Scope for Airgun

T

tpotts

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Being a new airgun owner without any experience, I would appreciate any suggestions that might be provided on scope selection for airgun benchrest. Which are the most utilized in the sport? I will be mounting the scope on a Marauder 1.77. I appreciated any help that is provided. Best Tom
 
Hard to beat a Weaver T-36 for about $400.. focuses down to 50' and weighs just a little over a pound.

Wayne Burns,
 
Thanks Wayne, I have a T-36 and a T28, I like both a lot. I was just wondering if there was something that be better at 25 and 50 yds. Maybe a little cheaper, I have mine mounted on a rimfire and a centerfire. I guess I could swap my T28 back and forth.
 
At the Worlds the top 3 LV and and 1-2-4 overall had T36 Weaver . I have used a lot of Weavers ( air rifle , center fire varmint , big game , and rim fire .) I have never had a problem with any . Rick
 
I just recently got into the airgun PCP's. I also was a bit lost as to what scope i wanted. I bought two Air Airms rifles one in 25 caliber and the other in .177. I bought two scopes also. A hawke 6-24 eclipse and also a hawke 4-16 Varmint. The Eclipse is one heck of a scope. The varmint I didnt like as well so i talked to the people at Hawke and sent the scope back to them and they sent me another Eclipse. These scopes feature side focus, mil-dot, and are 30MM scopes. I believe I paid around the 300 dollar mark for them a piece. I am a fan of leupolds, Zeiss, and nightforce scopes which have found their way onto my precision rifles. But for an airgun scope I dont feel you can beat the hawke scopes.
 
At the bench rest shoot in Mass. on Sat . 8 of the 11 scopes were Weaver T36 . That pretty much tells the story .
 
I am going to move one of my T scopes to the air gun. Best Tom
 
From my experience, there is no such thing as a reliable, inexpesive scope. It use to be said that one should plan on spending as much on a scope as they spend for the rifle it is to go on. I think in the realm or Benchrest Rifles that may not necessarily be true but I would consider the Weavers as the floor in quality for Competition. I have a couple and like them, generally. I also like the Sightron scopes. I have been using a couple on high recoiling CF rifles for a few years with good results. They have better optics and better reticle, IMHO than the Weavers and are around the same price; Lifetime Warranty as well. Also hard to beat a used LEUPOLD, same warranty. Like anything else, it is impossible to have a scope that is too good but it's easy to get one that is useless.
 
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Weaver T Scope

If one compares price, performance from the bench, and reviews, it is truly hard to find a better deal than a weaver which can be purchased for under $400. That said If I was hunting in the evening in a low light situation there are other scopes that I would rather have but they are not available for less than $400. On the the bench the weaver wins or scores higher than others in national events. I am just really glad I don't have to spend $1000 on glass to compete. Best Tom
 
tpotts said:
If one compares price, performance from the bench, and reviews, it is truly hard to find a better deal than a weaver which can be purchased for under $400. That said If I was hunting in the evening in a low light situation there are other scopes that I would rather have but they are not available for less than $400. On the the bench the weaver wins or scores higher than others in national events. I am just really glad I don't have to spend $1000 on glass to compete. Best Tom
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I don't know how well they hold up on Air Guns but they have their problems on CF rifles; not that others don't. I am assuming that non-spring Air Rifles don't have enough recoil to harm much.
 
My personal experience has been mainly with rimfire. I do have one mounted on a 6.5 x 55. Do not see many complaints in reviews. I know there is a lot of bad scopes out there in the under $300 range. What I don't understand is the large amount of low cost scopes being sold for airguns. Best Tom
 
tpotts said:
My personal experience has been mainly with rimfire. I do have one mounted on a 6.5 x 55. Do not see many complaints in reviews. I know there is a lot of bad scopes out there in the under $300 range. What I don't understand is the large amount of low cost scopes being sold for airguns. Best Tom
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I have been through trying to make a Sow's Ear for a very long time. Way back when I first began RF benchrest I must have owned perhaps 25 Tasco's and BSAs. I have found good ones but my years of shooting have shown me that when it comes to Optics, one is a lot better to spend way more than one thinks one should up front. With Quality anything, one can generally recover most of their investment, if they take care if the item, when they want to sell it. I have a Weaver 36X scope I have had for over ten years and it has been used on a number of different rifles. It needs to go back to Weaver now as it has a sticky Turret but it has been true for all these years. I have a newer one that has not experienced much use I got in a rifle trade .That one I do not trust and it will go back when I have cycled the first one I spoke of. Scopes are the Achelies Heel of our Rifle Sports and , with the exception of the March, all of the brands, I have observed over the years, have their problems. I have a 40X Leup on my VFS rifle but it has been frozen and the only reason I trust it. I have seen enough problems with them over the years so that I don't trust then either. It doesn't take much slop in a scopes internals to render it useless for competition. This is the problem we all face and I don't think Air Guns will be immuned.
 
Bang for the buck Weaver or Sightron. I use 36x in both. focus to 10 meters or slightly less. I also have some Leupold's, but they are not they extended range units and as such are not suitable for rim or air. Personally I vote for the Sightrons, Lifetime warranty and the company has not been bounced through several corporate holding groups that I am aware of. ( so none of the " before our time service issues")
 
There is one thing for sure there are a lot of people pleased with Sightrons, I have not had had the pleasure thus far. I do agree with Pete, you can get a bad scope despite the brand , but at least it is not as hard to find a scope as the right ammo for your gun in rimfire. HA!
 
I must say, I am thrilled with the 36X Sightron I bought this summer. I may try to find another and ease on out of the Weavers. If we ever get Sporters in Air Gun the Sightron 6X is the best 6X scope I have ever looked through. I have three of them or I would try to find another. They are no longer made so I don't know what a replacement would be though.
 
tpotts said:
If one compares price, performance from the bench, and reviews, it is truly hard to find a better deal than a weaver which can be purchased for under $400. That said If I was hunting in the evening in a low light situation there are other scopes that I would rather have but they are not available for less than $400. On the the bench the weaver wins or scores higher than others in national events. I am just really glad I don't have to spend $1000 on glass to compete. Best Tom
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Hi Tom,
From my experience, 6 Weaver T-36's in centerfire score banchrest over the last 12 years, none stood up over time. In other words all had to be fixed. At times Weaver repair was great, at time you just got someone else's junk off the shelf. I hear they are very good now. I cured the problem by going to frozen Leupold competition scopes in Brackney rings. Both cost me about 1K each. Others swear by the March scopes, but I believe the Brackney setup is just as good or better for half the price.

Not sure how any scope will do in airgun realm. Recoil is certainly less. For that reason, a Weaver may be bullet proof in airgun shooting. The stress one places on a scope certainly brings out the strong and weak points of the unit. --Greg
 
The pcp, co2, or ssp guns transtmit no stress, on the other hand any of the spring powered units will shred most scopes quickly, That includes the contra and gliss systems.
 
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