[Paul S.]

Just got a b-square mount for my standard mini-14, wondering what would be a nice low-end scope for it. I've never owned or used a scope so any suggestions welcome, including on installing the mount.

thanks,

Paul

 

[Aldo]

Whatever you buy,make sure it has a 100% repair policy.Mini's are famous for shaking scopes apart.For the money look at Leapers,Simmons,Tasco.Try to keep it a smaller sized compact scope.Also look at shotgun scopes,they are ussally smaller in size ,but have a 50 yard parrallex"no big deal,unless you plan to shoot the mini at 250+ yards".Also checkout air rifle scopes that have been made to take heavy 2 way recoil and have a AO.I like the Leapers scopes that are setup for AK47,SKS mounting.Both are auto's and are tough on scopes too.I have a POV Russian 4X32 mounted on my mini,and have not had any problems with it after 600+ rounds.But I have a S&K mount and heavy duty Weaver rings"Type that use 4 allen head capscrews per mount.Rings were made for 44 mag+ handgun.And I used liquid rubber on inside of rings."Electricans use this for insulating electrical connections,3M makes it"Just my $.02 Aldo

 

[Paul S.]

Thanks for your input, Aldo. What about variable magnification scopes (zoom)? Are these a good idea?

 

[KING]

I know you want a reasonably priced scope and the one's mentioned in the previous posts are excellent. I ended up going the other way. I bought a Leatherwood Art II Scope from Sportsman's Guide. It has a glass etched reticle and not one made out of wire. So far it has worked wonderfully and hasn't let me down and the plus is it's a range estimating scope as well and multi powered. Try www.leatherwoodoptics.com. It will tell you more about their scope. It's allways nice to shop around!

 

[Grinch]

Just a quick scope question:
What is parallax?
Thanks,
Grinch

 

[Aldo]

Parrallex is a scopes reticule looking out of focus compared to the main picture at varying ranges.IE. You are looking at a deer at 300 yards,deer looks clear,but crosshairs look fuzzy.Most people will not even notice it unless they are told about it.AO is adjustable objective,its ussally a ring on the front bell of the scope that you can set the range to the object you are shooting at to avoid parrallex problems.Most varmit,or air rifle scopes have a AO."very close and very far ranges "Moet Russian or northern european made scopes have a etched glass recitcile.My VOMZ and POV and Metiopia do"Russian and Check made" do.hope this helps"Aldo P.S. leatherwood was made by Metiopia by the Checks for about a 5 year peroid.As ussaul please for give my lack of spelling.

 

[cajungeo]

Paralax is when the reticule appears to be on target, but not. Moving your head back, and forth, the reticule apears to move off, on, off target. Most rifle scopes are set to be paralax free at 100 yds. behond this it begins to be a factor. Scopes with AO (Adjustable Objective Lens) allows the shooter to adjust to compensate for the paralax. The AO is on the business end of your rifle scope. In the eye piece assy. is the ocular lens. This assy, can rotate for focus of the reticule (cross hairs). By rotating it the shooter can adjust the sharpness of the reticule. The objective lens size is in milimeters. My scope has a 40mm obj.and it leaves about 1/8" clearence to the Handguard. My Leupold 3-9x40 scope is a hunting scope and does not have an AO. The AO seems to be more for the tacticle/target/varmint scopes. My leupold was $179 at Academy sports. Warrantied for life. I highly recommend installing a smaller gas bushing. Before I installed mine, my mini would buck the scope off in 10 shots, even locktited. Now my leupold has a smooth ride on the minis back. There is also a thing called eye relief. Poor eye relief, means you have to put your eyeball real close to the scope to see thru it (OUCH!), a generous eyerelief means It is more forgiving and you can set it more forward if you like. So you can see for consistant shots a consistant cheek weld is important. Now you know everything I know about rifle scopes.

 

[Grinch]

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[Aldo]

What Cujo says is true,but I differ with the AO.4 of my scopes with AO have a ring mounted on the front bell thats marked in yards varying from 10 to 1000.I know some scopes have a side mounted rear AO.Aldo

 

[Kalifornia Citizen]

CG,
Do scopes have a spec for eye relief? My $400 Leupold is a little particular about where it's mounted. Since you brougt up the subject, I wonder if a scope can be more universal with respect to eye relief.

My Leupold is great, I've already proved it's waterproof on hunts and the range when I was soaked to the bone. I like it, and it's adjusted for my armlength/shoulder.

I borrowed my uncle's rifle last year and had ahellofatime getting a picture because it was adjusted for him.

I guess my question is: Does eye relief have to suffer for magnification or range?

