A rifle scope is the key to a successful day at the range or in the field. Rifle scopes bring objects up close and personal allowing safer and more accurate shooting. Rifle scopes are designed to gather and utilize available light making it possible to shoot in lower light conditions and allowing the user to hunt from dawn to dusk. Below is a brief outline of scope basics.
Power
A rifle scope will be described in a series
of numbers such as 4 x 20 or 4 x 32. The first number in this case is 4, this is
the power of the rifle scope. Power is the magnification so in a fixed power
scope, such as the 4 x 32 the magnified is 4 times so the target will appear to
be 4 times closer than it would with the naked eye. Therefore a higher numbered
rifle scope the greater the magnification.
Variable Zoom Scopes
3-9
x 50 the 3 - 9 means that you can easily adjust the scope from 3 up to 9 times
magnification by turning the magnification ring positioned next to the eye
piece.
Objective
The second number on a rifle scope, such as
the 50 in a 3-9 x 50 is the diameter of the outer objective lens in millimetres.
A larger number indicates a larger diameter lens. Large lenses are more bulky,
but they also offer a larger field of view and let in more light, which makes
your image clearer - especially in low light conditions.
Cross Hairs
When you get your new scope you will need to zero it in to hit the target. This
is done by adjusting the cross hairs by turning the adjusters located in the
turrets. The turret on the top is for up and down Elevation and the one on the
right side is for left to right Windage. There are many different types of cross
hairs the chart below gives you an idea of the more common ones.
Adjustable Objective (Parallax)
Mounts
Air rifle standard mounts are designed to fit onto the two universal parallel dove tailed groves on the top of your rifle or pistol they can vary in width from 9.5mm to 11mm all standard mounts will adjust to either size.
Weaver mounts are 20mm in width and are generally used on high power hunting and combat rifles and are widely used on air soft replica guns and some paintball markers. As most scopes have a 1 inch diameter standard body, both weaver and standard mounts have a 1” ring to hold the scope. Mounts come in 1 piece or 2 piece this is a complete personal choice but i find a one piece mount can be better in the field ,but a 2 piece mount can be more versatile when adding extras such as lasers and lamps.
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