PCP air rifles .. what scope would you recommend?

LuckyStrike

LuckyStrike

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Thought i would put it out to this great community as I am contemplating an air rifle purchase , likely an FX Streamline if they ever have stock in canada

My question is: What recommend would you have for a scope

There are so many to choose from, but I am not inclined to buy a chinese product

any suggestions would be helpful...

Oh .. I will mainly be shooting pests like starlings, pigeons, etc and some target plinking

many thanks in advance

Lucky...
 
Depends on how much you want to spend, really. Tons of good scopes out there for PCPs. Things that I would consider a must for your requirements are:

- Focus down to 10 yards
- Mil-dot reticle

Nice to have:

- Side focus
- 1" tube to save weight

I have an FX Streamline, which has an MTC Mamba Lite 4-16x44 on it (1" tube). Great for air rifles with the fancy reticle. Decent clarity on glass.

With the FX Streamline, one of its outstanding features is how light it is. It'll be too top-heavy if you mount a 30mm tube 4-16x50 or larger, IMO. Go for something that weighs around 16 oz, and enjoy being able to rip around pesting without feeling the weight and discomfort of lugging around a boat anchor.

Hawke also makes good scopes that are meant for air rifles. Bushnell Legend Ultra-HD 4.5-14X44 is another good option, comparable to the Hawke / MTCs. If you want to go cheaper, look at Leapers. If you want to go all-out, try and find a nice Bushnell Elite with mil-dots.
 
Mike!

Many Thanks .. Your video and write ups got me really thinking about buying one of these shooters. (If they don't arrive soon , Im going to get an AA 510 in the carbine)

Not sure that great scope you have on it is actually available in Canuckistan ... Been looking but no luck so far. I hear you on the 50mm objective .. Just too bulky and you are right.. This is a carbine made for the field, so keep it moderately light and compact is the thing to do.

I'm thinking Hawke Airmax scope for now , maybe 4-12 X 40 , see how that looks and possibly get into a better one as time rolls on.

Thanks again for taking the time to mention these options ... much appreciated

Lucky ...
 
Yeah, the scope I have on mine doesn't seem to be around anymore. I see some MTC scopes at AirgunSource, but none seem to be equivalents. That Hawke scope, or this Bushnell scope that Steve brought look to be good choices. I almost never use my full 16 power on my own, so I'd say 4-12 is more than enough for even the furthest pesting ranges (I've gone pesting at up to 100 yards). Given the choice, I'd probably pony up the extra bucks for the Bushnell, the glass is probably superior. The side focus is another plus and it weighs 2 oz less.

The AA-510 is a fantastic shooter and a great alternative. I've shot a few in .177 and .22. I had also heard rumblings of the prices of the Streamline increasing, so it may make the value even out. The S/L carbine weighs less than a pound more than the ridiculously low weight Streamline in synthetic, which could probably mostly be attributed to the stock. The Air Arms have fantastic wood stocks. The Streamline has a very lightweight, but hollow sounding synthetic that doesn't give quite the same solid feeling. I have also heard of people having problems mounting swivel studs to them, so I opted for a sling that just wraps around the stock and airtube.
 
MTC or Falcon. (Or many, many others.) PCP are really scope friendly, parallax adjustment down to 15 / 25 yards is useful.

Both have been specifically designed / specified for PCP air rifles. Unless you just using it for walked up hunting, have at least a mil-dot preferably a hash type reticule. The drop is significant at longer ranges and a good scope can really help. Windage is a significant factor too.

Candocad.
 
Just got a Hawke AirMax 3-9 from Airgun Source. Only has about 100 pellets through it so far but that's 2-3 X as many as any other scope has survived on a Diana 48. The optics are very good and the dot reticle is nice. The 2 or 3 other scopes that I've tried lasted about 10-20 shots before going south. Just for interest, I ordered the scope on Monday and it was at my door Tuesday, nice service.
 
WOW.. some excellent suggestions here, guys ... I really like a couple of these scopes and the prices are very reasonable. Thanks to everyone who posted.

