Air rifle scope

German pointer

I bought a 177 PCP air rifle and I'm torn as to what scope to put on it. I like FFP scopes but I'm open to suggestions for the Airmax or similar.
Mainly small vermin control.

lefthooker

The Airmax is a very good scope for pcp, rimfire and even small centrefire.
I have the 4-16 model. Used to be on my pcp. Optically very good, the AMX reticle is ideal for air rifles and the adjustments are precise and true. Only gripe I have is the clicks aren’t as solid or sure as more expensive brands.
I’m currently using a Hawke Frontier 3-15x50 on the pcp. Also optically very good , nice reticle and precise solid clicks. Only thing the frontier has over the Airmax IMO is being ffp.

extremetaz

I'm going to take from it that you're not happy to throw just anything on there, so as long as we're being fussy about things here's my recommendations (based on experience with 22 and 177 PCP's) with the caveat that the combination of these features on its own is both rare and generally expensive so pick and chose as you feel appropriate.

1) Go for something with either turrets or a reticle with subtensions (ie: not duplex etc..) - like any other subsonic round they're loopy projectiles and you'll need to be able to dope or correct your point of aim accurately for success at varied ranges.

2) You'll also want something with side focus down to ~30m or less as the depth of field for any given focal distance at those closer ranges will mean that parallax will plague you otherwise. Without it you'll regularly only have either your target or your reticle in focus, and that disparity between the focal planes of each will mean that any shift in head position will lead to a change in PoI. Academically people will tell you that change won't be much, but when you're talking about vermin size targets at 35m with a 4.5mm projectile - it can amount to enough to make a difference. ...and I do mean side focus - AO is only a pain in the balls at short ranges, don't do it!

3) Sheds are dark, and yards can be dull on cloudy days so you want good light gathering - wider tube is better, 25mm+ recommended. (I don't like wide front lenses and don't tend to consider anything over 45mm but that a personal thing)

4) Keep the mag low - my biggest complaint with my old varmint was that 6x was way to tight. I'd go for something with no more than 3x at the back end and less is better.

5) I'd recommend matched units - trying to dope a mildot read with MOA turrets is invariably a pain in the balls. So look for something mil-mil or moa-moa.

After that it's all quality related stuff like repeatability, glass standard, shock resistance, etc... and that all comes with money so it's purely down to what you can afford for those bits.

Like yourself, I enjoy FFP scopes, but I don't know of many budget ones unfortunately, and that's even without considering any of the above; but then I'm not a subscriber to the whole 'too much scope' argument either (and besides, a good scope will stay with you so they're not something I tend to feel bad about spending on) so I've never looked much at that end of the market.

Hawke Vantage 3-12x44 €
Hawke Frontier 30 1-6x24 €€ (No SWAT but super low mag so ok)
Nikon Monarch 3 3-12x42 Side focus €€
Nikon Force XR 2.5-8x28 Matte BDC €€ (No SWAT but ~low enough mag)
Viper HS LR 2.5-10x32 FFP XLR €€€ (see what I mean about FFP?)
Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42 SFP €€€ (solely as it's the same money as the above)

Those all meet the above to varying degrees.. I had to go all the way to the Bushnell LRHS to get all of it, and that's likely a bit more than you're thinking about.

German pointer

That's a comprehensive piece that's well thought out. Whatever I chose it will be matching ret and turrets probably mil mil as my other 3scopes are all mil mil in FFP and no point changing now. My 14 year old also wants her name on the license and I think FFP will be better for her.
I have a Falcon 4-18x 44 on my .22lr and I might steal that for a while and see how it goes. Another option I had been looking at was the Hawke sidewinder in FFP. I've a budget of about €500. I'm not in a big rush as I'm still waiting for a serial number from the RFD

extremetaz

Sidewinder is a crackin' scope for the money - always has been. Very hard to beat.
Wasn't aware of that FFP version and looking at it now I see it's mil-mil as well!

She's a big girl and the back end is a bit on the tight side but hell of a package for the money nevertheless.

The falcon I've not had the pleasure of using but have heard nothing but good things about them.

German pointer

Irish shooting sports have a offer on the FFP sidewinder at €445 for the 4-16x50 and €460 for the 6-24x56

German pointer

I finally went with this. Hawke Frontier in 5-30X50 SFP, picked it up here on the for sale section. I'll give it a whirl for a while and see how I get on. With a SAK mod it's whisper quite.

