SCOPES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

First focal plane scopes. Prismatic scopes. Short eye relief scopes. These are just three types of scope that have recently been gaining pace on the airgun scene. But do we all know what they are or what they do?

Shooters need to know what optic they’re looking for – and what they’re getting when they pick up a new scope, and this becomes doubly hard for newcomers to the sport who may not understand even the basic terms and features. So let’s demystify this sometimes tricky subject.

A modern telescopic sight is a precision instrument, often full of exciting features, but at its most basic level a scope has just one very simple role to carry out – it helps us point the barrel of our airgun in a particular direction. It doesn’t matter what type of shooting we’re doing, or what type of gun we’re using, the principle is the same: a scope is a type of sighting system that, when used correctly, ensures the pellet will fly through the air in a known trajectory and hit the intended target.

A telescopic sight, which can also be referred to as an ‘optic’ or ‘telly’, is just one type of sighting system available to the shooter. Let’s take a quick look at the others to help understand the differences.

ALTERNATIVE SIGHTING SYSTEMS

Open sights, also known as ’iron sights’ or ‘irons’, feature a foresight at or near the front of the barrel and a rear sight closer to the shooter’s eye. The system works by the shooter aligning a front element – usually a small post – inside a rectangular or V-shaped cut-out in the rear sight. When these two elements are correctly aligned, the barrel will be pointing in a very specific, controlled direction – this is the key to all sighting systems.

Aperture sights are similar to open sights, but instead of a notch, they use a fully enclosed element for the rear sight. This is typically shaped as a circle, but other shapes, such as squares or diamonds, can be used instead. The rear aperture sight, which is sometimes called a dioptic sight, is aligned with a front