Open to suggestions... What scope to put on FWB 300 for Airgun Silhouette

I'm not trying to be a smart guy here... the best scope you can afford! That's basically what it boils down to. There are so many great scopes available ranging from crap to inexpensive but very high quality, Discovery Optics, Vortex, Sightron, Athlon, Bushnell, Nikon, Leupold, Nightforce, all the way up to Schmidt and Bender scopes in the $3000+ price range. It all boils down to how much you can spend. Many suggest you pay at least half the amount you paid for your air gun on a scope. If you can afford it, pay more than that. Quality optics are often overlooked but are an extremely important piece of kit. I think if you give an amount you're willing to spend, you'll get many suggestions of scopes that will serve you well.

I have Discovery scopes in the $275 price range that is phenomenal for the money. I also have an Athlon Ares that is excellent. I also love the Vortex Diamondback Tactical line. I own many Leupold Optics and have always loved them too. I don't own any SWFA scopes but they are quality ad have a huge following too. Probably forgetting some but like I said, give us an amount you're willing to spend and many people will chime in with great options.

Good luck. Stoti

I have two Hawke Sidewinders, which are great, but recently acquired an Optisan EVX 4 -16 x44i, which is just spectacular. The sharpest glass I've ever seen, and many convenient features.

I agree with the best you can afford in the short term the cheaper scopes do O K for most situations but as they age they don’t seem to be as sharp. I think foreign matter gets in when the seal the scope with nitrogen and as oxygen in the air replaces the Nitrogen what’s ever in there oxidizes on the inside surfaces so you get the dirty glasses effect. I just got my first high end over $2000 scope and even though I haven’t used it much I am amazed how much more promising is is over other i have.

Hard to top a leupold 6.5x20 EFR 

No!,you get the best scope for the job at hand=what power range do you really need and will a fixed scope work?Next I would look at the lightest scope with good optics=Leupold,,Nikon and so forth....also look at what length you need and eye relief.....these things are important....Sometimes you find out ........later that the scope you "think" you want will not be a good choice because it is 'too long.,too short,not enough eye relief,too heavy and so on.....

That said I would try to find what scope others are using and like that are mounted on the same

rifle as you have.....People love their scope and they are great scopes...for them, mounted on their rifles.

All opinions are a help,just come to your own conclusion.

A Tyrolean stock fairly restricts head position. If it were me, I would first determine the ring height that feels best with the Tyrolean stock. Use what you have to determine if you need higher or lower rings. Next figure out how large an objective lens the ring height you settle on will accommodate. That will eliminate some scopes and rings right away. Mount your gun and have someone measure from your eye to the loading port and look at scopes where the eye relief plus scope length is less than the distance from your eye to the loading port. That will eliminate scopes that are too long and/or have long eye relief. Look at scopes that focus down to 10 yds. and have mil dots or hashes on the reticle to cope with the 300's loopy trajectory. Regarding magnification, 9x will work for silhouette but 14x or 16x are better and more is not overkill. I shoot silhouette with 20x and it's about perfect. Like Boscoebrea said above, what works for one man may not work for you so figure out all you can about how your current equipment fits you and use that to weed out recommended scopes/rings you know won't work for you. Also, a side focus scope with side wheel and yardage marks is nice for FT but not necessary for silhouette since the yardages are known.

My guess is medium rings and a 1 inch diameter 14x or 16x variable scope with 40 or 42 mm AO objective will be perfect. I might mention that I, too, have a scoped FWB300 and recoil is not significant enough to need base/rings with the transverse recoil arresting pin to keep them from sliding. My one-piece Sportsmatch stays put just fine.

Good luck.

Hello Ed, maybe this will help with your decision. The picture shows my 300S fitted with a Nikon 3-9 EFR. It is 12.5" long with 3.5" eye relief. It is mounted in medium height rings. It does cover the loading port, but I don't find that an insurmountable problem. I prefer to shoot at 6X when standing to minimize sight picture wobble, but longer distances may require more magnification to see the target clearly. Personally, I would try to get by at 9X and would not want to shoot standing at more than 12X. I know others can manage to use higher magnification standing, and I wish I could, but it doesn't work for me. As for the scope itself, it is quite good with very clear optics and a fine target reticle with center dot. If you need higher magnification, the trick will be to find a scope with finger adjustable knobs and a close focusing distance. My go to for a medium priced scope used to be the Bushnell Elite, but they have revamped their line and I don't know if they offer an airgun compatible scope any more.







Chuck

Ed, those are BKL 278 rings. I have used them on the 300S and also on an Anschutz MPR with no slipping on the receiver. The twin screws on the bases do a good job holding them in place, and recoil of the 300S is not that harsh anyway. I like to use either the Sportsmatch or BKL rings on my airguns. Sportsmatch also offers an offset ring set. I have never heard of a ring with pin to fit the grooves on the 300S, but my experience has been that it is not needed.

Chuck

All have made very good points, just keep in mind that some scopes can help or impede loading. Some of the shorter scopes are used just for this reason. Also the bell of the larger scopes can make it near impossible to load. Just my two cents worth,