Using a rifle scope on a pellet rifle

J

jhawes

Regular
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
21   0   0
Thanks to Justine Turd, i can no longer use and enjoy my .223 rifle which had a Nikon M-223xr scope mounted on it.

The Picatinny rail on my .22 Benjamin air rifle allows me to mount the Nikon scope but i have read that using a rifle scope on a pellet rifle is not recommended and can harm the scope?

Anyone have any further insite re this?

I know that using a $1,000 scope on a pellet rifle may not be the most economical use, but i have the scope surplus to my needs while the Turd still rules.

Jim
 
As I have read, the air rifles will have both a forward and backward recoil pulse - most "rifle" scopes are not built inside to handle the two directions of that pulse. It would be a sad thing to tear apart a $1,000 scope with an air rifle.

Of more concern would be the parallax, unless your scope has adjustable parallax down to the ranges that you would use the air rifle. You check for parallax by mounting the rifle on something solid, like sandbags - peer through the scope without bumping rifle, then move your head side to side or up an down. "parallax error" is when the cross hair and the focusing elements of the scope's main lenses are not in sync - as a result, it appears that the cross hair moves on the target as you move your head - very difficult to over come that sighting error. A scope can only be set "parallax free" at one distance at a time - you will have parrallax sighting error as your target gets further away from or closer than that one distance.

It is apparently related to, but not the same, as "focus" - typically the instructions tell you how to adjust the eye piece to get the cross hairs crystal clearly focused and sharp. The parallax adjustment is almost always done on the front objective lens, or lenses inside the scope, not at the eyepiece. But the two go together - sometimes being slightly out of focus reduces the parallax error; sometimes correct parallax adjustment appears to improve the focus.
 
Last edited:
Not sure about Nikon, but I contacted Leupold for the same reason. People told me I had to get an air rifle/pistol scope and yes the recoil would break traditional scopes.
This I couldn't understand as I've had Leupold and Bushnell on my 458 Win Mag and the Bushnell on 45-90 Ruger #1 using heavy loads. We're talking monster recoil with no effect to the scopes after 1000's of rounds.
Leupold confirmed their scopes would handle air rifle recoil. If you're not sure about the Nikon - email them with your concerns, but I'll bet they'll say its OK.
 
I have an old Bushnell Sharpshooter fixed 4x on my Stoeger x20 22cal. Shot close to 1000 pellets. Haven't had any issues yet.
 
I could be wrong and it wouldn’t be the first time.

Look into the objective (front) lens of the scope you want to use on your Springer Air Rifle.

If you can see a large coil spring just inside the objective bell, your scope would most likely be useable on a sprinter.
 
Last edited:
Upgrade to a PCP :sniper:

airforce-condor-22-cal-w-spin-loc-tank.jpg
 
I have been using Bushnell 22 scopes on my springers for years with no issuses.

I think those 4x Bushnell's are pretty tough.

Don't expect too much precision from a rifle scope mounted on a springer. The scope is on the receiver and the barrel is on a hinge. No matter how good the manufacture there will be some play at that hinge.

If you can use the barrel mounted iron sights, you are going to get your greatest precision there.
 
Last edited:
To my understanding; heavy recoiling magnum springers can be hard on some older scopes. I believe this has become a myth in airgunning that only air rifle scopes should be used on air rifles. What CAN happen is loosening or shifting of the mount due to the back and forth movement. As mentioned above, parralax will be the bigger challenge.
 
The dual recoil is the problem. Powder burners recoil in one direction so most scopes are made for that, an airguns first recoil is hardly noticeable but the effect of the piston coming to a hard stop is in the opposite direction. On powerful springers its especially bad. Many top quality scopes can handle it but who wants to spend that much on a gun that may never even see use over 50yds.
My scopes are under $150 and have lasted years all are made for airguns and have AO and mildot. I wrecked a few cheap .22 scopes before I converted and the AO is the second most important feature for airgun ranges, mildote is next.
 
Is it a pal rated or ‘magnum’ springer rifle? I would think you would be ok for a sub 500 FPS airgun but I wouldn’t risk it for a $1000 scope myself. Less recoil on a lowered power airgun
 
Just my 2 cents........I like that reply from 1-trident-1, " betting 1G on the internet", pretty funny and perhaps true. Nikon is out of the scope business so I'm unsure about how to repair it if necessary, why the risk??? If it's a SUB 500 air rifle I'd bet $2 most any scope can handle it BUT WHY THE RISK?
I have a Diana 48 and it has Destroyed a couple of cheaper Air rated scopes within 100 shots. The recoil is just nasty. It now wears an Air rated scope from a company in Peterborough that specializes in air rifles. This one has lasted a few 1000 shots and for about $250 (?) I think it's pretty good.
Just for interest, I was at the range a couple of days ago and a guy had a PCP 25 cal shooting at 50 yards wearing a scope that is just south of $2000. He shot a FLY!!! AT 50!!
I went up to the target with him to verify. Yup.....fly guts plastered.
 
"just talking to Vortex" - you mean talking to someone at a call centre? Head of their Engineering Department? A sales person? Sort of goes to what it is worth...
 
Potashminer said:
"just talking to Vortex" - you mean talking to someone at a call centre? Head of their Engineering Department? A sales person? Sort of goes to what it is worth...
Click to expand...

I emailed Vortex tech earlier this year and got the same reply back in writing. I think Leupold started everything with their high end warrantee and the rest of the manufacturers had to step up their game and match it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom