New scope,what mag and recommendations

[Joshcup11]

Hi all, I currently have a 3-9x40 on my at44. I'd like to buy a new one I have up to 200 quid to spend,could someone please explain AO and do I need this? Also I struggle to see a target at 30 with my scope so getting a higher magnification. I've heard bushnell legend 5-15x40 are good? Any recommendations are grateful.

 

 

 

Josh

[evo]

get a Hawke sport 3x9x56 plenty good enough for air rifles, you don't need a bigger mag as you will only be shooting to 40yrds max,

 

they are an excellent scope and for £50 you wont get better,

 

atb Evo

 

ps ,,, AO is adjustable optics ,,basically parallax to adjust the clarity(focus) at different distances and magnification

 

IR = illuminated reticule(crosshairs are able to be illuminated usually red green or blue

Edited February 5, 2014 by evo

[Joshcup11]

So 3-9x56 is enough? Do you think I need an AO? I've been using my hawke endurance off the rimmy,it's quite a difference! Can't remember what mag it is,thanks evo

[Livefast123]

I have a Nikko Sterling Diamond 3 - 12 x 56IR up for sale. PM me if interested.

[Theskyfox]

Hi,

 

As the gents above have said...AO is adjustable objective (the large glass end of the scope). It basically means the scope ring (or side dial) will have distances marked on it from 0-200 yards or so, and whatever distance you set it to will become "in focus" when you look through the scope. Most people probably just set it at 30-40 yards or so and leave it at that setting, but its good for learning your ranges or re-adjusting for situations where you want to do some close up work (e.g. short range ratting). A lot of scopes with fixed parallax can have it set at too high or two low a setting which is a pain when you then want to use it at different ranges, especially if said scope was originally designed for a proper firearm rifle and you want to back-port it to an air rifle.

 

Personally since getting an adjustable parallax scope I haven't looked back and think its great, but its horses for courses. Its a "nice to have" rather than an essential requirement, and if you get into something like HFT you will find you are prohibited from adjusting it once you start the rounds anyway.

 

AO scopes tend to be a bit more expensive than fixed scopes, so if you can get a good deal on one then I'd say yes its worth it.

 

Oh also be aware that once you have zeroed the air rifle is possible that adjusting of the magnification or parallax setting can lose your zero, so get the setting how you like it before zeroing (Unless you fancy spending thousands on a Schmidt and Bender ).

 

-Andrew

[Dekers]

Hi all, I currently have a 3-9x40 on my at44. I'd like to buy a new one I have up to 200 quid to spend,could someone please explain AO and do I need this? Also I struggle to see a target at 30 with my scope so getting a higher magnification. I've heard bushnell legend 5-15x40 are good? Any recommendations are grateful.

 

 

 

Josh

 

What is wrong with a 3-9 that you can't see the target at 30 yards?

 

I have to suggest either something is wrong with the scope or your eyes (or both).

 

I seldom go anything passed 6x on any of my scopes, easily shooting out to 200 yards in the field, and even at 600 yards on the range I will seldom crank it up more than 8x!

 

Scopes and mag are very personal, but 3-9 is plenty for most normal air rifle shooting!

 

ATB!

[bullet boy]

Simmons WTC 6-20x50 AO!Brilliant scope if you can get one these days.

[chrisjpainter]

 

What is wrong with a 3-9 that you can't see the target at 30 yards?

 

I have to suggest either something is wrong with the scope or your eyes (or both).

 

I seldom go anything passed 6x on any of my scopes, easily shooting out to 200 yards in the field, and even at 600 yards on the range I will seldom crank it up more than 8x!

 

Scopes and mag are very personal, but 3-9 is plenty for most normal air rifle shooting!

 

ATB!

