AO Scope for 22's

Kawarthapine

Kawarthapine

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I'm moving to better optics for my CZ 452 and a Savage MkII.

I plan on shooting fixed distances of 50 and 100 yards while my son wants to shoot indoors at distances as little as 50 ft. I'm considering either a 4-12x40 and a 6- 20 x 40.

Do I need an AO scope to reduce distortion at these distances?

Advice needed and appreciated!
 
Indeed. Most decent rimfire-specific AO scopes will adjust for as short as 10 yards/meters. I have a non-AO Leupold on my SR-22, and it was a poor choice because I'm always shooting distances under the factory parallax-free setting. Something like the VX-II 3-9x33 is much better suited to a .22...it is a purpose built rimfire unit as opposed to a centerfire scope.
 
Consider the Sightron SII and SII Big Sky front AO scopes. Their optics and tracking are superb and the AO will dial down to 10yds.

I have a SII Big Sky 36X on my Savage F class trainer and love it. Although, I would have gone with a 6-24X as it would be a better scale mag for F class.

Jerry
 
Leupold VX-11 6-18 Target, with 50 ft. focus adaptor
Sightron S11B in whatever magnification range you need. I use the 6-24 Silhouette model on my 452 now.
 
I'm not disgreeing with any of these opinions, but I'm just going to present another viewpoint. Lower magnification scopes are much more likely to allow a clear, in-focus view of the target at closer ranges. I've used 2.5x or 4x power scopes on some light .22's for plinking use and have had some that focus as close as 25 or 30 feet. I have an old Simmons 2.5x scope that is marked as a shotgun scope...it cost maybe 30 bucks about 18 years ago. It lived on a slug shotgun for years, so it's fairly durable, and it is now one of my favourite scopes for close-range .22 use. The image is crystal clear at 20 feet.

Parallax? Parallax exists only when your eye is not centered in the exit pupil of the scope. Most centerfire rifle scopes are parallax-fixed at around 150 yards...BUT...if you can maintain your head/eye position relative to the scope so that you are always seeing a nice, round field of view, without any image cutoff around the edges, you will not have excessive parallax at any range. Parallax is the apparent movement of the crosshair on the image caused by those two elements not being focussed on exactly the same plane within the scope...but if your eye position is correct, it doesn't matter how far apart the two focus points are...there is no parallax.

If the exit pupil...the "tube" of light that the scope transmits, within which your eye must be placed to see the full, round image...is large enough, your eye position can vary a bit, up, down, left, right, and you will still see the whole, round picture. You might get a bit of parallax in these cases, but it will be a fraction of the maximum parallax that can exist. Check the scope specs to find out what the maximum parallax is (it's not a huge amount), then consider that by keeping your eye within the exit pupil, i.e. centered, you will get, at most, only a small fraction of that maximum value.

Right about now somebody will start to comment (usually sarcastically) that this critical positioning is easier said than done, blah, blah, blah. I'm not saying that it is always done perfectly done, but it's just good form. With practice and a gun/gunstock that fits you reasonably well it's not at all difficult to place your eye corrrectly each time. It's a natural inclination to center your eye to get a good, round field of view. Just do it as well as you can, consciously at first...it will soon become second nature and done without conscious thought.

High magnification scopes at close range? Adjustable parallax, for sure. But "upgrading" all your scopes to AO? I hope that you're not a hunter...for target shooting, maybe, but in the field it just isn't always practical to be spinning focus dials/knobs all the time.

Just my opinion based on experience, and worth what you paid for it, like anyone else's.:)

John
 
Higher magnification will cause the distortion or out of focus to be more apparent. So, a 6-20x variable will appaear to have more distortion at the higher end mag. Parallax actually is apparent when the reticle is not in the focal plane. The reason that manufacturers of optics have an adjustable eyepiece. This is best adjusted for the individual using a nondescript background. The adjustable objective or side focus has nothing to do with parallax. The AO or SF is used to focus the image at distance. The reason that AO and SF are found mainly on higher power fixed or extended range variable scopes. The reticle should not change in focus or clarity. If it does go back and adjust the eyepiece.
For field shooting all this is largely academic. Parallax is not going to cause a miss on a gopher at 75 or 100 yd. It may contribute to a miss on a ten ring at 300 on an ISSF target.
 
