What makes a rifle scope good

Matter of fact, having too much objective lens will make your scope heavier and require taller rings. Objective lens sizes are ranging from 20 mm to 72 mm, but you should note that optics with a mm glass bell or larger requires the riflescope be mounted higher. This can have an effect on scope-to-eye alignment and consistency of cheek weld.

Anyway, you should always try to mount a riflescope as low as possible without the objective bell touching the barrel. To ensure maximum brightness, the lenses should be protected with some hydrophobic or hydrophilic lens coating, and have multiple layers on all air to glass surfaces.

That highest coating level is known as fully multi-coated glasses. Let me explain. Do you know how whenever you pull the scope up to your eye level to see through it, there is some distance between the ocular lens and your eye? While the most common eye relief is around four inches, less-quality scopes boast only ,5 inches, and this is very short eye distance for the higher recoiling rifles. There is a specific niche of firearms requesting long eye relief scopes.

These scopes are most commonly found on scout rifles, certain surplus rifles and hunting revolvers with eye relief ranging from inches. While these type of reticles are sufficient for most hunting arms, ranges and conditions, the long-range competitors and varmint shooters may demand a finer crosshair. There is another important decision of choosing between the scopes with a reticle positioned in the first or second focal plane. The focal plane refers to the position of your reticle within the scope.

The reticle located in the first focal plane FFP means that the reticle maintains the same perspective with the target size throughout the magnification range and it is preferred by the long-range shooters.

For example, if your magnification is at 3x and you zoom it in at 5x, then the reticle will enlarge. Use an FFP reticle if you specialize in long-range shooting. If it is placed in the second focal plane SFP , it means that when you increase the power zoom, the target appears larger but the reticle will stay the same size. The benefit of using an SFP is that it gives you a clear picture through all powers. However, if you intend on using your scope for long-range shooting, then go for an FFP reticle.

You can choose an illuminated reticle as it can help you improve sighting in low-light conditions, mainly when hunting during dawn and dusk. The parallax is not present at all in most low-magnification scopes, but it occurs in high-power scopes utilized over long distances when your line of sight is not exactly lined up. Parallax is an optical illusion that increases with magnification, giving you a larger margin of error at higher powers and it must be corrected.

High power riflescopes usually feature an adjustment ring located on the objective bell as more expensive sports side-mount turret. The windage and elevation knobs are the turrets located on the top and right of your scope. The primary job of a turret is to make the adjustments that are referred to as windage and elevation.

When buying a scope, make sure to get a scope that advertises audible and reliable turrets. The last thing you want are turrets that fail mid-way through your hunt. There are several types of turrets since the different riflescopes serve different purposes. When buying a rifle scope, you should opt for standard ballistic turrets with adjustments commonly related to the distance you are firing in yards.

In addition, lots of companies make low-profile ballistic knobs that are often capped to prevent any accidental adjustments. On the other side, there are target knobs with open style turrets intended for the precise adjustments and featured by their height and often-small adjustment scales. The turrets are also available with two key adjustment systems with the first expressed in MOA Minute Of Angle and corresponding to 1 inch 2.

It honestly depends on what you use it for. Which gives off your shooting position. So, if not a lot, then how much objective lens should you buy?

Lens Coatings A lens coat is an invisible coat that reduces glare and enhances the sight. There are 4 basic lens coating types: Coated : One layer on at least one surface.

Fully-Coated : A single layer on all exterior glass surfaces. Multi-Coated : Several layers on at least one surface. Fully Multi-Coated : Several layers on all exterior glass surfaces.

Scope Reticles Your reticle is the aiming point or crosshair you see when you look through the riflescope. Each reticle specializes in a different use. Here are the 3 most common scope reticles: Duplex : A duplex reticle is the simplest crosshair pattern.

Ideal for target shooting or hunting. Great for law enforcement and military. Best for long-range shooters. Which one should you use? The straight-up answer: Either one. Eye Relief Eye relief is the distance between your eye and the ocular lens. What About Red Dot Sights? For that, I have the perfect answer. In fact: This next section is a Bushnell-exclusive bonus section that covers the essentials of red dot sights.

What is a Red Dot Sight? Prism Sight : A magnified sight that offers magnification like a riflescope and a larger sight picture than a reflex sight. It honestly boils down to your needs and budget. If you can afford a holographic sight, go for it. Author Bio: Richard Douglas is a firearms expert and educator. The difference in available light from the larger exit pupil is significant. The larger the exit pupil, the less critical the position of your head in relation to the scope is, also.

The distance that your eye must be to the ocular lens to get a full, clear picture is called eye relief. Lower powered scopes will have a larger range of distance available for a full view. Higher powered scopes are sometimes very critical in relation to the centering of your eye through the middle of the tube, and the distance your eye must be from the ocular lens. Sometimes there is only a half inch closer or farther you may be to see the whole available view.

The largest eye relief currently available for a standard riflescope is about four inches. Four inches is great, and offers enough room for the gun to recoil and not hit your face, if you do your job correctly.

Most standard riflescopes have between three and three and a half inches. Higher recoiling guns including slug guns require lots of eye relief to prevent "scope eye" or the cut that some people get from the ocular lens of the scope coming back under recoil and cutting a semicircular gash above the shooter's eye.

Shotgun, muzzleloader, and dangerous game scopes sometimes have 5 or 6 inches of eye relief to prevent scope eye, but often at the expense of field of view. IER Intermediate Eye Relief scopes, also known as "Scout scopes" are mounted in front of the receiver of a long gun and require around inches of eye relief.