Agreed. I have a 3-12x50, side parallax Hawke Sidewinder, but that's not because of the magnification, it's because of the quality of the glass and side focusing. If they did a 3-9 in the same range, I'd have bought that. In terms of magnification, 3-9 is plenty, especially if you've got good quality glass in it. It's not about a bright image, it's about a CLEAR image, so getting a clear image will be much more helpful than higher mag. For a while I had 4-16x50 scope. I found myself missing a 3x far more than I ever needed 16x. Close quarter ratting is a nightmare with high magnification.

 

If you're looking for a paralax adjustable scope and your budget is up to £200, then I'd seriously look at getting a side adjustable paralax and not objective lens adjustable. I find AO's a bit of a pain because in the field I found it hard to focus it with one hand whilst keeping the gun in a shooting position. It's far easier to do if the adjustments on the side and it's much easier seeing the figures on the dial, but this is really only of benefit if you could be shooting anywhere from 20yds up to your max range in one outing.

 

If I had your budget, here's a list of things i'd look at:

you MIGHT get a second hand Hawke sidewinder for sub £200

MTC Mamba Lite 3-12 x 44 Side focus, £160-70 (DON'T get the bigger Mamba!)

Hawke Varmint 3-12 x 44 £150

 

 

If you do want an AO

Look at the Nikko Stirling Range, and the Hawke Panorama EV

 

Have a flick through the reviews on airriflereviews.co.uk, I've done a review for anything I've owned.

Just out of interest, what 3-9 have you got now?

[kent]

Paralax is used to correct cross hair wander as the shooter shifts his head on the stock and is due I believe to the curveature of the lens. Focus is different that is on the eyebell of your scope. magnification less than 12 x and reasonable glass turning the parallax should have no effect on the focus, past that or with poorer glass and it will.

Nobody actually needs more than 8x on an airgun for hunting, all it does is narrows the field of view. if you are 40 yards away from your quarry your 120 ft / 8 = 15 ft! if you cannot see the kill zone at that distance you need to consider another sport and a visit to the optician. I actually suggest 6x as the most rather than the 8x in the example btw

 

Small Objective and low mag are the most useful airgun scopes about as they suffer minimum parallax due to the small objective, great field of view from the lower mag (meaning you can pick up your quarry quick, track it and see the full shot reaction). We are not shooting FT when out hunting.

 

thing is a lot of this "gear" thing is about fashion not practicality in the field. A lot would rather have a bigger scope with more bits on it than a good bit of kit that actually works it seems

 

On brightness. 4x32, 6x42,7x50,8x56 are all equal in low light having an equal exit pupil. In theory 4x60 offers bigger and brighter yet the human eye is too limited, it might be a good scope for your dogs eyes though

[retromlc]

haha I have Hawke Eclipse 30 SF 6-24X50,i guess I like to see the white of their eyes.I do have a hawke Sport-HDIR 3-9X50 AO IR for sale if your interested,boxed and barely on the air rifle and un-marked

[NIGHT SEARCHER]

Hawke Panorama IR AO 4x12x50. The Dogs Nuts. Very Clear glass. About £140 new.

Have a look at www.jsramsbottom.com A great range of good quality Scopes.

Keen prices to. Shooting HFT out to 50 & 60 yds i never go more then 8 x mag.

Edited February 6, 2014 by NIGHT SEARCHER

[chandler]

I have always mainly had 3-9 x 40 AO and never really go above 6, as it pairs nicely with my mildot ranges and the map 6 recticule on my hawke. Anything above 8 seems to much.

[evo]

Paralax is used to correct cross hair wander as the shooter shifts his head on the stock and is due I believe to the curveature of the lens. Focus is different that is on the eyebell of your scope. magnification less than 12 x and reasonable glass turning the parallax should have no effect on the focus, past that or with poorer glass and it will.

Nobody actually needs more than 8x on an airgun for hunting, all it does is narrows the field of view. if you are 40 yards away from your quarry your 120 ft / 8 = 15 ft! if you cannot see the kill zone at that distance you need to consider another sport and a visit to the optician. I actually suggest 6x as the most rather than the 8x in the example btw

 

Small Objective and low mag are the most useful airgun scopes about as they suffer minimum parallax due to the small objective, great field of view from the lower mag (meaning you can pick up your quarry quick, track it and see the full shot reaction). We are not shooting FT when out hunting.

