Optics a bit about brightness etc.

[chouchin66]

Completely agree Chris, completely. But a high mag scope with great resolution is something to hanker after….

Top o' the mornin' Kier. I appreciate your point, but, I don' t need the extra weight, or ... I can still terrorize cards @ 4x, a ways out...
How's things , brother ?

 

[Nords]

And the top of the morning to you too! Just looking at Hiram’s Dragoon pistol and thinking that would be nice. 0700 here and the sun is up, so checking the solar / batteries etc next!

I love the extra weight, but then again I’m sitting and using a forward rest. If I did walk around the fields, I’d probably use the FWB Sport, although I did used to cart this around occasionally!

 

[chouchin66]

And the top of the morning to you too! Just looking at Hiram’s Dragoon pistol and thinking that would be nice. 0700 here and the sun is up, so checking the solar / batteries etc next!

I love the extra weight, but then again I’m sitting and using a forward rest. If I did walk around the fields, I’d probably use the FWB Sport, although I did used to cart this around occasionally!

View attachment 563539

lookie that big ol' gerkin you done bayoneted, that's some pickle stalkin' right there.

 

[Lakey]

Old German Pecar scopes are worth hunting out. Very good scopes IMO with excellent low light capability. Their 4 x35 and 4 x81 scopes are a revelation. some older ones are not image centring, however their Champion range is image centring , and is the best to go for ( Identified with a dot in a circle on the elevation turret. If you find one in good condition, go for it !

 

[Jensen]

@Byronic, as the fella in the article said - brightness is only one aspect..
To me, ( and many) resolution is most important...I don' want to see hairs at distance, I want to count them...too many folk confuse mag & resolution. A lower powered scope with great resolution is far better than a higher powered scope with less resolution - all day, any day.

Can i ask why..? Genuinely curious about this as i've seen this a lot...

The hairs example you gave sounds good, but in practice, why does one need such resolution to put a crosshair over the centre of a target..? Optical clarity must be nice, but how does it ultimately help with aim?
A million pound 10 mag scope, will never achieve a better score at 50 yards than a 50 mag £500 scope, but i don't think anyone would say it would, because it doesn't matter how clear it is, you ain't seeing a 2mm circle at 50 yards with 10 mag, unless i'm totally blind lol.

So i guess it's all about the middle ground... But if you'd rather a 25 mag scope with ultimate optical clarity than a 40 or 50 mag cheaper scope, what are you actually using it for..? Bench rest? FT..? I don't think so... Hunting..? Who hunts potentially moving targets at 25 mag with a sub 12 air rifle...? I'd go Immersive all day for that use personally (not that i'd ever shoot anything lol...), but from what i've seen UK sub 12 hunters and pest controllers use much lower mag (10x or less) scopes, where field of view, target acquisition and tracking are more important factors.

Like i said, genuinely just curious here, i could be very wrong

 

[chouchin66]

Can i ask why..? Genuinely curious about this as i've seen this a lot... The hairs example you gave sounds good, but in practice, why does one need such resolution to put a crosshair over the centre of a dot..? Optical clarity must be nice, but how does it ultimately help with aim? A million pound 10 mag scope, will never achieve a better score at 50 yards than a 50 mag £500 scope, but i don't think anyone would say it would, because it doesn't matter how clear it is, you ain't seeing a 2mm circle at 50 yards with 10 mag, unless i'm blind lol. So i guess it's all about the middle ground.. But if you'd rather a 25 mag scope with ultimate optical clarity than a 40 or 50 mag cheaper scope, what are you actually using it for..? Bench rest? FT..? Hunting..? Who hunts potentially moving targets at 25 mag with an air rifle...? I'd go Immersive all day for that use, not that i'd ever shoot anything lol...

Like i said, genuinely just curious here, i could be very wrong

In my point of view - how many times have you heard folks bemoaning not being able to see pellet holes at a given distance ? Better resolution , more so than magnification makes this easier. A bigger , though more muddled image is less preferable ( to me) than a crisp image , somewhat smaller, with more detail...less eyestrain too. I'm not so much a paper puncher as a hunter ; resolution helps pick things out far better than high magnification... Picking out , at distance, an antler amongst tree branches, for instance.
As to 50 yard scores/ groups - whatcha shootin' target wise ? Consistent hold ( again my opinion) trumps magnification...no problems shooting sub 1" groups @ 50 yards w/ peep sights.

 

[Kidderminster Steve]

Japanese Nikko ? ...likely hold it's own pretty well against modern stuff & blow the doors off a good few same class chinese offerings.

