone,
I've looked into crossbow scopes a bit and it may be that I don't know what I'm talking about, but I get the feeling that manufacturers do not take crossbow optics as seriously as rifle optics. I was able to get a scope for my pellet gun, a $100 Tasco World-class, which is beautiful for the price. 40mm optics, wide field of view, variable magnification, and a bright and clear image. Yet the same money in the crossbow world seems to only get dinky little scopes with darker 32mm optics and no extra features. It looks like there's no significant increase in quality over a stock scope until the $200+ range, and then there's a jump from there to the pro stuff which is way beyond my budget. Am I missing something? I'm almost tempted to just switch my scopes around; only the differing reticles are holding me back.

Your head is in the right place, but for the money part. The better scopes are the way to go. They will work on your rifles as well as any future crossbow. They will give you performance that you will not find lacking if you do you part up front.

I have bought a lot of scopes that I had no weapon for when I bought them. I have not regretted in any way shape or form spending the money on them and then putting them on whatever weapon I settled on for them. Both of my two crossbows wear excellent scopes. One has a Meopta 1.5-6x42 and the other a Zeiss 2-8x42. Both are outstanding low light scopes. I shoot 95% of my deer in the last 5 minutes of legal shooting time in what is a very dark situation before sunset. every crossbow2 specific scope I have looked at, and I have given almost all of them a try, is done at least 10 minutes before the end of shooting hours in my situation. The Zeiss I used to kill a coyote at 3 A.M. without any lights other than the lights from a small town reflecting off a low cloud deck from a few miles away. You cannot have too good of low light performance! It is just better in some light and unbeatable in low light.

In decent light it is much more difficult to place every shot accurately with an inferior scope. I low to very low light it can often be not just difficult, but more likely impossible. Deer hunting with arrows is a low to very low light affair, being able to see your deer well enough to visualize the internal target(s) that you want to hit is so much faster and bo much easier with good glass. Also, I own precisely one scope with illumination and I have never used it yet. Any light introduced into your scope tube must be reflected off your target or is detracts, sometimes considerably, from the low light performance of the scope.

I routinely spend more on my scopes than on the weapons I mount them on, and sometimes several times as much. If I can't see it, I can't shoot it. If I can't hunt to the end of legal shooting hours anywhere I choose to hunt because of my scope, I wasted 100% of the money I spent on it. If I cannot shoot because I am facing into the sunrise or sunset because of the flare of the objective lense, I wasted the money on the scope because there is no way to ask Bambi to hold still while I walk a hundred yards to make a shot where I am not facing into the sun.