Scope advice please

[JABB]

After returning to air and .22lr, with more cash than I had when I was a teenager, I have some questions.
I now have a Daystate Huntsman .177 along with a .22 rim fire.
I want to put scopes on them, for rabbit shooting mainly ( 90% ).
I would have thought the air would be up to 30 yards and the rim up to 60 yards. I don't want bells, or to show off, just sensible scopes at sensible money. What do you guys recommend? I have been given a 3-9x40 but am unsure this is suitable, or if it is, which for?

[bicykillgaz]

3-9x40 would be fine for both, I normally use a 6x42 on my rimfire but have just got a 3-9x40 it'll do everything I'll ever need it to. Some people prefer more mag or massive objectives but it's not needed. A decent secondhand 6x42 like a meopta can be picked up for about £150 and will be far better at dusk/dawn than a lesser branded scope with huge objective and all the bells and whistles.

 

Hawkes and similar brands will do the job just fine but if you can stretch your budget I would.

 

Gary

[kent]

3-9x40 would be fine for both, I normally use a 6x42 on my rimfire but have just got a 3-9x40 it'll do everything I'll ever need it to. Some people prefer more mag or massive objectives but it's not needed. A decent secondhand 6x42 like a meopta can be picked up for about £150 and will be far better at dusk/dawn than a lesser branded scope with huge objective and all the bells and whistles.

 

Hawkes and similar brands will do the job just fine but if you can stretch your budget I would.

 

Gary

As the man says mine is a 6x42 S+Bender

[Thunderbird]

I had a Bushnell 3-9x40 mil-dot on my 22LR and had great success with it. I think they come in at round about the £80-100 mark but you'd need to spend more if you're shooting low-light I would say.

 

It's on my HMR at the moment and I'm having equal success with that.

 

I actually stuck a 4x40 on my LR as I was only shooting to about 40-50 yards with it and it's absolutely fine.

[Dunkield]

7x50 Meopta

[fenboy]

3-9 x 40 would be fine for rimfire or air

[J_Edwards]

A 3-9X40 would be fine for any rimfire or air rifle. I use a 6X42 on my .17HMR, and I've had success at up to 150 yards, so I think that's more than enough magnification for air rifles and rimfires.

 

Personally, if you'll be using the scope 100% in daylight, I'd say that any scope would do. If you'll be using it a dusk or dawn, ie limited light conditions, I'd get a second-hand from a good brand, like Meopta or Schmidt & Bender.

 

Hawkes are OK for what they are worth, but after looking through a decent scope, like a Schmidt & Bender, you see what real quality is.

 

Like said, you'll find a second-hand S&B 6X42 ten-times better than a brand new, Chinese-made 5-40X60, or whatever there is. Good scopes just deal with low-light conditions so well.

[welshwarrior]

Another 6x42 S&S here and you'll get more than 60 yards out of a 22.

 

But 3-9x40 will be fine.

[crowdie2013]

ive got a cheap hawke hd 3-9x50 on my hmr and it does me fine-think including mountings it was £65. Have hit crows at 200+ metres and im new to rifle shooting

[mick miller]

Anything Zeiss or Swarovski will be okay, or you could go Meopta, Schmidt & Bender, IOR something like that, all of which would be total overkill for a .22lr and an air rifle and an utter waste of money.

 

Hawke range will be fine, Simmons White Tail Classic (if you can find one), I use MTC Genesis on my .243, 17hmr and FAC air. Something with mildots will be of real benefit as both your rifles will be loopy as hell so learning mildots and aimpoints at fixed magnifications is very useful.

 

x9, x10, x12 will all be enough for the range you'll be shooting at. I tend to stick to x8 or x10 with all of mine depending on the situation.

[mick miller]

Oh to add to that. With the MTC Genesis I was fox shooting with the 243 last week, with my digi add on at around 200 yards, two were shot in the head (because that's the only bit I could see above the runs of straw) so something like that is more than good enough for an air rifle or rimfire.

Edited September 11, 2014 by mick miller

[kent]

Anything Zeiss or Swarovski will be okay, or you could go Meopta, Schmidt & Bender, IOR something like that, all of which would be total overkill for a .22lr and an air rifle and an utter waste of money.

 

Hawke range will be fine, Simmons White Tail Classic (if you can find one), I use MTC Genesis on my .243, 17hmr and FAC air. Something with mildots will be of real benefit as both your rifles will be loopy as hell so learning mildots and aimpoints at fixed magnifications is very useful.

 

x9, x10, x12 will all be enough for the range you'll be shooting at. I tend to stick to x8 or x10 with all of mine depending on the situation.

