TargetTalk

I'm getting ready to shoot my 1st "any sight " match this weekend with my new gun. It will be at 50 and 100 yds. I'm curious as to what the big boys use as far as scope power if shooting scope for any sight matches. I have a 36X Weaver T-36 that I tried tonight. Results were good but the eye relief is kinda crappy and eye position has to be perfect. Do people use 9, 12, 16, 24, 36 X scopes ???

Thanks in advance

20X is what I have on mine.

I am using an 8.5 - 25 x 50 Leupold with a .370 dot. It works great. I can see the target and the mirage.

Howard

HPitts - What magnification do you set your scope at 50 yds ? At 100 yds ? My Weaver T-36 has a 1/8 MOA target dot which I like a lot but I think that maybe a 36X scope might be a little much.

If I could not get a Leupold 45× Target scope (never going to happen) then my second choice would be Weaver T36 or Sightron 36×44. I have the Sightron as the Weaver was not available via the official importers at the time (I like the idea of proper backup on new purchases and shipping a scope over 4× mag overseas, even for repair, technically needs an export licence, which needs the same paperwork as a multi billion pound jet fighter!). I also have an old Optimate 36×44 scope also with the 1/8th min dot which is almost identical to the T36. I used these for BR but did use an old Tasco/Hawke 10-40×50 scope for some any sights prone before I started on the BR game, that was at 40× as at 100 yards you can see the scoring rings and other printing clearly, which I find is still the case at 36 but not at 24. Of course at those magnifications you have to be sure that you are actually aligned on your own target, I found the FoV at 100 yards on the NSRA target was about the size of the scoring rings.

Alan

For 50/100 yard my preference is for a 25X with a big dot (Leupold Silhouette). I have tried higher and lower powers with a smaller dot but the big 3/8 MOA dot has been my favorite. I thought it would be too big when I switched to it but after one card I never wanted to go back. So much easier to see, especially in conditions that strain the eyes. The Field of View is such that I can read the mirage to the side of the target while aiming, which really helps in switchy conditions.

It seems that most (but not all) that try the bigger dot prefer it. And I think a lot of people over magnify. At 25X I can hold where I want in the X-ring without magnifying the shake from every red blood cell that passes through my body! I would probably go to a lower power before I went higher.

Justin Tracy

First, I and most of these posts kind of assume you are shooting prone.

I am in the 20X-25X camp with a larger dot. Justin Credible mentioned the 3/8 minute dot.

Too much magnification and you cannot see anything but target and can miss changes in conditions also things can get very dark in poor lighting conditions.

For 50 yard/meter and 100 yard prone a person can easily go down to 16X and still not miss much.

The big ol 3/8 Dot that Justin likes is my favorite too, easy to see and fits nicely on a bullet hole at 50 yards.

My 2 cents

'Dude

For prone, I love my Weaver T24 with a 1/2 MOA dot. To get the proper eye relief, I use an Anschütz rail: http://jga.anschuetz-sport.com/index.ph ... hoerID=808

I use Conus, the more you can magnify the better. Reason is simple, you can always reduce magnification, but you can never increase it after it tops out when you really need it.

The main reason for having the super magnification lens is because I want to see if I double tap. That require maximum magnification so you literally can see the projectile hole very clearly to determine if you double tap or not; also it will give you some idea if you truly score one more point because the hole itself never did touch the line of the next ring. You will know it is either eagle eye time when you take the target back, or you know you will not need eagle eye because you already figure out that it made it to the next ring.

I've use the 25x Leupold FX-3 scope they sell for silhouette. I had a 1/10min target dot reticle put in by the Leupold custom shop. I like the light-weight and simplicity of a fixed power scope. I do think that 25x is probably too high a magnification for prone. Unfortunately there really isn't any lower magnification fixed power options in quality target scopes out there.

I've got a very old Leupold 10x target scope I've used with some success in the past. It does have the monster sized target dot reticle which I'm not so crazy about. Too old to get a new reticle in it though. A Weaver T-16 or such would probably be optimal.

Eric U

Dave,

I leave the power at 25x for both 50 and 100 yards.

