Scopes scopes scopes. Let me tell you everything I currently know about scopes. Everyone thinks scopes are easy, slap a $100 barska scope on your rifle and hit targets at 800 yards with ease….man i wish it was that simple. Scopes are complicated, there is so much to think about when picking one out. So I'm going to hurt your brain right now and try to help you understand the confusing world of magnified optics. This is just what i know, because there is a lot i still don’t fully get myself.
So what is a scope? It is an aiming device used to magnify the target. In idiot terms, it makes a far away target big again. There are many types of scope out there that can see many different distances. Let's talk about the 2 main types of scope. Fixed scopes and variable scopes. Fixed scope has 1 magnified option. While a variable optics will have low magnification to high magnification. An easy way know if a scope is fixed or variable is by looking at the magnification numbers.
So let's break down some of these numbers. 3-9 x 44, The number before the X is the magnification of the optic. If there is only 1 number before the x it is a fixed power scope example 6x44 is only going to be 6 times magnified. While a 3-9x44 is magnified on the low end at 3 times magnification and can be adjusted to 4,5,6,7,8 & 9 times magnification.
Let's talk about the other number in the main scope measurements.
So in our 3-9x44 scope what does the 44 mean? It's the size of the objective lens in millimeters. The objective lens is the front part of the scope. The rear part of the scope is the ocular lens.
So why do they make bigger and smaller objective lenses? Which one is better? In simple terms, The bigger the objective lens the more light it brings into the scope. More light means better image quality.
So why doesn’t every company make scopes with huge fucking lenses??? Weight and size are part of it, but the main reason is money. Scopes have glass in them, duh, it's what magnifies the target. Good glass can be really fucking expensive. Those $4000 scopes you see, 60% of that price is the glass. So the bigger the objective lens the bigger the piece of glass, the bigger the glass the bigger the price. Like always, price is the reason there are so many options. Yes the more expensive scopes are better, stop being cheap.
The bigger objective lens is also going to allow a bigger field of view. Bigger field of view means you can see more area around your target.
Speaking of bigger and better scope sizes, let's talk about Tubes!!!!
The scope tube (aka scope body) is the part that connects everything together. It's also what the mounting hardware attaches to. So since the bigger objective lens lets more light in, that means the bigger scope tube lets more light in right?....Wrong.
Wrong? So what the fuck is the point of bigger tube sizes? So the bigger tube does not have anything to do with gathering light. The bigger the scope tube the more elevation adjustments you have. Having more elevation adjustment is going to help with engaging targets at longer ranges.
So let's talk more about elevation. At this point I hope you have a basic idea of windage and elevation, but I’ll give a super brief description of that.
Windage is your horizontal movement, your left & right. If your rifle is shooting left of your target, then you adjust your windage to the right.
elevation is your vertical movement, your up & down. If your rifle is hitting low, you need to adjust your elevation up.
Elevation is the more important adjustment of the 2. On a perfect day with ZERO wind you shouldn’t have to adjust your windage that much. But on windy days you’ll obviously have to adjust. I’m not good at judging windage so I'm not going to really touch on it.
Here is why elevation is important. Bullet drop. What is bullet drop? It’s exactly what it sounds like, the bullet is dropping as it flies through the air.
I’ll give an example. A 62g .223 bullet hits dead center on a target at 100 yards. But at 200 yards the same bullet hits 3.2” lower than the 100 yard target. And at 500 yards the bullet is going to hit 55” lower than the 100 yard target.
Now everyone's favorite school subject comes into play. Math. if you know how far your target is, and you know how your scopes adjust, you can adjust your elevation down so your crosshairs are dead on at the range you are shooting.
This is a good time to talk about MOA and Mil-raid
These are units of measurement for shooting. MOA and Mil-raid do the exact same thing but they are different from themselves. Think of it like Coke & Pepsi, both basically the same drink with slight differences. MOA is considered more user friendly and probably more popular.
This is something that I can write an entire article about. Like a 10 page article about. And plenty of other websites have done this already so I'm not going to elaborate on this a lot.
Both MOA and mil-raid are going to be how your scope adjusts and how to calculate your distance.
Ok lets touch on reticles. The reticle is the actual thing you are lining up on the target, it's your crosshair, your dot, your chevron ect. There are hundreds of reticles, maybe thousands. I cannot tell you which one is best, that is something that you will have to do some research on. But let me give you a few pointers to look out for.
Caliber specific reticles…….and how they are kind of bullshit.
