Hello to you fxud, i see your inquiring about BSA scopes, well i have had a few. First some of the good points, I have always gotten good accuracy from BSA's, they are inexpensive to purchase, and i have not had any problems from the warranty department in getting them replaced. I have had the 3x12x44 mounted on Gamo 1000's, 440's, and on Beeman r-9's and briefly on a hw97k.
Now, some of the not so finer points. My personal experience is that on a springer the BSA's will last anywhere from 250 to 500 shots and sometimes a bit more and then the scope is done and ready for warranty. I have had a couple 3x12x44's that the objective bell was a bit hard to turn, also glare can be a bit of a problem on bright sunny days, not real bad but they are not like high quality glass. But don't get me wrong BSA's are a whole lot better than no scope at all. If you do go with BSA scopes do your self a favor buy two and you will always have one at the ready when one goes down, (you should get two new 3x12x44's for under $150). Usually Optics planet or Natchez shooters supply has a good price on them. When you do need to warranty a BSA scope it will cost you shipping there and a ten dollar money order for the return shipping, so basicly for just under $20.00 you get a new scope, and hang on to your purchase receipt, you will need to send a copy of it with your scope when you do a warranty.
I have a 3x12x44 on my model 60 22lr and it will last as long as the gun with no problem, and i am sure that the BSA's would do great on a PCP rifles without breaking. If you only hunt you should get one or two season from a BSA scope, but if you target shoot often you will want to go with a scope that you don't need to mount and dismount so often. I prefer to spend my time shooting instead of mounting and dismounting and resighting scopes every couple weeks.
My best scopes are Bushnell 4200 series, i have two of them and they out lasted an r-9 and the hw97k i had. I had a bushnell legend once for about week and quickly sent it for a refund due to accuracy issues.
I am not sure if there is a mid priced scope say, $150 to $300 that will hold up indefinately, that is on a springer. I am sure others have had both good and bad luck with different scopes but if you have the extra money go for the higher priced Bushnells, NOT THE 3200 SERIES, but rather the 4200, the extra $100 dollars is money well spent. I have spent a lot of time at sportsmans warehouse looking through most of their scopes and 4200 beats the 3200 by far and is well worth the extra money.
Anyway hope this is of help to you. fb