 

thing is a lot of this "gear" thing is about fashion not practicality in the field. A lot would rather have a bigger scope with more bits on it than a good bit of kit that actually works it seems

 

On brightness. 4x32, 6x42,7x50,8x56 are all equal in low light having an equal exit pupil. In theory 4x60 offers bigger and brighter yet the human eye is too limited, it might be a good scope for your dogs eyes though

that's strange kent,,

 

my Hawke panorama Ev must be knackered then,

 

I adjust the eye piece on my scopes until the crosshairs are sharp to my eye,

 

if my parallax is set to 20yrds when I look at an object 150yrds away the object is totally out of focus but my crosshairs are still sharp, I then adjust the parallax and guess what when the

 

parallax adjustment ring reaches 150yrds the picture is clear and sharp and whilst adjusting the ring the crosshairs have not changed in sharpness one bit, it is a handy thing to use for judging how far away your target is on some occasions.basically helps with judging distance

 

Parallax

Parallax is essentially an optical illusion. Parallax presents itself as the apparent movement of the reticle, in relation to the target, when your eye moves off center of the sight picture (exit pupil) or in more extreme cases it appears as an out of focus image. It indicates that the scope is either out of focus or more specifically the image of the target is not occurring on the same focal plane as the reticle

 

please correct me if I am wrong and I,ll take my scope back for a refund

 

atb Evo

[kent]

that's strange kent,,

 

my Hawke panorama Ev must be knackered then,

 

I adjust the eye piece on my scopes until the crosshairs are sharp to my eye,

 

if my parallax is set to 20yrds when I look at an object 150yrds away the object is totally out of focus but my crosshairs are still sharp, I then adjust the parallax and guess what when the

 

parallax adjustment ring reaches 150yrds the picture is clear and sharp and whilst adjusting the ring the crosshairs have not changed in sharpness one bit, it is a handy thing to use for judging how far away your target is on some occasions.basically helps with judging distance

 

Parallax

Parallax is essentially an optical illusion. Parallax presents itself as the apparent movement of the reticle, in relation to the target, when your eye moves off center of the sight picture (exit pupil) or in more extreme cases it appears as an out of focus image. It indicates that the scope is either out of focus or more specifically the image of the target is not occurring on the same focal plane as the reticle

 

please correct me if I am wrong and I,ll take my scope back for a refund

 

atb Evo

Its well know that cheaper lenses create more distortion at lower mag when the parallax is off, this is used in FT shooting. It commonly starts to occur at 12x, the higher the mag the more the distortion Please re-read exactly what I said. The important word is "should" not won't or "wont ever" you are out of context under 12x and proper hunting scopes is the subject matter

The fact that your readings on the adjustment ring and the snapping into focus occur at the said range marked is however co-incidence. Parallax error and snapping in do not always occur smack on together either. Try shooting at 1000 yards for a 5 shot group and you will soon learn this latter fact

Edited February 7, 2014 by kent

[secretagentmole]

Which is why an adjustable parallax enables you to refocus the image so that it is in focus with the crosshairs!

 

I just read Kent and agreed with him!

 

Too early for a drink!

[Theskyfox]

Ah guys lets not turn this into a huge debate off topic. To keep it simple...take a Simmons AETEC thats meant for full blown rifle hunting (fixed paralax), mount it on your air rifle and use it for short range ratting. It will drive you nuts within 5 minutes of using it, and it will quickly become evident why a adjustable paralax is a good idea .

 

Also...a 56mm scope is going to be huge. Biggest I use is 50mm and that adds a significant amount of weight to the gun as is!

 

-Andrew

[Mentalmac]

I got a viper scope from a friend for literally next to nothing... when I first got it I stuck it on my at44-10 and it was great fun and novelty. I had it on 16 mag straight away and wow, could literally see the thoughts in the bunnies eyes.

