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I've only recently gotten into crossbow hunting after shoulder injuries have prevented me from using my compound or recurve. I am also an avid gun hunter and shooter, and am familiar with high end scopes. So while I can't give any good advice on buying a crossbow (aside from "buy a Parker!"), I feel confident I can speak to crossbow glass. While there are some minor differences in construction, in general, a scope is a scope. General rule if thumb: quality only hurts once. There are several " categories" or "grades" of scopes, USUALLY bounded roughly by price. I don't care what anyone says, unless you find a smoking hot deal on a scope that normally sells for 3-20x the asking price, if you buy a $30 scope, you will have $30 worth of quality. Will it work? Probably. Will it last a lifetime? Nope. Will it's point of aim shift over time--almost guaranteed, possibly even during your hunt. Will you be disappointed at dusk or dawn when that big 16 point comes within 50 yards of your stand and you take the shot? Do you really want to risk it? The Parker IS made in China. But then again, so is your iPhone. Kershaw has some great knives coming out if China now. And some of Vortex's and Burris' scopes are made there too. Not everything there is junk, although I understand the "buy American" opinion. I'd say the Parker Red Hot Scope fits the category of Chinese quality. The scope is solidy made. A little heavy, but that's OK by me. It is not going to fall apart if it falls out of the tree. 3x fixed is perfect for shots 20-70 yards, and makes for one less part to break. It also keeps the price down a bit. Then there are the lenses--the heart and soul of the scope. Lenses always need some sort of coating to be useable. The coatings determine the amount of chromatic aberration, color, contrast, and, along with lens size, the amount of light transmitted to the eye (note: no scope "gathers" light--they can only try to compensate for the fact that it is passing through material; at best, only around 98% of light can be transmitted). The Parker is fully multicoated--every lens, front and back, has multiple layers of proprietary coatings, and by my eye, they uge some good stuff. Lower quality scopes don't have this. They may be "coated," or have a single coat on one side of the lenses. Or they might be "fully coated," with front and back getting one coat. They could also be "multicoated"--the front of each lens gets multiple coatings. Remember, the more coatings, the pricier the manufacturing process. Also, good coatings cost far more than poor ones. The sight picture if good, eye relief is generous, and the lenses perform on par with some of my scopes in the $200-250 class. Then there is the reticle. I LOVE the circles. They naturally draw the eye into the target FAST. I was a little skeptical at first, but now I am considering a Nikon with a similar reticle for my coyote gun. It's perfect for moving or still animals and let's you get on target, ready to shoot faster than traditional cross hairs. I have ALWAYS been skeptical of lighted scopes but I think they may just have a place on a crossbow while in the woods just as the last legal shooting moments close in and that massive buck steps out into the shadows in your shooting lane. I've always preached that IRs are a cheap way to compensate for poor glass. Not so here, and probably in a few other notable exceptions. Even if the battery dies mid hunt, the glass is still PLENTY clear to easly see and use crosshair alone. Not all IR scopes can say that. Finally, the warranty. Parker stands behind all their products for life, like Vortex or Leupold. My understanding is they take care of their customers and want to build a loyal following. Like I said earlier, there are different classes of scopes. This one ran me around $130. General rule of thumb. Expect to pay at LEAST $100 for a decent scope (again, unless you can find the deals). Price alone doesn't determine value, but I've yet to see a high-quality scope with a base price in the $20-80 range. You simply can't manufacture one that cheaply and still turn a profit. Shifting point of aim, lenses that fall out, fogging internally, etc. Once you hit the $100-150 range, things get better. Not perfect, but usually a solid scope. Move up to $200-300 and you get a scope you can be proud of and one that usually won't ever let you down. $400-600 gets a superior scope, with quality easily discerned by anyone looking through it. Above that, the differences are usually only noticeable to experts. I won't pay for one in that class since it would be a waste for me. The Parker is a solid scope. I'd put it in the class of my $200-300 scopes. Great glass (THE KEY to a good scope), generous eye relief, solid construction, innovative reticle, and quality illumination put it on par with scopes slightly above its price class, IMO. Perfect for its application.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
As soon as I received my Red Hot scope I mounted it on my PSE Fang crossbow and began sighting it in. I had been using the scope that came with the bow and it was good to about 30 yards. The clarity on the new Red Hot by Parker is unbelievable. Within a few rounds I was able to get it sighted in at 20 yards then 30, 40 and 50. After final adjustment at 50 and shooting a good group, back to 20 yards to see if anything changed. It was dead on! The eye relief on this scope was perfect for me, the windage adjustments both worked great and I really like the thumb wheel type adjustments. The red, green illumination is really great as I was sighting in later in the afternoon under very cloudy conditions. At 50 yards the green made the recital stand out but didn't over power. I was looking at spending quite a bit more for a good scope but after reading some good reviews decided to give this one a try and boy, am I glad I did.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I din't like the scope that came on my Whitetail Hunter 2 crossbow. After much reading on the internet, I decided on this scope which is made by Hawke. It is perfect fit for me. After zeroing in at 20 yards, the 30 and 40 yard recticles were right on. I haven't shot past 40 yds because I will not try to shoot a deer any further than that.Absolutely love this scope!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Made well on target quick and sited in with ease good deal very happy
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
This was a gift to someone. He reports that works good.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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