50mm Obj. Lens Scopes

[Prairiewolf]

Buddies of mine say this is the way to go for getting the maximum out of your optics, particularly in low light conditions. That said, since the lens itself is so big, do you have to accommodate this with spacers or posts to get it mounted on your rifle?

[Faststeel]

Depending on the quality of the scope 50mm can make a difference. But In my opinion if a 50mm scope made that much difference it would be a big seller which it is not. Most any retailer will sell 40 40mm scopes for every one 50mm. Plus they can add a little extra bulk. FS

[catnthehat]

A 50MM objective does not guarantee that the scope will perform well in low light conditions.

Power setting s have far more to do with it when looking at the big picture.

I would rather have a cheaper 3X9 with a 40mm objective turned down to 3 than a high end stright 10X with a 50mm objective when it comes to low low light shooting.
Cat

[Dick284]

50mm objectives often result in scopes mounting to high to provide good cheek weld.

As for low light shooting I'd wager that unless your using higher than 12x magnification, any decent 40mm obj will give you enough last light capabilities so you can still shoot effectively within legal times.

[couleefolk]

unless i'm missing something here, you should only need to buy a taller set of rings, depending on the rifle you may need a set of "high" rings. your best bet is to just make sure you buy a quality glass. i've seen cheap 50mm's that almost seemed to make things darker when you cranked up the power. i don't have any proof, but i've been getting 30mm tubes instead of the old 1", and they all seem to pull in good light.

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Buy a decent 40mm OBJ scope, for the liitle extra you may gain, you add more weight with the 50mm OBJ and will need higher mounts.

I dont think you need it and for the extra $$$ also, I wouldnt for what little gain may be there.

never an issue for me with my rifles - all with Leupold VAri-X III, VX II's and III's in 40mm.

[Rhino81]

I look through a 56mm and love it in low light conditions.

[st99]

over rated.... I see very well 20 min. past day light out of my 36 and 40mm obj. to me it's not worth carrying the extra size

[Cowtown guy]

One of the best marketing plays they have made in the last few years. For what you gain I wouldn't bother. Spend the money on quality glass and you will be fine.

[roger]

the attempt to remove any potential for failure or add to the potential for success, then it should be done.
my go-to rig has a swaro with a 3-12x50mm.
Richard Near built an alphamount which has a two-business card clearance space between the bell and barrell for my specific application.there is a solution for keeping it as close as possible but be prepared.$$$
a high quality optical device will always pay you back. be it 40mm,50mm, or whatever..30 mins past legal lite is not important if you dont know whats downrange.

[Andrzej]

50, 56mm, and higher are common in Europe due to regulations.
You can hunt ALL night for wild boar there and 40 mm objectives are not good for this regardless of brand.
Huge difference at night be this scope or binoculars.
You may not see this at dusk or down but at midnight bigger diameter is crucial.
I was using 8x30 good quality binoculars when on night Wild Boar hunt and my partner is telling me that there are 9 Wild Boar 100 y from us, couple of sows with young and one boar. I could not see them at all so I got his military issue 8x56 binoculars and this patato field came to life.

Bigger is better particularly at night. I mean optics.

[bobalong]

Originally Posted by Andrzej

50, 56mm, and higher are common in Europe due to regulations.
You can hunt ALL night for wild boar there and 40 mm objectives are not good for this regardless of brand.
Huge difference at night be this scope or binoculars.
You may not see this at dusk or down but at midnight bigger diameter is crucial.
I was using 8x30 good quality binoculars when on night Wild Boar hunt and my partner is telling me that there are 9 Wild Boar 100 y from us, couple of sows with young and one boar. I could not see them at all so I got his military issue 8x56 binoculars and this patato field came to life.

Bigger is better particularly at night. I mean optics.

Exit pupil, the combination of magnificatioin and obj. lense size will also have a big effect on low light conditions. An 8x30 only has an exit pupil of about 3.5 while the 8x56 has one of 7, almost twice the size. At least a 4 or 5 is ideal for low light IMO.The maximum pupil size of a human eye is typically 5–9 mm (in low light) if you are under 25 years old, and decreases with age.

[justinO]

Originally Posted by Prairiewolf

Buddies of mine say this is the way to go for getting the maximum out of your optics, particularly in low light conditions. That said, since the lens itself is so big, do you have to accommodate this with spacers or posts to get it mounted on your rifle?

You will need to get the right height rings for the particular scope and gun, they come in different sizes. As for the scopes what kind of shooting do you do and what type of hunting do you do? Bigger scopes weigh more so if you like shooting free hand probably not a great idea. If you shoot off of a bipod or some kind of rest usually then I would go with the bigger objective and try to get a 30mm tube. How much do you want to spend?
As for light gathering the bigger you go the more you will get with same quality scopes.

[DaleJ]

You cannot funnel light. It travels in straight lines. Bigger main tubes make a big difference. One of the best low light scopes available is the 6X42 M8 Leupold. Its exit pupil of seven is maximum for human eyes, unless you're stoned on LSD. Once you put a variable lens system inside a small tube the amount of light reaching the ocular lens is reduced even more. When the objective gets over-sized depth of field becomes more shallow. I think they have different light overseas.

[bobalong]

I think where the larger objective would help is when you are shooting at a higher magnification like a 12 where you would still maintain about a 4.2 exit pupil. Once you get into anything much higher than a 12X though, your low light clarity is going to diminish quickly.

