I just got an 7.62x39 AR15 and am looking for a scope. I will predominately be using it for hog hunting and don't want to spend a fortune. Looking for something functional.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Burris Fullfield Ballistic plex 3x9x40mm

I don't think the ballistic plex would work well with 7.62x39.

True...I didn't read...I have one on my .223 AR and it is great.

I have one on a .308 and a 30/06 and they are spot on. The Burris Fullfield II with duplex would be a good choice though. Might look at the Nikon Prostaff series aswell. The 3x9x40 can be had for $159 at Wally World or Academy.

I bought a used Nikon Buckmaster of off ebay, and havnt had a problem with it.

4-12x50 for $200

I like using an illuminated reticle scope, such as the Trijicon Accupoint. You may be able to find a used scope with an illuminated reticle. It's nice to see exactly where you are putting your shot when the crosshairs blend with a black hog at night.

i dont know what your budget is, but for my 22-250 i bought an illuminated reticle 4-12x50 Barska. Its not a bad scope if you are on a budget like me. I like it because only the center of the crosshairs light up, not the whole thing

Natchezss.com is the only place i buy my scopes. fantastic prices and quick shipping(usually 2 days)

Bill Wilson, owner of Wilson Combat & Circle WC Ranch and an avid hog hunter, made this post on a site dedicated to hog hunting. Since I can't post links from the other forum we belong to, I copied & pasted. Not sure if there is any issue with that. I have no dog in this, my 2 cents, yada yada.......

"My wife (a hog hunter too) and I just did what I consider to be a semi-scientific evaluation of scopes for light gathering/night hunting.

I got my eye doc friend to get me an eye chart, we placed the eye chart 75yds away at night in a dark area and aimed a 50 lumen LED flashlight at it from 40yds so you could see they eye chart in dim light.

Surprisingly we both agreed on all observations, she could just consistently read one line smaller than I could (47 yr old eyes vs 56 yr old eyes !!!!).

Here is a list of what we compared listed best to worst:

Binos

Nikon Monarch 8.5x56
Bushnell Elite E2 10x42
Leupold Cascades 8x42
Bushnell Trophy 12x50

Very little difference on the eye chart which shows magnification is part of the equasion for sure. However when we started looking accross our lake at trees in the shadows by moonlight it became apparent the Nikon was king of low light between these four.

Scopes (all were tested set on 6x)

Trijicon 2.5-10x56 green dot duplex
Weaver Classic Extreme 2.5-10x56 ill duplex
Bushnell 4200 Elite 2.5-10x50 ill Ger #4
Trijicon 3-9x40 amber dot duplex
Burris Fullfield II 3-10x50 BDC
Simmons AETEC Master Series 2.5-10x44 ill
Bushnell 2.5-10x40 firefly
Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x50 HDPX
Nikon Prostaff 3-9x50 BDC
Leupold 6x42 HDPX

Several surprises here for me. Based on less scientific testing I thought the Weaver CE was the brightest, but in fact the Trijicon was the clear winner and we could see very little difference between the Bushnell 4200 50mm and the Weaver CE 56mm. The Bushnell has the most usable reticle of the two for night hunting in my opinion.

The Trijicon 3-9x40 was very close to the Weaver and the Bushnell in a much smaller and lighter package.

But one of the two the biggest surprises was how good the Burris FF II and Simmons AETEC was. They were definately the VALUE winners. I've had the Simmons on my "beater" Ruger Hawkeye .358 for about 18 months now and it has seen a LOT of hunts, a LOT of rounds down range and a LOT of miles in a Kawasaki Mule and has never changed zero and the illuminated reticle always works when I turn it on. I'm not big on Chinese products, but darn it the thing just works and their pretty reasonably priced ..................

The other big surprinse was how poorly the Leupolds gather light compared to the others! I have to admit I have mostly been a Leupold man all my life, this sure opened my eyes...........

Bottom line

The Trijicon 2.5-10x56 is THE best hog hunting scope in my opinion if size, weight and price are no object.

The Bushnell 4200 Elite 2.5-10x50 ill is the best value in a top of the line really bright scope unless you picked up your Weaver CE when they were blowing them out at bargain prices.

The Trijicon 3-9x40 is probably the best all around hog hunting scope if price is no object.

If the Burris FF II had an illuminated reticle it would be a real winner for hog hunting. This would be my pick for early morning/late evening deer hunting.

With a "street price" of around $175-$200 the Simmons 2.5-10x44 AETEC ill is a real value and probably adequate for 95+ of hog hunting situations.

Other observations. The Trijicon green tritium is definately a lot brighter than the amber. I don't like the soft windage and elevation adjustments of the Trijicon! The illuminated reticle of the Weaver has a fair amount of "flash" around it even on it's lowest setting, the Simmons and Bushnell do not."

I can agree with SATX about the Trijicon 2.5-10x56. I use one on my .308 AR and I can see much better through it than just the naked eye. Mine has the amber tritium, at night you just see the center dot wherever you point. A few weeks ago, we were hunting one night and my nephew had a cheaper 40mm scope, he could not take a shot when a dozen hogs came in.....I was able to take my shot and the hog was DRT. It's a great scope, though it is a bit heavy (go figure, there is a lot of glass to a 56mm objective) and not cheap. I think it is worth every penny.

My wife has a Leupold VX-3 6.5-20x50. It is also a great night scope, though it doesn't have an illuminated reticle. Hers gathers light well, so I don't know why my opinion of it and SATX's opinion of it differ. We're heading to Uvalde for some hog hunting tomorrow night, maybe I'll compare the two side-by-side and be able to offer more detail. The biggest drawback is that the reticle isn't illuminated. I think that once someone tries a good illuminated reticle scope at night, they won't want to go back to standard cross-hairs.

I don't know how useful this is to Jaydub, as both scopes run approx $800-900. That may or may not fit the budget for his particular build.

I'm hooked on the bushnell elite 3200 scopes

Guys, just want to say thanks for all of the info. I am working on a limited budget right now, but the information provided has definetly helped educate me on the different variables involved.

I'm new to rifles and scopes, been shooting shotguns for 40+ years and think I know all I care to about them. This is all new and fun to learn. My 11 yr old son has also gotten into this and it's fun to learn together on this stuff.

Don't ever go on a night vision hunt. It will ruin you. I went on my first one last night and all I can say is I may need a good divorce attorney if my wife catches me buying a mid-level GEN III set of optics. WOW. Walking up to within 50 yards of a bunch of hogs and dropping them with a suppressed 44mag rifle is quite a rush.

Nope, not me pard. I wish I could afford to gather that many scopes up for a review. That was all done by Bill Wilson. He's got it real bad for the hogs. And with his resources, well the sky's the limit.