Scopes for .22s

[Smokin Guns]

gram22
Member
Posts: 19
(12/14/02 10:49:29 am)
Reply Scopes for .22s
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Can you use a centerfire rifle scope on a rimfire? I have heard about certain types of scopes being damaged from putting them on the wrong kind of rifle. I was wondering this because I wanted to get a cheap centerfire rifle scope from Wal-Mart so that I had that extra magnification for long distance targets. By-the-way, I pick up my new Ruger 10/22 today, I will send you guys pictures when I get it adjusted to my standards.

LIKTOSHOOT
*TFF Senior Staff*
Posts: 6678
(12/14/02 1:59:41 pm)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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Almost any scope will work on a rim-fire, spend the most you can afford, then spend a little more.


LTS



kdub01
*TFF Senior Staff*
Posts: 1588
(12/14/02 5:41:27 pm)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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Good advice, LTS -

All my .22's have big scopes on them - don't like the limited view of the little .22 scopes. You should have no trouble finding the 1" rings to fit the smaller Weaver type bases or grooves for these rifles.


"Keep Off The Ridgeline"



procrastinator43
V.I.P. Member
Posts: 27
(12/14/02 11:02:33 pm)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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Supposedly regular scopes mounted on air rifles will not last very long. Something about the difference in recoil.

corpis66
Member
Posts: 3
(12/15/02 2:09:51 am)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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I use a simmons 4-12x40 (i believe)...prohunter...at first it was hard for me to get used to it. having 2 adj. knobs...the yardage thingy and the the 4-12 power...but after a while i realized i wouldn't have gotten anything lesser...for shooting .22 at 100yrds.

gram22
Member
Posts: 20
(12/15/02 9:42:32 am)
Reply Scopes for .22s
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Thank you guys, your advice means the world to me.

warpig883
*TFF Staff*
Posts: 5465
(12/15/02 8:38:46 pm)
Reply
ezSupporter
Re: Scopes for .22s
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Put the biggest centerfire scope on that 22 that you can. Make a rifle out of it.

Got a 3x9x40 on one of mine. A straight 6 power on another

Them itty bitty cheap 22 scopes are pretty much good for nuthin
In 49 states ignorance is a crime. In the other one it is bliss.

Zigzag2
*TFF Senior Staff*
Posts: 4877
(12/15/02 9:47:32 pm)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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What Warpig says...



Quote:
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"Tell the gossipers and liars I will see them in the fire" - Johnny Cash, Let the train whistle blow
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gram22
Member
Posts: 22
(12/15/02 11:26:23 pm)
Reply Scopes for .22s
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Well, I finally picked up my Ruger 10/22 from Wal-Mart layaway today. They sure make you go through a lot of forms and crap to get one of those things out of the store. When I got it home I found that they had included a weaver style scope mount that matches the stainless steel finish of the gun. One of the four screws was not there, but I'll live. I temporarily mounted a cheap red dot point sight on it that used to be on an old air-rifle. When I get that cash, I will probobly put a good sized centerfire rifle scope on it. When I am all done, I will post some pictures of the finished piece.

Zigzag2
*TFF Senior Staff*
Posts: 4880
(12/16/02 7:11:42 am)
Reply Re: Scopes for .22s
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it's amazing what you can do with a 10-22



Quote:
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"Tell the gossipers and liars I will see them in the fire" - Johnny Cash, Let the train whistle blow
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[ba_50]

A centerfire scope parallax is set at 100 or more yards. An adjustable objective takes care of it as far as I know.

I understand Weaver has good rimfire scopes. The V9 is a little pricey, over $200. The .22 rimfire parallax set about 50 yards.

[southernshooter]

I have mixed and matched them back and forth and forth and back. Never had any real problems other than not knowing that I couldn't put a regular set up on a SKS

[Tony Mig]

I was going to ask this same question, good thing I viewed a few threads first, and found this one.

When I purchased a scope for the Savage-Anshutz 141 I had, the guy at the gun shop told me a centerfire scope would not work on a rimfire because the .22Lr had too much drop, and the scopes weren't made to compensate for that much bullet drop, he insisted I buy a cheap Bushnell 4 X 32mm. I had a hard time seeing small targets out to 100 yards with that weak powered scope, and really didn't enjoy shooting the gun. I subsiquently traded that rifle in on another firearm, and now I'm regretting it, a better scope probably would have made a world of difference.

I'am now thinking about replacing that rifle with either another good quality bolt action, or maybe a 10/22T, and this time I'm thinking a Meuller APV scope, or something like it.

Thanks for the information in this thread.......

[Sylentsniper]

I may not Know much but If it were me I would probably put cheap 3-12x40-44 AO scope on a .22LR. It may not be Super High mAgnification but it is not really low so you can't see what you are aiming at.

[southernshooter]

With .22's if I am just using it on a plinker or Varmin gun I like the peep sights

[LIKTOSHOOT]

It depends on what you really want out of your .22.
I am demanding on any rifle, but more so on the .22, don`t ask why.
I am now thinking of a fixed 45x, I have a 36x fixed and a 32x variable-24x is the lowest.

I feel that most who shoot .22`s really don`t shoot them.
The .22 is so much under-rated by todays shooters, it still amazes me.
While I have finally converted to the hummer, I still like the WMR and LR and still believe it to be my favorite.
Where I am, it is a long range varmit getter from the front door.
Popping a crow at one hundred and sixty yards is common with a .22 lr at my place and done with a 24x scope and a old mossberg firing a CCI Stinger (these are not accuarate??) It must be the twenty six inch barrel.
Any power scope will work and if it has an AO that much better.

Like I said long back in this thread, buy the most scope you can afford, then spend a little more.


LTS

[Tony Mig]

Liktoshoot......

