Selecting A Top Rated Rifle Scope
Hunters spend a lot of time researching and a lot of money purchasing the best rifle to enhance their trophy deer hunting experience. They will even expend a great amount of effort to find the proper ammunition for the chamber; going so far as loading their own ammo to ensure quality and precision. Then, they make an unthinkable choice, they select a cheap or improper scope for this great equipment.
If you are going to take all the time and care necessary to fuel your passion for hunting, why would you set yourself up for less than optimal results by purchasing a cheap scope. Today’s hunters should demand a top rated rifle scope. Hunters want a rifle scope which can do the job at a reasonable price.
How do you select the best rifle scope to suit your needs? The answer to that depends on a few factors. The type of shooting you are doing, the type of rifle you are using and your own personal preferences. This article will highlight the basic information about rifle scopes and tailor that information to meet your deer hunting needs. Let’s start by understanding how a rifle scope works and breaking down its basic anatomy.
Scopes magnify images by bending light through a series of lenses located inside the tube. Tubes are measured in either 30mm or 1 inch. The lenses located in the tube allow the hunter’s eye to be on the same optic plane as the target.
This brings us to the eye piece which contains the ocular lens. This is the lens that is closest to the hunter’s eye. This lens is housed in a part of the scope called the eye bell. The distance your eye is from the ocular lens is called the eye relief. This distance is important, especially when shooting a large caliber or magnum rifle due to the recoil. The further your eye is from the scope, the less likely you are to get a black eye from a well placed shot. Cross hairs, dots or other markers are also built in to help the hunter reference the center of his/ her field of view.
Field of view (FOV) is measured in feet at 100 yards. This is the total area you see through your scope, left to right at that distance. The higher the magnification, the smaller the FOV and the less eye relief. The lower the magnification, the greater the FOV and eye relief increases.
All scopes offer some amount of magnification. There are fixed and variable power scopes. The magnification power of a scope is listed as the first number(s) in the scopes description. For example, 4x50mm; this is a fixed power scope with 4 times magnification power. Another example would be 3-9x40mm; this is a variable power scope with adjustable magnification which is 3-9 times that of the naked eye by adjusting the setting on the power ring. When the hunter manipulates the setting on the power ring he/ she is moving the distance the internal lenses (located in the tube) are from the objective lens. This changes the amount of light coming through the scope, thus magnifying the target.
Windage and elevation adjustments can be made by each turn or “click” you make on each of the respective rings. These changes are measured in “minute of angle.” So for each click the hunter makes on the adjustment rings, he/ she changes the aim point at 100 yards.
The scope lens located closest to the target is called the objective lens. This is housed in the objective bell. The size of these lenses are expressed in millimeters and are the second number in the scopes description. For example, 4x40mm; the objective lens is 40mm. The size of the objective lens helps to establish the amount of light which is allowed into the scope.
Lenses coatings help to eliminate stray light entering the scope, help to determine image brightness, color and contrast. Waterproofing and fogproofing are determined by how the lenses are sealed in the scope. Many are sealed with O-rings, but some are Nitrogen purged. Both waterproofing and fogproofing become important when hunting conditions turn harsh.
A last note for basic understanding of a rifle scopes is the term parallax. This is not an easy concept to understand, but try to think of it as when your eye moves off the center of the site picture, it appears as though the reticles are moving (even though the scope has not moved). This is an indication that it is out of focus. It should be noted that parallax increases with higher magnifications.
To determine the best rifle scope for your trophy deer hunting, you need to know if you are shooting a rim-fire or center-fire rifle. A fixed power scope is generally a good choice when using a rim-fire rifle. The only reason to challenge this determination is if the hunter is planning to do variable range hunting. If this is the case, then a variable power scope is the best choice.
For hunting deer a scope with 3-9x is more than enough to get the job done in most cases. The power is low enough that you have an expanded FOV for the closer shots, yet it provides 9x magnification for those shots at longer distances. Most deer hunters find themselves in the shooting range of 100-150 yards. Having a scope with a 3-9x capability will fit the bill and will still allow for the instances when you find your shot stretching out to 300 yards.
When deciding on a particular brand of scope, the hunter should do some research. There are many manufacturers out there such as Burris, TruGlo and Trijicon just to name a few. Visit their websites, read the customer reviews and visit your local hunting pro shops. These local professionals can be a valuable source of information when it comes to determining a brand of scope.
Lastly, realize that when selecting the best rifle scope, this is definitely an area where you get what you pay for. Regardless of the manufacturer, a hunter cannot expect a $100 scope to perform as well as a $600 scope. That being said, it also does not make sense to put a $1600 scope on a $500 rifle. Most deer hunters can find a scope to fit all their needs for between $200-$800.
A good rule of thumb for selecting a top rated rifle scope is to find one you believe will fit your needs and purchase a scope which is one step above it. You will never feel bad about purchasing a scope which is better than you need, but you will feel bad if the scope you buy doesn’t meet your needs.