My next concern is the FX air rifle ... since they are not yet in stock and I can't seem to get a real answer from their distributors on when they may become available for sale, I started to wonder.

I had heard a few negative comments about leaking or blown O-rings and went to google to see if there were problems reported with this gun and sure enough I am seeing quite a few.

One issue is the trigger mechanism ... It appears to frequently lock up after firing 1 shot or just a few rounds.. Quite a few people reported this

Also .. I see stories about faulty O-rings that only went 70 to 100 shots before failing

I realize these PCP's are loaded with parts and seals, so how reliable are they? Or certain models?

I'm beginning to rethink my purchase and might look again at the Air Arms 510 .... A bit more money, but reliability seems much better?

Thanks again for all your input here... A great learning/ knowlege spot when a guy is just getting into this

cheers

Lucky
 
I did have a leaky O-ring at the regulator when I first got mine, but AGS fixed it for me right away. I wouldn't be too concerned, that was an outlier. AGS charges up all of their rifles for 48 hours normally prior to shipping, but rushed to ship mine before properly testing. Hadn't heard of any of the trigger issues, but it's possible. Still, you just send it back and they'll make sure it gets up and running.

I've now shot a few thousand through my Streamline with no issues. As far as PCPs go, it's definitely on the reliable side. A lot of it has to do with the lack of parts, and the simplicity of the model. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either the Streamline or the AirArms, but it seems that you're getting more value if the Streamline stays at $1150. If the Streamline price goes to $1300+, then I would find the decision much more difficult.

For whatever reason, there are a lot of FX haters out there. You'll need to take what you read with a grain of salt. Some people just think that only English made rifles have any quality to them, and have a bad attitude about FX shaking up the market with new technologies.
 
On my Webley Raider I put a Bushnell Dusk to Dawn 4-12x40AO. There's no recoil like a springer... Works fine with the AO to let you focus on targets that are closer.

Cheers
Jay

 
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LuckyStrike said:
Thought i would put it out to this great community as I am contemplating an air rifle purchase , likely an FX Streamline if they ever have stock in canada

My question is: What recommend would you have for a scope

There are so many to choose from, but I am not inclined to buy a chinese product

any suggestions would be helpful...

Oh .. I will mainly be shooting pests like starlings, pigeons, etc and some target plinking
Click to expand...

Got Juice? said:
Sightron Field target. If you are serious about a decent scope, these are the 'go to' scopes for competition in the UK and Europe.
Click to expand...

The Sightron scopes designed for Field Target competition are very good scopes. They have SF with an oversized ring for ranging, have 10-50 magnification, and are over $2000. Perhaps overkill for pesting and target shooting. Any scope that would meet your needs that is suitable for a .22LR and has either adjustable objective or side focus will do the trick on a PCP as recoil is not an issue.
 
LuckyStrike, what is it about the scope that makes you consider it's "crap"? Did you try it, mount it? What difficulties have you had with it? Just wondering?
 
I think he said it was blurry at all ranges on the CAF. Could have been a busted one, but hard to say. Some people seem to rave about Hawke, but I don't have too much experience with their stuff.

The forum store does have quite a nice Bushnell Legend 5-15X40 for $190, maybe that would be better? I've looked through one and found it to be very clear, and many people have told me that it's a great buy. Even has the right reticle for airgunning.
 
I never mounted it .. Just holding the scope in hand it looks awesome, but trying to sight through it, the optics seem dull, the reticle is blurry ... I compared it to several other scopes I own and it just seems optically terrible. Been some time since I purchased a scope, and I don't have anything more variable than a 3-9 so maybe I was expecting too much? I can sure tell by looking through it that I couldn't hunt with it. I am starting to think I'll have to spend $600-700+ to get a crisp image and nice sight picture with a reticle that is clean/sharp to my eye. The side focus works , but it seems terribly fussy to get a clean image .... This is the 1st side focus scope I have had, so perhaps it just a matter of getting use to it?
 
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