Weaver or Simmons

V

VMUTH

New member
Need scope advice. Want to buy a lower priced scope for coyote hunting and am wanting opinions between the simmons aetec or the weaver v series.

Thanks.

V.Muth
 
I have asked myself this same question, guess what? Weaver, Simmons, and Redfield are now all owned by Blount Inc. So I don't know what to tell you. If I were to buy the Simmons (I have 3 or 4) I would only get the AETEC. If I wanted a fixed power or a little better scope, I would opt for the high end Weavers. Just my opinion though.
 
The only Weaver that I own is a V3 for my turkey gun. I worked up a hunting handload for my nephew's 7mm Magnum with a 2.8-10x Aetec mounted on it. After pulling out my hair trying to get the rifle to group, I discovered the scope had parallax problems. A Leupold Vari-x II cured the problem. The Aetec is a real clear nice looking scope, but my experience with Simmons has been bad. I really like my Weaver V3, and have heard nothing but good things about the V series scopes.
 
I'll tell you guys, a real sleeper is the Simmons Whitetail Expedition, what a great piece of glass! Has the trendy european ocular focus,so it has that Ziess or Swarovoski look....if looks mean anything. The real nuts and bolts are the optics in the scope, absolutely clear,crisp,razor sharp definition, in field of view and heavy duplex crosshair.This scope is variable, from 1.5-6. Natchex supply has them in stock for around $140.00, I'd order another half dozen if I had the scratch.
 
I own both a Simmons Aetec variable and Weaver Grand Slam variable. Weaver cost about $100 more but is nice scope. I like them both. No regrets.
 
I have several Simmons Aetecs equipped rifles, I have never had a problem with any of them, and most are hunted hard(every weekend), They have a wide field of view and clear out to the edge. For the money, I say Aetec, of coarse I also have several other makes that I find as good, the Leupold scope has long been an affordable favorite, and by affordable I mean, this is not top quality glass and its construction has been equaled by many cheaper scopes in the past 10 years. I still like this scope, but for the money you can do better. Warranty is always an issue and Leupold has great service(most of the time) but I prefer not to have a scope that has to go back to the shop for repairs at all. I have had to remove and send off several of most brands for repair(customers guns). One thing to consider, mounting the scope can either make it or break it, do it right, or have it done right. Proper ring alignment(don't use the scope to do the alignment), lap the rings and install to the proper torque, and no tighter ain't necessarily better. Alot of scopes, cheap and expensive are damaged through improper mounting or being loose during the first few firings. The type of gun or action makes a difference on the scope, break overs such as NEF and Savage 24's are great guns, but they put a hit on scopes that they were not designed for when they are slammed closed. Scopes are designed for back and forth impacts, not side impacts that you find while close a breakover action, if you are going on this type of gun, spend the money for the best you can afford and has a really good warranty. Good luck hope this helps.
 
I'd go with the Weaver. Today's Weavers are quite nice. Although, I recently replaced a Weaver on a .22 that was put on in 1948 or 1949. It was as good as the day it was put on however nothing like today's scopes.
 
I own a Simmons 44 Mag and love it.
Simmons also has a great warranty. If something happens to your scope just send it back to them and they will either repair it or replace it.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I've used a Simmons 44mag on one of my calling rifles for years, butttttttt .......... A friend of mine called SWIFA and talked scopes with them for quite some time. These fellas see alot of scopes and hear alot about scopes. They talked about Leopold, Simmons, Swift, Burris, Bausch & Lomb (my favorite at the moment) and Weaver. SWIFA said that out of all of them they (HE) would buy the Weaver. Very happy customers/low return rate ect., ect., ect.,

I have to comment on Blount Inc. ownership of several of these companies. I do not believe that simply being owner by a parent company mean that all the products are the same. Each name is a seperate entity and will compete foe a certain market share. All one has to do is look at GM. Chevy, Buick, GM, Oldsmobile (do they even exist ny more?), Cadalack and Saturn are all owned by GM (I think?). THey are all seperate and distinct entities but are all under the very same GM unbrella.
 
I had an old Simmons 4-12 that was on a nice rifle that I traded for. It looked like it had been drug behind a truck. I took the Simmons off and slapped a Leupold VXI 3X9 on there. The adjustable objective was extremely hard to turn on it, and I wanted to mount it on another cheap .22 rifle. I sent it back to Simmons with a check for $8.00, and they sent me a brand spanking new one about 6 days later, no questions asked. How can you argue with service like that.
 
Im with ChileRojo! i own two 4-12x42 simmons expeditions & they made me sick that i had spent 350.00 for a elite 4200! In my honest opinion, i cant really see where the elite is any brighter or has any better resolution than the expedition,even though im sure it is a little better built. I dont believe they are makeing these any longer so they can be had cheap, i gave 135.00 a piece for mine from natchez.
 
Redfield, Simmons, and Weaver are now owned by Meade Instrument Co. Their main business before getting into the rifle scope business was high quality optics, ie. telescopes, etc. Hopefully, they can improve on some of the products. This isn't to berate any of the scopes, but there's always room for improvement. God Bless The Troops. MI VHNTR
 
I have a Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5-20x50. Its an E Bay special, origionally meant to be a temp. fix. 2 years later its still there. Its been through a lot of abuse, I can't bring myself to replace it. For under a hundred$ its responsible for about 35 coyotes from 10 ft. to a 400+ yd. shot. The only thing I would change would be the power. It never leaves the lowest power, every shot has been made at 6.5.

Brad
 
I once had a Weaver 3x9 with a 56mm objective, it was a great scope for night hunting. I'm not sure about this, but I think Weaver was the first one to come out with a 56mm objective? Good Hunting.
 
Really like my 2.8x10 44mm Simmons Aetec on my AR. Clear, steady and accurate. Its mounted in a rock solid Armalite single piece mount. Also have a cheap 3x9 Simmons on my Marlin 882SS .22 mag and it has served well (the squirrels, crows, gophers, and bunnies hate it!). The two low-end Tasco scopes I had are now in the landfill.
 
Just ordered my third Simmons whitetail expedition 1.5X6 yesterday. These are so nice I just can't give them justice. Every bit as clear,crisp and sharp as the over rated leupold 1.75X6, and at a third the price. Natchez is running a special on them now, $115.00 if you don't want rings and mounts (redfield). Leupies have just gone thru the roof, way overpriced.
 
I have never had problems with Simmons scopes.The only Weaver scopes I have used are the ones for 22 rimfires and they were not bad either.
 
The Weaver scopes are good. I have had several and still have a rimfire 4x. I'm thinking of a V3 for my Ruger 44 semi auto carbine. My only experience with Simmons was an EER unit back in the late 80's. It was a pig and morph'ed into a Leupold. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 


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