A Guide to Buying Your First Air Rifle Scope

If you want to hit a target with accuracy every time you aim, you need a rifle scope. The scope will magnify the target, making it easier for you to aim. Buying an airgun scope is necessary when you need to hit targets that are further away from you, say like when you go hunting, so choose the best hunting air rifle.

Types of Air Rifle Scopes

You can buy a fixed or variable rifle scope.

• Fixed Rifle Scope: The magnification of the scope is not adjustable. It is ideal for targets not far away.

• Variable Scope: You can alter the magnification of the scope, for instance, between 3x and 12x.

What Makes an Air Rifle Scope?

An air rifle scope has two lenses, the ocular lens (where you look through) and the objective lens (collects light and directs it to the eye).

Other parts include an eyepiece, which holds the ocular lens, the focus, magnification, and parallax adjustment knobs, illumination control, windage to align the scope with the barrel, and an elevation adjustment.

Reticle Types and Why They Matter

A reticle refers to the crosshairs that you see when you look through the scope. Different types of reticles have different uses:

• Crosshair: Used for target shooting.

• Duplex: Most common among hunters – it shows thick outer lines

• Mill-dot: Used for long-range shooting – it has notches that let you make calculations on wind and bullet drop.

• Illuminated (only available on some scopes): It illuminates the crosshairs.

What is Parallax?

Most people leave the parallax knob. Parallax helps you in focusing. Adjusting the parallax enables you to change the reticle to get the target right. If you cannot center the target on your scope, you can use the parallax to adjust the reticle.

Buying a Mount for Your Scope

There are three types of mounts you can choose for your scope:

• Dovetail – This is round and comes in 11 or 14 mm.

• Weaver – Versatile to hold other accessories, such as Red Dot Finder or Flashlight

• Picatinny – It is versatile and is made of parallel rails with slots perpendicular to the rails

Steps to Choosing a Rifle Scope

Some rifles come with scopes. If the scope fits your rifle and is suitable for you, you do not need to get a new one. If your rifle has no scope, check the kind of rail on your rifle. By so doing, you will know the scope that will fit perfectly on your rifle. For instance, a spring-piston requires a one-piece mount.

Mounts come at different prices, and your budget will determine the one you buy.

Do you need a fixed or variable mount? Short distance shooting requires a fixed scope, while long-distance requires a variable mount. If you are buying in a brick-and-mortar store, take your rifle for fitting.

Problems with Air Rifle Scopes

Some of the problems with rifles scopes include:

• Can’t hit the target?  Probably not the scope’s fault.  Try a good bi-pod on your air rifle.

• Scope Shift – The scope doesn’t fit well and keeps moving

• Parallax – If the line between the target, your eyes, and the reticle does not align. Practice shooting and adjust the parallax to match the line.

• Elevation – If you set the vertical adjustment too high, it causes inaccuracy.

• Other problems include temperature, magnification, tilting, wind, and barrel droop.

With the points above in mind, you are good to buy an airgun rifle scope.

Originally posted 2020-04-24 09:21:14.