I am looking for a rifle scope for shooting .22 rimfire at (sometimes) very short range. I have an airgun scope (crap) that has AO (adjustable objective) that has markings for adjusting down to 3 meters. From what I can determine from reading various sites, AO allows for high magnification at close ranges with more accuracy due to being able to adjust for parallax. I’ve read the Wikipedia pages for parallax and rifle scopes and it’s highly detailed info that leaves me a little confused. Apparently most scopes for firearms have a fixed objective because they are typically used for shooting at longer distances. I’m looking for being able to shoot precisely at 25-50 feet as well as more typical rimfire distances, say 100 ft. to 100 yards.
Can anyone thumbnail it for me? Would AO in a rifle scope be something I would benefit from?
I’m willing to spend the money to get what I want.
What are you planning on using the rifle for, River Hippie? Plinking? Serious Silhouette work? Smallbore bullseye (whichever division they let you use scopes)? Hunting?
Near as I can tell, AO is needed when the magnification gets above 10, or when the utmost in accuracy is required. FWIW, you can see parallax in scopes, or at least I could in the airgun scopes I’m familiar with. Just rest the rifle, and put the crosshairs on the bullseye. Now lift your head off the stock and move it around. If the crosshairs move off the target, you’re seeing parallax. Your intended use (and corresponding ranges) will let you know if that much movement of the crosshairs will keep you from doing what you intend to do.
OTOH, AO scopes for rimfire rifles don’t seem to be all that expensive, compared to non-adjustable objectives. Amazon has a 6.5x20 Zeiss with AO for only 700 USD, which is a whole lot cheaper than I thought’d be. This thread at rimfirecentral asks which AO scope is the best, as of 2013. Leupold seems to get a lot of love, which is strange, as I had thought they were second tier to stuff like Schmidt & Bender, Nightforce, etc…
Thanks for the link. I get my jollies plinking mostly but I love being able to pick some tiny spot on a tin can, paper target, whatever and put a round precisely through that exact spot. I’m talking about putting one in the hole in the A on the Alpo can, not just hitting the can. I shoot mainly in my basement range which is 25ish feet and at my outdoor place which is about 125 ft max. Sometimes I shoot at more typical distances. My outdoor range is in the midst of some really heavy brush and the main problem with my airgun scope I currently have mounted is that it doesn’t gather much light and so I have trouble seeing the target. Also it got stuck on the 3x setting and when I turn the knob towards higher magnification it just goes all blurry and doesn’t focus at any distance.
I’m looking at a Leupold 3 x 9 AO at around 400 bucks. Mounting it on a Marlin 39A, btw.