weaver 36 power

[whippy]

i will be using a weaver fixed 36 power scope for fs shooting. i have been told that such a high power will cause trouble with mirage. has anyone had any experience with high power scopes and what thoughts on them?

[Simon C]

Power settings are a personal preference however in heavy mirage, your sight picture/clarity can be a real problem.

Many people come down on the power setting in these conditions to allow them to see the rings on the target and therefore aim better....that being said, others shoot on high power regardless of the mirage....

I think a variable powered scope is an asset in this regard. The ranges I shoot on are notorious for heavy mirage so I like to be able to drop back a little when required. It really is a personal preference. Maybe u should have a look thru other peoples scopes on a heavy mirage day and get a sense of what the adjustment (zoom down) does to your sight picture then go from there.

[RDavies]

I,m using a 36x Leupold, but as has been mentioned, the mirage can get a bit much. I like a bit of mirage to judge the wind, but with a 36x it is sometimes just too much. When finance allow, I will be getting a 8-32 power.

[ned kelly]

G'Day Mr Whippy,
I have used a 36x B&L in Br and FO and currently use a 8-32x NF I have been tempted once to shoot at a lower power, but quickly wound it back to 32 and used the mirage.

I think it is a mind set that makes people reduce power when mirage is running. If you wind it down, the mirage is still there, it's just not as visible. I'd rather see it and read it than ignore it.

I'll probably get flak from other shooter's but, I dont think my scores have been hurt yet!

hope this helps.

Cheerio Ned

[pjifl]

X36 in my opinion is too high a magnification much of the time. Having said that, I believe that one should never go lower than 20X. But given a choice between a suspect variable scope and fixed 36X, I would take the latter any time. And I have seen 32 and 36 win under bad mirage conditions. Invariably, people who insist on lower X like 15 'to get rid of the mirage' shoot higher scores when talked into it.

It depends somewhat on your aiming philosophy.

Centre aimers/knob twiddlers can go down to about 10X. But there will come the time they want to aim off in some way if only for a few shots and will then be let down. And they want to be able to assess spotting disks well on the target which is pushing it. Aimoffers benefit from higher magnification. Often one group does not understand the other.

The lower X does not really make the mirage go away.

If you are building up a dedicated shorter range rifle higher may be in order. In my opinion the ideal power if such a thing exists is about 25 for fixed power and 10 - 40 for variable. Remember, most spotting scopes are somewhere between 20 and 25X. Experience has shown this to be about the best compromise.

Do not just follow the leader here - try it yourself - and in all sorts of conditions.

Peter Smith.

[AlanF]

...It really is a personal preference...

...Do not just follow the leader here - try it yourself...

Mr Whippy,

I know from experience what suits me, but no need to tell you, because you will probably be different . I concur with the above advice.

Alan

[timothi3197]

Good afternoon all,

After having a go at F Standard with my Omark and liking it I am now going to return my 6-24 x 44 mil dot reticleTargetmaster to my .22 target rifle where it belongs. I have found that I always used it on 24X anyway and as I will be buying a fixed power scope with a mil dot reticle am in two minds of whether to get a 24x or a 36x. I use the mil dots for elevation and windage and only use the knobs for an inch here and there adjustment.

On the Target master at 24x each mil dot is 2 minutes so it is easy to switch from 300 to 500 and 600 metres (600 being the max for our range). So basically I aim off to allow for wind and still get good scores(at a club level, better than my TR ones anyway). I don't know anyone with a 36X to try so I will ask the question: will I still be able to shoot reasonably well with a 36X at 300-600metres or is it just way too much? If there is anybody out there sucessfully shooting with a 36X please let me know otherwise to be on the safe side I reckon I will go to a 24X as per previous replies. (I realise there are many different opinions out there and that no single answer can be perfect for all).

Just for general interest my .300 winmag varmint sucessfully shot "minute of deer" this season at approx 350m with a 3-9 x leupold set on 9, my improved long range shooting I attribute to practice at the range, advice from members and help with handloading to suit this particular rifle.


Kind regards,

Tim

[whippy]

Good afternoon all,

After having a go at F Standard with my Omark and liking it I am now going to return my 6-24 x 44 mil dot reticleTargetmaster to my .22 target rifle where it belongs. I have found that I always used it on 24X anyway and as I will be buying a fixed power scope with a mil dot reticle am in two minds of whether to get a 24x or a 36x. I use the mil dots for elevation and windage and only use the knobs for an inch here and there adjustment.

