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How To Choose A Rifle Scope |
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How
To Choose A Rifle Scope
It's late August, and believe it or
not hunting season is just around the corner. Now is the
time to get your equipment out and do some maintenance and
start practicing your shooting.
While your going over the gear you have and what you need to
buy new or to replace existing worn out, pay special
attention to your rifle scope. Are the lenses still
in good shape? Are any threads stripped? Does it hold the
zero after you sight in? If not, you may need another
rifle scope.
Also, consider if you are
changing your shooting needs. If you are going to be hunting
long range when you have been hunting close range, you may
need another rifle scope.
There's a ton of rifle scopes on the market, cheap to
expensive, general to specialized. Here's some things to
consider when looking for a scope:
Magnification:
What kind of shooting are you doing? Hunting big game,
hunting small game, competitive target shooting, varmint
hunting, plinking, they all require a different
magnification. It's obvious that the longer the distance to
intend to shoot the higher the magnification you need. A
word of caution is not to get too high a magnification.
Hunting whitetail deer in Maine does not require a 6-18x
rifle scope. You're just as likely to get a 20 yard shot
as a 200 yard shot. A 3-9X is a much better choice in this
instance.
Here's a general guide:
Squirrels: up to 4x
Varmints: 4-12x
Big game in dense woods: 1.5-4x or 2-7x
Big game in fairly open country: 3-9x or 2.5-10x
Big game in wide open country: 4-12x or 6-18x
Resolution:
Basically this is a measure of how much light that enters
the rifle scope actually gets to your eye. It's
measured as a percentage, e.g. 95%, 87%, etc.. It is really
a measure of optical quality. The better the resolution, the
clearer the picture you see through the rifle scope.
How good a resolution do you need? Well, it depends on your
shooting. For close in work you can get away with a lower
resolution. For long range shooting or shooting in low light
conditions you'll want good (over 90%) resolution.
Rifle scopes that are sealed, waterproof and shock
proof:
A rifle scope of even just decent quality should be
sealed from air and water, and able to take the normal
rigors of a handling during a hunting trip. This is one
knock against real cheap riflescopes as they just
won't hold up.
Reticles:
Reticles are also known as the cross hairs. There's all
types of reticles available on the market these days. The
most popular is the Duplex reticle made famous by Leupold.
The duplex is similar to the standard cross hair, except the
cross hair is thick for about 80% of it's length, thinning
in the middle so you can see your target easily. Every
manufacturer has a variation on the duplex. Some new
reticles are ballistic reticles that are marked with
graduations on a scale to help you compensate for distance
and wind. There are also illuminated reticles, great for
shooting in low light conditions.
Reticle choice is really a personal preference. If possible,
test out several types and choose the one you like best.
How much should you spend?
For the most part, you get what you pay for. You can't
expect a $75 riflescope to perform like a $600
rifle scope. Cheaper riflescopes tend to have
poor optics and loose their zero easily. You don't get out
hunting that much, do you want your trip spoiled because
your rifle scope fails you?
You should expect to pay $200-$800 for a good riflescope.
You can spend more for specialized rifle scopes. A
good piece of advice is get the best you can afford. You
will never regret getting quality that is too good, but
always kick yourself for not getting good enough.
Article Source:
http://www.articleviral.com/Article/How-To-Choose-A-Rifle-Scope/24420
Article Source
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TheRifleScopeShop.com
