Scopes

Your First Scope Should be the Right Scope

Monday, September 03, 2012 Written by Hunter's Handbook Staff

Advancements in technology and manufacturing have led to an increase in affordable, reliable rifles that make hunting more accessible to a growing number of people. With this expanding audience, hunting optics companies have also found new opportunities. Leupold manufactures high-quality, entry-level riflescopes to help hunters improve their accuracy and consistency. However, finding the best scope to fit your needs has a significant impact on the success you will have with it.

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Important Scope Terms to Know

Saturday, September 01, 2012 Written by Hunter's Handbook Staff

• Magnification:

  The magnification (or power) of a scope indicates how many times larger the object seen through the scope appears to the eye.

• Variable Magnification:

  A style of scope that offers more than one magnification setting.

• Fixed Magnification:

  A scope that features only one level of magnification, such as 4x, 6x, or 12x.

• Objective Diameter:

  The size of the lens furthest from your eye. It is described in millimeters, e.g. 20mm, 32mm, 40mm, and so on.

• Eyepiece:

  The part of the scope closest to your eye. You look through the eyepiece to use the scope.

• Reticle:

  Also called the crosshair. The aiming point of the scope.

• Maintube:

  This is the central part of the scope that holds the adjustments, internal lenses, and all the other parts of the scope.

• Point of Impact:

  The place where the bullet strikes the target.

• Elevation and Windage:

  Elevation adjusts the point of bullet impact up or down (the vertical axis), while windage is side to side (the horizontal axis).

• Parallax:

  An optical phenomenon that occurs in a scope when the reticle and the image are not in the same optical plane, causing the image to be unclear or to move in relation to the reticle. Correction for parallax is generally set at a specific distance in lower-magnification scopes, often 150 yards. Highermagnification scopes will usually have adjustment dials (either on the objective, called an adjustable objective, or on the side of the scope, called side focus) that allow the parallax distance to be adjusted to longer or shorter distances as needed.