Scope recommendation

[TNlandowner]

I just bought my son a Gamo Swarm Fusion .22 Cal air rifle for his 9th birthday. I'd like recommendations for replacing the Gamo scope that came with the rifle. I'm looking at the UTG AO scopes on line, but would like to hear from those with experience with these air guns.

 

[Kirk]

I have the UTG "BugBuster" 3-9-32 mounted on my .50 cal Sam Yang air rifle. I had to really tweak it and work with it to get consistently accurate. It is very temperamental. It was around $90.

In contrast, I placed a Hawke Airmax 3-9x40AO on my Texan SS .457 cal and it has performed perfectly after zeroing it in. The Hawke costs more at $180 but is a much better scope.

 

[TNlandowner]

Thank you for the recommendation. I was looking at the UTG 3-12 scope, but may go with another option now.

 

[Kirk]

Just based on all the problem I had with mu UTG I would go another direction. I honestly thought it was the air rifle that was inconsistent at first. I pulled the scope off of the rifle then vised the rifle down in my Hy-Score rest. Got a big piece of 3' x 3' cardboard to use as a target and set up about 25 yards from the target. Shot three rounds and all 3 were almost in the same hole. I knew it wasn't the rifle then.

I remounted the scope and set up at 50 yards was shooting 6 inch groups. The scope had almost no adjustment left on it. Took it off again. Dialed it back to factory zero. Shimmed the scope and finally got it to quarter size groups at 50 yards. I have had to tweak it several times since to keep that grouping.

The Hawke scope was dead on and set after 3 shots and has been accurate with 1 inch groups at 50 yards ever since. I did a lot research on air rifle scopes and the Hawke was the top rated scope under $200 and that is why I went with it. I have been very pleased.

 

[Rollo]

I've owned several Hawke scopes and none have disappointed. Being airgun rated makes a big difference. I won't use Nikon or Leupold on my airguns. It's s different kind of recoil. Even with a .22 springer. ESPECIALLY springers. Airguns play havoc on scopes.

 

[mike243]

Yep killed my 30 year old made in Japan Tasco, been on shotguns shooting slugs 30/06 never phased it, 40-50 shots with my Ruger springer and its toast

 

[TN Song Dog]

Athlon Talos BTR 4-14×44 with the APLR2 first focal plane MIL reticle. Would be hard to find an airgun rated scope for less with all of these features. The things I would want for sure are a MIL based Christmas tree reticle, first focal plane and, and parallax adjustment with a minimum around 10yd or 15yd. This scope has all of these, and 4-14x is a good/versatile magnification range too.

If you have never experienced a FFP scope with matching hold over reticle, then you are missing out. It will change how you shoot and your idea of precision shooting.

 

[LY]

Two Hawke's here, got them both from $110 - $170 off amazon. So far they've been great with etched glass so you don't have to worry about the crosshairs getting damaged.