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N/A Small Rifle Scope For Pistol

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S

sjs

Member
Apr 9, 2019
250
339
SC, United States
I shoot only pistols these days and only 5 to 25 yards at my backyard range. Some plinking, some silhouette, and some bullseye targets. I am moving away from iron sights as my old eyes get older and I am shooting red dots mostly. However, for kicks I tried a cheap Winchester 4X air gun scope on one of my pistols (about $40) and since it is a rifle scope I am using the Taco hold, or resting on a monopod with my eye close to the ocular lens.

This has been great fun and now I want to get a better scope with clearer and brighter glass. Still want it to be no more than $250, but I only want to pay for better glass, not for other features I will not use, like illuminated reticles, complex reticles, locking turrets, etc. Most important is that it is parallax adjustable down to 10 yards or less, and be very small and light. I am not looking for a true pistol scope with extended eye relief.

Everything I find is either too large and heavy or does not adjust down to such a close range. One I did find was the UTG CQB BugBuster IR 3-9 X 32. It is light and small and adjusts down to 3 yards. It has a lot of bells and whistles I don't want but I can live with that if I have to. Two questions.

1. Is the glass on this likely to be a bit better than my cheap Winchester? It is only $139 at Airgun Depot so it can't have great glass but I do want some improvement over what I have. Internet reviews are iffy on it, saying things like it is pretty good for the price.

2. Any other rifle scopes that come to mind with decent glass and small size?
 
I have one and it's not a bad scope at all for the money, personally think it has pretty clear glass not the greatest but it works... If you look around on Amazon you can find it for about $120 or a little less. The scope can be used and abused and it will hold up..

There is a westhunter 3-12 compact that's better in my opinion those are around the same price point slightly bigger but overall better scope.
 
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I use the 3-12 power Bugbuster on my indoor basement range and it works very well. Just be aware the click stops are only 3 per moa so can be a bit coarse for close distances. But the glass isn't bad considering the cost. I am 80 yo and it works well for my eyes. No real bells or whistles like illumination. Just plain ole scope. Will focus clearly down to 3 yards and has locking turrets.

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MikeVV said:
Obviously search for "pistol" scopes, but, "Scout Scopes" have very much, if not the same design as a pistol scope. So this will widen your search base a little.
I have a Burris, Scout Scope, that I use occasionally on one of my Ataman, AP16 pistols. Works very nicely.

Mike
Click to expand...
Mike vv
I don't know that much about you but you seem to really know a lot about these things..
just wanted to thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍
 
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Quite a few pistol shooters have moved to the idea of a Rifle scope on pistols employing a Taco hold due to the pistol scope having big limitations. Pistol scopes are often much lower quality than full size rifle scopes and being so far from the eye, that field of view and light transmitting is limited at best.
Taco only works with Pneumatics of course as Taco hold brings erratic results with springers, and strangely even with the FWB 65 sledge recoiles system, giving a different zero, proving there's is some unidentified effect of the sledge system when rested....not truely recoiless...it just feels like it is...

The key, is to choose a model which is able to focus at closer range than you expect with most rifles scopes as pistol targets often present at closer ranges than rifles.
 
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Thanks, after reading the replies I recalled I have a smallish Hawke Airmax on one of my HW30's. So, just for kicks and giggles I put it on my HW75. It is about 50% larger and heavier than the Bug Buster so I tried it from the bench. Turned out to be great fun and not too much to handle with a Taco Hold. Not sure how I like the look of it though.


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Think I'll post the target on the What Did You Shoot Today thread.
 
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The straight tubed 1-4x and 1-5x scopes work good up close even if the parallax is technically set to rifle range. With the smaller objective and the scope in a vise, I cannot find noticeable parallax error until inside of 15 yards with my Leupold VX3 1-5x. With a cheaper model I wouldn't be scared to take the ring off the end and wind it a little closer, just set and forget.
 
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