If you want a scope that has decent magnification and is going to be used to shoot at 50 feet, you will appreciate parallax adjustment. Make sure the one you buy goes down to 50 feet, not all do. I have a Meuller 4.5-14 APV AO scope and it focuses sharply at 60 feet on 14x.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
If you want a scope that has decent magnification and is going to be used to shoot at 50 feet, you will appreciate parallax adjustment. Make sure the one you buy goes down to 50 feet, not all do. I have a Meuller 4.5-14 APV AO scope and it focuses sharply at 60 feet on 14x.
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Same scope I'm running on my CZ 452 American. It's given me no reason to complain thus far, especially when considering how cheap they are to purchase.
 
I've tried Leupold FX-II in both 4x and 6x on my Ruger 77/22, and both did not focus well at 25 to 50 yds, which is understandable because they're designed for center-fire rifles and set for 100 to 200 yd parallax.

One scope that intrigues me as possibly ideal for a .22 used out to 100 yds and beyond is the Burris Timberline 4.5x14x32 AO. Very compact, and reasonably priced at around $220 US. Just looks to me like it was made to order as a versatile rimfire application. Generally read good things about Burris scopes, but no personal experience.

http://www.burrisoptics.com/timberline1.html#45x14x

timber4_04.jpg


I had this Elite 3000 4x12x40 AO kicking around, so I mounted it on my Ruger .22...not sure if it looks kinda cool, or kinda ridiculous.

22scope002jpg.jpg


But I think the Burris definitely would look better.

:)
 
dryfire said:
The adjustable objective or side focus has nothing to do with parallax. The AO or SF is used to focus the image at distance.
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Don't think so...these two sentences are somewhat contradictory. The AO or Side Focus allows you to adjust the focus of the image at a certain distance to coincide with the reticle on the same plane in the scope, therefore no parallax. You adjust the reticle once so that it appears sharp to you, then adjust the AO for each new target distance so that it also appears sharp and is on the same focal plane as the reticle.
 
Agree with part of your statement, but how are my statements contradictory. Parallax will be apparent even when viewing on a nondescript background if the eyepiece is not adjusted correctly. The AO does nothing but bring the image onto the same focal plane as the reticle as you say. Parallax has nothing to do with focusing the image.
 
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WIch on you suggest between these? Im looking for something that have Side focus and not to costy.

Leapers 1.5-6x44mm $149.95
Falcon 1.5x30IR 299.95$
Millett 1-4 DMS 309.95
Cabela's Pine Ridge Tactical Rimfire Riflescope 3-12sf 159.99$

Thank you!
 
MightyPotty said:
WIch on you suggest between these? Im looking for something that have Side focus and not to costy.

Leapers 1.5-6x44mm $149.95
Falcon 1.5x30IR 299.95$
Millett 1-4 DMS 309.95
Cabela's Pine Ridge Tactical Rimfire Riflescope 3-12sf 159.99$

Thank you!
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Not too costly, side focus and quality don't go together. Can't see why you would want parallax adjustment on a 1-4 or 1.5-6 power scope unless its for shooting up close (20 yards) at an indoor range. If that's the case, I'd just get adjustable objective.
 
The adjustable objective or side focus has nothing to do with parallax. The AO or SF is used to focus the image at distance.
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These adjustments allow a person to adjust the parallax for various distances,so in my opinion,they certainly do have something to do with parallax.
 
Kawarthapine said:
I'm moving to better optics for my CZ 452 and a Savage MkII. I plan on shooting fixed distances of 50 and 100 yards while my son wants to shoot indoors at distances as little as 50 ft. I'm considering either a 4-12x40 and a 6- 20 x 40. Do I need an AO scope to reduce distortion at these distances? Advice needed and appreciated!
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Yes, if you want to go up in magnification then you need to get an AO scope. The AO adjusts for both focus and eliminates parallax. In fact it may be hard to find one that is not AO once you go over 9X for power. Stay away from the side focus models. While more convenient to use, their adjustment tends to be more course, and most models will not adjust to 50 feet. Almost all Adjustable Objective types go down to 30 feet

I use a Bushnell Banner 6-18X50 AO on my Mark II. It is made in Korea, and works quite well. For target shooting more power is better. I have a 6-24x42 Sightron II Big Sky on a centerfire, and it is a great scope. However, kind of hard to justify a scope that costs nearly twice the price of the Mark II. If you can justify it, both Weaver and Sightron make a 36X fixed target scope that should work well. And the Bushnell 3200 Elite line are nice too. Made in Japan.
 
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