Magnification for General Usage.

[Blackrider]

What magnification do you use for "general" Sub 12ft lb air rifle shooting say at 30m assuming you're using a scope that is ?
Over the years, at that general distance I've tended to use anything between 10 and 15 mag but these days I find that I'm "dropping the mag" to around 6 to 9 which is odd really as my eyesight isn't getting any better.
One reason maybe that in order to reduce weight on a few of my heavier guns (77, 80, 97,TX's) I've swapped the Pro Airs and Legends etc. for smaller, lighter scopes with less but adequate magnification ?
Is anyone else doing the same ?

[phil384]

6x42 Does it nicely for me with an AO for close range focusing.

[Peter Dunkley]

And me.

[Rog5]

I've been using low mags on my scopes for quite a while now, normally 4x does it for me, I can still see grouping at air rifle ranges on that mag, and it's easy to follow squirrels through the trees, imo there is no need for expensive hi mag scopes (bin there done that) for hunting, high mags come into there own in the competitive world, plus the weight saving is handy, the last scope I bought is a leapers 2-7x32 from jsramsbottom, cheap as chips and does the job as good as anything else out there, for me that is, others might think differently. Rog

[Blackrider]

2-7x32 appears to be a nice spec as does the "Little Simmons" at 1.5-5x20 which we all know about as is 4x40 and 6x42 in fixed mag.

[rhyslightnin]

2-7x32 appears to be a nice spec as does the "Little Simmons" at 1.5-5x20 which we all know about as is 4x40 and 6x42 in fixed mag.

2-7 is good as is 3-9 but more importantly I find a small objective 32-40 & no more than that is good for everything. I've had a few 42's & 44's but you can't use them over 8mag as the parallax is too much. I think this is why a 2-7x32/33/35 is ideal for general use airgun.

[MartynB]

2-7x32 appears to be a nice spec

I just bought one with that spec from Gareth, very clear optics. Almost all my scopes are 4 x 32 or there abouts

I bought my Swarovski Habicht Nova 4 x 32 in 1985 and it is still going strong

[Waisted]

I have been there and done that with the bigger scopes, 6x42 German 4a ret on six of my airrifles plenty big enough for the ranges that I shoot at. I bought them of our sponsor JS Ramsbottom cheap as chips as they say.

[angrybear]

I like variable mag to scan larger areas before using the zoom to take the shot, at 30yds probably 6x-9x depending on whether its paper or prey.

All up weight is part of why the old Mamba-lite was such a perfect airgun scope, 3-12x42 in a light weight package - perfect.

[IanSea]

I usually use my zoom scopes on either 6 or 7. Sometimes I wind the mag up a bit when zeroing though.

[MarkAllen]

I used to use high magnification naively thinking that if the target is blown up to a huge size it would be easier to hit the centre. The resuld for me was that it allowed me to wander over the target. Since lowering the mag to say 6x at 30m i find that the wandering has eased and I'm more consistent.

[PhatMan]

Blackrider,

When I hunted, years ago, I used a Simmons WTC 1.5-5x20 on my 0.22" LR rimfire.

I used it almost exclusively on 3x.

Today, for general purpose air-rifle shooting, I would probably choose a scope of 4x or 6x.

Have fun & a good weekend

Best regards

Russ

[les allam]

6x42 is my favourite scope spec.
Les

[Rog5]

I like variable mag to scan larger areas before using the zoom to take the shot, at 30yds probably 6x-9x depending on whether its paper or prey.

All up weight is part of why the old Mamba-lite was such a perfect airgun scope, 3-12x42 in a light weight package - perfect.

Not wanting to upset you Mr Angry, but probably not best practice, you are probably fine doing this, but others might be doing it with loaded and cocked rifles, no offence intended. Rog

[zephyr]

Within my experience (finances mean I haven’t had a lot of scopes) fixed mag scopes have better optics than variable for the same money.

10x fixed mag, no IR, fine reticle marking.