Vegeta

extremetaz wrote: »

3) Sheds are dark, and yards can be dull on cloudy days so you want good light gathering - wider tube is better, 25mm+ recommended. (I don't like wide front lenses and don't tend to consider anything over 45mm but that a personal thing)

Very good post, just had a question on this. I can't recall where I picked this up but does tube diameter impact light transmission? I thought it was primarily to allow more space for internal lenses to move and give more MOA or Mil adjustments.

German pointer

IIRC the bigger the tube diameter as you said the more space for dialing in and out. I don't think 25mm tube has more light gathering capabilities than a 30mm (well enough that would matter or be noticeable to me) but I'm open to correction on this.

Vegeta

German pointer wrote: »

IIRC the bigger the tube diameter as you said the more space for dialing in and out. I don't think 25mm tube has more light gathering capabilities than a 30mm (well enough that would matter or be noticeable to me) but I'm open to correction on this.

Yeah did a bit of googling after and the above seems to be the consensus. It matters a very small amount but tube diameter is mainly for adjustments. Some articles were old though (Swarovski one from 2013) so maybe times have moved on.

extremetaz

Vegeta wrote: »

Very good post, just had a question on this. I can't recall where I picked this up but does tube diameter impact light transmission? I thought it was primarily to allow more space for internal lenses to move and give more MOA or Mil adjustments.

German pointer wrote: »

IIRC the bigger the tube diameter as you said the more space for dialing in and out. I don't think 25mm tube has more light gathering capabilities than a 30mm (well enough that would matter or be noticeable to me) but I'm open to correction on this.

I'll try and find my source material but I had read that the tube diameter was quite important in this regard; and that it also, quite aside, has implications for the eye-box and exit pupil diameter. It's been a while since I read it but I'll see if I can find it again.

*edit: After some searching about it would indeed appear that I have fallen foul of one of the more common misconceptions alright - tube size does not inherently influence light transmission or exit pupil diameter. Apologies all.

Vegeta

Hey folks, coming back to this thread.

Any recommendations for something with side parallax, focus down to 25 yards/metres, has a useable reticle for hold overs and dialable turrets. Anything that can reach 8 power mag is fine and 25mm would also be grand. Would prefer mil/mil but would use anything to be honest

extremetaz

Hawke sidewinder has been considered I assume?

Vegeta

extremetaz wrote: »

Hawke sidewinder has been considered I assume?

The sidewinder would be ideal from a features perspective, but I am not a fan of the new elevation turret, anyone any experience with it?

Vegeta

Vegeta wrote: »

The sidewinder would be ideal from a features perspective, but I am not a fan of the new elevation turret, anyone any experience with it?

Actually the Airmax FFP looks great too, chances of finding someone on this island who stocks that model...............................

tikkamark

Optisan Eve are an excellent air rifle scope very clear brilliant with nv and a very good price

Vegeta

tikkamark wrote: »

Optisan Eve are an excellent air rifle scope very clear brilliant with nv and a very good price

They do look like a really nice option, reticles are lovely too. Seem to be available pretty readily in the UK. With Brexit import crap, know any dealers here with em in stock? (long shot I know)

JP22

Vegeta wrote: »

They do look like a really nice option, reticles are lovely too. Seem to be available pretty readily in the UK. With Brexit import crap, know any dealers here with em in stock? (long shot I know)

Try NI, if I'm correct there are no tariffs for over boarder trade/shopping.

tikkamark

Vegeta wrote: »

They do look like a really nice option, reticles are lovely too. Seem to be available pretty readily in the UK. With Brexit import crap, know any dealers here with em in stock? (long shot I know)

I got mine just before Christmas there at a sale price of £150 delivered From optics warehouse...i wouldn’t imagine the customs would be too severe on it.
Hell of a package for the money very smart box sunshade flip up covers and scope coat.
I’ve had a hawke sidewinder and this optisan is streets ahead image wise,you can tell it was purpose built for a pcp as its max parallax tops out at just over 100y but focuses right down to 5yards which for me was very important for the rat shooting as it can get very up close and personal lol!

tikkamark

Check out a-m bushcraft and hunting on YouTube he uses his on a hw100 paired up with a pard 007 and gets great results on the rats.....I can confirm the image through the pard is top class with the optisan really really crisp and a lovely reticule too.

Peppa Cig

Another vote for optisan here for pcp. Great scopes. Crystal clear.

I think Optics Warehouse are now shipping VAT free to Ireland due to Brexit so you won’t get stung with VAT twice.

Vegeta

Peppa Cig wrote: »

I think Optics Warehouse are now shipping VAT free to Ireland due to Brexit so you won’t get stung with VAT twice.

All orders outside the UK suspended since the 16th.........feck