I have a Hw97 on its way and I'm looking for scope suggestions. I'm used to break barrels so obscuring the loading port has never been a consideration. So I'm asking for advice from actual owners and what works for them. Please keep in mind I prefer to mount the scope as low as possible in case that changes anything. Thanks
I have a Leupold 6.5-20 efr with TS29X1 reticle. Superb in every way EXCEPT it is an AO scope, not a side wheel. After living with AO scopes for years and finally purchasing a used gun with a side wheel scope I can say I will likely never buy another AO scope. With a side wheel you can adjust parallax/range estimate with the gun to your shoulder vs. having to take it down, point it up and look over the scope to see your yardage estimate. Plus its hard to hold the gun still on target when twisting an AO.Be aware that if you buy a side wheel scope, depending on the size of the wheel, there may be interference between the wheel and the stock with very low rings.
Good choice, I have 3 of them! I have one on my 97, 77, and 54 Air King. Again, what I love about them is that when you line the front of the scope up with the rear of the loading port, the scope is a perfect length for me where it sits at the rear of the rifle. I use the BKL rings and at first I was having trouble with scope creep but Motorhead gave me a little piece of advice that put an end to that. Which was to use a cleaning solvent (I just used 90% denatured alcohol) and thoroughly clean the dove tail and the feet of the scope rings. Then, put a little dab of loctite on the feet of the scope rings then torque it down. I let mine cure for 24 hours before firing and it hasn't moved in 400 pellets shot.
77kl .177 Air Max 3x9x4077 .22 Air Max 3x9x4077k Air Max 4x12x4097kl.177 Air Max 4x16x50 30WA SF97kt .177 Element 6x24x50 APR-1C MRAD97ki stain. .20 Air Max 4x16x50 30 WA SF97k .22 Element 6x24x50 30 WA SF97black line stain. .22 Element 6x24x50 30WA SF97kt .25 Air Max 3x9x40I have several Air Max and a few Element. I like the Element over the Hawke only for the reason, when turning knobs I can’t feel or hear the Hawke. The Element is far more pronounced. Also the Element has side focus. My favourite Air Max is the 4x16x50. I like the big honking look. Crow
Run down of the scopes I’ve tried on my 97K and 77K. Starting in 2007 I first tried a Leapers 4-16X56 and it worked OK for what it was but the glass was not that great, this was on the 97K. Dida lot of research and upgraded to a Sightron 6-24X42 with a target dot, it was a huge upgrade, this was a SII bigsky (japanese). Shot one of the best 52 yard groups with that scope. Wish I would’ve kept it but I was wanting to get a betterreticle with hold over lines. Decided to upgrade to a SIII fixed power 20X42 with a mill hash reticle, long story short it wouldn’t focus sharp enough for me at 40yards, this model was later discontinued. These scopes all would focus down to 10 yards also, they also have lifetime warranties. So I sent it back and they sent me a SII bigsky 4-16X42 milldot, I used it on my 97K for a couple of years, till in 2016 I bought the 77Kand ordered another SII bigsky milldot and it still sits atop the 77K. After using the “japanese” glass I decided against any Chinese glass going forward…lol. Although Chinese scopes have come a long way since then, like Athlon, Arkin…etc. Just depends on how much the maker wants to spend on manufacturing and QC, I’m sure the Chinese could make a awesome scope, they have the capability.Anyway, back to my scopes, up to this point I’d only had SFP scopes and was wanting to try a FFPscope. So after more research and spending $$I now have the TRACT TORIC 4.5-30X56 34mm tube FFP sitting on the 97K and I really like it. It is a big heavy scope but for the way I shoot (mostly rested) it works great, only thing I don’t like is it only focuses down to 25 yards, but I have shot it closer than that, but at about 17 yards it not really doable…lol.Sometime next year TRACT is coming out with a new 34mm that will focus to 10 yards, most likely a 4-25X50 FFP and I will be trying that one out,not sure which rifle yet. The glass on these are amazing.Some other mentionable scopes, I had a Nikon Prostaff EFR on a Diana 75 and I really liked that scope, shot some small groups with it at 45 yards. I don’t know why they stopped selling these. Also had a UTG 4-16X44 on a R1 carbine it had a mill dot and it worked better than the Leapers. Ultimately sold off everything but the 97K and the 77K, still have two Sightron SII bigsky 4-16X42 mill dot and the new TRACT on the 97K. A far as mounts go I’ve used sports match, UTG or Leapers and Burris signature zee rings with the plastic eccentric inserts, which I still use on the 77K. They allow you to zero your optically centered scope without using the turrets pretty close to spot on, then tweak with the turrets.BTW I’ve always used a scope stop, either built into the rings or a stand alone stop behind the rear ring, currently set up this way on the 77K.The new 34mm scope on the 97K had to have a different set up. I used a UTG dovetail to picatinny adapter that clamps to the dovetail with 5 screws, it also has a stop pin which you can drop down, which I did. On top of this adapter I used Athlon 34mm rings that fit the picatinny rail really well and this is a solid set up.That’s it for me at the moment.EDIT::: I forgot I did have a Leupold 6-20 EFR I bought from Lou Ferrigno, I think I tried it on the Diana 75, but it didn’t work with my eyes, the eye box was small or something for me.Now that’s it…lol.
Rob,Please know that Nikon stopped producing ALL scopes, not just the EFR. -Y
Quote from: Yogi on October 01, 2022, 03:37:56 PMRob,Please know that Nikon stopped producing ALL scopes, not just the EFR. -YI had no idea Yogi, very surprising. Gotta wonder why a premium optics company would decide to abandon the scope market? R
My Hawke AMX recommendation scope. hawkeoptics.com/airmax-30-sf-compact-3-12x40-amx-ir.html