Variable Or Fixed?

[dbdbdb]

For medium to long range shooting, what is your preference and why.

I've never had a fixed rifle scope, but most of the LR shooters I know swear by them. And as it was explained to me, the only down-side is the mirage encountered with high magnification on hot days. Normally, you would just reduce the magnification to combat mirage. But, if you have a fixed glass, how would you address this issue.

I'm at the final stages of picking my LR scope and would like to consider all, if not most of my options.

So far, I'm leaning heavily on a NF benchrest or NXS 8-32x scope.

[aubie515]

For medium to long range shooting, what is your preference and why.

I've never had a fixed rifle scope, but most of the LR shooters I know swear by them. And as it was explained to me, the only down-side is the mirage encountered with high magnification on hot days. Normally, you would just reduce the magnification to combat mirage. But, if you have a fixed glass, how would you address this issue.

I'm at the final stages of picking my LR scope and would like to consider all, if not most of my options.

So far, I'm leaning heavily on a NF benchrest or NXS 8-32x scope.

I think you have your info wrong...at least the way you worded it...variable power scopes have the mirage issue.

What would you define as medium to long range? Are you saying 500 -1,000 yards?

Are you just going to use the scope/rifle for BR or something else?

I looked through the NXS BR 8x32...while the optics are clear...I personally feel that 32x is too much for my needs. If you are just punching paper, perhaps it would be alright to use such a high power. Just remember the higher the magnifcation and the hotter it is outside...you are going to have mirage like crazy. What about one of NF's other scopes or a USO?

I haven't taken the plunge on a NF or USO, but everyone that owns them love them. You are on the right track as far as buying top end optics.

[dbdbdb]

I was told that the fixed optics with high magnification suffers from mirage on hot days. And its really no way to eliminate it.

Whenever I experienced mirage with a variable I just reduce the magnification, solving the problem.

Med. range: 300 - 600yds
Long range: 600 - 1K

[aubie515]

I was told that the fixed optics with high magnification suffers from mirage on hot days. And its really no way to eliminate it.

Whenever I experienced mirage with a variable I just reduce the magnification, solving the problem.

Med. range: 300 - 600yds
Long range: 600 - 1K

You will always have mirage on a scope...so the lower the magnification the less mirage you will see, so what you stated above is true. The issue I see with high magnification scopes is that new shooters will crank up the magnification. High magnification is great on a calm cool day, so you can see your hits on the target. If you ou were trying to hunt PD in SD on a hot afternoon using a 32x scope...you might have some problems seeing the little critters.

There is a reason why the military's primary magnification is a straight 10x on their rifles. I am sure the military's logic is KISS...with a fixed scope there are less moving parts, so in theory less parts to break. I also follow that logic, but I have variable scopes as well.

I personally believe that both the fixed and variable scopes are good and have their place on rifles. Which scope to choose is another story...only you can answer that question. Your needs are specific to what you intend to use the rifle for, so I would suggest talking to others who shoot F class or BR or whatever it is that you will be doing with the rifle.

[Tomcat088]

One thing I'd like to mention about fixed rifle scopes and variable rifle scopes is the optics, it's just like camera lenses (prime vs adjustable). The glass that you will get in a fixed power scope will be FAR superior to that in most variable power scopes. The reason being that there is only the two lenses needed in the setup, instead of groups of lenses, and that there is no moving parts. It keeps the setup simple, and allows the scope makers to spend money in other places (higher quality glass). As Aubie stated, anytime that you go up in magnification, whether it's a fixed or variable scope, you will see more mirage, it's a problem when all high magnification. I too am curious about your uses, and if it'll be strictly a bench rifle or if you'll be shooting at unknown distances or what. I know that the ability to change power can be very important when using a mildot scope to judge distance (if you know how to compensate). I personally don't have much use for a fixed power scope because I have so many uses for my rifles and shoot them at so many different distances. Depending on what animal I'm shooting at, the shot might be at 85-800 yards, sometimes more, that's when a parallax adjustment comes in quite handy, lol. As Aubie said, I'd talk to others about that are in the sport you're looking at and ask them about the pros and cons of one or the other, and if they had to do it again would they have changed what they did. If you're planning on using the rifle to hunt at all, I probably would advise against a fixed power scope since you never know what distances you might encounter them. If you're shooting at paper and targets that will be within a certain distance that you know the magnification will be good for, then go for a fixed power scope. Best of luck to you

[91xlt]

Have to agree...depends on your use. I have a Bushnell 4200 6-24 variable mounted on a Rem 700 Sendero 7mmSTW for long range hunting/shooting. I like the 24x to use for a spotting glass. I do not find that high of magnification useful for shooting...usually around 8-12 power is all I use for actuall squeezing of the trigger. Just my $.02