See The Night

Many rifles and shotguns feature hunting scopes or other sighting devices, so it’s not unusual for it to seem like something’s missing when you see one that doesn’t have a scope. They are becoming more and more popular for handguns, too. The major reason is that they make engaging a distant target easier, even if the weapon has an iron sight built in. When you aim through a magnifying scope or use a red dot laser sight it is easier to see your target and have a more successful shot.

All rifle scopes feature a sizing system called a number range, these numbers refer to a hunting scope’s magnification ranges and the diameter of its objective lens. For example, the first numbers of a 3-9x 40 hunting scope explain that it is a variable scope capable of showing objects 3 times nearer than they would seem to be with the naked eye, but will go up to 9 times the naked eye. The critical factor here is how low the magnification is rather than how high it is, because as the magnification increases, you willl get less light through the eyepiece.

The last # in the number range is the size of the objective lens, in millimeters. Gun scopes usually have objective lenses with diameters from 40 to 45 millimeters. That is really the most you need, even though the lenses of some of the more extravagant models go up to 75 millimeters. The greater the objective lens number, the more light you will get going through the scope. A accurate balance of magnification and objective lens diameter is what will give you the most detail and the most accurate shots.

The choice of magnification range will depend on how much magnification you require. You should not forget that the less the magnification, the greater the resolution, but you also need to consider the size and distance of your targets. So, you could choose a 3-9×40 scope for deer hunting, but for game bird or rodent shooting, you might require a 6-20x or 8-25x variable rifle scope because you will be shooting targets from a larger range distance.

The objective lens can be adjustable or variable, also. Outer parallax adjustments can adjust the diameter of variable objective hunting scopes, which will make a difference on optics that go over 10X magnification. You won’t generally get this selection on optics with smaller magnifications.

Gun scope lenses generally are water tight and fog-proof. They are coated with one or more layers of coating to help lower loss of light and glare. As a general rule, the more layers of coating, the sharper the contrast and the clearer the image will be. Fully, multi-coated hunting scopes are usually regarded as the best lenses because they usually mean better light transmission and better contrast for the user.

Another term you will hear while you are looking at hunting scope optics is Field Of View, or FOV. Field of View refers to how many feet, left to right, you will be able see when peering through the scope. Typically, you will have approx a 30 foot Field of View or FOV at a 100 yard distance on 3 times magnification. As the magnification you use gets smaller, the Field of View increases. At 9 times magnification, the Field of View would only be about 14 feet.

Developing knowledge about the measurements of a rifle scope is critical when picking the best overall scope for the kind of hunting you want to be doing. Its measurements can make a big difference in the precision of your shots.