scope for steyr hs50

alberta tactical rifle said:
The recoil from a 50 is "slow" and more of a shove than a 'fast" kick like some of the standard magnums can deliver. I say "slow" as they tend to be heavy rifles with longer barrels and as mentioned before seem to mimic shotgun style recoil more than high power rifle. I can not think of a better way to describe the recoil.
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I only ever got to fire a .50 once. The best way I could describe it, from the few shots fired, was that it was like firing a 12 gauge slug gun. I think I would like to try firing an unbraked .50 some day (though perhaps those who know better might save me from a foolish idea?). A far worse part of my .50 BMG shooting experience was that I was only wearing a set of second-rate earmuffs, without plugs, and the guy next to me was firing a Barrett - man, those things have ignorant muzzle brakes!

I have just for fun and education purposefully tried to kill a scope on a 50.
We have tried everything from $99.00 Tascos to $4000.00 USOs, as long as the mounts are not allowed to come loose we have not had a scope failure from recoil.
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Interesting. I infer that if the mounts are allowed to come loose and rattle, that this can cause the scope to break?
 
rnbra-shooter said:
I only ever got to fire a .50 once. The best way I could describe it, from the few shots fired, was that it was like firing a 12 gauge slug gun. I think I would like to try firing an unbraked .50 some day (though perhaps those who know better might save me from a foolish idea?). A far worse part of my .50 BMG shooting experience was that I was only wearing a set of second-rate earmuffs, without plugs, and the guy next to me was firing a Barrett - man, those things have ignorant muzzle brakes!



Interesting. I infer that if the mounts are allowed to come loose and rattle, that this can cause the scope to break?
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I test fired 1 of my 50s without a brake on it ONCE, never again is is NOT fun!!

Even a good scope can get damaged if the mounts come loose.
There is a video floating around on the net of what a scope does under recoil in super slow motion photography. If you see it , it will become very apparent as to why loose mounts/rings can damage a scope.
 
redman
Thanks that is 1 of them,:D there is another that is even slower motion and a close up of the scope, then they have another of the barrel whipping and of bullets that are in flight just past the muzzle.
I wish I were more computer literate.:redface:
 
The Bushnell Elite 3200 10X is indeed more then adequate to survive comfortably on a 50.

They are offered by Barrett as part of their ready to go rifle set ups. I would think Barrett knows a thing or two about 50's

Thanks to ATR, Kevan, and a few others, I have had the pleasure of shooting BMG's in a variety of formats. As has been said many times, recoil is in the 12ga range depending on the brake effectiveness. I never shot one that was worse then a light slug gun.

The KABOOM on the other hand is another matter. Pull the trigger and I guess there was something solid enough beside me to get concussion reflected back to me. WOW, that was eye opening. If the area around that brake is clear, again, no biggie.

On that big kaboom, my vision went to BLACK. Never did see the impact and really got my heart pumping.

So I would be very weary of being close to or in the direction of the brake exhaust - that's some horsepower.

I have not heard anything good nor bad about Sightrons on 50's. I sincerely doubt they would have any issues as they are set up for dual recoil forces. Yes, spring air rifles are likely the worst thing you can put a unidirectional scope on.

These are very rare today but back when, there were some very expensive scopes that broke quickly on these 'zero' recoil rifles. Wasn't a problem with the scope per se as these same scopes could live on a 458 Win mag type boomer. They just didn't have support for negative G's so the lenses fell out.


Jerry
 
redman, thanks for posting the video. no need to explain the value of good optics and mounts on a 50 bmg. Perceived recoil is just that perceived, the video tells the story.
 
Good post Jerry... Thanks to your hard work those shoots were the first opportunity for me to really stretch out the big guns "legs".
Those are memories I'll always cherish !

Sorry for the hi-jack fellas....
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
redman
Thanks that is 1 of them,:D there is another that is even slower motion and a close up of the scope, then they have another of the barrel whipping and of bullets that are in flight just past the muzzle.
I wish I were more computer literate.:redface:
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When you can't go shooting cuz your scope's half a world away, you've got extra time to get computer literate... :(
 
IMG_1212A.jpg

IMG_4894.jpg

I am not sure which model of scope this is....but if you can identify it, it seems to work well.
 
fbimagery said:
IMG_1212A.jpg

IMG_4894.jpg

I am not sure which model of scope this is....but if you can identify it, it seems to work well.
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You can see what I mean about having to use REALLY high rings to get behind the scope decently.
That young lass has her eye almost dead center of the ocular and I would wager there has to be an inch and a half at least between the barrel and objective lens.
It appears that the rifle has an AR15 type scope riser on top f the factory rail.
And I seriously doubt it is wind that is blowing her hair about, THAT is redirected gasses from the brake at work.
 
Scopes for 50's

Rick's right any DECENT scope will work fine if it's mounted properly keep in mind you still usually get what you paid for in a glass.
A $175 bushnell is still a $175 bushnell no matter what it's on.
The cheapest i'd recommend for a gun like that would be a Bushnell 6-24x50 Tactical, Bushnell assured me it would have no troubles and if they had to they'd exchange it for me no problems.

I actually have a real decent scope on mine and its a FIXED 10 TIMES and it works just fine at 1000. I have a swarovski 10X on it.

I'm posting a pic of mine and a buddy's 50's at the range, a PGW LRT 3 in front and an HS 50 (buddy's) in the back.
I've never been a fan of the HS 50. I find them uncomfortable and I really don't like the muzzel brake, my friend has to wear goggles to shoot it.
The recoil varies from heavy shot gun load to brutal depending on the load.
My buddy likes his loads HOT and you feel it, I don't and i've got through 42 consectutive shots in an afternoon at the range. I've also had a 12 yr old girl try it with no complaints, you have to know how to sit with it and avoid trying to hold it down and stop it from coming back (mistake) , it's coming back whether your in the way or not, laff.
The Swarovski while expensive is crystal clear and fantastic to shoot it's the only low power scope i've ever kept , i usually like the high mag. ones.

Mike

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Bruce

I guess you did end up buying the rifle. I think you will like it!!

As far as optics goes, put on what ever you feel is in your price range.

Obviously there are some people that don't understand the fact that due to the muzzle brake these rifles have very little recoil.

I would compare shooting my HS50 to shooting my 243. You're not going to wreck a cheap scope. That being said i have a $2,200 dollar night force on mine, but that does not mean you need to spend anything close to that. You could put a $200 dollar 3x9 on there if you really wanted to, but you will be greatly limiting the capability of this rifle.

If i had to find a compromise between cheap and function-ability I would try to get the best price i could on a Bushnell 4200 tactical with target turrets and a 30mm tube. I cant remember what i paid for mine but I'm thinking it was in the $600-$700 price range.

I would try to get something that is at least 25X so you can stretch that gun out a ways and get some use out of it.
 
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On a side note

I do like the HS50!!!!! I think it has a good muzzle brake despite what a few others may say. I load all my rounds at max and have no problems with the recoil!!

I have no problems getting behind the scope with my badger rings!!!

I would never even consider building a rifle off of a shell holder action.
 
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