The 50 caliber rifles are in a world of their own when it comes to scopes.
We have listed several scopes that we have found to excel when installed on a 50 BMG rifle.
There are several special considerations when choosing a scope for a 50.
First- consider the punishing recoil the 50's generate. A scope with a lifetime warranty will serve you well here.
Make sure the scope is of robust construction.
Second- what ranges will you be shooting the gun at?
1000 yards is a long way out there. You'll need extra battery capacity on your wheelchair when you go out to check your target!
If your will be shooting over 1000 yds, then you should select a scope with a large adjustment range in the crosshairs.
Some scopes have over 100 MOA adjustment.
Third- don't go too crazy when
it comes to magnification.
It's natural to want a 200 power scope on a gun that will be shooting over 2000 yards, but you will hate that scope I promise.
Several problems with super high power scopes: too much mirage, causing a fuzzy image;
many report that a scope over 30x causes headaches when looked through for any length of time;
hard to find the target at closer ranges; and very hard to keep a high power scope steady.
Also, there are more parts inside the higher power scopes, and this can cause a problem with the 50's recoil.
Many of the worlds most accomplished 50 shooters have 10 to 20 power scopes on their rifles.
A famous rifle builder shoots 'chucks at 2000 yds with his 20 power Leupold.
Choose your reticle design carefully. The Mil-dot is possibly the most common choice of serious shooters,
but unless you are trained with this system, you may never realize it's potential. We suggest you study up on the Mil-dot concept before selecting it. Our favorite reticle is the custom Barrett designed ranging reticle which provides data from 500 to 2000 meters. It is installed in the superb Swarovski 10X42 50 cal scope. We realize many of you will want a higher power scope, but this is
definitely one you should look at. We are really pleased with the I.O.R. scopes that have the MP-8 reticle. Check them out.
