Air Gun Home :: View topic

Ruski · New Member

I just got my first air rifle and i'm very new to guns in general, so i don't know much at all. A few weeks ago i started shooting a few airsoft guns, but as air rifle shoots faster, harder and with more accuracy, i moved on.
I got a gamo whisper, and i want to change the scope. Can i get just any scope or does it have to be for .177? There is a magnum scope with really nice zoom i was looking at, but it is rather large, so i wasn't sure. I am rather limited in budget and where i can shop, as this is a hobby i want to spend a minimal amount of funds on.

Bozo · Veteran Member

Welcome to the forum, Ruski. Your replacement scope needs to be rated for air rifles. Springers have a unique recoil pattern that will tear up traditional scopes rather quickly. Also, if the new scope is rather large, you may need to get a set of high mount rings so the front of the scope will clear the gun.

donec · Senior Member

Scopes don't care what caliber the gun is but it is important to get a scope that is rated for springers like your gamo whisper air rifle due to the dual recoil of the spring.

Being on a budget I would recommend a Lepers like...
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/Leapers_Golden_Image_3_9x32AO_Rifle_Scope_Mil_Dot_Reticle_1_Tube/866
it has a variable zoom and an adjustable objective which will help you find the distance to the target and reduce the possibility of parallax error and is airgun rated. Also Lepers has a very good reputation.

SMP · Silver Status Member

If you give your general geographic location it will be no problem to make a few suggestions on where to find a good inexpensive scope

broommaster2000 · Moderator

Pretty good starter rifle, that. I don't think Gamo rifles are real scopekillers but it's good to be on the safe side. Wink

A scope with not to many bells and whistles is probably what you're looking for. I wouldn't spend to much money on it. Most Gamo/BSA scopes are bright and sturdy enough for their own rifles.

Ruski · New Member

Yea, there is some recoil. But the 1 piece scope mount has a screw that should stop movement. I live in nj and we do have a few stores with hunting equipment, but i mainly go to dick's. I can get a good discount there.
I know they have a bsa sweet 17, i think should be the one for my rifle? But i kinda liked the one by field and stream with a crazy amount of zoom Smile

but it said it's a magnum.
The mount i have already can still see the front sight. I read on some forum that i would need a high mount or to remove the sight, but it doesn't really bother me right now. My current right fits the bsa sweet 17 but i'm not sure if it would clear the large magnum one.
I also saw a rifle somewhere with both, a scope and a red dot, altho it was an upgraded airsoft r700 or something. Is there an advantage to this? Oh and they were mounted side by side, so you would look through both, not red dot on top of scope.

SMP · Silver Status Member

Be cautious with scopes that have "crazy zoom". The reason I say this is air rifles are used at distances that are typically shorter than the focal distance of large rifle scopes. So you'll end up with a really big fuzz blob for a target.

as a rule of thumb
short mounts 30mm objective
medium mounts 42 mm objective
tall mounts anything over 42mm objective

There are really nice air rifle scopes with zoom. Center point makes several that are very nice and inexpensive
NCStar is another option
As is the Gamo/BSA
Leapers is another

Donecs suggestion of getting an AO (adjustable objective) is probably the best piece of advice you could get

Technically speaking there is zero advantage to have two scopes mounted side by side. That's simply wannabe tactical cool factor.

You can't do better than a primary sight that is mounted directly over the bore line
Archer airguns is the closest to you and pyramid air has a bigger selection

farrlarr · Member

Slavia · Moderator

A "Sweet 17" scope isn't an airgun scope - it's calibrated for the trajectory of a .17HMR rimfire. Like the guys said, get a scope that is rated for airgun use. They are not calibre specific.

I agree that you can get along without all the "bells and whistles," but I am real partial to adjustable objective (AO) scopes.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

I would have to agree with Slavia on that. AO is a really nice thing to have.

Ruski · New Member

I think that the lack of ao is the reason i want to replace the stock scope. Looking at a blur at close range is on fun. I guess spending money on a scope is a given when buying a high fps toy.
I would like to bump up the zoom to 12x. And it may be better to have the ao knob with the elevation/wind, rather than the front. Any decent and durable scopes like that? Any over useful features on scopes?

Edit.
I was reading online and was wondering if anyone has any experience with moding something like this and the difficulty level. Not sure if i will ever use this thing to justify an upgrade. Is it true that leaving the spring cocked will damage it or wear it out faster? Does anyone have experience with nitro piston instead? It's supposed to reduce the recoil and be much more durable, a lil faster.

donec · Senior Member

broommaster2000 · Moderator

You could also get a couple of cheap scopes and try them out. Some of them aren't half bad and worth the bang.

Ruski · New Member

Thats true, there probably won't be much difference at all between 9 and 12. But one thing i can't figure out is which scopes are rated for the double recoil? I looked at other scopes at that site, but didn't see anything distinct that set apart the leaper in the link.

mcskull · New Member

I'm learning about air gunning so I was curious about the difference in scope construction as well.
Here's something interesting I came accross, basic long & short of Rifle Scopes vs Air Gun Scopes

I have a small armory of powder burners so I can share just a little of my own experience. Unless shooting past 200 yards, anything above 9x zoom is kind of pointless, unless you have weak eyes (no offense to anyone).
AO is great since most have preset ranges along with an infinity setting which comes in handy when shifting from different ranges.

To touch on the 'scope/red dot' combo (scope losely defined), this is typically a designed for tactical weapons (such as an AR used for Military & Law Enforcement). Primary top scope has minor magnification to reach out at medium to long distances, red dot is mounted at an angle for quick target aquisition at close distances. There's some article that floated around about it in some tactical gun magazine I read before. This is my opinion, but it's kind of useless unless you plan on quick shooting around corners with a quick repeater.