Comparing riflescopes is a very difficult task, and I have yet to see anyone do it successfully. The best we can do is look through some riflescopes and see if any of them match our preconceived notions about what we plan to do with the riflescope, and what our requirements are to accomplish that. The reasons this task is so difficult is that while our eyes work pretty much the same way (the old joke that "all eyes are different" would mean riflescopes would need to be individually fitted like eyeglasses), our shooting experiences with riflescopes vary greatly. Since the brain is a huge part of the riflescope experience, you can say that all brains are different.
When comparing riflescopes, you must account for the following aspects: objective diameter, minimum magnification, maximum magnification, zoom range, reticle placement, reticle design, and more recently, type of eyepiece.
For this thread, I will focus narrowly on the type of eyepiece—and yes, the pun was fully intended.
For comparison purposes, using simple numbers is a great way to gauge certain aspects. One such aspect is the relative field of view at various magnifications, because we are not comparing fixed magnification riflescopes at the same magnification. The metric used for that is an angle value that is called the Apparent Angle Of View or AAOV.
Manufacturers list the Field of View (FOV)—how much scenery you see at 100 yards—as a width in feet or meters. But since scopes have different zoom ranges, the raw FOV numbers don't make fair comparisons easy.
That's where Apparent Angle of View (AAOV) comes in. It's a single number that tells you how spacious and open the view feels behind the eyepiece, regardless of magnification.
How We Calculate AAOV (Step by Step)
Manufacturers provide:
By calculating AAOV from the manufacturer's specs (usually at min and max magnification, then averaging), you get one reliable number to compare any scopes — even ones with very different zoom ratios.
I built a small app that does all this math automatically: just enter the min/max magnification and the published FOV values from the manufacturer's website, and it instantly gives you the AAOV for easy comparisons.
Until recently, all eyepieces were relatively similar, presenting an AAOV of around 20°. Some scopes had narrower AAOVs at 18–19° and some wider at 21–22°. In variable riflescopes, AAOV often varies between low and high power—it is difficult to design one with constant AAOV across the range.
Wide-angle eyepieces are not new in principle, but some manufacturers have only recently introduced them in riflescopes, leaving some users perplexed and struggling to adjust.
By wide-angle eyepiece, I mean those with an AAOV of 25° or more. I have read countless reports from people first exposed to them, and the reports underline the confusion—giving further credence to how hard proper riflescope comparison truly is.
There are seven key aspects where normal (~20°) and wide-angle (25°+) eyepieces differ:
When comparing riflescopes, you must account for the following aspects: objective diameter, minimum magnification, maximum magnification, zoom range, reticle placement, reticle design, and more recently, type of eyepiece.
For this thread, I will focus narrowly on the type of eyepiece—and yes, the pun was fully intended.
For comparison purposes, using simple numbers is a great way to gauge certain aspects. One such aspect is the relative field of view at various magnifications, because we are not comparing fixed magnification riflescopes at the same magnification. The metric used for that is an angle value that is called the Apparent Angle Of View or AAOV.
Manufacturers list the Field of View (FOV)—how much scenery you see at 100 yards—as a width in feet or meters. But since scopes have different zoom ranges, the raw FOV numbers don't make fair comparisons easy.
That's where Apparent Angle of View (AAOV) comes in. It's a single number that tells you how spacious and open the view feels behind the eyepiece, regardless of magnification.
How We Calculate AAOV (Step by Step)
Manufacturers provide:
- Min and max magnification (e.g., 4x to 16x).
- FOV at those magnifications (e.g., ~24 feet at low power, ~6 feet at high power, at 100 yards).
- Find the true angular width of the real-world scene (True Field of View in degrees).
Formula: True angle ≈ 2 × arctangent( (FOV in feet / 2) ÷ 300 feet ), converted to degrees.
This turns the flat width measurement into the actual angle in the world:- A typical wide FOV of 24 feet at 100 yards → True angle ≈ 4.6 degrees.
- A typical narrow FOV of 6 feet at 100 yards → True angle ≈ 1.15 degrees.
- Calculate how big that angle appears through the scope.
The scope magnifies the image, so:
AAOV = True angle × Magnification:- At low magnification (4x) with ~24 ft FOV → True angle ≈ 4.6° × 4 = AAOV ≈ 18.4 degrees (slightly below average).
- At high magnification (16x) with ~6 ft FOV → True angle ≈ 1.15° × 16 = AAOV ≈ 18.4 degrees (stays consistent — that's good design!).
By calculating AAOV from the manufacturer's specs (usually at min and max magnification, then averaging), you get one reliable number to compare any scopes — even ones with very different zoom ratios.
I built a small app that does all this math automatically: just enter the min/max magnification and the published FOV values from the manufacturer's website, and it instantly gives you the AAOV for easy comparisons.
Until recently, all eyepieces were relatively similar, presenting an AAOV of around 20°. Some scopes had narrower AAOVs at 18–19° and some wider at 21–22°. In variable riflescopes, AAOV often varies between low and high power—it is difficult to design one with constant AAOV across the range.
Wide-angle eyepieces are not new in principle, but some manufacturers have only recently introduced them in riflescopes, leaving some users perplexed and struggling to adjust.
By wide-angle eyepiece, I mean those with an AAOV of 25° or more. I have read countless reports from people first exposed to them, and the reports underline the confusion—giving further credence to how hard proper riflescope comparison truly is.
There are seven key aspects where normal (~20°) and wide-angle (25°+) eyepieces differ:
- Overall “Feel”
Normal: More "tunneled" or framed—the image feels concentrated in the center, like looking through a pipe.
Wide-angle: Immersive, "window-like"—feels open and natural, less constrained, almost like magnified naked-eye viewing. - Field of View
Normal: Narrower apparent field—less peripheral info, easier to ignore distractions.
Wide-angle: Much wider apparent field—more context visible (great for mirage bands, trace, wind flags, or target transitions).
For example, going from 20° to 25° AAOV increases the image area by 56% at the same magnification—more than 50% additional information while keeping the target the same apparent size. It's 25% wider horizontally and vertically because we view in two dimensions. - Eyebox
Normal: Usually more forgiving side-to-side—easier to see the full view even if slightly off-center.
Wide-angle: Requires more precise alignment to capture the full expanded view. - Perceived Eye Relief
Normal: Feels looser—you can back off slightly without losing the (smaller) picture.
Wide-angle: Feels shorter or pickier (even if measured relief is similar) because clipping/vignetting occurs sooner if not perfectly positioned. - Edge Sharpness Perception
Normal: Edges are closer to center, falling on the high-resolution portion of the retina.
Wide-angle: Edges extend farther out, hitting lower-resolution retinal areas—detected as "softer" even if optically sharp. The brain encounters information not present in normal eyepieces and must adapt. - Distraction/Overload
Normal: Limited view—the brain is accustomed to ~20° around the target.
Wide-angle: Sudden abundance of surrounding information immerses the target in context the brain isn't used to processing. - The Root of Most Confusion
In all the reviews and comparisons I've read between wide-angle and normal eyepieces, not one ever mentioned that at the same magnification, the wide-angle scope presents a vastly larger image with far more information—while keeping the target the same apparent size for reticle placement.