 

Then after a week or so I went and turned it back down to 8 in the day and 6 at night...

 

I had to go back down the mag as I couldn't find the quarry quick enough and it was no good for lamping as it took too long to pick up the quarry in the scope and by then they'd either legged it or died of old age.

[kent]

Ah guys lets not turn this into a huge debate off topic. To keep it simple...take a Simmons AETEC thats meant for full blown rifle hunting (fixed paralax), mount it on your air rifle and use it for short range ratting. It will drive you nuts within 5 minutes of using it, and it will quickly become evident why a adjustable paralax is a good idea .

 

Also...a 56mm scope is going to be huge. Biggest I use is 50mm and that adds a significant amount of weight to the gun as is!

 

-Andrew

 

I have a 1.5-5 x 20 mm Simmonds on my HW80 Lazerglide (my most used air rifle) anything but and a phenomenal ratting scope! Even the end of the muzzle is in focus. It has no parallax and doesn't need it small lens equals minimum parallax error and as it is also in special extra low mounts I never aim high. The other airgun carries a 4x32 out of the same factory. The 1.5 -5 Simmonds was developed for deer hunting BTW

when I quit FT I used a 8-32x P/A Burris Rimfire / airgun scope. The difference between shooting small vermin and FT is vast today yet when I started a 3-9x40 and bracketing was the cream of gear scope wise, most vermin hunters used 4x32 or 4x40. My .22 rf carries a 6x42 S+Bender non parallax - I don't miss much with it!

For those who are interested John Bezant has what in my opinion amounts to his best work yet in the Coutrymans weekly this week on airgun scopes for hunting use.

[Theskyfox]

Ah sorry I wasn't clear enough. I used to have a Simmons AETEC 2-10x44 I think it was. It was designed for use on rimfires etc...and had the paralax fixed and set at about 40 yards. I sold it because although the picture was beautiful, the crosshairs wouldn't focus at less than 20 yards or so. I wasn't trying to put down Simmons - they do some fantastic scopes.

 

-Andrew

[ant.mass]

i got a very nice Tasco 3-9x50 AG AO scope that im selling

it has superb Crystal clear Japanese optics it has a 30/30 reticle

its a lot better then the scope you buy know if your interested let me know

Edited February 7, 2014 by ant.mass

[Dekers]

I have a very nice Nikko Sterling Platinum 4-12x50 available, open to offers.

 

[Hunter 001]

I have falcon menace 4-14 x44 for sale. This is a FFP scope so hold over remains the same at any magnifications from 4-14.

[Joshcup11]

Thanks for everyone's help,so does changing the magnification un zero your rifle? Buying my self either a 17HMR or another rimmy so any tips on what scope for that?

[kent]

Thanks for everyone's help,so does changing the magnification un zero your rifle? Buying my self either a 17HMR or another rimmy so any tips on what scope for that?

 

First or second focul plain its very rare to get zero shift through the magnification range these days but always wise to run a check on that. I have never found shift personally and suspect its a thing of the past or only evident in total junk these days

 

Confused by the question as a HMR is a rimfire, do you mean .22 lr ? 3-9 x 40 is the catch all do all, personally I like 6x42 fixed on .22 lr without dials and something dialable on the HMR as I find it easier to think of windages as minutes and fractions

Edited February 7, 2014 by kent

[Theskyfox]

Thanks for everyone's help,so does changing the magnification un zero your rifle? Buying my self either a 17HMR or another rimmy so any tips on what scope for that?

 

On a few previous scopes I've had this has happened to me. I've not tried it with my Hawke Sidewinder, but I do know that maintaining zero throughout a range of magnifications is difficult to do optically. This is why you pay so much £££ for Schmidt and bender or zeiss scopes. I'm not sure about FFP (First Focal Plane) scopes as I've not looked enough into it, but I suspect they are the way to go to prevent this.

 

-Andrew