too much scope?

Having more magnification available is never a bad thing, but often times the mirage can make the higher end unusable. The other drawback, IIRC, is that generally speaking higher magnification scopes have less available internal adjustment. If you are using it for hunting you also may want to consider that a higher magnification may make it harder to find your target in the scope, or make a shot on a moving animal.

Most of the people that I shoot F-Class with have a minimum of 32x, with many at 42x, and a few at 50x. The high end range may have as much to do with the scope manufacturer as anything; the 42x are all Nightforce.
 
Ya at 50x you can see your pulse jiggle the scope around from a bench. Nerves of steel are a must for high magnification scopes.
The OP uses the term x50 though not 50x......POWERWAGON, do you mean 50x magnification or x50mm objective lens?
-ie: 3-9x32 is a 3x to 9x magnification with a 32mm lens dia.
Larger dia lenses help with light gathering capability/image clarity and field of view but due nothing for Magnification per say.
 
for me any more then 25 is to much my favorite for tac matches or field work is the Nightforce 3.5/15
 
There is a limit to how much magnification you can get from a given objective size. If the glass is cheap it will be worse. At 50X magnification you'd need a very big hole to get a decent image. I have a 6-24X40 4200. It's a good scope but I'd say its limit is in reality about 18X, any more and the image gets too dark. I've never held a really high end scope but I would guess that even they would have problems getting enough light to the eye at 50X. Maybe the 60mm objective found on a few scopes would allow a useful 50X magnification. I doubt even 60mm would cut it though in all but the brightest conditions. If I'm not mistaken there is an equation to establish objective to max magnification. It takes focal length, objective size, and magnification to establish the max useful magnification. You can find the math online and even some calculators. Keep in mind that it's for telescopes for astronomy so the useful mag for a rifle scope is prob a bit higher since it's for day use.
 
If your just planning on LR target shooting, try a high mag scope and I bet you won't settle for less.
My nightforce rarely comes off 42x.
Different scopes for different jobs.......
 
With high mag scopes your internal elevation is usually quite limited, to 50 minutes. Even with a canted rail that doesn't get you vary far. I have a couple 6-24x50 sightrons with with a 100 minutes elevation that I rarely take over 18x and I shoot a mile quite often.. I've even used a 10x out that far. For me mag isn't a big deal I'm not trying to see holes in paper at 500 yards. Figure out what it is going to be used for and put all the money you can into it. Just my 2 cents.
 
No one would shoot long range with a fixed 50 magnification. The knowledgeable shooter will have a variable power that he can dial through various situations of light and conditions. I once encountered a daytime condition that I illuminated my Nightforce reticle to centre on the target. Learning how to use what you have can be just as important as what you buy.
 
Depends on quality of glass, Sightrons no problem dialing up to max on my SIIB 24x and S3 32x. On my cheaper 22LR scopes anything over 18x to max 24x is blurry.

At 32x don't need spotting scope out to 300m.
 
scopes

Mike G said:
With high mag scopes your internal elevation is usually quite limited, to 50 minutes. Even with a canted rail that doesn't get you vary far. I have a couple 6-24x50 sightrons with with a 100 minutes elevation that I rarely take over 18x and I shoot a mile quite often.. I've even used a 10x out that far. For me mag isn't a big deal I'm not trying to see holes in paper at 500 yards. Figure out what it is going to be used for and put all the money you can into it. Just my 2 cents.
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I have a 8 x 32 x 56 n/f a 6.5 x 20 x 50 ziess and a 6500 bushnell and I usually use somewhere between 20 - 24 power that being said my brother has shot 1830 with 10 power and he has the option of going up to 30x
 
well i've been reading here for a while. i'm gonna start building my rifle (700, 308), and i've got a budget of ~$3k for glass.

i figure i'll drop the most money i can afford on quality optics. that way it all me and not the scopes fault. plus of if need to sell it, the scopes don't seem to loose to much in money compared to cheap glass.

i'm going to learn to shoot at ~200m, but i know of a few places that i can stretch that out to 1km. what scopes would you guys recommend? i was looking at the Schmidt & Bender PMII 12-50x56. thoughts?
 
P0WERWAGON said:
for long distance shooting, are x50 scopes good? i see alot of guys running just x25 scopes. any reason?
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Lets say the max usable scope has 50mm objective. Human eye can adjust its pupil from 2 to 7mm as an average. So during the maximum light available (full sun) the maximum power usable will be 25x b/c 50mm divided by 2mm equals 25x. This is a optical law that can not be reason with, any more power than 25x in scope with 50mm objective (at 100% light transmission) will transfer substandard light to the eye and target will appear darker than natural with no exemptions....act accordingly when buying the scope. My 2 cents....
 
P0WERWAGON said:
well i've been reading here for a while. i'm gonna start building my rifle (700, 308), and i've got a budget of ~$3k for glass...

i was looking at the Schmidt & Bender PMII 12-50x56. thoughts?
Click to expand...

If you want the absolute best you're looking in the right spot, but you may want to consider how much incremental benefit you're going to get over an $1800 Nightforce or even a $1k Sightron SIII.

You could buy a decent 700, a very nice Sightron, and still shoot for a year for the cost of the S&B.
 
For the cost/quality/brightness I went with a Nightforce BR,8-32X56.If there is too much
mirage lower magnification.

My range is only 200 m and I don't need a spoting scope.A plus.

I have a Mueller Target 8-32X44 that is GREAT for the price.You can't beat it...But supposely it's a cheap scope...It's tracking better than my Leupold BR 36X???
 
Sightron SIII 6-24X50 for LR plinking and we shoot a very long ways out.

Sightron SIII10-50X60 for my F class shooting. mag is additive for paper punching. Being able to see and adjust your POI 1/2" at 1000m is important for me.

Alot use the SIII8-32X56 and it does make a nice middle ground but I prefer to be more specific in my applications.

Jerry
 
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