Thread: Leupold scope on Air rifle - OK ???

Hi guys, bit of advice please. I have an older Leupold Vari-X IIc 2-7 scope that my son wants to mount on his springer air rifle. It would be an ideal little scope but I remember being told somewhere that air rifles can damage scopes due to their vibrations? Seems highly unlikely I know but is that an old wives tale or any truth to that ? Also not sure about parallax but this little scope is so clear at close range ? Cheers

For springer air rifles it is true.

@Pete_D

I wouldn't, unless the scope has a blurb saying it's made for springer air rifles.

Springer rifles DO have a phenomenon called double recoil and it can chew up a good scope not designed for it. And even a magnum rated rifle scope, while it can handle front/back recoil MAY NOT cope well with the lateral vibrations from a springer air rifle.

Unfortunately only one way to find out for sure....

Here are two leupold scopes that are designated air rifle scopes, not sure about yours. Someone will have a manufacturers leaflet for that scope somewhere.

Or buy the boy a CO2 pellet air rifle to go with the scope. A tad less power but a lot more accurate and un-frustrating to shoot, and it won't chew the fine scope.

spring type air rifles are awful on scopes.
a scope is deigned for conventional recoil but in an air rifle (also crossbows) the recoil initially is forward then a backwards pulse. this has whiplash effect on reticles. i wouldnt risk a leupold on an air rifle, go buy a decent scope designed for the job or its going to be goodbye to a decent scope

From my understanding, PCP Air Rifles are no issue at all to scopes.
However, any air rifle that has a spring and a big piston effectively creates a recoil in the opposite direction. (Picture Large Piston released in forwards motion under spring load, and hitting the end of its travel), they then have a smaller recoil in the opposite direction.
Apparently this 'double' recoil can ruin non air rifle purposed scopes...

i say dont do it. springers cannot shoot far (not accurately anyway). You dont need Leupold mid-class image quality. On the other hand there is a real possibility of damaging the scope with springer recoil. If I were you I go buy a 150 dollar Hawke springer scope. more than enough for shooting within 35 metres.

For the last 20 odd years I have had an ancient Leupold 3x on my Weihrauch HW80 springer. In it time the HW80 was one of the most powerful springers around. The 3x Leupold scope was quite commonly seem on African rifles. It has a very very robust interior devoid of many fragile bits that were in variable power scopes of that period. It's only problem is masses of parallax at closer ranges.

Having said that I would not recommend the OP uses his Loopy for his air rifle.

I also have a 30 year old Tasco 2-7 dedicated air gun scope which has also seen time on the HW80 and never gave problems. It is a Japanese scope long since gone out of production.

There is one Diana model that eats scopes including the cheap Hawke air gun rated scopes.

The usual death symptoms are initial loss of zero to reticles on a bad piss/floating around in the scope.

Thanks for the reply guys, I had heard this years ago and now I know why. Cheers

Originally Posted by zimmer

..
I also have a 30 year old Tasco 2-7 dedicated air gun scope which has also seen time on the HW80 and never gave problems. ...

Same on my BSA Supersport springer- has never given any issues. It's an AO design

It's a leupold. If you have any problems send it back and they will fix it.