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Posted: 9/27/2013 7:15:56 PM EDT
| I've just about made my mind up on a SWFA scope. Seems like good quality for a reasonable price. This is my first bolt action long range rifle, so I'm clueless. All it says is 10x24, or 16x24 or 20x24 and so on.Does this mean it's always going to be 10, 16, or 20 xs magnification? Can I still adjust it down? I don't want a scope that is always zoomed in, what if the objective isn't that far. Like I said, new to this style rifle and somewhat confused. I've always seen something like 4-12x42 or something like that, somebody explain please to a precision rifle n00b. Is it really always going to be maxed out if I go with a ("fixed magnification") scope? |
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Go to precision rifle forum and post there, you'll get a lot more traffic As far as scopes go, in your price range you're pretty much looking at only fixed powered scopes if you want a tactical scope with adjustable turrets that are repeatable. Yes you can find a variable in that price range, but they're not really going to be worth it. If you want a variable, double your budget and add $50 for good measure. Look at it this way. Precision rigs and feeding them isn't a cheap hobby, you pretty much have to reload unless you've got a really damn good income. If you cheap out on the glass and it doesn't hold a zero, or wanders because the turrets aren't accurate and repeatable, you're pissing money away. That doesn't mean you need to go out and spend $3K on glass. $500-1000 is about the range you want to look in, generally speaking but there are some exceptions to the rule (SWFA SS fixed scopes are one of those exceptions as they're amazingly good quality for their price) As far as what magnification range you need/want, what is the max range that you readily have access to? Not what you want to shoot at, what you do shoot at. |
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One of the best variables you can get for $300, has mil turrents with a mil reticle, and great reviews all over the internet
http://www.midwayus a.com/product/598484/weaver-tactical-grand-slam-rifle-scope-3-10x-40mm-1-10-mil-adjustments-mil-dot-reticle-matte review http://www.midwayusa.com/product/productvideos/598484 |
| the first number as you concluded is the power.... the second number is the objective lens (the lens near the object in view as opposed to the eyepiece which is near your eye) in millimeters... light transmission is the percentage that actually gets through the glass, and into your eye.... a good coating to reduce the reflected light is deposited on good glass... if you divide the objective lens diameter by the power, you get a number typically called the exit pupil diameter or twilight factor, which is an indication of how much light can actually get into your eyeball... the iris opens to approximately 8mm... so a 4x32 with a exit pupil of 8 gathers light better than a 6x36 with an exit pupil of 6..... AO (adjustable optics) indicates that you can focus to a specific distance |
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Quoted:
the first number as you concluded is the power.... the second number is the objective lens (the lens near the object in view as opposed to the eyepiece which is near your eye) in millimeters... light transmission is the percentage that actually gets through the glass, and into your eye.... a good coating to reduce the reflected light is deposited on good glass... if you divide the objective lens diameter by the power, you get a number typically called the exit pupil diameter or twilight factor, which is an indication of how much light can actually get into your eyeball... the iris opens to approximately 8mm... so a 4x32 with a exit pupil of 8 gathers light better than a 6x36 with an exit pupil of 6..... AO (adjustable optics) indicates that you can focus to a specific distance The Adjustable Objective does have an impact on focus, but the major benefit is to correct for parallax error and eliminate error when your eye is not placed in someplace other than the optical center of the scope. Without an AO, the scope will have on specific range that is parallax free. Now, at lower magnifications it is much less of a problem, and if you have a consistent cheek weld allowing for consistent eye placement it is also not much of a problem. You'll potentially get beat up on the use of "exit pupil" on a rifle scope as most people associate that with spotting scopes and binoculars. However the only real difference on a rifle scope is the longer eye relief and resulting longer cone of usable light. The exit pupil is then, practically speaking, the width of the light cone at the optimum eye relief, so the concept applies equally well to rifle scopes. ---- As noted above, a fixed power scope will have 2 or 3 fewer lenses than a variable scope (depending on the design of the variable) with less internal reflection, better light transmission and better image quality. Plus they will cost less for a given level of quality and won't have some of the potential alignment issues of a variable power scope. ---- And with a fixed power scope, you don't have to worry about whether the reticle is located in the first or second focal plane. With a mil dot or range finding reticle scope you either need to have a first focal plane scope or know what power the reticle is calibrated for. With a FFP scope, a mil dot will subtend 1 mil regardless of power, meaning the dot gets larger or smaller as the power is increased or decreased. One a SFP scope, the reticle stays the same size when the power is adjusted, and that means the dots and spaces between the dots subtend greater or lesser distances as the power is changed - so a Mil Dot reticle only works correctly at a single power. |
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Bushnell Elite 3200 straight 10 Mildot!!! Just purchased one of these for my Savage Model 10-P SR Ready for all the parts to get here so I can shoot. That bushnell is a great scope. Easy price for a novice shooter and it will hold up and perform well. My persoanal choice is the Leupold 10x M3. You can get BDC dials for whatever cartridge you can think of. Mine has a BDC for 165gr tactical bonded bear claws. Its the perfect bullet if you want a perfect blend of armor/glass penetration and a superior mushroom. |
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I have a Schmidt and bender, leupold ultra, and an el cheapo swfa ss.
All hold zero well. Only 2 differences I can tell. Optic clarity and ability to change zero and back. The Schmidt is the best and even though there is a big price difference between the leupold and swfa. There is very little difference in actual use. |
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Do not ask this question on the GD Forum. You'll get an answer such as, "It used to be Broken, but now it's Fixed." Or, "It used to be able to reproduce till it was taken to the vet's and got Fixed."
I have several single power scopes. As indicated, for the money you generally get better light gather/process versus a variable power scope cause there are fewer parts to pay for. I use them mostly on .22 rifles that I won't be shooting more than 50 yards or so. Best of luck whatever you decide to pursue. |
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