Questions about AO and Parallax

[marquette]

I'm looking for a backyard plinker scope. Low magnification 4x, 1-4x, 2-7x something in that range. 90% of the targets will be 20-40 yards that will be 1-3 inches in size. What is the depth of field on a AO scope? For example can I focus on a target at 30 yards and easily see a target at 20 or 40 yards? Or do I need to refocus at each distance? At farther distances centerfire shooters have gotten by for years with scopes primary parallax at 100 yd and shot 50-200 yards without AO. I can see when shooting for group at high magnification having the target as clear as possible would be a very nice feature. In the low magnification scopes AO doesn't cost significantly more so paying the extra money isn't a deciding factor. Then there are some nice low powered rimfire scopes with 50 yard fixed parallax that get used at 25 yards that there is nothing to refocus. I've even seen a couple of airgun scopes with fixed 35 yard parallax. So the two questions are: Can I buy a AO scope, focus it at mid range and plink away without constantly having to readjust? or Do I need to even worry about AO if I get a scope with a fixed parallax of 50 yards or less?

The gun is a Benjamin Maximus so recoil is not a issue on scope selection.

 

[boscoebrea]

I would rather have a AO scope any day....close focus like 10yds on up,that said you May be able to use a scope set at 50 yds,I do for pistol shooting,it is 4 power....it works...But for higher power scopes without AO it does not work...for me.....it is better to get a scope for an air rifle that has AO.....

 

[DHR22]

It depends on how much magnification is being used. The higher it is, the narrower your depth of field. I've got a Hawke 4-16X50, and at low power the AO focus doesn't make a lot of difference at the ranges you mentioned. High power is a different story where just a few yards makes a refocus necessary. If you do decide to get an AO scope, I recommend side focus as the AO knob is easier to reach.

 

[marquette]

Interesting. I never thought about the depth of field changing as the scope is zoomed. So for instance on a 2-7x I would be able to use say 2-4x and not touch the AO but if I zoomed to 7x I would need to adjust. That’s not a big deal because 3-4x would probably be the most common zoom setting I would use.

 

[biohazardman]

Once I bought my first AO scope I never looked back. It is so much nicer to be able to focus your scope at any range even with a decent amount of magnification and have a clear image. Yes, with lower magnification the focus needs to be used less. But having a scope with the parallax permanently set at 35 or 50 yards these days is no longer acceptable to me. Out of focus targets just don't make it in my book. 

Hawke makes this excellent but very inexpensive little 2x7x32 AO unit and it is great.

https://www.airgundepot.com/hawke-optics-vantage-2-7x32-ao-rifle-scope.html

 

[shoot44]

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