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The Annoyed Man wrote:

liberty2014 wrote:I know a few things, but theres even more things i dont know. Im embarassed to ask this question but i will swallow my pride and ask anyway. I want to put a scope on a few guns. One will be for mid range up to 300 yards with an ar in
223/5.56 and the other will go on a savage 110 cfp tactical in 300 win mag that i will use for stuff 500 yards and up. I have no idea what to look for and what means what. I do like night force but if i had that kind of money i wouldve went to yale and not TAMU. What do the numbers mean? Isnt a high magnification all that matters? What does 4x10 mean? How is different from what 4-16x40 mean? Is leupold better than nikon and if so is like bwi vs kia better or ford vs kia better? Any and all input is appreciated. God bless and gig em

4x10 means a fixed 4 power with a 10mm objective lens.......which would be about the size of a pencil, and really weird for a lens.

4-16x40 means a variable power scope with low magnification of 4X and high magnification of 16X and a 40mm objective lens.

In other words, the numbers that come before the "X" indicate the power of magnification, or in other terms, the number of times that an image is magnified above 1X. The number that comes after the "X" is the diameter of the objective lens of the scope (the end furthest from your eye). There are other variables, but all other things being equal, the larger the objective lens, the more light will be transmitted to the eye, and the brighter the image will appear through the ocular lens—the end closest to your eye.

Examples:

I have a Leupold VX-III scope on a Remington 700 that is a 4.5-14X50mm optic. Magnification is variable from 4.5X to 14X and the objective lens is 50mm.

I have a SWFA SS scope on an AR10 that is 5-20X50mm. Magnification is variable from 5X to 20X and the objective lens is 50mm.

I have a Leupold VX-R Firedot scope on a Ruger Gunsite Scout that is 1.5-5X33mm. Magnification is from 1.5X to 5X and the objective lens is 33mm.

I have a fixed power Burris 536AR on an AR15. Magnification is fixed at 5X and the objective lens is 36mm.

All of these scopes have been selected for the application intended for the rifle. The Remington is a medium to long range hunting rifle, and the scope's magnification and light gathering capabilities were chosen with that application in mind.

The AR10 is a strictly long range rifle (as I have it set up), and the scope is chosen accordingly. To put this into perspective, 20X on an object 1,000 yards distant would make it look about the same size as it would be to the naked eye just 50 yards distant. In other words, a 6' tall man viewed at 20X from 1,000 yards away would look the same size to my eye as he would appear unmagnified from 50 yards away.

The 1.5-5X scope on the Gunsite Scout was chosen with quick sight acquisition and long eye-relief in mind for short range hunting, inside of 300 yards or so, where higher magnifications are less of an issue. At 5X, a 6' tall man 300 yards away would look like an unmagnified 6' tall man just 60 yards away.

The Burris optic on my AR15 fulfills the same role as a fixed power ACOG.

For the AR, probably your best bet is a variable power scope in a 1-4X by whatever. That will give you usable optics from CQB out to 300-400 yards. For your Savage, there are lots of choices, but I am personally partial the the SWFA SS scopes. They are made with HD glass. They have a very well designed and illuminated tactical milling reticle, and they are available in an array of magnifications. AND, they compare VERY favorably in price against products from other premium optic manufacturers like Nightforce or Leupold. My 5-20X50 was $1,499.95, and compared very favorably to an IOR Valdata 6-24x56 Tactical 35mm Rifle Scope with illuminated milling reticle ($1,949.95) and a Leupold 6.5-20x50 Mark 4 ER/T 30mm Riflescope with a non-illuminated milling reticle ($1,699.95).

All three of these are First Focal Plane scopes. If you can't tell from the box, the way you tell a FFP from a SFP (second focal plane) scope is what happens to the reticle when you zoom in and out. The reticle size remains unchanged as the image zooms in and out, you are looking at a SFP scope. If you see the reticle grow and shrink as you zoom in and out, you're looking at a FFP scope. FFP scopes tend to be more expensive, but they have an advantage over SFP scopes. The advantage is that, because the reticle grows and shrinks as the image grows and shrinks, the subtensions on the reticle can be used for ranging and bullet drop compensating at any magnification. With a SFP scope, the subtensions are only valid for ranging and bullet drop compensating at one magnification, which is usually (but not always) the value which is roughly midway between the low and high end magnifications. My 4.5-14X Leupold would indicate that the proper magnification for ranging would be at 9.25X (14-4.5 = 9.5; 9.5÷2=4.75; 4.5+4.75=9.25). However both the manual and the markings on the adjustment ring indicate that the proper magnification for ranging is 10X.......close enough for horseshoes and hand-grenades. The SFW scope is FFP, so none of that matters, and the other Leupold on the Ruger is a regular duplex and doesn't have ranging subtensions on the reticle, so it doesn't matter.

That's a lot of information, and it isn't focused, but maybe it will help you to narrow down what you're looking for and to make intelligent choices for both rifles.