I dont know about the rest of you, but I wear glasses and it causes a need for longer eye relief in the types of scopes that I can use. I have only found a few scopes that I can use on my rifles and still get a full field of view when zoomed in all the way. The three scopes that I have found that I can do this with are Leupold, Simmons, and Nikon. I have looked through a lot of other higher dollar scopes that I dont want to buy for this very reason. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?
What else do you look for in a scope when you are purchasing one?

Knifeboy

Howdy Knifeboy. I don't wear glasses (yet) so i don't have the eye relief problem. When i am looking at scopes i look for a waranty first thing. I recently bought the simmons 44 mag 6.5-20 mil dot it seems like a very scope i will use it tommorow for the first time. You said you can use nikons for a 3-9 power the nikon prostaff is hard to beat nice optics, mat finish and lifetime waranty for $149 i have one on my 7-08 and love it. It adjust's true and stays put very nice for the money. Well hopes this helps

Another thing that might be helpful is the rubberized attachments that go on the scope end to keep you from getting whapped good and proper when you do misjudge the amount of eye relief required. I've seen them advertised in the Lock, Stock and Barrel catalog, and they're inexpensive, just a few dollars. Like many of you I own several different brands of scope so have to vary my eye relief. This results in a certain ammount of scope crawling to get a good sight picture. Sometimes I creep too close and can feel the scope brushing my eyebrow when I fire a shot. This is too damn close for comfort. The rubberized attachments are good insurance if I judge the distance incorrectly. Better safe than sorry. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Thats a good idea Cal.

Eye relief is fairly important to me and is one of several other important reasons why I like Leupolds, they are pretty forgiving with respect to eye relief.


-DallanC

Good idea, Cal, that reminds me of a time when a friend was shooting with me for the first time of the season and he forgot to hold the rifle good and tight. He was shooting a 30-06 and ended up with a real nice half moon above his eye. It didn't need stitches, but it did bleed pretty good. Of course all the guys at camp never let him forget about it. We bought him one of those rubber eye cups you spoke of and presented it to him in a special "ceremony" on the first day of hunting camp that year....what a riot!!!

All the best....Blaine

Good question. I always wear shooting glasses and there are several scopes that afford adequate eye relief. All of the Bushnell Banner, Trophy, Scope Chief and Bausch & Lomb scopes work just fine on centerfire rifles. I have some Tasco scopes on some .22 rifles and they work OK. All the best...
Gil

One day several years ago I was at a range, and there was just one other person there. Several minutes after I got set up he appeared, his right eye area cut pretty badly. He was a rookie, and I took him to the snack bar where we had a first aid station in the rear. I got him cleaned up and disinfected and patched. I told the lad you always kept three fingers between your eye and the rear of the scope for safety sake. We went back to the range area. Honestly, not ten minutes later he was standing behind me again, an even bigger mess than before. His question was, "Sir, how many fingers did you say, two or three?" This guy should be out playing golf or something equally harmless. He was shooting an old .30-30 that couldn't have weighed six pounds. It probably had a fierce kick which I'm sure he now realizes. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Range Stories

Late summer two years ago two doctors come to the range to sight in and get ready for the fall grizzly bear hunt in alaska. One has a 338 win mag and the other a 340 Weathery. They both burned enough gunpowder to drain a one pound can. Then Mr. 340 goes and gets his back up gun. I could tell it was a true big bore by the thickness of the barrel. (416 remington) It had a scope that looked alittle big to me. He sets up on a sandbag and send the first round down range. The good news was he caught himself before he fell off the bench. The next words out of his mouth were classic. " am I bleeding much" ? to which my reply was " depends on how you define much". He was going to need more than first aid! We got out the first aid kit and put on a bandage. The two doctors left without a word. I never found out if the shot their bears, but I bet the 416 stayed home.

The range can be a fun place to sit and watch but it will never be as good as the launch ramp.

longwalker

Its funny that you guys bring up these stories, My bro-in-law and his cousin both have a scar over their right eye's. They both came from the same old .30-06 they both did it about the same age. So they gave the old .30-06 a nickname "Scar Maker".
I have never done it myself, but I wached my brother do it quite a few years ago.

Knifeboy

This happened two years ago, but its still one of my favorite "experiences" at our local club.

I make it a point to be at our local club near deer season to help out and try to maintain some kind of control over the mad herd. I should video the antics of a few being sure it would make the top 10 on Funniest Home Videos.
Last year, one of the "I got a Magnum" guys gave one of the best performances of the season. He proudly unwrapped, yes,from a blanket in the bed of his truck, a 300 RUM topped with a B&L 6-24 scope. The first clue it was going to be funny was when he announced to everyone what he was shooting and the ballistics of his wheeless cannon. After hangng a target, he rolled up a sweatshirt, placed it on the bench for a rest and set down to do some serious work. Now ths guy was somewhere in the range of 6'3-6'4 , so he was almost laying down to fire. Well he took carful aim, fired, lost his camo hat and turned to display a nice 1/4" gash in the bridge of his nose. Now being the nice fellow I am, I offered a paper towel (most likley solvent soaked) from my cleaning box to mop up the blood before it dripped all over the place. He asked if anyone had a screwdriver he could borrow. I handed him one from my tool box. As we watched, he loosenen the rings and slid the scope forward commenting "now it won't hit me again"! After careful adjustment, he settled down for shot two. This time the cut was made slightly longer and somewhat deeper. Another scope adjustment, another shot and another bit of hide missing. I offered him another paper towel since the first one was well saturated by this time.
To make a long story short,three scope adjustments, five shots and three times the scope bit him making the cut progressivly larger. Finally he proudly annonced victory and was ready to take on those iron plated whitetails.
When he retreived his target, the group would have been better called a pattern, being somehwere around the 8 inch range.
Once again he began babbling about the ballistics of his weapon. Another shooter offered to trade him a nice 243 for the RUM commenting something like it would save him a whole lot of pain. Declining, the nimrod returned to his truck, dropped the rifle in the bed with a thump, wished us luck and drove away with the piece of paper towel still stuck on his nose.


Bill

Howdy Bill the scary part is these morons are out running around the woods boy i am glad i hunt private property