It's my first year of hunting deer in BC. I have a mossberg 464 (lever 30-30). My buddy offered me a bushnell scope that is 4x32, that he found in his garage. I don't know anything about optics so would this be a suiteable scope? any advice would be appreciated
4x32?
- Thread starter rbasm
- Start date
It most likely will work. Many 4x32mm are designed for rimfires and may not hold up well to centerfire recoil. I would go with the iron sights until you have time to test the scope multiple times. Wait till after deer season, sight it in and then abuse the scope a bit, put it in a case, let it bump around in the back of the trunk. If it keeps its zero than you know you can count on it.
As he said, 4x32mm is a size not uncommon for rimfire scopes these days so they usually are set to be parallax free at shorter ranges and usually aren't built to be robust enough for centrefire recoil.
But if it is older it might have been a centrefire model. These days centrefire scopes are __ x40mm or bigger, but some years ago __x32mm was a common size for centrefire.
Old Bushnell 4x centerfire scopes were pretty good for the money. If it's in good shape it should work fine. - dan
see if you can see where it's made and the model number- until recently, a 4x32 was a fairly common scope( i can't remember how many we sold back in the 70's) along with the 3x9x32, and rimfires were typically a wierd claw mount and either 4x20 and 2-7x20 - but there was also a 2.5x20 specifically made for levers( which i wish they still made) because it didn't look funny with that big hunk of glass on the top- ie the scope MATCHED the gun- quick and light
That scope should be perfect for your task. A 4x scope is good enough for almost any hunting situation in BC. I have only taken a shot at game with my scope cranked above 4x on one occasion, and that was when I had time to lie down with my bipod, use my laser rangefinder and take the perfect shot across a canyon with a tuned-up .300 Winchester Magnum. On all other occasions, I've shot with my scope sitting at around 4x (or even lower).
As to the suitability of the scope itself, if it is an older Bushnell, it is almost certainly a centerfire scope. Here is how you find out: 1) if the tube is one inch in diameter (as opposed to 3/4 inch), it is almost certainly a centerfire scope. 2) if the eye relief is 3 inches or more, it is a centerfire scope (rimfire scopes generally have eye relief of an inch or so). Just look through the scope. If you get a full, perfect picture with the scope about 3 inches from your eye, you are good to go.
Final note: look to see if it says Made in Japan. If so, you definitely have a winner. Those old Japanese Bushnells were very good quality and still work great today (I have a couple).
If the scope passes these tests, take your buddy up on the offer!
As to the suitability of the scope itself, if it is an older Bushnell, it is almost certainly a centerfire scope. Here is how you find out: 1) if the tube is one inch in diameter (as opposed to 3/4 inch), it is almost certainly a centerfire scope. 2) if the eye relief is 3 inches or more, it is a centerfire scope (rimfire scopes generally have eye relief of an inch or so). Just look through the scope. If you get a full, perfect picture with the scope about 3 inches from your eye, you are good to go.
Final note: look to see if it says Made in Japan. If so, you definitely have a winner. Those old Japanese Bushnells were very good quality and still work great today (I have a couple).
If the scope passes these tests, take your buddy up on the offer!
I picked up a nice old Bushnell Scopechief fixed power 2.75 X made in Japan for $25 at the gunshow, looked in good shape,optics bright, and I suspect it will serve nicely on one of my moderate power milsurps...,maybe a 9,3x57 which is considered a ''short range''[under 250 yards]hunting rifle,and since I don't shoot farther than that anyway,it fits the bill.$1000 glass may be fine for a sheep hunter,but for most hunting situations you don't NEED either the long range capabilites or the best glass money can buy.If I'm goiing to buy used, my preference is Leupolds for their life time guarantee, but a good quality fixed power scope has less moving parts to go wrong,and made in the US or Japan is a good choice
The best test wold be mount it one your rifle and take it to the range an shoot some targets. You may need to determine if the ammo your shooting is working well for your rifle. That way you can eliminate one of two possible problems. Shoot the ammo wthout the scope on it first, then mount the scope and see how it goes.
