The best All around Air rifle scope

elusiveky said:

I wish we had had this discussion a few days ago. My bugbuster was delivered day before yesterday LOL. But I am gonna try it. I got it for a Umarex Notos, my first PCP rifle so I am a newbie. But I do appreciate understanding the limitations and what to look for in a scope, this is great info!

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steve123 said:

I prefer the Athlon Helos G2's. All in MIL I have the 2-12, 4-20, and the 6-24. The 2-12 is a great scope for speed, as a pistol/pifle Hunter FT scope, and is my favorite all arounder. Heck last week I pulled it off my ProX, mounted it on my Hunter FT Pistol, won my division the next day, put it back on the ProX and was touching holes at 55Y. It's such a crazy versatile scope! If I had to pick one scope only for many purposes this would be it.

I replaced a SWFA 3-15 with the 4-20 on a certain pcp and am so much happer with this HG2 as compared.

I have a very expensive 22rf match rifle that deserves a likewise expensive scope appropriate to it but the HG2 6--24 has been so good I left it there and have won matches so it has worked great for years now. I like that the APRS6 mil reticle is .05 mil, the turrets lock, that it has illume which I use for night matches, and truthfully there's nothing I can fault it in.

I've had other brand scopes more expensive than these and I can point out disappointing faults with them. I could have had HG2 scopes at a 3 to 1 cost ratio and been happier than I am with those other scopes. That's what I get for not staying with what I already knew worked well. The - I need to save weight, the - I need better IQ, the - this and that I thought was better, didn't work out like I'd hoped, and were not worth the money.

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Deerstalker said:

I have had excellent performance from this Hawke Airmax 4-16 x 44 mm compact on my HW95L .22.

https://us.hawkeoptics.com/airmax-30-sf-compact-4-16x44-amx-ir.html

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Bedrock Bob said:

A rifle with a long picatinny that comes way back will work fine with the Bugbuster.

It's a good little scope and is stuffed full of features. The compact size is really neat but you pay for it in adjustability when using many (most) mounting interfaces.

If you are shooting at a bench eye relief and cheek weld is a lot less important. You can adjust the scope and shift your position and make it work. You have dwell time on target to get it right. Your eye relief and cheek weld matter a lot less than in unsupported positions. A scope with a tiny eyebox and less than ideal eye relief is not going to make you miss.

Besides, you're going to get pellet fever bad and buy a closet full of rifles with a shelf stacked with scopes. A Notos and a Bugbuster is a classic way to start.

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Emjay4248 said:

I have two bug busters and like using them for close quarters up to 25 to 30 yards but once you get past that and you start using better scopes, it’s hard to go back to the bug buster very small eye box for long distance

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beerthief said:

WOW such a broad topic Can you narrow it down a bit ? what would be the average lighting you shoot in just after sunrise , mid day indoors ? how about targets ? soup can size or dime size dot ? See what i mean ?
Generally i recommend Any Athlon scope that fits your budget

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Bedrock Bob said:

I only have one scoped pellet gun. I got tired of replacing scopes on springers about a year ago. My HW97k is the only one with glass.

I have had several scopes on several pellet guns and most have been great. My HW97k has a Hawke Airmax 3x9x40 and I like it. I have a Hawke Vantage 3x9x40 as a spare. I have a Sightron S1 4x12x40 and its a fantastic scope. All are plenty of scope to shoot tiny targets at pellet gun distances and far beyond.

My HW95 wore a Hawke Vantage fixed 4x for a couple years. A $99 scope that worked just fine from the end of the barrel to 100 yards. I'm not sure spending more on a scope will make a pellet rifle hit more targets. It just makes it a bit easier to do.

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Tisbutascratch21 said:

On the Notos you should be fine since the whole top rail is just one big picatinny rail you have tons of room to get it right. I believe bedrock bob was more referring to having to deal with that breach gap on alot of PCPs combined with minimal rail space. But yes he is right the small eyebox is peoples number 1 complaint. Depending on your uses with it you’ll probably be content at the price range. Just give it a whirl let us know!

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elusiveky said:

You were right. It seems fine. I mounted it this evening and it seems great so far. You have to realize though, i have only ever used the cheap included scopes on cheaper break barrels that are sold with a scope. So to me this thing is awesome. Will be trying to zero it in tomorrow!

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