You’ll often see that some reticles are made for certain calibers. Claiming that the reticle has bullet drop points already marked on the scope, so just zero and you're good to go. Sounds great right? Well, if it sounds too good to be true….you know the rest. Let me give you an example.
The above picture is the reticle from a vortex strike eagle. It has what's called “hold over marks” so the center dot will be dead center zero at 100 yards, the first horizontal line is a 200 yard holdover mark, second horizontal line is 300 yards ect. Here is the problem with preset hold over marks.
These are made up specs, just for an example.
Let's say vortex uses a 1:7 twist 16” barrel and 55g 5.56 bullets with 3200 FPS at the muzzle to calculate the distance for these hold over marks.
But you're using a 1:8 twist 12” barrel and 62g 5.56 with 2800 FPS at the muzzle. Go plug those specs into a bullet drop calculator and tell me if the preset hold over marks are going to match up.
I’m not saying that the preset holdover reticles are bullshit. But they are not law. Having the hold over marks is great but you will need to do your own testing to confirm these marks.
I hope I’m doing a good job of explaining everything to you because I’m going to throw a curveball at you now.
It's time to discuss focal planes. You are going to hear and see people talking about First Focal Plane (FFP) and Second Focal Plane (SFP) scopes. What does this mean? In super simple terms, this relates to where the reticle is located inside the scope. This only applies to variable scopes.
So why does it matter where the reticle is located in the scope? In my opinion, this is one of the most important specs to look for in a scope. Once again this is in simple terms. If the reticle is located in front of the adjustment turret (FFP) then that means as you zoom in on your target your reticle will change sizes to your target and more importantly the hold over marks will STILL be accurate and correct.
If the reticle is behind the adjustment turrets (SFP), this means as you zoom in on your target the reticle size will not change and your holdover marks WILL NOT be accurate. Let me elaborate on this a little more. You're using a scope that is 3-9x50 and it has 3 hold over marks. Your center mark is for 100 yard zero and your second mark is for 300 yards and third mark is for 500 yards on x3 power. So on x3 power you aim at a 500 yard target with your third hold over mark and take 3 shots. Ping! Ping! Ping! You smack that steel target 3 times no problem. Now you zoom in at x9 power and take 3 more shots...crickets……. You miss 3 times even though you aimed at the same spot. On a SFP your hold over marks will only be accurate to the power level (the magnification) you zero them to.
Are the hamster wheels in your head starting to turn? FSP scope is the way to go. Is there a benefit to SFP scope? Besides them being cheaper I honestly cannot see any benefit to a SFP scope. Some companies like leupold make $3000 SFP scopes too. I don’t get it, I'm sure there is a reason but lots of long range shooters will also agree that FFP is the way to go.
Eye Relief
This is another very important thing to pay attention to. Eye relief is the distance measured between the eyepiece and your eye. This is important for both comfort and safety. Imagine if you have a scope that has very little eye relief but the rifle has lots of recoil and kick back, you're going to get blackeyes every range visit.
The last thing that is important to buying a scope is how you mount it to your rifle. Getting the correct rings and a base if needed.
First thing is if your rifle has a base or rail. This is what the rings attach to on the rifle. Most modern day sporting rifles have rail systems on top for easy mounting. But some rifles don’t. Bolt action rifles usually need a base piece. This is something you can figure out on your own but here is a tip. If you need a base or rail for a rifle go to Evolution gun works (EGW) website and just type your rifle into the search bar. EGW’s website is fucking awesome and they make rails for shit ton of guns, high quality too. Also, if you have a bolt action rifle, it does matter if your gun is long action vs short action.
Fuck, you thing a rail would be simple, there is also rail base cants. If you are shooting less then 1000 yards you’re going to want a zero cant rail.
There are 20 cant rails, these rails offer an additional 20 moa and are tilted downward so you naturally tilt your rifle up more when you're shooting. Giving you an extra 20 MOA of elevation
When you buy rings make sure the rings are the same diameter as the tube of your scope. ALSO make sure you get the right height of rings so the objective lens is not touching the rail. This is a basic guideline but some companies' height dimensions vary.
40-42mm lens need low rings.
44mm lens needs medium rings
50mm lens needs high rings
56mm lens needs extra high rings.
These are the basics. There is more I can touch on but this is a basic guide to get you in the right direction. If you read my other articles you’ll notice that I only touch on important or simple points. To give you a guide that has everything you need to know about scopes I would have to write a book. There is too much information out there. But this is basic. It will at least make you sound like you know what you're talking about.
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