What riflescopes do our viewers prefer? Our survey says…

Nearly 700 viewers took part in out centrefire riflescopes survey, out of the massive 3,500 of you who responded to our lockdown surveys in March 2020 – and you reveal that almost all of the scopes you put on your centrefire rifles come from just 16 companies. The survey also shows that you are prepared to pay for glass. The top three scope manufactures are all at the pricey end of the market.

But we are not just rating popularity. Here is what you told us about great scope attributes:

Winner for ease of use is the Swarovski Z6i, with the high-end models from Zeiss, Leupold, Nightforce and Schmidt & Bender all highly rated for the same.
Winner of the waterproofing vote is the mid-priced Steiner Ranger series.
Your favourite scope for bash-it-about, drop-it-on-the-floor durability and reliability is the Nightforce NXS range which more of you use for deerstalking than foxshooting, I was surprised to read.
Another surprise is that your top choices for accuracy are not the expensive scopes from Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica but the budget Vortex Viper, just ahead of scopes from Bushnell and Burris. Maybe owners of more expensive scopes are more demanding. Remember, this is our viewers’ opinion.
As for value for money – the mid range Nikon Monarch takes it, just ahead of scopes from Leica and Minox.
And the customer service award goes to Steiner, again beating Minox.

Best rifle scopes 2020 image

Those are the mini awards. In the world of scopes, nothing succeeds like success, and the big prize goes to the most popular scopes. Who has the biggest market share? Here it is, in reverse order:

  • Third place: the Schmidt & Bender Klassik series. Schmidt & Bender has 12% of the market of Fieldsports Channel viewers
  • Second Place: the Zeiss V8 series, slightly ahead of the Zeiss V4. Zeiss has 17% of our market
  • First place: the Swarovski Z6i. Swarovski has 20% of the market of Fieldsports Channel viewers

As the world goes increasingly digital, will the be the last time you see such a dazzling array of glassware?

Read more about riflescopes on our main riflescopes page here.

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