[Leeper]

To get the maximum amount of light to your eye, you need to have an exit pupil of at least 5mm with 7mm considered to be the maximum usable. In other words, more than 7 accomplishes nothing and less than five will be dark. The reality is, even a 3mm exit pupil will probably allow you to see better than with the naked eye.
A fifty mm objective will produce a five mm exit pupil at ten power. Any power higher than this will reduce the size of the exit pupil and the apparent brightness of the scope.
Once one has optimized the exit pupil by choosing an objective size appropriate to the power of his scope, other improvements in brightness are obtained by lense clarity, lense coatings to reduce reflectivity, and the number of lenses within the system. Coatings today are providing better light transmission than ever before and lenses are uniformly clear.
In the real world of shooting, I know I can see the target well enough to shoot well on a target in very low light even with a 24 power scope with a 40mm objective lense. In hunting conditions, the same amount of light transmission is inadequate but a 10x40 is more than adequate.
In general, I feel the disadvantages of the large objectives far outweigh the advantages for most field use. Leeper

[Mike_W]

50 mils are ugly too boot!!

[axeroad]

25 or so years ago I had two Leupold VX III's both 3.5-10.
One with 40mm obj. the other with 50mm obj.

I sat with both rifles on my deck surveying a treed field with horses in it
It was the crack of dawn and I stayed there until it was quite light out.
I studied trees and horses with both scopes at all powers.

I could see no difference... at all.
The only difference was on the rifles.... the 50mm needed higher bases.

[axeroad]

Also thanks to DaleJ for an enlightening insight....
and hearty belly laugh!

The larger objectives shine when using higher power scopes. Larger objective scopes give larger exit pupil - larger area for your eye to see through which allows you shoot out of position. Try shooting a target scope at 40x with a 40mm objective. The diameter of the exist pupil is 1mm. Move your head just a touch and you lose image. It always amazes me how self proclaimed experts miss this point.

Quality large objective scopes have better light transmission and better resolution.

To get a good glimpse of what happens to brightness with increase in power, March makes a 8-80x scope. At about 40x (from 8x) in room conditions, the room appears to darken noticeably, and at 80x it is far from desirable. Many are finding these scopes wonderful in very bright target shooting conditions but not so much in lower light situations.

In addition to forgetting things as one gets older (some more then others), the ability for the eye pupil to open decreases with age. A young child benefits most from large exit pupils. Unfortunately at a young age we don't have the money or the ability to use those wonderful large objective scopes.

I think most will agree that early morning and late evening is the best time for seeing a large animal. In some instances those animals are meters from the bush line (waiting for darkenss) in areas well shaded and more challenging to see. Higher magnification coupled with larger diameter objectives increases your odds of seeing that animal.

The only penalty I see for my hunting is the weight and size but I still use them over the 40mm scopes. The smaller objective scopes work well for me on .22 rimfires and ultralight rifles.

[pikergolf]

Here's an interesting chart.Pay attention to the eye piece section, it shows the correlation between, exit pupil, power and objective lens size.
http://www.minox.com/fileadmin/downl...en_en_0113.pdf

[DaleJ]

Originally Posted by Precisionshooter

I think most will agree that early morning and late evening is the best time for seeing a large animal. In some instances those animals are meters from the bush line (waiting for darkenss) in areas well shaded and more challenging to see. Higher magnification coupled with larger diameter objectives increases your odds of seeing that animal.

This is one reason I quit hunting, being scoped by people that forgot what binoculars are for, made me a bit jittery. When scope powers are greater than binoculars why bother with glasses. The big NF, Sightrons, etc have their place but glassing a stand of trees at dawn / dusk looking for game isn't one of them.

Large diameter scopes have an advantage with their shallow depth of field. Rolling back side focus will show mirage/wind between your position and the moose and rider you're targeting.

No question people just don't know when to load or unload a gun. Binoculars are excellent devices (I believe I have 3 sets from 8x, 10x to 16x) and I use my regularily (hence buying a Geovid (to lose one device)) but there are limitations.

I don't see many hunters using binoculars to begin with so raising the point here really is questionable. Many people leave their binoculars in the truck (too heavy to carry them I guess) if they have them at all.

In some cases I guess fellas can't afford (or see the need) binoculars so many don't use or have them.

[Okotokian]

I, personally, see absolutely no reason to use a 50mm objective. You get more weight and bulk and cost for what is often unusable exit pupil. Probably pretty few 40 or 50 year olds around that can actually use the increased brightness of a 3-9x50 (5.55 exit pupil) over a 3-9x40 (4.44 exit pupil). At lower powers the difference is even less usable (3x40 exit pupil is 13.3, way more than is actually usable).

So to me, the 50 (in terms of brightness) is really only useful if you are relatively young, ars shooting at dawn or dusk, and are using max power. Plus, if you have already spotted the game with your binos, the scope can be a touch dimmer.

A lot is probably glass too. To me, my 3.5-10x40 Leupold VX3 scope seems brighter at dawn than my 8x42 Nikon Monarch binos.

I really like the Z6 Swarovski 2.5-15x56 riflescope. Fantastic power range and very good field of view.

As for exit pupil - 56/15 = 3.73 still too small....

Fluride glass for colour and resolution... fantastic combination!

I don't even think I own a 3-9... oops my muzzleloader has a 3.5-10x40 Grand Slam Weaver.

When you come up with the exit pupil number, make sure that the objective diameter is actually USEABLE (exposed) diameter. If it isn't, your exit pupil is even smaller.