I like your advice about buying as much scope you can afford, I've been down the cheap scope road twice now, and I'm not doing it a third time.
I know the Savage-Anshutz I had could out shoot the cheap scope that was on it, I could only get it to adjust so far, and had to shoot everything just a little low, and right to hit dead center. Everytime I tried to tweek it to the cross hairs, it would throw my shots too far one way or the other, and it became aggravative to say the least.
Plus the fact that I'm closing in on 50 years old, and my eyesight ain't what it used to be, I want something with better magnification out to 100 yards. The last scope I had (4 X 32mm) was just enough to clearly see a clay pigeon sitting on the burm, but damn near impossible to see a brightly painted golf ball sitting on a tee. On a good day, whit the right light conditions, I have managed to hit a few of those golf balls, but as soon as a cloud rolled in, or the sun moved around, I couldn't focus them in well enough to consistently hit the little buggers....again, a better quality scope with better magnification would have corrected this issue.

I think the Bushnell Sharpshooter 4 X 32mm scope I had would have been just fine if I was only shooting at 50 yards, but my range dictates a 100 yard field of fire to avoid the possibility of bullets skipping over the burm, so in the words of Tim "The Toolman" Taylor.....I need more power......!!!!!

[GSL]

I am always amazed at the advice given at gunstores.
Any decent .22lr can benefit from a quality scope
with an AO. For general use I liked a
Weaver T10x.
GSL.

[Big Shrek]

I like the inexpensive CenterPoint Scopes that Walmart carries.

3-9x30 is $54 (great for .22lr's)
4-16x40 is $69 (Perfect for .22WMR's )

[Regular Joe]

I'm surprised this thread has gone this far, and no-one has had the insight to post MY opinion.
For the tasks that .22's are normally assigned, I think it's nearly impossible to go wrong with the Weaver K-6. Small, light, indestructible, bright, and you don't feel obligated to put duct tape over the brand About $140 at Midway. That's not cheap, but it's not a "cheap" scope. You'll never need to replace it.
If you want to stretch the limits of your rifle, there's no need to use anything but the Mueller APT. This one is rather more fragile, but it's probably the most "optical instrument" you can get for the money. It's not small either, beginning with the 30mm tube.

I find that the exposed turrets are very habit forming, and useful. Wind and distance changes with just about every outing for me, so the turrets are changed all the time. AO is spot on. Contrast and clarity are as good as the Burris scopes I used to run on my center fires. If you do a lot of shooting between 75~200 yards, get this scope, and don't look back.

[old semperfi]

i know i will have nay sayers on this but i use the tasco varmiter scopes and any of the tasco scopes with adjustable objective.the better ones are made in japan,but even the chinese arent bad.i get most of mine from ebay.bushnell also makes a 4x12 with an a.o. i hard case my rifles so knocking scopes around is not an issue. old semperfi

[LDBennett]

How scopes work and what they can be put on:

Scopes are telescopes. The common lower power ones like 3 to 9x and lower power ones are fixed focus. When you go to higher power the focus is adjustable and is commonly called an Adjustable Objective. High power scopes NEED an Adjustable Objective (AO) so the target can be focused perfectly (there is more to it than just the image clarity...later on that).

Centerfire scopes without AO are prefocused to about 150 yds for hunting. Rimfire scopes are prefocused to something more like 50 feet or 25 yds. When used at longer distances the target is fuzzy and you get parallax errors.

Parallax errors are seen in the scope as the target moving behind the cross hairs when the gun is fixed and you move your eye up and down or left and right across the rear of the scope. It is because your adaptive eye radiply changes focuses on both the cross hairs and the taget which appear on two different planes inside the scope. That error can cause your gun to shoot to a place different than you aimed unless you keep you eye exactly centered in the field of view. The parallax error is removed when the AO focuses the target and the target then appeas on the same plane as the cross hairs.

If your requirements for a rimfire scope is from 50 feet to 100 yds (or more) then you need one with AO. Some rimfire scopes in the 3 to 9X have AO. Lower power rimfire scopes usually don't have AO as the parallax and focusing error is miniscule at lower powers.

If you choose a centerfire scope without AO that has more than about 6X then you may suffer errors is aiming caused by the parallax error at distances other than the long distance those scopes are prefocused for. The same is true if you buy a higher power non-AO rimfire scope and try to use it at longer ranges.

The solution is to buy either a rimfire or centerfire scope with AO. It works in all situations. A nice 3 to 9X with AO gives you the best of all worlds. A AO rimfire scope will almost always focus to closer distances than a centerfire AO scope. The rimfire scopes with AO usually allows you to adjust them to short ranges than AO centerfire scopes but it really depends on the scope of choice. All AO rimfire scope adjust down to 50 feet where as most centerfire scopes with AO usually only adjust down to 50 yards.

The most scope for the least money that I have found, and I have scopes from all the major manufacuters including Burris and Leopold, is the Bushnell Trophy series of scopes. I see little difference in the image and the Bushnells are well made and rugged. I do not recommend the lesser Bushnells because I have no experience with them. In recent years the Burris and Leopolds have just risen in price to a point that I really don't want or need to spend that much. My several Trophy's work very well indeed and the new XLT reticule makes hold over for long ranges much easier.

Hope this helps.

LDBennett

[LDBennett]

I forgot to mention that here are also air gun scopes which have special reticules supported to take recoil those guns dish out. Their recoil is in both direction because of the moving piston that propells the pellet. When rimfire or centerfire scopes are used on air guns, the reticule can fracture and break since those scopes make no allowance for the forward recoil of piston air guns. Air gun scopes are typically prefocused at 10 meters (about 30 feet) or have AO that allows focusing that close.

LDBennett

[accident]

As usual,I agree with LD. Adjustable objective is the key with centerfire scopes.Joe