What to Look For When Buying a Rifle Scope

Are you looking into shooting rifles?

Whether you’re hunting or trying to improve your marksmanship, a rifle is one of the best guns available.

To make the most out of your rifle experience, you should buy an accompanying rifle scope. This is a device that helps you improve your aim when firing your rifle.

But how do you choose the best rifle scope? What are the criteria for choosing a rifle scope?

Here’s what you need to know:

The Type of Rifle Scope

The first step is to decide the type of rifle scope that you’ll need for your shooting goals.

For example, there are hunting scopes which work well for shooting game. You can choose long-range rifle scopes for target practice and improving your aim.

There are also rifle scopes that work for shooting at night and scopes that can be adjusted or have a fixed focus.

As a general rule, there are two categories that all rifle scopes fall under. These are Variable Scopes and Fixed Scopes. The former will have a variety of magnification options. The latter will only have one magnification option.

A variable scope is ideal if you shoot from a variety of ranges and you’re always on the go. The fixed scope is ideal if you only shoot from one range and you’re stationary.

Choosing Your Coating

When buying rifle scopes, you have to look at their coating. The coating of a rifle scope will help improve the scope’s clarity.

The four types of coating include coated, fully-coated, multicoated, and fully multicoated. For most shooters, a fully-coated scope is an ideal scope.

This type of scope makes it easier to absorb more light transmission. This is great for shooting outdoors and at night.

It’s also imperative that you choose a rifle scope that’s durable. You want to make sure it can handle long-term wear and tear.

You want to make sure that your rifle scope can last for several years. You also want to learn about the weather conditions that your rifle scope can handle.

Field of View

The next step is to look at the field of view of the rifle scope. This refers to how much of your surroundings you can see.

With a 6x scope, you can view your target in its full range as well as surrounding areas. This is ideal for shooting prey or shooting several targets from a wide distance.

On the other end, there’s a 24x scope. This lets you focus on one particular target while obscuring surrounding areas. For example, if you are hunting game and don’t want to be distracted by the surroundings, this is an ideal field of view.

When testing out your rifle scope, make sure that the field of view doesn’t cause “tunneling.” This is when the scope gives the impression of a tunnel surrounding the target. This is a poor quality field of view and one that you should avoid.

Receptacles

Next, you want to look at the receptacles which refer to the crosshairs you see within the scope. This helps make shooting much easier and can improve your accuracy.

The first type of receptacle is a duplex. It’s a simple one to use and is ideal for newcomers to rifle shooting. This is ideal if you want to focus on stationary target practice.

The mil-dot helps with estimating your target’s distance. This is often used by the military as well as law enforcement. If you’ve taken up shooting for self-defense, this might be the ideal receptacle for you.

The BDC receptacle works well for long-range shooters. This is a more advanced receptacle and only works if you’re an experienced shooter.

Eye Relief

This refers to the distance between your eye and the scope’s front lens. You have to choose an eye relief that’ll be comfortable to view your target from.

For some shooters, you’ll want a considerable distance. For others, you want your eye to be as close as possible to the front lens.

It’s also crucial to know that poor eye relief can cause damage to your eye. Make sure you test out the eye relief of a rifle scope before you commit to buying one.

You want to see if you can practice using a rifle scope in a controlled environment. It’s best to go to a gun range with a supervisor by your side. It’ll take time to understand the safety protocols of shooting with a rifle scope.

Once you do, you’re ready to buy your rifle scope! Don’t rush into the process and take your time before you settle on a rifle scope.

Buying Rifle Scopes

When buying rifle scopes online, you want to make sure you read descriptions and reviews in detail. For example, you can read more here about one of the best rifle scopes on the market today.

Make sure you choose a rifle scope that has overwhelming favorable reviews. You want to also look at the return policy when looking at rifle scopes online. You want to make sure you can return the scope if you aren’t pleased with the product.

If you can, go to your local gun range to see if you can test out different scopes. You can also ask your local gun shop owner for their recommendations on rifle scopes.

If you have a network of fellow rifle shooters, make sure you ask them what rifle scopes they use. Ask them if you can test out their rifle scopes. You want to make sure you choose the one that makes you comfortable.

Buy Your Rifle Scope

Now you’re ready to buy the best rifle scope for your needs. Make sure you follow the steps in this guide to assess the best rifle scope.

You can try to borrow or rent a rifle scope first to test it out with your rifle. You should assess if your shooting performance has increased before you settle on a scope.

Please share this guide with your fellow rifle enthusiasts. You can read more content on guns on our website!