Older Japanese glass we got in the 80's and 90's for a song are imo brighter and clearer than most now but they were fixed mag. 2x, 4x -32 at most if poor like myself. Nikko, Simmons and Tasco if not mistaken were the offerings on my end of the block.
Loved some of my old scopes. Alot of my old 4x32 were so clear and bright and compared to some cheap -50's today. "Or memory is lying to me"

 

[Kidderminster Steve]

In my point of view - how many times have you heard folks bemoaning not being able to see pellet holes at a given distance ? Better resolution , more so than magnification makes this easier. A bigger , though more muddled image is less preferable ( to me) than a crisp image , somewhat smaller, with more detail...less eyestrain too. I'm not so much a paper puncher as a hunter ; resolution helps pick things out far better than high magnification... Picking out , at distance, an antler amongst tree branches, for instance.
As to 50 yard scores/ groups - whatcha shootin' target wise ? Consistent hold ( again my opinion) trumps magnification...no problems shooting sub 1" groups @ 50 yards w/ peep sights.

Horses for courses! Having less mag when hunting gives better perspective I definitely agree.Shooting paper is different I think. Whatever gets the job done.

 

[zakdingel]

So basically to gather as much as possible for the eye will be a 7x49 power..pupil size 7mm ...7×7=49 if that's correct you will not gather anymore light with anything bigger?

 

[chouchin66]

So basically to gather as much as possible for the eye will be a 7x49 power..pupil size 7mm ...7×7=49 if that's correct you will not gather anymore light with anything bigger?

It's just a ratio - objective lens diameter/ magnification , so 8x56 = 7mm exit pupil also, as is a 3 x 21, It's just that a ( young) eye will only process a maximum of a 7mm exit pupil worth of light.

 

[4x32]

What a fantastic read. I always wondered what caused the white haze as you increase the magnification. Anyone recommend a fixed mag scope around the 6 or 8x

 

[junglie2022]

Interesting, but nothing particular new. With scopes, roughly, you get what you pay for…

Usually, but in the 80's I had a budget bushmaster 2.5x32 on my innova that was excellent in low light, something to do with the ideal mag x lens x exit pupil I read, it outshone my freinds new moonlighter scope one night out rabbiting even on his lowest mag 3x as he couldn't see clear enough to take the shot on a rabbit so I handed him my innova & he took it successfully, think it was less than a quarter of the price of his scope too at £22 inc mounts....!

 

[junglie2022]

Old German Pecar scopes are worth hunting out. Very good scopes IMO with excellent low light capability. Their 4 x35 and 4 x81 scopes are a revelation. some older ones are not image centring, however their Champion range is image centring , and is the best to go for ( Identified with a dot in a circle on the elevation turret. If you find one in good condition, go for it !

I have a pecar champion 8x45 my mate found for me at a car boot for £20, its tatty looking but the lenses are perfect still, going on my FWB 124 when I finish restoring it. The weight will help tame the 124's recoil a tad I think as it has a steel tube.

 

[chouchin66]

What a fantastic read. I always wondered what caused the white haze as you increase the magnification. Anyone recommend a fixed mag scope around the 6 or 8x

Leupold M8, 6x42, Leupold FX , 6x42, ...

 

[Steve636]

Interesting read over a cup of coffee.

Whisky in my case.

 

[RTFirefly]

The Truth About Riflescope Brightness (And How to Pick the Best Hunting Scope for Low Light)

Few things in hunting optics are more hyped and misunderstood than riflescope brightness. Every shooter wants a bright, bright view. And every scope maker promises one.

www.outdoorlife.com

A worthwhile read if you have 5 minutes to spare a little about scopes.

A link sent the me by @chouchin66

and I thought choosing the rifle was the hard part very interesting read for someone new to the sport

 

[jumglejim]

I think this post has probably been lost over time but well worth a read. I was convinced that my 4x32 scope was perfect for relatively short range back garden shooting but over the years gone for bigger scopes.

After reading this I know that I was right with the 4x32 scope, it was perfect for my style of shooting at the time and light too so didn't ad much to the already HW77K.

Sadly I have too many scopes now to be buying another but I may change my mind (soon) and buy another 4x32, sadly the last one went with the rifle many years ago.

Thank you

Ganton Gunner for your post. ​

​

 

[WrongPlace&Time]

I actually appreciated the way repetition reinforced factors that I probably would have ‘glossed over’
For me that was very, very informative! I’m looking to get a new scope and it clears up a lot of mystery.
I’m guessing that the parallax ring at the front adds lenses to the scope? That and a poor sealing point!