Scoping Rifles: .22 vs centerfire, and semi?

J

jmstr

New member
I have two main questions regarding my rifles.

How important is it to have a dedicated .22lr scope on my .22lr rifles? Vs a centerfire rifle scope? I'm thinking of vibrations to crosshairs, etc. I'm looking to put scopes on my semi-auto Marlin 60 and my bolt-action Mossberg 346KA. Want to know if I can reliably use an older centerfire scope I've got in the cabinet for one of them: or should it be strictly a .22 rimfire scope.

Do semi-auto rifles [mainly centerfire here] require a different type of scope from bolt/lever/pump actions? 2 centerfire rifles I'd like to scope: Mini-14 Ranch [582 series] and Saiga .308. Just concerned about bolt action fore/aft and stress on crosshairs, etc, vs on my old Mauser 95 or Savage 99.
 
Let me see if I can shed some light. You are dealing with several different issues at the same time.

1. Centerfire scope vs Rimfire scope - parallax. Google parallax and you'll find a far better definition than I can give here. Essentially, parallax free distance is the distance at which you can look through the scope and slightly shift the angle your eye hits the scope and not have the crosshairs change point of aim. For a rimfire scope, they are factory set to 50 yds. For a centerfire scope, they are either factory set at a further distance (like 200 yds) or they'll have a user adjustment ring.
2. Centerfire scope vs rimfire scope - recoil. A centerfire rifle is FAR more abusive to the scope reticals than a rimfire scope. You mentioned "vibrations". It isn't vibrations - its sharp recoil jolt and it can destroy the internals of a scope in short order. Rimfire scopes generally have relatively little ability to withstand recoil. Centerfire scope (at least decent ones - leave BSA, NCStar, and other crap out of the discussion) have at least some ability to withstand recoil. Better centerfire scopes will also have better ability to withstand shock. You put a cheap scope on something like a .460&W and it will turn the internals into a pile of loose parts in only a few rounds.
3. Semi-auto vs bold action. Here is where your particular needs come into play. Yes, these types of rifle will usually have different types of scopes installed but it isn't because one scope was made for a SA and the other was made for a BA. It is because the shooter intends to use one rifle differently from the other and he is choosing a scope that matches his intended shooting style. I.E. a bold-action shooter is usually going to be making longer range, slow, deliberate shots. His scope needs sharp focus and good light gathering properties. A semi-auto shooter may be concerned with relative short ranges, rapid target acquisition, wide field of view, etc and therefore will use a scope that fits those needs.
 
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Yes, an older CF rifle scope can be used on a .22LR with appropriately-sized (1") tip-off rings to fit the scope to rimfire grooved receivers.
Non-grooved RF receivers will usually need to be D/T'd for a scope mount base, either on the receiver or bbl.

I mostly gave up on RF scopes (3/4" or 7/8" tubes), with their dim optics, in favor of scopes with 1" tubes on my rimfires since the early 1970's, w/o issue.


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Already a lot of good info given, but I'll add my 2 cents regarding parallax:

As touched on above, parallax becomes an issue when shooting at distances under 100 yards, since most centerfire scopes are set to be free of parallax at 100 yards. Up to 100 yards, you will have parallax and it will likely affect your aim.

The solution is to get a scope with a side focus (SF) or adjustable objective (AO) feature. Either will allow you to focus your sight picture at varying distances.

Centerfire scopes with SF or AO may only focus down to 50 yards, which makes sense as you would LIKELY be shooting at longer distances with a centerfire rifle. These will work on a rimfire rifle, but if you shoot at shorter distances you may not be able to focus or remove parallax completely.

All of my rimfire scopes have AO that adjusts from as close as 10 yards, all the way to infinity, and anywhere in between. So depending on the distance to my target, I can be assured that my sight picture if parallax-free.

Hope that helps.
 
You mentioned "vibrations". It isn't vibrations
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I'd have to argue with that one. Rapid firing my 10/22 has destroyed more scopes( 6 to be exact ) than anything else I own. This includes magnum rifle, shotgun and rimfire scopes.

I've never had a centerfire rifle break a scope under recoil.

This is just my experience. YMMV

Boomer
 
I use a simmons scope that is certainly not a rimfire scope on my Remington 597, and there is no problems what so ever. It does have a side focus which I never adjust as most shooting is done 20-70 yards and usually not on max 12x.
If I am target shooting and not hunting at further than 70 yards, I will use the max magnification and then will need to adjust parallax. So I've never had parallax become an issue.

Parallax isn't really an issue unless you intend to use say 12x at 50yarda, when parallax is set at 100yards. This is something I personally don't do as I wont need that kind of zoom at closer ranges. I do have a air rifle scope on my 17hmr which is a POS, and needs the parallax adjusted every 5 dam seconds, which is a pain, nut the scope works fine. (it's going to be sold very shortly).

I sometimes during plinking will shoot rapid fire and the simmons scope has never had a problem.
 
Wow, really???? Rapid fire on 22lr will damage a centerfire scope? I guess I should tell that to the bushnells on my Winchester 190 and marlin 60 and 62 immediately. Guess I should take the scope off of my Remington 742 and the Browning BAR too.

Actually if you are having that problem, I would look into another reason why the scopes are being damaged, not because it is semi-auto and fired rapidly.
 
Actually if you are having that problem, I would look into another reason why the scopes are being damaged, not because it is semi-auto and fired rapidly.
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Unless he is buying the afore mentioned BSA, NCStar, etc garbage scopes.
 
I don't know. Never had a problem with my AR's, SKS or REMI 7400, but my 10/22's break scopes. The crosshairs always fall over and turn into X hairs. :confused:

I've had this problem with 2 out of my 3 10/22's. Oddly enough with the 2 the kid uses( rapid fire). Mind you one of these guns has over 60,000 rds through it. One of those scopes lasted about 15,000 so it's not like they're going kaput in the first 100 rds. Well except for the Cabelas rimfire scope that lasted exactly 1 10 round mag, but that's a whole nother story.

Since then I only buy scopes with very good warranties. Redfield, Leupold, etc.

Boomer
 
I seems logical to me that the shock and vibration of a semiauto bolt slamming shut can actually put more g-forces on scope parts than recoil does. After all, spring-air air rifles are notorious for taking reticules out of scopes not specially made for air rifles.
So, .22 rimfire scopes need to be just as robust as centerfire scopes.

Shotgun scopes also are generally set so that there is no parallax at 50 to 75 yards.
 
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