Objective diameter size benefits

[dtucker]

I wanted to know if someone could tell me a little about objective bell size facts. What benefit do you get from going say 40mm to 50mm or 44mm to 50mm or up to 56mm size bell diameters. Are you gaining much from going 40mm to a 50mm out in the field?

 

[AndrewV]

Going up in size will improve the brightness and clarity through the eyepiece. If the quality of the glass and coatings are the same, so a 40mm objective will have a slightly less bright view than a 50mm or larger. This enables you to extend the period in the field in which you can shoot safely, because you can see the target. However if you compare a scope with a 40mm objective that has excellent glass and coatings to say a scope with a 56mm objective that has lower quality glass and coatings, the 40mm can have a much brighter view. This is where it is important to actually hold in your hand the scopes you are interested in and compare what you see through each.

Andrew

 

[spclark]

The larger the objective, the more light goes towards the image you're using to aim with. Given two rifle scopes of identical construction, one with a larger objective will provide a sight image that lowers eye fatigue over time, though at an increase in weight and price of course.

Oftentimes it's worth it to spend more on a rifle's scope than what went for the rifle it's going to be mounted on. A shooting system's ultimate accuracy is only as good as the sighting system being used to engage targets.

 

[serial # 001]

In my experience with quality glass the larger objectives absolutley last longer in low light.

 

[BoydAllen]

What power are you asking about. You might want to look up exit pupil.

 

[dtucker]

BoydAllen, what does exit pupil have to do with it? The magnifacation would be a 4.5x14 and a 6.5x20.

 

[BoydAllen]

http://www.opticsplanet.net/how-to-choose-riflescope.html
You didn't do the research that I suggested. Scroll down the page to the discussion of objective diameter.

 

[JRS]

Optimal objective lens size is somewhere between 42MM & 50MM on the high power scopes we use.

 

[jscandale]

I get a chuckle out the scopes that they manufacture today, the bigger the better, or so they say. Leupold even came out with one that is so big that they had to build in a barrel relief on the bottom of the objective so it wouldn't sit a foot above the receiver. I have many good scopes, Leupold, Nightforce, old steel tube Weavers, Unertls, etc... Many of them are sitting in their boxes since I held try outs. For the 1000 prone rifle, I use a 40 mm Leupold which allows me to hold the x ring just fine even in low light conditions if my pulse cooperates. On the hunting rifles, 40 steel tube Weavers and Redfields work just fine. The Nightforce NXS with a 56mm bell has excellent optics, but the weight and size are a big drawback, so in the box it sits.
Like the old saying goes, fishing lures catch fisherman not fish.

JS