BSA Scope

I'm looking at a BSA 3-12x44 scope for my CFX.  The info says its 12.48 in. length.  What's the longest scope one can use on this rifle to allow access to loading port?  Anyone used this scope before and would it be a good choice for this rifle?
                                                                                                                                                            Jeffery

[daved]

Hi, Jeff,

Haven't used that particular BSA scope, but have had no problems with other BSA's.  And I seem to recall some good reviews on it.  At 12.5" it will work fine on the CFX.  I'd still recommend the Beeman 5039 1 pc. adjustable mount, and optically centering the scope before you mount it.  Hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks for the reply.  Why is the adjustable beeman mount needed on a fixed barrel rifle?  It is priced considerably more then the accushot one piece mount.  I thought an adjustable was only necessary on rifles where barrel droop was a problem?
                                                                                                                                                                                        Jeffery

Yet another nebie question.  When people talk of being in the center of the scopes adjustment range I am wondering how you can tell.  I am looking at my elevation adjustment now on my scope and I don't see anything identifying center.  Do you click all the way one way and all the way back the other to find center?  Can someone straighten me out on this?  Will I be more accuirate by being close to the center?
                                                                                                                                                             Jeffery

This is what I do, a bit tedius but I think it's worth it.  I count the increments for both elevation and windage (all the way in to all the way out).  Set both in the middle range of the settings.  For example if elevation is a total of 300 clicks from all the way in to all the way out, set it to 150.  Do the same with the windage, don't be surpirsed to find that the total # of clicks will differ slightly between the windage and elevation knobs.  Now you will have it somewhat centered.  Next you should take a box and cut a V shape in it (both sides) so that it will support the scope inside the "V" and allow you to rotate the scope a full 360 degrees without the knobs interfering.  The box needs to be small enough to support both ends of the scope.  Find a fixed point about 20 yrds away,looking through the scope,  line the center of the crosshairs up with it and now rotate the scope.  You'll see that the center will move around .  The idea here is to fine tune the adjustment knobs so that there is minimal, if not any movement of the cross hair center on the targeted fixed point.  Once this is done it is considered to be "optically cnetered". The though is that the scope is most accurate nearest the center of is adjustments.  Usually, when you mount the scope on a gun you'll have to turn one or both of the adjustment knobs a lot of clicks and it brings it out of it's "sweet spot".  That's another reason that some people use an adjustable mount.  Once the scope is optically centered, you would use the adjustable mount to get it close to point of aim and fine tune with the scope knobs.

[daved]

My CFX with Accushot 1 pc. high mount needs more than 2 full turns of the elevation knob just to get close at 20 yards.  That's with the scope starting at optical center.  On my scope, that's approximately 20 MOA.  Leapers claims about 30 MOA adjustment range.  So as you can see, just getting on paper with a fixed mount uses up 2/3 of the total range.  Because of the way scopes work, you're either getting close to the erector tube spring binding, or it's so far out there's minimal tension.  Either way, the scopes zero tends to wander.  And that's why I suggested the adjustable mount.

Marks technique for optical center is good, but if the scope is new, you can probably skip the first step of counting clicks.  I've done several scopes, and out of the box they've been within a turn.

I know the Beeman adjustable is a lot more money, but for best accuracy, I think you'll find it well worth it.  Especially if you're going to be shooting at various ranges.  The other option is shimming your scope, but that has it's own pitfalls.  For more info, check out the Library link at the top of the page.  Good luck.

Dave

[rabbit]

Jeffery,

      Fixed barrell rifles has nothing to do with barrell droop. It is line of sight in relation to a rifles sighting system. Best of luck...

                                        Rabbit