Howard

I use a 6.5 to 26x 30mm tube Weaver scope with an Anschutz rail. It was inexpensive by scope standards, has 1/8 MOA and I have shot well with it. I use max magnification. I respectfully suggest setting up your position to get perfect eye relief then marking cheek position on your cheekpiece to get repeatability. After I did this I shot my first prone 400 at 50 yds. Hope that helps. Got rid of my eye relief and scope shadow. Thx.

@ Eric U

A 1/10 MOA dot sounds like it would be barely visible from just the crossing of the crosshairs.

Are your crosshairs superfine or is the dot really just barely discernible from them?

'Dude

conradin wrote:I use Conus, the more you can magnify the better. Reason is simple, you can always reduce magnification, but you can never increase it after it tops out when you really need it.

The main reason for having the super magnification lens is because I want to see if I double tap. That require maximum magnification so you literally can see the projectile hole very clearly to determine if you double tap or not; also it will give you some idea if you truly score one more point because the hole itself never did touch the line of the next ring. You will know it is either eagle eye time when you take the target back, or you know you will not need eagle eye because you already figure out that it made it to the next ring.

I think the penalties of the high magnification outweigh any potential benefit. The extra movement that you see can cause havoc with your hold and execution. I think this is a big reason why some people shoot worse with scope than with irons. The reduced field of view hurts your ability to read conditions. The higher the magnification the lower the amount of light reaching your eyes. This can really hurt you in low-light conditions and it is only worse with the low-quality optics found in many scopes. To compensate they put bigger objectives on the high power scopes, which adds weight and cost, especially if they want large good optics. I was surprised to see how much darker a 36X power scope (same manufacturer with a larger objective and tube) was compared to my 25X.

It's important to remember that higher magnification does not always mean higher resolution. A lower power scope with good optics will show you much more detail than a high power scope with low-end optics. I can make out even very tight doubles at 100 yards virtually every time at 25X. Calling the score of a close shot is harder but it also doesn't matter while I am shooting. I don't care if a close shot is a 9 or a 10 while I shoot as it has no bearing on the firing of the match, I just care to make the next shot an X. Knowing it was a wide shot, and using that informattion to verify NPA, conditions, etc. is all that matters. Knowing it was scratching the 10 line or just missing the 10 line does not help in that regard. I'll wait until I change targets to make my call so I know if I should challenge later or not.

Even at 25X with a big dot I can tell if my hold is centered and I can hold halfway out to the edge of the X, on the X-line, or anywhere else I might want to hold. Seeing the detail of the movement is not of any help, trying to snap a shot while the crosshairs are coming across the center of the X ring is not good. Seeing my hold is centered on the X ring while the crosshairs are wandering around it and executing a clean shot will get me a lot more X's. You can see this at very low magnifications with a light level that will fatigue your eyes less.

Justin Tracy

I used a Redfield 3200 20x with a 3/4 minute dot for over 30 years in prone for 50/100. I think that I might have been one of the only top shooters to use a large dot (>1/4 minute). I liked that I never had a problem seeing it and my hold was so bad that I just used an "area" hold anyway.

I'm really appreciating all the input guys. It's very helpful. I had a feeling that I was overpowered scope wise with the T-36. My hold is pretty good but there is still so much wobble at that magnification that it becomes very distracting and tiring. Anybody want to trade a 20 or 25X scope for an almost brand new, mint T-36 ? :-)

I have both a Leupold 25X and 30X FX-3. Both with 3/8 min dot. I had used a Weaver T-24 for many years with a 3/8min dot. I just wanted a change.

Like others have said, I like straight power scopes as they are lighter and have less things to go wrong. I shot with both scopes this summer but actually preferred the 30X and used that most of the season.

I did shoot a 1600 with a T-16 that had a 3/4 min dot too, so there are many ways to get to where you want to go.

Try a few, pick one and stick to it.

My target dot is small, as are the crosshairs. It sticks out better than I thought it would. I've never had a problem losing the dot. The reason I went with the 1/10 min dot is they were out of 1/8 min dots for about 6 months but they had the 1/10min in stock. Works fine.

Eric U

I use a Weaver T-36 with a 1/8th MOA dot. I personally like the power, but I have never used anything less than 36. I don't feel that it hinders me at this point.
Matt