Taking my lepould off my 22lr and puttin it in my RWS350

[GARD72977]

I have been really sucking with my 350 lately. I thought it was lack of practice but turns out my rear blade was loose. It fell out and I cant find it. I decided that I don't want to shoot any of the 22lr ammo I have put back so I robbing the 2x7 rimfire scope off it and putting it on the 177cal 350. I think it will be perfect for squirrel hunting. Worst thing that can happen is I break it and Lepould fixes it for me.

What about a lower power scope for squirrel hunting? the parallax is set for 60yds and not adjustable. Any suggestions?

[MT Chambers]

I'd leave that scope on my .22 and buy a cheap but airgun rated scope like one of the less expensive Hawkes, UTG, Leapers, etc...all are airgun rated and parallax down to 10 yds.

[grizzlyadams]

plus 1 on what mt said

[Hamish]

Um, yeah, I don't think you want to do that,,,,,,

Do a little research and you will find many, many stories of wrecking firearm scopes by putting them on air guns. The recoil pulse is reverse of a firearm, and apparently this is a bad thing. I do not completely understand it, but, I have seen some pretty reputable folks say this online.

Edit: Looked into it a bit further and it sounds like the problem is primarily with spring piston break barrel guns, not the pump up style.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'd leave that scope on my .22 and buy a cheap but airgun rated scope like one of the less expensive Hawkes, UTG, Leapers, etc...all are airgun rated and parallax down to 10 yds.

+1
And also don't over look the "used" market. I really hate to suggest fleabay...but it may be your best bet to snag a inexpensive decent used air rifle scope...Look to L&K, contact him direct or seach ebay for "lkscoperepair40"
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...K-Scope-Repair

[roysha]

Go for it. As I understand it, Leupold scopes are springer air gun rated. A phone call or an email to Leupold will verify if that is true. The 350 is a "magnum" and therefore rather hard on scopes but I wouldn't hesitate to use that scope on that gun if I was in your situation.

If you should decide to purchase an economy priced scope, take a look at the BSA 4-12x44 Essential Air Gun scope. I have 4 of these on various air and powder guns, one of which is an RWS 460, also a "magnum" class springer, and have not had a single issue of any type with them.

You can adjust the parallax if you so desire, but it is not something that one would do on a regular basis. If you want to do that, I can talk you through the process. I have adjusted quite a few Leupolds, and others, down to 35-50 yard parallax free depending on the persons desire.

You can, of course, send it back to Leupold and have them adjust the parallax to whatever range you want.

[GARD72977]

Go for it. As I understand it, Leupold scopes are springer air gun rated. A phone call or an email to Leupold will verify if that is true. The 350 is a "magnum" and therefore rather hard on scopes but I wouldn't hesitate to use that scope on that gun if I was in your situation.

If you should decide to purchase an economy priced scope, take a look at the BSA 4-12x44 Essential Air Gun scope. I have 4 of these on various air and powder guns, one of which is an RWS 460, also a "magnum" class springer, and have not had a single issue of any type with them.

You can adjust the parallax if you so desire, but it is not something that one would do on a regular basis. If you want to do that, I can talk you through the process. I have adjusted quite a few Leupolds, and others, down to 35-50 yard parallax free depending on the persons desire.

You can, of course, send it back to Leupold and have them adjust the parallax to whatever range you want.

I did not know that you could adjust the parallax on these scopes. I don't plan on shooting less that 20yds so I think it will be fine. Im more interested in what you think about using a low power scope on a airgun. The trend is to use high power scopes.

[roysha]

From a PRACTICAL point of view, just how much power does one need for shots out to, say, 50 yards. I don't care what anyone says, that is a reach with most springers, 35 yards being more realistic.

I must admit that I do fall for the "more is better" syndrome all too often when it come to scopes and then end up using a mid to low power setting because the field of view is so small at the higher settings I have difficulty finding the target in a field situation. I originally had an RWS 300 4x scope on my Diana 36 .22 cal. and it was entirely sufficient for that rifle and at the ranges it was capable of shooting accurately. I took it off because I decided I would just use it with the iron sights and if I needed a scoped gun I'd take the 460 MAG.

So, as far as I'm concerned, you have more than enough power with the 2x7 for your rifle.

