How realistic is it to have one scope for all or most purposes?

I know a guy that swaps the same few scopes through rifles numbering into the hundreds. Although "Remington collector" may not be the only way to describe him, it sure fits in some instances. Many of his rifles are fitted with rails and with the aid of a Mark 4 and a note book he'll be happily shooting groups and working up damn good loads on yet another 700 with some tiny variation that would have to be pointed out to mere mortals.

Part of the reason for picatany rails existing is to allow the interchanging of scopes, perhaps in a battlefield. A turret scope that doesn't adjust first time everytime isn't even good for its normal use. If you expect it to dial up for a 1000 yard cold shot, why can't you believe in it for returning to a pre-determined zero?

An old Jack O'Conner book I had as a kid mentioned using one scope on two rifles, one sighted with the scopes internals and the other with the adjustable bases which were common in the old days. The idea of that somehow appeals to me; even if it doesn't really apply to today's gear. :)
 
Don't cheap out on the scope or the mounts... and don't cheap out on having it all assembled by some one who knows what they are doing.
 
Dogleg said:
An old Jack O'Conner book I had as a kid mentioned using one scope on two rifles, one sighted with the scopes internals and the other with the adjustable bases which were common in the old days. The idea of that somehow appeals to me; even if it doesn't really apply to today's gear. :)
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In the 60's Bosch & Lomb made a scope with no adjustment and the scope mounts had the adjustment built in them. Weird looking and a bit clumsy and they were discontinued due to lack of sales... That was over 55 years ago.
 
guntech said:
In the 60's Bosch & Lomb made a scope with no adjustment and the scope mounts had the adjustment built in them. Weird looking and a bit clumsy and they were discontinued due to lack of sales... That was over 55 years ago.
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I had one, came on a pre 64 Model 70 270 Win built by the Riverhurst Rifle Ranch. I even hunted with it a couple years, and my late wife sort of claimed it for awhile.

I wish I had them all back.
 
Aside from the logistical pain in the wiener that swapping scopes back and forth would be, they really don't fill your needs across the niches of your shooting. At least, they won't if you have a very diverse set of interests. Could I pull the 5.5-22 NXS off my 300 and put in on my 30-06 in place of the 2-7 Burris? Sure, but it wouldn't be super useful there. Could I take the same scope off the '06 and put it on my 6lb 7x57 in place of the 2.5x Leupold? Sure, but again, way not optimal. Put it on my gopher rifle? Could work reasonably well. Pu tit on my 416 Rigby in place of the Leupold 1.5-5x? Inordinately dumb.

So it depends how broad your shooting interests are. For me, there is too much breadth and not enough overlap of the Venn diagram to have it make any sense for me.
 
guntech said:
In the 60's Bosch & Lomb made a scope with no adjustment and the scope mounts had the adjustment built in them. Weird looking and a bit clumsy and they were discontinued due to lack of sales... That was over 55 years ago.
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I've got one of those. I believe the mounts were for a Husqvarna that the old man had. I'm sure it hasn't been on a rifle in 30 years.
 
Heatc, I thought 6-24x50 was hot shik until I got an 8-34x56 . . . and I still wish I'd gone to 40 or more. . . next Summer ?
 
So no one scope is not going to be suitable for everything. A benchrest scope is suitable for benchrest but not very useful for shooting deer at 50 yards in the woods. A 2x7 variable be great for hunting at close range but not very useful for benchrest shooting.

I recommend that you evaluate what do you want to be able to do with a rifle now and buy a scope that fits your needs now.
 
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