Fixed vs. Variable Scopes

[Suputin]

All my scopes are fixed power.

Fixed power scopes will have better clarity and be brighter, they are also considerably less expensive. Many years ago we side by side compared a $400 Tasco Super Sniper to a comparable Leupold variable at about twice the cost and the Tasco was much brighter and clearer.

There is another compelling reason to use a fixed power scope. Each and every time you look through the scope you get the same relative magnification. That is the reticle is the same relative size to the image. This makes range estimation a lot easier because stuff is always the same relative size. After years of using the same fixed power scopes I can look at a gopher and make a decent estimation of the range, which greatly improves my hit average.

 

[bsand]

All my scopes are fixed power.
Fixed power scopes will have better clarity and be brighter, they are also considerably less expensive. Many years ago we side by side compared a $400 Tasco Super Sniper to a comparable Leupold variable at about twice the cost and the Tasco was much brighter and clearer.

There is another compelling reason to use a fixed power scope. Each and every time you look through the scope you get the same relative magnification. That is the reticle is the same relative size to the image. This makes range estimation a lot easier because stuff is always the same relative size. After years of using the same fixed power scopes I can look at a gopher and make a decent estimation of the range, which greatly improves my hit average.

You do know scopes come in First focal plane as well right? Where the sub tensions stay the same throughout zooming, so at 5x to 25x 2 mil will be 2 mill, your reticle will be harder to see at 5x but the sub tensions would still be accurate for ranging.

 

[Mystic Precision]

In the spotting scope world, the market is in the fixed mag eyepiece and the engineering and performance is at its highest level here.

In the rifle scope world, there is almost no interest anymore for fixed powered scopes so there is little to no research put here. All the effort and development is in the variable.

I have never looked through a fixed power rifle scope that will beat a quality variable high mag scope today.... from 6X to 36X.

I have never looked through a variable spotting scope eyepiece that will touch a fixed mag of equal magnification of the same quality/manf.

Simple...

Jerry