Sometimes you just make the wrong choice of scope..

[CapitalBee]

This isn't a scope brand bashing thread, but have you found that your initial choice of scope with an air rifle means you don't gel with it? I've a fully glided and cerakoted HW77 in a forest laminate stock and went for a Westhunter 30mm tube 4-16x44 scope. Lovely clear optics but a heavy beast. Combining it with the '77 wasn't a marriage made in heaven for me; bloody heavy and as I do most of my informal plinking standing, I just wasn't getting the results I wanted (couldn't hit a pig's arse). Major rethink over the weekend and went to a 2-7x32 - result! Just taking that bit more weight off of the combination has worked a treat and I'm now routinely hitting what I aim at, and tbh, I never took the Westhunter above x9 mag!

[robs5230]

Weight and balance are the reason I run mostly 2-7x32's.

Basic schoolboy maths - Physics and levers.
The longer the scope, the further away the end of it is from the point of balance, and the heavier that load feels.

It's also the reason I prefer shorter rifles.

[rapidresponse1]

as above weight and balance is what i look for

[32:1]

You are not alone, plenty over think a scope and fit something they will regret. Fit what you need not what you want and more often than not the scopes that stay on my stuff are small mag and often fixed.

The scope market is driven by snake oil

Chris

[PCPShooter]

2-7 s on 77/80 s

[gsxrman]

Balance is key.
A heavy rig that balances right, for you, is still stable.
A light rig that isn't balanced right is still unstable as you are fighting the un-natural balance usually with muscle power.

[Murphy]

Go to any gun club on a Sunday and you will see many wrong scope choices.

[angrybear]

Many years ago bought a Sidewinder 4-16x50 for my then brand new AA-S510 .177, fantastic scope but a heavy lump on such a lightweight rifle, swapped over for a Mamba-lite after a couple of months.

My Rapid .25 came with a brand new boxed Nikko-Stirling Game King ir, fitted it, took it outside to zero, horrible thing, took it straight off again & sold it,
Replaced it with a new 2015 model, the Vantage 4-16x50 SF (14161) mail order, lovely glass but horrible thick coarse reticle,
so that was returned & upgraded for the Vantage 4-16x50 SF 10xhalf mil dot IR (14291) which I've still got.

Another was the Airmax 30 6-24x50, again a brilliant scope, just too big & too much mag, even on my CZ527 .22 Hornet.

I recently tried a Vantage red dot 1x30, great fun on a .22lr semi-auto at 25yds but not practical for anything else.

[zephyr]

So many physical, sight and psychological variables, that I'll resist from stating one scope over another. I will make a personal observation - those new Immersive scopes suit me. Why? minimises (if not eliminates) parallex, very lightweight and way back between the hands and shoulder. Although I'd be first to say they look a bit odd, floating in the air so far back from the dovetail/weaver rail. And no good on a recoiling rifle.

[angrybear]

So many physical, sight and psychological variables, that I'll resist from stating one scope over another. I will make a personal observation - those new Immersive scopes suit me. Why? minimises (if not eliminates) parallex, very lightweight and way back between the hands and shoulder. Although I'd be first to say they look a bit odd, floating in the air so far back from the dovetail/weaver rail. And no good on a recoiling rifle.

Sorry, what is an "Immersive scope"??
I've never seen or heard that term used before.

[robs5230]

Sorry, what is an "Immersive scope"??
I've never seen or heard that term used before.

New range of scopes from a company called Immersive Optics

Looks like they copied the MTC SWAT and Atom and have a far wider range of mag and rets
Very good value for money and very good optics for a shade of the MTC prices

I bought one to use on a FWB 603

[Muskett]

How many want a sporting rifle and end up with a brick of a sniper rifle?
Or have sporting rifle and ruin it's handling with a brick of a too big a scope?

30mm tubes are all the rage. China is starting to make some reasonable scopes, but a whole lot are chunky and heavy, and that weight isn't in the glass. Most have acres of excessive aluminium soft body, because soft aluminium doesn't wear out cutting tools. However, to get strength and rigidity they just bulk them up.
A lot to be said with 1" tubes.

The Sidewinders are great scopes, but massive and heavy. The Simons Atec have lovely glass but weigh a ton.

For standing sporting then 8lbs weight all in is about ideal. More is target style shooting. Those who are "strong man build" might manage a bit more, but will tire.
For standing plinking good fun keep the weight down. Same for hunting and just shoot farmyard ranges. Or go heavy and build a gun emplacement

[flyingfish]

I have personally never understood the logic of buying the scope with the widest lens to let in light then having a permanently fitted sunshade to reduce light...

[Muskett]

I have personally never understood the logic of buying the scope with the widest lens to let in light then having a permanently fitted sunshade to reduce light...

Large lens for FOV, and sunshade for tricky lighting conditions in daytime. In very bright conditions some glass is unusable without a sunshade at certain angles. The trick is to have the right length sunshade as then they don't effect direct light that is required for the sight picture.
Half my scopes have sunshades.

[32:1]

Large lens for FOV, and sunshade for tricky lighting conditions in daytime. In very bright conditions some glass is unusable without a sunshade at certain angles. The trick is to have the right length sunshade as then they don't effect direct light that is required for the sight picture.
Half my scopes have sunshades.

Lens size doesn’t always mean wider fov as mag choice is important to, Ive some 25mm lenses that give bigger fov than my 60mm, and seem just as bright so there goes the light gathering theory too. In the past Ive nearly always hunted with a fixed scope and small mag as they offer great fov and big in focus area, literally just point and shoot always ready with no twiddling or working out holds, it was just natural, now I cant walk the fields I mainly shoot the feeders and inside ratting so need small mags and find a little 1-5-25 or the 1.5-6-32 fixed brilliant, both are set to x2.5 and have performed well, why fixed small mag scopes are few I dont know, Id like a x1.5x32 for rats and a x2.5x28 for greys.

Chris