Thanks,
KC

 

[cajungeo]

Thanks Aldo, I thought all scopes with an Adjustable Objective were on the front of the scope, didn't know there were any on the side. They must have the adjustment oposite the windage knob? Kalifornia, my leupold manual says to adjust the eye relief i.e. slide the scope foward or aft using your normal cheek weld with the scope set on the HIGHEST magnification, as there is less eye relief on the HIGHEST setting than on the LOWEST. ITs like you said Your cheek weld being different i.e. more fwd or aft, than your uncles, and thats why you had a hard time with his. I was looking at spotting scopes. I looked at a tasco 20-50 x50 for $54. the eye relief oas so poor I had to put my eye ball right against the occular lense to even see thru in, I didn't buy it. I also looked at a leupold 15-45-60. It had about 3/4 inch, much better especially if ya wear specs. So some brand of scopes have more relief than others, also it seems the higher the magnification the less the eye relief.

 

[Aldo]

Hi again,I know you'll Leupold fans,but there are some other brands that are very good also.The best newbe I have seen by far is the Sightron,Tasco"the top of line World class only",IOR Vadila,uses Karl Zeiss lens coating system"As good as most Kahles.S&B""If you want to checkout optics go to a 600 yard rifle match.You'll see more brands than you existed"At least I saw some I didn't know about"Most the shooters off the line will be glade to give you there opion and let you look thru there scopes to see what you like.Same with a big dealer.Hope this helps

 

[Savary]

SWAT magazine recently recommended the Bushnell Turkey Scope. "the Bushnell had optics that looked as clear as expensive scopes, smooth controlls, and designed in the US"
It runs about $100. You should be ably to find it on the Bushnell web site. This scope was highly recomended.

 

[Aldo]

I am going to post a few intresting links on optics.I claim to be only a shooter ,not any kinda expert.1st most scopes are made overseas.2nd a Russian POSP 4X24 sidemount scope wieghs a ton,but optics are fairly good,has a eteched glass reticlue,and can take a Draganov 7.62X54R semi-auto rifles recoil all day long without falling apart,and they are cheap,mainly because the Russians need cash bad. www.cruffler.com did a review of the POSP a few months back.I don't know if they are backup and running yet.Look at the following links and see if you don't see the scopes that some US manufactures have had sub-contracted out?? www.sibiroptics.com,www.bcioptics.com,www.meopta.com,www.valdada.com,www.kalinkaoptics.com,www.izhmash.ru/eng/,www.nightvisionweb.com hope this helps and gets you thinking.As always sorry for spelling.Aldo

 

[Aldo]

links ran together I'll try again.I will not put the WWW. in front of them to hope that they don't run together izhmash.ru./eng/ and .meopta.com and valdada.com and .kalinkaoptics.com and .nightvisionweb.com and the Chinese megaoptics .bcioptics.com .Sorry for the F^&*up. Aldo

 

[Paul S.]

Couple more questions:

1) Is it correct that the greater the eye relief value the better? e.g. 75mm more comfortable than 65 mm? 3 in. better than 2.5 in?

2) In a 3-9X40 scope, I understand the first part, zoom magnification of 3 to 9 times. But what exactly does 40mm mean? What is the difference between a 40mm and a 50mm?

Thanks,

P.

p.s. What do you guys think of this scope?: http://www.tascosales.com/products_display...AME=Riflescopes

 

[cajungeo]

Hey Paul,
1. yes, yes, yes ( this is the distance your eyeball has to be to the ocular lens (eye piece) to get the full amount of light to fill the lens.

2. The 40mm means the objective lens (front lens) is 40 mili-meters in diameter, but the 50 mm is too big for the mini, it will hit the hand guard unless you get high rings. All else being equal i.e. the lens quality, magnification, tube size, and coatings, the bigger the objective lens the greater the amount of light the shooter sees. Some articles I've read say scope manufactures are playing the big numbers game. There is the law of diminishing returns. Your eye is capable of only detecting a certain amount of light, before the iris contrats, limiting the excess light to the pupil. In low light a scope can't allow more light in than there is, unless you have a starlite scope which amplifies light. I've had a 3-9x32mm bushnell, and leupold 3-9x40mm. The leupold has a larger objective, better lens coatings, and better quality lens so the leu is much brighter, and sharper than the bush. If ya get a chance to go to a gun show, or even a gun shop. Pick up some scopes and check em out. Its always better to see before ya buy. There are some good cheep scopes. Sorry if ya fell asleep during the lecture. Was probably more of the same ya already know.

 

[Paul S.]

Excellent, excellent info...thanks!

 

[Paul S.]

Well I went ahead and bought a Tasco 3-9x40 scope ( http://www.tascosales.com/products_display...AME=RIFLESCOPES ). It should be enough for my purposes at this time, and more important, if fit my budget! (total was $55.00 shipped, at the Outdoor Center). Anybody ever try this scope? Any thoughts?

Thanks to all,

P.

 

[joe2hewes]

If you are using the ranch integral rings, it won't fit unless you file quite a bit off of the hand guard. 36mm is the biggest you can go with no alteration. Good thing about these scopes.... Walmart sells them.
Take it out and put it through hell. If it can't take it.... back to Walmart. No shipping. No waiting. No return authorization #'s, etc. Lemme know how it held up. Good luck!
Joe