Getting the proper scope has a lot to do with rifle caliber. But no one seems to be talking about it.
When you are firing a high-caliber round, you are shooting long, probably a larger game animal, and there will be some hold-over. You will need proper recoil management, extra eye relief, and other ways to find the perfect scope.
We will help with that by listing all the essential features of high-caliber rifles.
What Is a High-Caliber Rifle
Actually, the answer is more complicated. The term “high-power rifle” lacks a clear, specific definition. Nevertheless, I will offer a broad overview to help you grasp the general concept.
Calibers of .30 inches or 7.62mm and anything over that is considered high caliber.
Now, the context here is hunting. In the context of hunting, a caliber of .30 is commonly regarded as high, and in certain states, hunting with calibers lower than this is prohibited. Imprecise caliber bullets for games can also cause pain to the animal or wastage of meat yield.
However, when you are talking about gun control, even a .22-inch or 5.56mm might be considered high caliber.
Essential Features of High-Caliber Rifle Scopes
Here, I am highlighting every feature of a scope required for firing a high-caliber power shot. Unlike most of the resources, I am not going to discuss general features of a scope.
- Recoil management
Higher caliber rounds will have a higher recoil. The scope should have a robust construction and a resistance to recoil. Moreover, it should not lose the zero with the recoil.
- Extra eye relief
Eye relief is the distance from your eye to the rear of your lens at the time of shooting. The higher recoil of the high-caliber shots can give you a good scope bite. Eye relief of more than 3.5 inches is preferable.
This feature could hurt your pocket a little.
- Long distance magnification
Most of the time high power shots are used for long-distance kills. For those, you should not go for fixed magnification scopes.
Now, for most of you out there, 3-9x or 4-12x is pretty good. You can go higher if you want. But remember that higher magnification always reduces the field of view. Your highest magnification would be 6x or 8x. So, a 4-12x should be the maximum. See this page to find the best high-magnification scopes.
- Hold-over solution
High caliber bullets can be slower, and they often travel a long way before hitting the target. Due to the air drag and the earth’s gravity, they might lose their elevation and fall a few degrees.
Some scopes correct for this issue with their reticles. These are called Ballistic Drop Compensating reticles. These BDC reticles have markings in their lens that show you how much a bullet will drop for a certain distance.
Another solution for the problem is turrets that adjust the horizontal crosshair to account for the bullet drop.
- Parallax solution
This is another issue with long-range shooting. Make sure the scope you are getting is parallax-free or has a parallax adjustment feature. The ones that do not have parallax adjustment might be parallax-free for a certain distance.
It will only be major if you are doing really long shots. Because the minor changes for this problem can result in a difference of accuracy by an inch for 500 plus yards.
The Don’ts
Here are a few things that you should avoid during your purchase.
- Objective lens
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to care for that. An objective lens of 42 or 44mm is more than enough. Your field of vision or clarity will not increase for the larger lens. Because the tube that transmits the light is limited.
- Caliber Specific Scopes
This can be very tricky. Because there are multiple types and weights of bullets for a certain caliber. And each one has a different approach to using them. So, it might not be good for higher caliber scopes.
General Features of Good Rifle Scope
Besides the features required for high-caliber scopes, you should also look for the general guidelines used for all scopes. Let me write those in short-
- Accuracy adjustment – MOA and MRAD
- Lens coating for clearer and brighter view
- Reticles type – Depends largely on the user’s preferences
Final Words
I want to stress the point on the ending note here that you should not focus on budgeting for the scope. Get a good scope, even if that costs a little more. Quality of glass and lens coating are among many qualities that define a scope.
But all the essential features of high-caliber rifle scope are described in the list. You should have no problem getting one.
