Air rifle Recoil and standard scopes???

[FA9]

So I was at bass pro in LV and overheard a group of people talking about which scope to buy for their air rifle. Idk which scope they decided on but when they asked the worker behind the counter to look at it, the worker said he doesn't recommended any of the scopes in the display case to be put on an air rifle. The group of people looked confused, I was confused I even asked why not? He simply said that the recoil from an air gun will damage the scope(because it recoils differently from a real gun). I told him: That's crazy! and walked away.

Idk if the dude was racist or what, but he pretty much refused to sell the scope to them(group of asians) I mean he didn't say no, but you could tell he didn't want to sell them the scope.

Anyhow, is it true about the recoil damaging the scope? I think its BS.

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[j8tnub]

It's true with some scopes. Not all will fail. The energy transfer on an air rifle or say a crossbow is opposite of a firearm. Where the energy in a firearm first goes to the rear of the gun, the impulse on an air rifle first goes towards the front.

 

[titsonritz]

So I was at bass pro in LV and overheard a group of people talking about which scope to buy for their air rifle. Idk which scope they decided on but when they asked the worker behind the counter to look at it, the worker said he doesn't recommended any of the scopes in the display case to be put on an air rifle. The group of people looked confused, I was confused I even asked why not? He simply said that the recoil from an air gun will damage the scope(because it recoils differently from a real gun). I told him: That's crazy! and walked away.

Idk if the dude was racist or what, but he pretty much refused to sell the scope to them(group of asians) I mean he didn't say no, but you could tell he didn't want to sell them the scope.

Anyhow, is it true about the recoil damaging the scope? I think its BS.

It's true.

Rifle scopes - Air gun scopes, there is a difference. IHMSA News Feature Article

 

[powermad]

So without looking it up yourself you jumped straight to he's racist?
Wow.

At least he wasn't a dick and just sold it to them anyway.

Mine has locking tabs as well to keep it in place, a regular scope will not stay put.

 

[titsonritz]

So without looking it up yourself you jumped straight to he's racist?
Wow.

At least he wasn't a dick and just sold it to them anyway.

Mine has locking tabs as well to keep it in place, a regular scope will not stay put.

So he was a nice racist?

 

[FA9]

So without looking it up yourself you jumped straight to he's racist?
Wow.

At least he wasn't a dick and just sold it to them anyway.

Mine has locking tabs as well to keep it in place, a regular scope will not stay put.

I guess you just had to be there.

And yes he was a dick. It took them awhile to get the scope in their hands and when they finally did, not even a minute later and the worker already has his hands out asking for the scope back. Just do your damn job. He's a paying customer.

 

[titsonritz]

I guess you just had to be there.

And yes he was a dick. It took them awhile to get the scope in their hands and when they finally did, not even a minute later and the worker already has his hands out asking for the scope back. Just do your damn job. He's a paying customer.

Hmmm, I'm not sure which is worse, the knowledgeable Richard cranium with sound advice or the nice 'tard spewing BS and making that sale.

 

[j8tnub]

If the optic is on a pic rail on an air gun it needs to be placed on the rail and pulled towards the rear of the gun before being tightened down. You want the recoil lug to be against the rail lug. This way the mount rides with the recoil. If there is a gap your mount will shift and cause a POI shift. You do the opposite and press it forward towards the end of the barrel for a firearm. This is the most common thing for a gun with a pic rail not holding zero.

 

[cigars]

Finally, someone to take the heat off of me.

 

[daved20319]

It's true with some scopes. Not all will fail. The energy transfer on an air rifle or say a crossbow is opposite of a firearm. Where the energy in a firearm first goes to the rear of the gun, the impulse on an air rifle first goes towards the front.

Close, but not quite right. A spring piston air rifle recoils in BOTH directions. The initial recoil impulse is just like a firearm, as the spring releases the piston, the rifle (and shooter's shoulder) is pushed back. Most any half decent scope has no problem with this. The problem happens at the other end of piston travel, when the piston essentially rebounds off the air cushion at the end of the compression chamber, basically creating a reversed recoil impulse, a pull instead of a push. This is what destroys even top quality scopes if they aren't rated for air gun use, and it can happen in just a few shots. A high powered air rifle can destroy a quality scope faster than a .460 Weatherby Mag, if it's not designed for air gun use. And even then, there are some that are known scope killers, regardless of what you put on them. Later.

Dave

 

[11Charlie]

Ok so granted I don't know much about air rifles and I get the point if you are buying a 40 dollar scope. But if I take my vortex viper and put it on a air rifle it's going to fail?

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Ok so granted I don't know much about air rifles and I get the point if you are buying a 40 dollar scope. But if I take my vortex viper and put it on a air rifle it's going to fail?

Basically, yes. I've tried several different scopes, even ones rated for air rifles and my Remington air rifle has destroyed them within maybe 50 shots.

 

[Aero Denezol]

Learn something new every day, lol

 

[MannyGlocks]

Firearm scope are designed for firearms.

Air rifle scopes are designed for air rifles.

Simple.

 

[11Charlie]

Learn something new every day, lol

Right!! Who would have thunked!!

 

[11Charlie]

Basically, yes. I've tried several different scopes, even ones rated for air rifles and my Remington air rifle has destroyed them within maybe 50 shots.

That is nuts. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[edzz]

Also most scopes do not provide parallax adjustment to allow for the shorter ranges that pellet guns maybe used at. Scopes with fixed parallax are rarely set for the range that an air gunner may wish.
My springers have scopes designed for springers. My precharged rifles while not having the bidirectional recoil that is known to destroy most (yes even high end) scopes still need to allow for parallax adjustment for much shorter range than even most .22 scopes. My air guns may be called upon to be used for 10 meter indoor shooting to ~ 100 meters outdoors, very few non airgun scopes can accommodate this.
Me thinks an apology to the salesman is in order, from what you wrote it sounds like you walked up in the middle of a discussion and may not have known the whole story before providing your factless commentary.

 

[tac]

Look up Dampa air rifle scope mounts.

 

[bbbass]

Ok so granted I don't know much about air rifles and I get the point if you are buying a 40 dollar scope. But if I take my vortex viper and put it on a air rifle it's going to fail?

YES!

The airgun guru is right. These are facts that are so easy to find even a Caveman could do it! They apply to springer air rifles, not sure about tank guns. I'm sure the guru will jump in with a three page speech on it tho...

Counter clerk said... FLUCTUATIONS!!! Just kidding...

 

[osprey]

On the flip side of this I have an old Tasco airgun rated scope and it has lived on several high power rifles up to 7mm mag with zero problems. It is actually a pretty nice little fixed 4x scope.