Great thread...!
Totally ambiguous question. Makes for great click bait.
Worked with me!
Like all those general questions that lack context.... — what are your shooting scenarios where you want to use that scope?
▪Hunting? What quarries? What ranges?
▪Target shooting? What ranges?
What helped me is not to think of a set magnification range, like 3-9x or 4-16x, but to look at each end of the magnification spectrum separately.
I explain:
The Bottom End Magnification
This is important for hunting for close range quick shots. For those
I want a wide field of view (FoV) — so a low bottom end is important for this type of shooting.
Note that even scopes with the same magnification often have different FoV — so instead of only checking the magnification I look at the actual FoV spec.
The Top End Magnification
(a) Do I want to see enough to hit —
(b) or do I want to see enough to see my hits?
Big difference....
(c) Do I want to hit quarry —
(d) or do I want to hit bull's-eyes?
Big difference....
(a) Seeing the bull's-eye or the kill zone of my quarry at 250y doesn't require much magnification —
(b) but seeing
bullet holes at long range requires some high magnification.
(c) Seeing the kill zone of my quarry rarely requires much magnification —
(d) but for seeing a bulls'-eye at longer ranges it really helps — "Aim small — miss small!"
Another question I ask myself frequently when scope shopping:
(e) Do I want an
all-round scope?
(f) Or do I want a specialized scope,
for only certain shooting scenarios?
When buying a scope for (e) I have to bargain between different trade-offs, because what is best for one shooting scenario is actually the worst for another scenario.
When buying a scope for (f) I can get the best of the best for that particular scenario — but then I'll need a scope or scope—rifle combo for when I want to shoot in a different scenario.
Happy scope shopping all around!
Matthias