On the Target master at 24x each mil dot is 2 minutes so it is easy to switch from 300 to 500 and 600 metres (600 being the max for our range). So basically I aim off to allow for wind and still get good scores(at a club level, better than my TR ones anyway). I don't know anyone with a 36X to try so I will ask the question: will I still be able to shoot reasonably well with a 36X at 300-600metres or is it just way too much? If there is anybody out there sucessfully shooting with a 36X please let me know otherwise to be on the safe side I reckon I will go to a 24X as per previous replies. (I realise there are many different opinions out there and that no single answer can be perfect for all).

Just for general interest my .300 winmag varmint sucessfully shot "minute of deer" this season at approx 350m with a 3-9 x leupold set on 9, my improved long range shooting I attribute to practice at the range, advice from members and help with handloading to suit this particular rifle.


Kind regards,

Tim

Tim, i tried the 36x weaver for a few shoots but found that the mirage was a very big problem. Having said that, i will admit that i am not the best at reading mirage. So i changed to a 20x lynx and i find it quite acceptable. Still a bit of a problem on some days , but as i said it is not too bad. cheers Len

[timothi3197]

Thanks for the help Len, I will go with the 24X fixed for simplicity. I thought that would be the way to go, I shoot well with 24x already so will stay with it.

I will send off the order,

Kind regards,

Tim

[Chris S]

As a Benchrest shooter who shoots F Std, (308W) as well,
I don't find mirage a problem with my 36x Sightron. We shoot
year round, sometimes in 40c plus temps and as long as there is
a bit of breeze to blow that mirage away I'll never been tempted to
use a lower power scope. I've had more grief shooting 100-200 yd.
BR when it's warm and still, the target just "boils".
I rarely twiddle the knobs, preferring to use the high power scope to
calculate my hold offs.
Just my $0.02 worth.

Chris...

[timothi3197]

Thanks Chris all advice appreciated, as there don't appear to be any 24x Targetmasters left in the country I may have to go to an 8-36 x 44 variable anyway(I don't like paying more than $500 for a scope- my ancestors are scots). I really wanted to get away from an adjustable but will give the variable a go, at least I can try out different magnifications,

Kind regards,

Tim

[ned kelly]

G'Day All,
I'm a BR shooter like Chris S; I've used a B&L 36x on my .223 and never worried about the mirage out to 600yds. You get use to it.

I now use a 8-32 BF BR scope; wound it down once to 25x 'cause of mirage.........couldn't stand it and immediately wound it back to 32x.

32x is a very good compromise but if I had a 12-42x it probably would live on 42x!

Cheerio Ned

[AlanF]

With all due respect to those who like 50X in heavy mirage to those who like 10X - the right magnification is the one that suits your own eyes and technique. The mirage magnification debate has been on forums all round the world. I think you've done the right thing by getting a variable Tim. Once you know what magnification you prefer, and have a few more dollars, then you can safely invest in a fixed power if you like, although most will opt for a variable regardless. Regarding $500 dollar scopes, you can be lucky, but most F-Class shooters who stay in the sport end up with > $1000 scopes. With the current value of the dollar I don't blame you however.

Alan

[timothi3197]

Gidday all,
Bit of an update, after using the variable(mainly on maximum, only dropping it back for a couple of beginners to try) I was offered a 36x44 Targetmaster for $200- bought it and fitted it and all is well. Found mirage manageble(not too hot down here) but the biggest problem was the heat shimmer off my barrel, felt helped heaps, I average mid 50's consistantly. With the barrel heat thing it often makes me wonder if when shooting Target rifle that was at least part of the reason why I used to drop off a bit in the last few rounds at each mound, I always put it down to my eyes being old.

Just a quick question(sorry to go off track) at my first competition I was horrified to see most F standard competitors down here removing their scopes at the end of the shooting day, surely this is unneccesary or am I missing something here? Is it a hangover from TR days, I never remove my hunting rifle scopes unless neccesary.

Kind regards,

Tim

[AlanF]

Tim,

With hunting, getting the first "cold barrel" shot right is critical. However in F-Class we have sighters to sort out any slight changes in scope alignment and using a good quality set of quick release rings there isn't usually a problem with removing the scope often. I like to remove the scope even when cleaning between ranges, because its no problem to get back on the target.

Good luck with your 36X.

Alan