choosing the right scope for your rifle shotgun or handgun is a straightforward
process let me show you how it's done one of the reasons shooters choose to mount a scope
on their gun is because it's faster and easier to look through a scope at the target than to
have to line up the front and rear sights on the target another reason is that the
scope generally magnifies the target making it easier to shoot accurately let's begin by
taking a look at some scope terminology tube this is the main body of the scope most scopes
have a 1 inch or 30 millimeter tube while some inexpensive rimfire scopes have a 3/4 inch to
objective Bell this is the end of the scope farthest from the shooters eye and holds the
objective lens which controls the amount of light transmitted through the scope usually
the higher the power of the scope the larger this lens will be the eyepiece is the metal part that
holds the lens closest to your eye the ocular lens the power ring on variable power scopes
changes the magnification of the scope and it's marked from the lowest to the highest power
the windage adjustment dial is sometimes referred to as a turret on hunting scopes
it's usually covered with a cap but may be exposed on target and varmint models
turning this dial moves the bullet impact left or right the elevation adjustment dial
is similar to the windage adjustment turning this dial moves the bullet impact up and down
some scopes have a side focus some an adjustable objective and a few
have a knob to light up an illuminated reticle
well now that we know the basic parts of a scope let's take a look at how they
work together I relief is the distance from your eye to the ocular lens when your eye
is properly positioned a longer eye relief can prevent the scope from hitting you in
the eyebrow when firing the gun this can be especially important on larger caliber
rifles the field of view is the width of the viewing area in feet when looking through the
scope at 100 yards for scopes of equal power a larger field of view is a plus
ever wonder why some scopes have a larger objective lens since a scope doesn't gather
light it transmits light a larger objective lens allows more light to transmit through the scope
the exit pupil is a calculation which tells how much light is being transmitted through a scope
it's simply the objective lens and millimeters divided by the power of the scope in the case
of this 4 and 1/2 to 14 scope with a 50 millimeter objective the exit pupil is 11.1 millimeters when
the scope is set to 4.5 power and about three point six millimeters when set at 14 power a
larger exit pupil means more light is being transmitted through the scope
which makes it less critical that your eye is perfectly centered in the scope that's
why at dusk it's easier to see on low power than high power any scope power higher than
one magnifies the target fixed power scopes are available in a number of magnifications
in this case 10x means the target is magnified 10 times with the 40 millimeter objective lens
variable power scopes are generally identified
with a set of numbers like six by eighteen by forty millimeters
this scope has a range of magnification from six power to eighteen power
with the forty millimeter objective lens
having a variable power scope allows you to turn down the power for closed shots or
turn it up for longer ones which brings up the next point what power scope do I need well it
all depends on what you're using it for on my safari rifle I like a low-power variable scope
like this Leupold one and a half to six x I can dial down the power for close shots
at dangerous game or dial it up to six X for longer shots at planes game one of my varmint
scopes is a six and a half to twenty with side focus most shots are at longer ranges and the
higher magnification lets me clearly hold on the smaller targets for increased accuracy
the most popular scopes are what I call the mid-range variables like the one on this 300
Winchester Magnum this is what I prefer for general big-game hunting like deer and elk
long-range precision shooters may choose a scope like this tactical scope because of
the outside adjustable turrets side focus and a large objective or a fixed periscope with an
adjustable objective like this 36x designed for target and bench rest shooting one of the biggest
decisions is which reticle to choose the reticle was originally called a crosshair because it was
made by crossing two fine wires almost disentis a hair like on this vintage winchester a5 made in
the 1920s the most popular reticle today is the duplex I like a dot reticle in my varmint scope
there are many more radicals to choose from even illuminated and bullet drop compensating
versions it really comes down to your personal preference for the intended use many scopes are
available with a choice of radicals scopes are also subject to parallax error if you've been at
the range with a good solid rest and seeing the crosshairs move on the target with the
slight movement of your eye then you know what parallax error is some scopes have an adjustment
to eliminate parallax error which keeps the reticle from moving in a relation to the target
the standard location for reticle is here in the second focal plane this keeps the radical
at a constant size regardless of the power setting on the scope if you're considering a
long-range tactical scope you may want a radical in the first focal plane here when the reticle is
in the first focal plane it appears to change size but always covers the same amount of the
target regardless of the power setting since the reticle is a constant size relative to the
target a scope with the first focal plane reticle can easily be used for range estimation another
feature to consider is the type of windage and elevation adjustments MOA or minute of angle is
a unit of measure which equals one point zero four seven two inches at 100 yards but it's
usually rounded to one inch most hunting scopes have one quarter MOA adjustments which will move
the bullet impact approximately one quarter inch per click or graduation at 100 yards at 50 yards
the movement is half as much or one eighth inch per click and at 200 yards it's twice as much
or one half inch per click some tactical and long range scopes use milled or milliradian adjustments
rather than inch adjustments a mil is to find is 1/1000 the distance to the target regardless if
the distance to the target is measured in yards or meters at 100 yards 1 mil equals
three point six inches and at 1,000 yards one mil equals one yard a scope with a first focal
plane mil-dot reticle and milled adjustments makes ranging a target faster and easier and
maybe the ultimate long-range tactical scope and as you might guess they're pretty expensive