Nikon Variable scopes

[FoghornLeghorn]

I was once told that the main failing of a variable scope where price is concerned is that with a lesser expensive scope such as the 4.5-14 Nikon Buckmaster, if you change power, you lose the zero. If you're at 6 power and zoom into 12 power, you lose the zero. If you turn it back to 6 power, you still lose the zero you had at 6 power, and need to resight the scope all over again.

But (and this is what I was told) that with high end scopes they hold their zero even when changing power.

I was thinking of mounting a Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14 scope on a 22 rimfire CZ Lux. But if the above is true I think not.

 

[jmr40]

Cheaper scopes don't hold up as well this is true. But you have to drop down well below the Buckmaster before you will have major issues. The Buckmaster is not a high end scope, but is still a solid scope I'd trust.

With some scopes you might see very minor changes in impact as you change powers. But we're talking very minor differences. I was discussing this with another poster months ago who complaned about brand X scope changing his point of impact when he changed from 9X down to 3X. When we did the math on it there was a difference of about 1/4" at 100 yards. Less than the diameter of most big game hunting bullets.

My solution was this. Zero the scope at the highest power. At close ranges I only use the lowest power setting and 1/4" difference at close range isn't a factor. At anything over 100 yards I'd pass right over all the intermediate settings and go straight to the highest power where it was zeroed.

I've NEVER heard of a scope losing its zero because of changing magnification. Only very slight differences at different power settings.

 

[SSA]

with a lesser expensive scope such as the 4.5-14 Nikon Buckmaster, if you change power, you lose the zero. If you're at 6 power and zoom into 12 power, you lose the zero. If you turn it back to 6 power, you still lose the zero you had at 6 power, and need to resight the scope all over again.

If I heard someone say that that, I would not believe them, and I would not believe anything else they said.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I was once told that the main failing of a variable scope where price is concerned is that with a lesser expensive scope such as the 4.5-14 Nikon Buckmaster, if you change power, you lose the zero. If you're at 6 power and zoom into 12 power, you lose the zero. If you turn it back to 6 power, you still lose the zero you had at 6 power, and need to resight the scope all over again.

No.... That is simply not true.

Cheap scopes don't hold zero as well, but you generally have to go well below a Buckmaster. Even on a low end scope, changing the power won't throw them totally out of whack.

 

[bman940]

lol

I'll add that one to my list....
Haven't heard that one before.....
Always something strange floating around.

On a similar note, if you are using a BDC reticle scope, if you change the magnification setting, the distance's on your BDC circles will change, think zooming in and out with a camera.