ut deer hntr

sorry to sound so stupid. ive been mostly a bow hunter. can some one answer a few questions for me.
1. what is eye relief
2. is the bigger objective always better?
the scope im looking at is a springfield aromory scope the power is 6x20 with a 56mm objective.
3.what are the advantages/disadvantages of a lighted reticle.
thanks

8mm/06

After speaking to more than a few optometrists and opthamologists who also happen to be hunters, they don' t believe that objectives beyond 40mm are able to be appreciated by the human eye. Their opinion is that a high quality scope in 40mm affords the shooter the best combination of light gathering ability (that can be perceived easily by the human eye) and low mounting comfort.
The exception to this rule is in benchrest situations where the shooter is able to control things like excess sunshine on the front of the scope and where the shooter has a little extra time to play with the environment they shoot in.

woodseye

when you get over 40mm the scope brightness increase becomes an area of diminishing returns.Will the larger scope add more light? Yes but primarily at higher powers as your own eyes exit pupil becomes the limiting factor.Large objective sizes(50-56)can cause you to use higher mounts so they clear the barrel and this can cause you to have to raise your head and cheek slightly to align your eye with the higher positioned scope.Throw your gun into shooting position with your eyes closed and when opening do you have to realign your head or cheek position?, if so the scope is a little high for quick sight alignment.European scopes where they hunt long after dark and before light tend to have large obj. size(50-56) but here in states with legal shooting light being usually within 1/2 hour of sunrise and sunset its not as critical of a factor.Although down in a thick cedar bog with heavy overstory on an overcast day,it can bring scope brightness to the forefront in importance quickly.Lens quality, lens coating quality, and number of coats has a bigger effect on general scope brightness IMHO than obj. sizes much over 45mm.If you don' t try to use over 6-7 power with a 40mm scope at dusk or dawn your 6mm exit pupil eye diameter will be the limiting factor not the scope.In contrast with a 50mm you could go up to 8-8.5 power before your eye pupil size starts to limit at the same amount of outside light.Hope this helped and didn' t confuse.


woods

popeye

A 6x20x56 scope is a very specialized scope and is not a good option for most uses. IMO, a big game rifle needs no more than a 12x scope at the most, I prefer something like a 2x7 or 3x9. A varmint rifle can make use of a 14x scope, I have a 3x10 on my 223. I' ve never used a lighted reticle but I don' t think they can be worth the additional cost.

Nomercy

I' m gonna agree, more than a 50mm is pretty much a waste of good shooting ability, since you' re going to have to raise your head off the stock, or at best add a comb slab/cheekpiece to it to reach the proper alignment. As others have also said, for most hunting instances, you probably won' t need 20x magnification, but you' d appreciate it. I used 4x for....forever, then got a 4-16x variable, and I' ll never have less than a 16x on my .30-06 again!! 6-20x is pretty high though, your bottom end would be so focused that without that wide objective, you' d lose so much FOV it wouldn' t be worth hunting with.

ALL THAT SAID>>>> if you are comfortable with the cheek relief or are able to mount a cheekpiece, you' d probably do well enough with that scope...since it is so wide, I bet you' d get the same FOV at given ranges that my 4-16x32mm' s get, but you' d be more " zoomed in" . I personally don' t enjoy shooting cheekpieces, but I have one on my SKS, without it I have to use my left eye cuz the scope is so high!!! Even with the discomfort of the cheekpiece I can get it to group incredibly well, so it must not be that big of factor, but I' m not you holding your gun.

Eye relief is the distance between your eye and your rear recticule, basically it positions your retina at the focal point of the lenses. I have a scope that is a 3-9x52mm, forget the maker that I have on my SKS, compact little thing and really great focusing, really cheap was the best part, but the eye relief is so short, I wouldn' t want to put it on anything that kicks harder than a .308! One heck of a brow burner it' d be if I mounted it on my .416 rigby like I had wanted to!!! Glad I found out first!

I also kinda find lighted recticules annoying, if they are yellow illuminated, I lose them in high grasses, and if they are red, it just bothers my eyes and I sometimes find myself looking at them instead of through them. I haven' t hunted a green one yet, and don' t plan to, I' m gonna stick with regular recticules from now on.

Pluto

1. Eye relief. That is the distance behind the scope you can keep your eye and still get a full sight picture. If you look thru binoculars, your eyes are right at the lens. It is useful in keeping you from getting ' magnum eye' where the kick of the gun drives the scope into your eye brow. Stiches to follow.
2. Bigger better. Not always better. Depending on the tube dia and internal construction, bigger can be worse. Better is better.
3. A/D of a lighted recticle. A, uh well uh, none. D, in low light condition the light can cantract your puple causing the target to appear darker. Spend the extra money that you would have spent on the lighted recticle on better glass, you will be happier. As an example, don' t get a $300 lighted Tasco and pass up a Leupold VXII.

skeeter 7MM

Fit and position is the key with scope, if you have to adjust to the scope it will effect your shooting (POI) and is a waste of money. For me the 50mm actually fits me better than a 40 mm. This is the main reason I use 44 & 50 mm scopes. I can notice the difference in low light from 40 - 50, provided the scopes are of same quality. I totally agree a lower model scope in a higher objective is not a good alternative to the higher quality vs lower power or objective. So better is better than Ok and bigger.

As far as power well that depends on the usage and the user. However for big game hunting and most shooting distance 10-12 is really all that is required. I don' t own a scope over 10 power anymore. Why, never used it, except on a sand bag at the range. I have shot deer over 350 yards and a coyotes over 400 at 8-10 power...it was plenty. If you do choose a high power model make sure you have a solid shooting aid along (bipod, etc). I know guys who have 4x16 and never come off the 4 or 6....I just say WHY? Target, varmit sure but that is dedicated & you' ll control the shooting enviroment, etc. Hunting deer....I don' t think so.

Illimunated...no. Something to go wrong, distraction, extra money..so on. On my scopes if i can' t see the hairs it is far to late to shoot an animal...LEGALLY!!