ROD & GUN Advantages And Pitfalls In Telescopic Sights

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31119, 23 July 1966, Page 21

ROD & GUN Advantages And Pitfalls In Telescopic Sights

(Specially written for “The Press” by

JAMES SIERS)

The use of a telescopic sight: for hunting has become com-: monplace in New Zealand.' The average hunter seen in the field has graduated to some form of glass-sighting equipment. Many new hunters have never been in the field; after large game with open; iron sights. There is no doubt as to the value of a good telescopic: sight, but there is a tremendous line of pitfalls to look for. The first thing a shooter should decide is that he wilL buy a really good sight; of proved reputation and full! guarantee. Second, he must make sure that if his rifle has not been tapped for screw holes for the mounting of ! holding blocks, that he has this done by a good gunsmith who will guarantee to get the': blocks on level. He must then i be sure he gets good blocks; and top quality rings. j;

A high velocity, large bore rifle has sufficient recoil to' move a telescopic sight unless\ it is fitted firmly in place. If the sight is of inferior quality: the recoil has been known to i move the internal reticle ori cross-hair adjustments. In either case the hunter is wasting time, as the shots will I not be accurate. Yet another pitfail with; cheap telescopic sights is that! they tend to admit water or moisture because of poor;

sealing. Once this happens you’re looking through a fog

and deer can laugh safely from even a close range. The latest development, from the manufacturers is vari-power sights; units that' feature graduated magnification of image. For example a| 2 to 7 power is roughly an! image magnified twice and' then as the magnification is I increased the object of aim' becomes bigger. The varipower is an excellent tool in the hands of a good shot who knows the capacity of his rifle and can handle long-! range work, yet it can still be > used most effectively for! close and quick shooting, be-i cause on the low magnifica-| tion it is like a wide-angle | camera lens and gives a large! field of view while resolving! the light, so that the shooter' has a better picture and a more positive aiming mark. ; The increased magnification; can be useful in establishing! a doubtful mark as a target! and in the bush an indefinite!

'object can be examined' 'critically for positive identi-i ' fication. Sometimes you; might see a patch of hide in; manuka, or pepper wood. A' quick twist of the knob, a 'look through the sight and! j you are sure that it is i ! definitely a deer. All these points are the! advantages of a vari-power. It I 1 has many faults. It is usually i big and heavy. It is a complex engineering construe-! tion and can easily go wrong. ' Because of moving parts the! water seal cannot be com- ‘ pletely effective. Sometimes! even the reticles change! position with the variations' in power. You can forget to slip the magnification down when in the bush so that when a close shot comes up, you cannot get on to the ! animal quick enough for a! shot. I have a vari-power, a! 2 to 7 telescopic sight of top!

! quality, but even so. at the i maximum magnification the \ image is not in complete : focus. This is purely a I mechanical difficulty of align- ' ing lens elements in an i intricate order and after all is the slight extra advantage worth all that money? | My choice now would be—j ;and this is for all types of !

I'large game shooting—a 2 J • power telescopic sight of the i ■ best possible quality and fully i guaranteed. The internal . reticle preference would be 11 for a medium cross-hair. It !l would be snug and close fiti ting to the rifle. And I would practise with it over 1 ! ranges up to 400 yards to work out some form of range definition. I For accurate shooting of the “varmint” type I would ■ get an excellent 6 or 10 ! power telescopic sight and mount it on a suitable rifle to be used purely for that ! purpose, and go to considerable trouble to become absolutely identified with it. For this type of sight I would prefer a fine cross-hair. The latest telescopic sights now offer centred reticles so khat if an adjustment has to be made for windage, the ' reticle stays centred. Most 'of the new vari-powers also

offer non-magnifying reticles so that if the power is increased the reticle remains the same. This is a most important feature. Nowhere does the saying “penny wise, pound foolish” have more application than in the purchase of a telescopic isight Make yours a good 'one.