side wheel…
how many of you have them and couldn’t live with out them, or do they just,end up being novelty and something that you could live without?
I looking to do a scope upgrade from the good old bug buster to either the Leapers Accushot 3-12x44AO SWAT or the bushnell 5-15x 40, or at lease that’s what in looking at this moment 🙄
I think the bushy will have better glass in it, but I’m also thinking I will get a lot out of the wheel, so come on all let me know what ya think about those two scopes, the side wheels, and if there are any others in that price range I should be looking into 😉
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Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
It does not come with a wheel and I do not know if one is avail.
Ah I see. It’s setup alot like the new BSA’s with the turrets. Does it come with a wheel or is one made for it? The wheel’s that go with side focus scope is the thing that makes it nice.
you need to click on the 6×18 scope. it’s the third picture over.
the scope I just bought is made for cabelas 6x18x40
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=&id=0043015712760a&navCount=0&podId=0043015&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=UJ&rid=&parentType=&indexId=&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=cabelas%20tactical%20scope%20review&cm_ite=netcon&rid=0180101070502
semper fi
Side wheels really help with standing off hand shooting and it’s a better setup for right hand shooters. The scope in your link does not look like a side wheel scope.
How does the side wheel help so much during hunting? I just bought my first side focus scope for my new condor, but I have not played with it yet (my condor still has not arrived). All my other scopes for hunting (center fire rifles) are leupold and never need to be focused.
the scope I just bought is made for cabelas 6x18x40
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=&id=0043015712760a&navCount=0&podId=0043015&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=UJ&rid=&parentType=&indexId=&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=cabelas%20tactical%20scope%20review&cm_ite=netcon&rid=0180101070502
semper fi
Don’t use my side wheel, too big ( 150mm ) Just as easy to use the small knob .
Thanks for all your input guys 8)
I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with the lepers,(but of corse it’s out of stock every were right now) I like the price, bells and whistles that come with it and the side focus. I think the adjustment on the side wheel will be very useful in hunting situations as you mentioned there air. I haven’t shot prone sense qualifying in the boy scouts, most of my shooting is done off hand, on one knee and sitting in a FT type position so I think it will suit me just fine.
GTBJ,
Just want to add a few words to what the others have said. The phenomenom that RiffRaff described is called lash and you will see that in a lot of “side focus” scopes particularly the cheaper ones due the additional adjustment mechanism involved compared to the AO design. Oh yeah, even Leupolds have that but not Zeiss or NF. So a lot of the extra cost went into the mechanical parts besides optics.
Like BlackSabot said, SF is great when you are shooting prone a lot. I also find it so much more convenient when hunting off hand because you don’t have to break your cheek weld and you can track fast moving target that changes distance quick. Btw, I am talking about shooting in the less than 30 yd. range. I am right handed so I have to reach across the top of the scope with my shooting hand to adjust the SF and a larger sidewheel definitely helps. I found that in this sport, you have to be willing to spend some money and try different things to find what’s best for you.
Cheers
Blue,
I have the Leapers 4-16x56SWAT with an 80mm Leapers sidewheel on my Condor. It is the first sidewheel scope I have had on any gun with the others being AO, which I have since learned to HATE for hunting.
99% of the benefit of the sidewheel to me personally is being able to quickly adjust the sidewheel for yardage estimation and read the shot distance without having to drop the gun from a shooting position or even for that matter disturb my cheekweld. Once you shoot with one, especially if you shoot from a prone position with any regularity, you will NEVER go back to an AO scope. Also, with airgunning’s close ranges a big side benefit to this in my opinion is less game-scaring movement on the part of the shooter prior to actually taking the shot.
As far as the actual sidewheels themselves, even the 80MM (vs. the 100MM) Leapers sidewheel is a little “slow” to me for field use due to it’s overall diameter and how that affects the total time from seeing what you want to shoot and actually shooting it. I think a 60mm sidewheel would be about perfect on a hunting scope though I understand that the larger the diameter of the sidewheel, the more accurate the yardage estimation will be due to nothing other than the fact that the larger diameter wheel has a courser scale than a small diameter wheel. If I was a more paper-oriented shooter or a FT guy, I would have something that resembled a wheelbarrow tire on the side of my scope.
I agree with you that out of the two scopes you are considering the bushnell will have superior optics to the Leapers, but (and again this is only my opinion) there is a point of clarity in a scope that must be had but after that point is met, what does more clarity do for your shooting? Make you shoot more accurately? Make you shoot better than you already do? I would say no is the reasonable answer in both cases. I mean, it is not like you are going to look through the Leapers at a squirrel and the optics are so blurry that you think you see Rosie O’Donnel perched on a limb fourty feet up eating an accorn!
All of this hype about optics clarity reaches a point that is just plain silly and really should be left to those discussing macro lenses for taking pictures of flowers with large-format cameras.
I suggest that you look at what is most important in how you use your gun and let that decide which of the two scopes can best accomplish what it is that is of the greatest benefit to your shooting.
To finally answer your question; Yes, I could not imagine not having a sidewheel scope now, at least while hunting……………and please do excuse the fact that the road that leads to an answer from me is often a long and winding one.
Actually, let me go more in depth after re-reading your question.
I have both the Leapers SWAT and a Bushy Legend.
I prefer the Legend by far.
Optics-wise, there really wasnt much difference for me.
The side-wheel parallax adjustment has to be done a specific way or you may not be parallax free.
To adjust, you have to turn it to ∞ (infinity), then back down till it focuses.
I forget why you have to adjust side-focus scopes that way, but I found when I did the accuracy was better.
With the adjustable objective scopes, you can adjust parallax from either direction with no problem.
With the Bushy Legend, after I lasered my range I can set the objective to the range given and my parallax is perfect every time.
I can not do this using the Leapers scope; each time my parallax wheel was off by yards, sometimes by quite a bit. Once set though, it was fine.
If you go the side-focus route, invest in a laser with the pressure switch. You can use the dot while turning the wheel to adjust parallax really easy. Not quite as easy doing this with the AO scopes.
Apples to oranges really.
I have the Leapers 3-12x44AO SWAT with 80mm SW I like it but the
only thing I can compare it to is a Gamo 3-9×40 scope that I don’t really care for. Its like you don’t know how
bad it is until you use something better.
Side focus scopes benefit from the wheel IMO.
You can turn more precicely, and easier.
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Side wheels are helpful with a good pointer set up and large side wheel for range finding. Range finding will be more precise and more reaptable.
I have a number of SF scopes as well as standard AO scopes.
SF is more convenient and an absolute must on my field target rig, but in the field, pokin at critters, AO works just fine for me.
Thanks!
Cris