There is this aspect also, if you don't like the setup you can always take it off and then buy whatever you feel you need.

[Larry Gibson]

I'd check with Leupold first to see if that 22LR scope will hold up to the severe pounding that RWS350 is going to give it and will they honor the warranty if not. The RWS350 and other heavy magnum level springers are hell on scopes, even those rated for "air rifles". I went through a lot of "air rifle" scopes on such heavy recoiling springers. You get what you pay for, especially with scopes. If you want a good air rifle scope that will hold up the Leupold 3x9EF is a good one. Better yet is a fixed power made for springers as it has a whole lot less to rattle loose.

Larry Gibson

[blindeye]

I don't know about the newer Leupold Rimfire scopes; but I used a older basic 1-4x Leupold on a Beeman R-1 .22 for quite awhile without any problems. I'd guess that rifle might be considered to be fairly hard on scopes. I didn't change the parallax to a shorter distance. Stock fit me so a consistent hold minimized changes in head position. I'm not sure paying to correct for a closer distance would have improved grouping much for me. After a time I changed to a Burris Mini Rimfire/Airgun 6x AO with parallax adjustment. I don't believe that scope is offered any more. I've had excellent service from both Burris and Leupold at no charge; even on fairly old pre-owned scopes. Except for a early Leupold 3x9 that got broken clean in half I haven't had a scope problem develop myself, the ones needing repair had problems when I got them 2nd hand. The lousy Chinese scope that came with my new RWS 52 will be coming off and the little Burris 6x AO going on; it's a gem. If I didn't own it I probably just use a idle Leupold 4x or 2x7. A call or email will get the story on your Rimfire 2x7's suitability.
good luck

[GARD72977]

I'd check with Leupold first to see if that 22LR scope will hold up to the severe pounding that RWS350 is going to give it and will they honor the warranty if not. The RWS350 and other heavy magnum level springers are hell on scopes, even those rated for "air rifles". I went through a lot of "air rifle" scopes on such heavy recoiling springers. You get what you pay for, especially with scopes. If you want a good air rifle scope that will hold up the Leupold 3x9EF is a good one. Better yet is a fixed power made for springers as it has a whole lot less to rattle loose.

Larry Gibson

All golden ring scopes are springer rated. The only reason these are rimfire scopes is the parallax fo 60 yds. They will hold up on large centerfire rifles. If I like the scope in gun I may send it in to have the parallax set to the lowered some. I have never been a hunter but I want to start this winter.

I need to do some more research but im thinking about shortening the barrel and adding a shroud to make it quieter. I have read where people are having good results buy shortening the barrel several inches and gaining 25 or more FPS.

[Larry Gibson]

Then give it a whirl.........Keep in mind though there's a big difference in the direction of recoil between "large centerfire rifles" and magnum level springers. It's why such scopes are not recommended even for non-magnum springers. However, as you note, Leupold Golden Ring scopes are all springer rated as they are built to take recoil in both directions (most scopes aren't, even some pretty expensive ones). I was not aware the 2x7 you had was a Golden Ring. A lot of times the parallax is not noticeable on lower power. I'll bet on 2- 4 power the focus and parallax will be fine at closer range though under 10 yards may be a problem(?). Certainly worth a try.

BTW; You may not want to shorten the barrel as I do believe the RWS350 has a choke taper at the end of the barrel(?).

Larry Gibson

[rking22]

Regarding lower powered scopes, I use a 6x Burris Mini on my 20 cal R9 with a moderate tune. It's plenty for starlings out to 55 yards, and drop makes anything farther iffy. One thing about the low powere fixed scopes is mass, or rather lack of mass. The monster scopes on spring guns are hard to keep in place even if they will hold up. I am a hunter and the small scopes are much nicer to carry in the squirrel woods while having plenty of magnification. I have a Theoben that distroyed every scope ever put on it except a airgun rated Tasco and a Burris 4x12 mini AO. I shot field target with it and the 12 power and paralex adjust was needed for the target game. Well maybe not needed but nice to have, it let me aim at a pellet strike on the paddle not just the paddle! You will like the 2x7 scope but a 4X or 6X would be great too. As Larry said ,not near so many parts in a fixed power to rattle arroung!