 

Its always baffled me why people think .22s and HMR shouldn't have good glass. Lets face it we use these guns just as much at low light as our deer rifles and at smaller targets YET we also use them more frequently.

If you look at the posts it seems the "only for a rimfire" myth is being busted

[mick miller]

If you can't see a rabbit at 60 yards with a half decent Hawke 3x9-50 at dusk then perhaps get your eyes tested or give up shooting altogether, seriously, you don't need to spend £1000+ on glass for a .22lr to go bunny bashing.

 

I had zero problems shooting out to 60 yards plus with mine with the cheapest, nastiest Hawke there was when I started, you don't need top notch glass for a rimmie, and definitely not for a .177!

[mick miller]

But not completely necessary. Unless you have limitless funds. Even less on something you're going to use to shoot 40 yards with.

[kent]

But not completely necessary. Unless you have limitless funds. Even less on something you're going to use to shoot 40 yards with.

 

If I was shooting to a max of 40 yards I should use open sights on an LR perhaps but more likely an airgun. There is such a thing as reverse snobbery you know

[welshwarrior]

My 22 is used in low light or night I don't use NV but a lamp as lower powered as I can for the shot fact is I'd need more light with a cheaper scope.

 

I also carry the 22 more than my stalking rifle and it get more knocks as well, so deserves a better scope.

[mick miller]

 

There is such a thing as reverse snobbery you know

 

I have two Zeiss scopes, both in boxes. One's for sale and the other will probably to be sold too. I use the Genesis on the 243 as the light gathering with a digi add-on is better for foxing, it has parallax adjustment (essential for add-ons) and is reasonably good glass for a fair price. I also prefer the mil-dot reticule to a straight cross hair on my FAC air and 17hmr. I can live without the 25 minutes of extra light the Zeiss will buy me on the 243 when used for stalking, although, I'm considering a Sightron for the 243 as it represents better value for money than a Zeiss and will work with the add-on just as well and comes with the type of reticule I prefer.

 

You shouldn't make too many assumptions.

[Dunkield]

I started with a Hawke 3-9x50 on my .22, once I tried a meopta 7x50 I never looked back, that was about 10 years now and I haven't looked through anything else I would swap it for.

Do a search for previous discussions on this topic and see how many others agree, they have thin crosshairs (unlike S&Bs) which are well suited to the job [imo of course....]

[mick miller]

Hang on, I'm missing a trick here...

 

The best thing to do is buy the best glass you can afford for either rifle. If you buy used you can save a considerable amount of money provided the item has been well cared for. Something like a Zeiss Duralyt 3-12x50 would be perfect for either rifle and coincidentally there seems to be one for sale in the used section that has been well cared for and unmarked. At £500 posted RMSD that represents a significant saving on the new price and let's be honest, it's just what you need for a rimfire or air rifle (coughs).

Edited September 11, 2014 by mick miller

[kent]

I started with a Hawke 3-9x50 on my .22, once I tried a meopta 7x50 I never looked back, that was about 10 years now and I haven't looked through anything else I would swap it for.

Do a search for previous discussions on this topic and see how many others agree, they have thin crosshairs (unlike S&Bs) which are well suited to the job [imo of course....]

 

There you go personal opinion, I prefer a reticule I can quickly discern in low light when it comes to field use on a .22. On a long range rifle however I prefer a thin one when that extra 1/8 MOA matters and the light is good

[ab1964]

If ever shooting at dusk or first light - get at least a 50mm objective lens. You can never go wrong with too much light reaching your eyeball. Unless you aim at the sun of course.

[kent]

It might be worth mentioning exit pupil is equal on 4x32 6x42 7x50 8x56 the relationship between magnification desired and resultant objective required is key to brightness of a scope given equal glass quality.

The human eye can only get to 7 and with age this diminishes, there is then "twilight factor" which takes the gains in magnification into account and IMO is more relevant to photography than hitting what your aiming at

Not all 6x42 scopes have the glass and coatings of equal quality though

[malkiserow]

.... and then there is field of view

[colin lad]

Just a thought if you may want a nv add on at some point then a variable mag is a must also paralex adjustable too

just a thought

 

Colin

[Dekers]

Use what you like and spend what you like, it is you using them, nobody else. What advice do you need, if you can see the quarry clearly and it hold zero then job done.

 

You DON'T need to spend a fortune on a rimfire or air rifle scope, I don't, and I have never been in a position (day or night, winter or summer, distant or close) where I have had to refuse a shot or wished I had a better scope.