LER Long Eye Relief scopes, also known as "Pistol scopes" used on handguns may have around inches of eye relief. When mounting a scope, it should be at its highest power and in a position that your head and neck are comfortable. Your head should be placed on the stock in the position you will be shooting the most. For instance, if you sight in a gun while shooting off a bench rest, your head tends to sneak up on the stock a bit.

If this gun is then used for snap shooting for deer in the woods, your eye relief and sight picture might not be optimal. Always mount your scope so you don't have to move your head for optimal field of view.

Move the scope to your eye, not your eye to the scope. As we have already discussed, a scope in the magnification range for a whitetail deer gun is pretty standard.

In Western states for mule deer or antelope, a or 4. On the plains or in open country you can even leave your scope at a higher power. You can often see all around you, with little chance of an animal surprising you, which they seem to do occasionally, anyway. In some cases you might have to shoot from hilltop to hilltop, or mountain to mountain. Hunting scopes in this magnification range are excellent for target shooting as well. For prairie dogs or long-range target shooting, a x or x variable scope does not have too much power.

Keep in mind though, on hot days, mirage and heatwaves can make a high power scope almost unusable. Some people prefer fixed power scopes for their simplicity and fewer moving parts. On some rifles, people like nothing more than a fixed 4x. Squirrel rifles and many. Some target shooters use fixed-power scopes with high magnification such as 24, 36, or 40 power. A 2x scope is the most common for a handgun in a magnified scope. The more magnification you have, the harder it is to find your sight picture and target, and the more critical and closer your eye relief becomes.

Shooting a handgun with a scope requires lots of practice, especially with anything over 2x. Higher powered variable scopes are really for the experienced shooter and are used almost exclusively from a rested position. Shotgun scopes and muzzle loaders often have lower power scopes for short-range deer hunting with slugs, and for turkey. Again, a fixed 2x is fairly standard, but the trend is for variable power or even scopes.

Sabot slugs for shotguns and muzzleloaders fly much faster and flatter than the Foster-type slugs and Maxi Balls they replaced not too long ago. These new projectile types make shots that were way out of range just two decades ago now very possible.

Parallax is often factory set at 50, 60, or 75 yards. Shotgun and muzzleloader scopes generally have maximum available eye relief to prevent "scope eye. Let's talk about objective lens sizes. It's trendy these days to have large objective lenses of 50, 56, or even 75mm and more in some cases.

In most cases, these are unwarranted, and the largest ones are laughable. Large objective lenses will only transmit more useable light than smaller ones if they are set at their highest power in the dimmest conditions. The detriment is comfort and ease of eye alignment. With a properly mounted scope, you should be able to close your eyes, shoulder your gun with a proper, repeatable stock weld the stock weld is firm but comfortable and repeatable position of your face on the gun stock , open your eyes, and look directly through the center of your scope every time.

Large objective lenses prevent this from happening because of the ring height required to keep such a large lens off your gun barrel.

Some scopes require such high mounting that only your chin touches the stock. These scopes are also heavier, clumsier, unwieldy, unbalanced to carry, slower and less comfortable to shoot.

Some of these scopes weigh up to an unbelievable 3. Kind of like towing a motorcycle trailer or taping a bowling ball to your head. Leupold has their excellent VX-L line of scopes that combine a large objective lens with a contoured bottom that doesn't interfere with your gun barrel, and lets you mount up to a 56mm lens with low rings!

The larger 30mm main tubes on some scopes are most useful for allowing for a greater range of elevation adjustments, not greater light transmission, although resolution can improve. In fact, most 30mm scopes have the same size lenses that are in 1in tubes. Again, a larger tube does not mean more light.

Most scopes, especially in America, have main tubes that are 1 inch in diameter. That means that they use 1in rings.

Some scopes have 30mm main tubes. Those scopes will use 30mm rings. There are several main types of bases that are used to connect the rings to your firearm. You need to know what kind of base you have to find out the exact type of the 1in or 30mm rings you will use for your specific scope. The height of the rings is determined mainly by the objective lens diameter, but also the barrel thickness, action size and type, ocular bell diameter, and bolt lift.

Here is my article on Choosing Mounts, Rings, and bases. Most scopes are fogproof and waterproof. Most scopes have coated lenses. The coatings are expensive and vary in type, number, and quality. It is very possible to have a scope with single-coated lenses to greatly outperform a scope with multicoated lenses. It all depends on the quality of the glass and the coatings. Good quality does not come cheap. Coatings reduce glare, and loss of light due to reflection. More coatings normally lead to better light transmission and sharper contrast.

Many coatings are also scratch resistant. Field of view FOV is measured in feet at yards. This is the amount of view you see through your scope from right to left at that distance.

As magnification is increased, FOV goes down. As magnification is decreased, FOV goes up. For instance, a typical 3x variable scope might have a FOV at yards of a bit over 30 feet, and at 9x, the FOV would be around 14 feet. A larger objective lens diameter will not change these figures. Field of view is directly related to the construction of the eyepiece. Another trend today is the sale of anything called "tactical. Real military snipers use top-quality fixed 10x scopes most often.

These have mil-dot reticles that, in the hands of a practiced individual or team of two, often with calculators and knowing the approximate size of their target, can estimate distance and hold-over or elevation clicks. Almost all mil-dot calculations must be made with scopes at their highest power. Fixed power scopes eliminate miscalculations by having a scope set at less than its highest power.

The "mil" in mil-dot does not mean military. It means milliradian , a unit of measurement, and is about 3. Stateside law enforcement agencies most often use variable scopes of the highest quality, and mil-dot type reticles are not often used.

They clutter the field of view, and the longest shots almost ever taken are across a street, well under yards. Range estimation with a reticle is never required.

Mil-dot reticles in most people's scopes are nothing but a gimmick and an added expense. They will never use them the way they were designed, which is fine.