GETTING YOUR USED GUNS READY FOR HUNTING SEASON: LEARNING ABOUT SCOPES

The arrival of fall means that another hunting season is just around the corner, and we’re going to help you prepare by offering some tips on getting your used rifles ready for the excitement and challenges ahead.  This time around we’re going to look at how scopes work, how to choose the right one for your needs, and how to focus and care for a scope. 

NOTE: This article will focus on scopes made for used hunting rifles that shoot centerfire rounds.  If you need information on scopes for shotguns, handguns, or rimfire weapons, then we will be posting information on those topics in the future.

What is A Scope?

A scope is simply a small telescope with finely placed crosshairs in the eyepiece.  The lens at the far end of the scope, known as the “objective lens,” focuses incoming light and sends it back to the “ocular lens”, which magnifies the image.  The shooter looks through the eyepiece into the ocular lens, using the crosshairs to know where the shot will land.

Scopes include a number of adjustable controls that allow the user to maximize their accuracy.  These include the windage adjustment and the elevation adjustment.  Scopes also allow shooters to change the amount of magnification to see the target closer or further away.  Scopes are sealed to prevent moisture from getting in, but this feature can fail if the scope is mishandled – more on this in a bit.

Scopes give today’s sportsmen and women the ability to place long-distance shots with a high degree of accuracy.  This is crucial with modern weapons that have far greater range than the rifles carried by our forebears.  We’ve all heard stories of how Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone could shoot a buffalo through the heart at 300 yards with a black powder rifle and iron sights.  Whether those stories are true or not, it’s safe to say that modern hunters are better off using every edge that technology can give them.

How to Pick the Right Scope For Your Needs

• Buy a quality scope.  Cheap, no-name models will give you nothing but trouble.  They’re inaccurate and they break easily.  By “quality” we don’t mean one with all the bells and whistles.  If you’re a novice hunter, then you’re better off with something basic at first.
• All scopes have either fixed – or variable – magnifying power.  Traditionally, fixed-power scopes have been favored over variable-power models, due to reliability and durability issues.  However, this is no longer an issue with modern brands, so don’t be afraid to buy a scope that allows you to adjust its magnification. 
• The key to a powerful scope is in its ability to gather light.  For this reason, buy a scope with as large an objective lens as you can afford.  The images will be brighter and your field of view (FOV) will be much wider.
• Don’t go overboard with magnifying power.  A fixed scope or one with 3 x 9 variable magnification will serve you well in 99.9% of typical shooting situations, as most hunters sight their prey within 100 yards.  Avoid scopes with extreme magnification abilities unless you’re planning to shoot tigers in the Sahara from 800 yards away. 
• When it comes to lens coatings, as a rule, more is better.  The best option is fully multi-coated, followed by multi-coated, fully coated, and coated.  Buy a scope with the highest coating level you can afford.  The investment will pay off with images that are clear, glare-free, and easy to see even in low-light situations.

 Mounting A Scope

This is a precise process that differs widely from one rifle to the next.  For example, scopes for bolt- or lever-action rifle mount differently than ones for semi-auto weapons.  Unless you’re sure of what you’re doing, it’s best to let an experienced gunsmith services provider handle this task for you.  If you live in the San Antonio area, then we at Dury’s would be happy to do this for you.

Basic Scope Care

A good scope is a high-quality optical instrument that will give you a lifetime of use with proper care.  Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Use the lens caps that come with the scope at all times, unless you’re carrying the rifle during a hunt. 
• Take care to never drop your rifle.  If you do, you’ll likely throw off the scope’s sights, making it necessary to sight them in at the range.  That’s hard to do when you’re out in the woods miles from civilization.  You can even damage or break the scope by being careless with your rifle, so show your equipment the respect it deserves.

Tips For Focusing Your Scope

Everyone sees a little differently, so you should focus your scope so that it works with your eyes.  Here’s how to do so.

1. Make sure the scope has been properly mounted to the rifle by a gunsmith services provider or someone with sufficient experience.  Take the eyepiece lock ring and turn it slightly counter-clockwise to loosen it.
2. Turn the lock ring 5x clockwise.
3. Look through the scope at a bright object, such as the sky or a brightly lit wall.  Avoid looking at the sun through your scope unless you want to go blind.
4. Slowly turn the eyepiece counter-clockwise until the reticle (crosshairs) blurs slightly.  Then turn is slowly clockwise until the reticle comes back into sharp focus.
5. Look away from the scope for several seconds, and then, look through it again.  If the reticle is still sharp, then, you have successfully focused your scope. 
6. If it’s blurry, or if it takes a little while to turn sharp, then repeat steps three through five until the image is instantly clear.
7. When the sight is properly focused, tighten the eyepiece’s lock ring to keep it in place.

Miscellaneous Scope-Related Tips

1. If you’re using a variable-power scope, then keep it set at its lowest magnification power until you’ve actually sighted the prey through the crosshairs.  Failing to do so could keep your target out of your FOV.
2. If you’re an overnight or multi-day hunting trip, then store your rifled scope either out-of-doors or in an unheated area.  This will help keep it from fogging up.
3. Keep solid lens caps off your scope when you’re stalking game.  You don’t want to be hampered with removing it while trying to sight prey.  Tinted or translucent caps can ruin the image, so leave them off as well.
4. Unless you’re driving to or from a hunting location, do not store your scoped rifle in a vehicle.  Road vibration can throw off the settings and heat inside your car or truck could corrode the sealants and lubricants.
5. When having your scope mounted, talk to the gunsmith services experts about mounting the scope as far forward on the weapon as possible.  This is especially important with magnum or similarly high-powered weapons.  If the scope is mounted too far to the rear, then it may very well strike you in the face as the weapon recoils.  The results could include a black eye, fractured skull, or even worse.
6. When sighting in a scope, always use the same ammunition that you hunt with.  This will help to ensure its accuracy.  We will discuss sighting in a scope in another blog post.

We have an extensive selection of used guns for all purposes, including big game/small game hunting, self-defense, and target shooting.  Everything is sell is thoroughly inspected by expert gunsmiths l and backed by a lifetime guarantee, so browse our site and place your order today.