[Larry Gibson]

rking22

I use a 4X Simons on my .20 cal R9 and find it quite adequate for hunting to 50 yards also. Once zeroed with CPs some years back it has not lost zero or moved in the mounts since. It's my most often used air rifle for casual hunting.

Larry Gibson

[rking22]

Larry , I think more may be coming arround to the same conculsion. I used to pick up nice leupold and burris fixed compacts and minis for 75$ , no more! I hope manufactures will come arround too and bring those nice lite 2.5,4 and 6 fixed back.
Those R9s are really a sweet spot for hunting airrifles. Had an R1 ,just too big for me, Sold it to a young man who is really enjoying it! My R9 and thumb safety blue streak get shot more than all the rest put together. A 12 to 14 grain pellet at 700 ish FPS works great on anything that a small bore air rifle is adequate for, and they are much nicer to shoot than the "hot rods". As someone pointed out , if I need more I can go to the 22LR on up to 45-70 if need be.

Woops, little thread rift , sorry

[Larry Gibson]

Yes the CPs are great in my R9 (my .177 and .22s also!). They run right at 666 fps and are definitely deadly out to 50 yards (is there a message there?). Have quite a few low power fixed scopes of Weaver, Leupold and Burris make. Truth be known most of my shooting with variable is on the low end of the power range. Really love my old original Weaver T6, T10 and T16. Not the brightest optics these days but they do just fine. Wish I had picked up a couple other Simons 4X air rifle scopes..........they are marvelous on .22LR rifles also.

The Leupold 2x7 the OP has sounds interesting, will keep my eye out for one............

Larry Gibson

[GARD72977]

I stopped by the house for lunch and the scope rings were in the mail box. I could not resist so I put the scope on. The gun has no droop. I shot a little and I think im going to like it. Hitting NRA airgun steel pigs at 30 yds sends them flying. The 350 has some real power for a airgun. We will see how it holds up. I used low rings and it feels about the same as aiming the iron sights. I wanted the scope as low as possible.

[DougGuy]

It sure looks like it belongs on there! What's the parallax set to, 60yds? That's a LONG way to be shooting squirrels with an air gun. I would think you'd be better off with one of the Leaper's that you can parallax down to backyard distances since many shots on squirrels are less than 20yds.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Hamish: The recoil on an spring powered Airgun is two fold.

First there is a pretty serious push to the rear after the trigger is pulled, and then when the piston hits the end of the cylinder there is an abrupt snap forward. This is what kills the scopes.

Some Scopes can take it, some can't.

I have an old Bushnell .22 scope that lived thru literally thousands of rounds from my HW35 which was the predecessor of the R1 and very powerful in it's day. (they still make them, HA!)

My R1 whet thru a couple of mounts before I got one that would stay put. I had a "Recommended" $75 scope mount from Pyramid Air that moved .005 with every shot! It was returned and replaced with a $14.95 mount from Pyramyd Air that has a stop and stays put. some guns have 2 or 3 holes drilled into the top of the receiver near the rear. They are for this purpose. You can see two of them in the pic below behind the scope mount.

It now has a 1x4 Leapers scope on it that survived 1400+ rounds on my Mini 14 which is also not kind to optics. However if it cacks I'm out $79.95, but I just bet that Pyramyd Air or Leapers/UTG will replace it for free. I might add that this scope is ideal for the 50 yard range of the R1 and has excellent optics, nice fine crosshairs and subtle lighting in Red and Green. excellent optic for the money. Also you're not afraid to use it.

Gard: you need to mark the position of your scope mount on the gun with a Sharpie, to see if it is moving. If it moves it will move towards the back of the gun and once it starts moving it will continue to do so until it stops against something that can't move. Unless the scope mount has a stop built into it probably will move.

The big springers are pretty vicious guns.

Once again the snap back recoil is a killer.

Randy

[GARD72977]

The scope rings have a stop pin in the rear. I shot the gun about 70 times with good results. My shooting was a little shaky but I was holding 4" groups off hand at 50yds. I really like the 2x7 power. The parallax set at 60yds is not that big a deal. This gun has the same practical range for me as a 22lr. I would not take a squirrel past 50yds with either one (due to my shooting). The RWS 177 is flat shooting and still carries 10FPE at 50 yds