Pairing glass to gun

[cavedweller]

I’ve just purchased my first <20 ftlbs BSA rifle to try my hand at FT. this got me thinking about several of my guns v the scopes I currently had on top of them. That’s when it suddenly dawned on me - I should swap my scopes around between guns to better match glass capabilities with guns capabilities and or intended use. I’ve bought sold and traded lots of guns over the years but in general I didn’t pay great attention to the scopes I was putting on top of them. Time to fix:
Putting my Nexus5-20x50 on my .30 AAA Evol
Putting my SWFA 3-15x42 on my .25 Taipan Tactical
Putting my SWFA 1-4x24 on my Steyr.22 Hunting 5SA
Putting my SWFA Ultralight on my Steyr.22 ProX10
Going to try a high end Red Dot on my .22 Wairauch 110
Uh oh - no glass for the .177 FT gun??? I’m not even sure what’s a good match as I’ve never done FT before
Suggestions?
Have I gone mad or is the endless rain in Mobile Alabama rotting my brain or both?

 

[CyberDyneSystems]

I've certainly learned that there are good matches, bad ones, and so so. My first mistake was going cheap, then it was going "too much scope"
Size, height and eye relief can be important. My Hawke compact was a terrible option on my R9 becuas the eye relief was so short, I had to jump through hoops to get it back far enough. Whereas when i put it on my bullpup Akela, having it far back was not only easy, but advantageous..

 

[JimD]

I don't do a great job matching scope to gun but I do think about it. I have a Hawke 2-7 Vantage on my Prod because it is small and light like the Prod and I don't see that gun as a long range gun. It is a bit challenging target shooting but works great for shooting squirrels.

I have a West Hunter 4-16 on my Avenger because I see it as having some similarities. Lots of features for the money. A bit questionable in quality/reliability.

My 3 P35s have their scopes in West Hunter quick release one piece cantilever mounts. This is to permit swapping them around. But I haven't done it yet. I have a Athlon Talos 6-24 on my P35-22 which is my most accurate gun. Works great for target work, not initiated in hunting yet. I have a big wheel on the parallax adjustment which I've marked with distances out to 33 yards, the limit in my back yard. It takes a fair bit of rotation to get in focus at short ranges which should make it easier to range up close where the high mounting on my bullpup could be an issue. But at 40-55 yards the movement is much smaller - this distance will probably also be an issue if I ever shoot FT. I would use my 177 so I would have to swap scopes at that time. The 177 wears a Primary Arms 4-16. It is an OK scope in my opinion, well worth it's $175 price but it is not at all a high end scope. My P35-25 wears a Primary Arms 4-14. It is FFP but has a decently thick recticle that does not disappear at low power. The same recticle is not great for targets but the glass is pretty clear which helps make up for that. If I wanted to do serious target work with any of these P35s I would move the Athlon to them. I don't think the glass is quite as good as the PA 4-14 but 24X and a fine recticle help a lot.

All my P35 scopes are pretty big and heavy for a 5.2 lb bullpup. If I decide the Athlon's fine recticle is a liability for hunting I will probably get something smaller and lighter to swap on for hunting. Maybe a Hawke 3-9 (not sure Vantage or Airmax (worried about the Airmax recticle)).

 

[wolfmangreg]

For a long time I just assumed that a SWFA SS fixed was the right match no matter the rifle !

Wanting to try FT too, so bit the bullet & got a Sightron SIII. At this point very happy. First scope of that price range, so can't say it's better or worse than competitors, but it's definitely bright & clear.

 

[Kdog]

A really good FT scope no matter what division your shooting in is a Sightron 10-50x...another is a Nikko diamond 10-50x.Midlevel scopes you can find on the used market for $700-1000....sometimes less

 

[bigHUN]

I've been in photography hobby since mid 70's and I learned to appreciate a best glass I can afford.
If I cannot collect enough money for a new glass I want, I am fishing for it from second hand.
Currently I have only two airguns, but eight scopes in my lockers, and mostly original Japanese or German made glass, and only two I bought brand new.

 

[Motorhead]

Class of FT your going to shoot needs to be part of your optics decision.

Open & WFTF allow unlimited X power, Turret clicking.
Hunter has a 16X max limit and only hold over ( No turret adjusting )

ALL classes require range estimation to be done via the optics system ( parallax or bracketing etc .. ) No range finders allowed period.

 

[cavedweller]

Class of FT your going to shoot needs to be part of your optics decision.

Open & WFTF allow unlimited X power, Turret clicking.
Hunter has a 16X max limit and only hold over ( No turret adjusting )

ALL classes require range estimation to be done via the optics system ( parallax or bracketing etc .. ) No range finders allowed period.

Thank you - very important info!