What scope magnification do you like to shoot and why?

JimD said:

Using less magnification does not make it impossible to shoot small groups at short range or well on 30 yard challenge targets but it makes it more difficult. If you examine the spreadsheet of results you will find a few very good targets with lower power scopes but most of us are using 24X or more. It just improves our chances of a good target.

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No, not to be combative. That's just an old wives tale.12x or even 10x is plenty for 30 yards. You won't see much difference , if any and you might do worse at 24x. I have many 1 tiny woodpecker hole groupings at these ranges and never went over 12x at these short ranges.

Bedrock Bob said:

Again, you've missed the point. A .250 5 shot group at 25 yards is mighty rare with a springer. But it will happen as often at 4x as it will at 20x.

Yes, higher power works better for targeting. But if your target is properly sized a higher power won't make you shoot a smaller pattern at springer ranges. You can shoot within your rifles limitations at 25 yards using much less magnification or no magnification at all. Whether you prefer to do that is a matter of personal preference and ability.

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Bob,, you loose me with 4x as often as 20x. I expect to shoot some .25 groups at 23 yards everyday I shoot groups with all my springers but not on 4x. You can only shoot on a regular basis as good as you can see. So in general I believe you limit yourself by limiting what you can see. Yes you can head shoot squirrels with iorn sights or say a 4x scope. But use a 10x scope you will do better. Last year with my TX at 23 yards I shot 5 pellets that looked like one pellet. I was happy and surprised. Have I reverted to 8x from 20x or more. Of course not as I realize the value of how good I can see. Now if I am just shooting tin cans,, 4x is great. But when I want to see what I can do with my rifle as far as shooting good scores or tight groups give me lots of xs, you know xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.You do bring up a valid point. If shooting low power you will do best with a larger target. Look at it this way. You can turn a 2-7x scope up to 7 but that's all. I can turn a 4-20x scope to 20 for precision but also turn it down to 4x to venilate a tin can . Why limit yourself? If I could afford it all my Springer would have 10-50×56 Sightron SVEDs. I can't so they are only on my pb br rifles.

ChefSparrow, you could be right but there are several dozen other members who prefer more magnification. If you think we are wrong, you can download the targets, print them out, and prove your point. I took a look at the most recent spreadsheet Ed keeps for us. There are 3 200s on the 30 yard challenge, the scopes were 45X, 20X, and 24X. The next lower scores are 198s with 25, 45, and 40 power scopes. There is a 194 with a 10X scope on the 30 yard challenge. That is a good score but it is not a 200 and it is the only posted score with that low a magnification. On the 30 yard Masters target, there are 14 posted results so far this year with the lowest magnification scope a 20X. There are also 40 yard challenge and masters scores, you will see the same pattern, Many results with 40X or more, very few with less than 20X. But you are welcome to add to the results and prove your point. It is a fun target to shoot.

I almost always shoot at 10x and once in a while 12x, that's why I use mostly fixed power scopes. I have a 4-16x, a 5-20x, a 3-12x, and a 6-24x and even those normally get used at 10x or 12x, even when I shoot at 100 yards.

I have 2 2-12x24, a fixed 10x, a 4-16x44 and 4-20x50. Sighting in I use max magnification. On my 2-12x24 are shorter range pesting guns and usually set around 4-6x out to 50yds. My others usually around 10-12x for longer ranges pesting.

ChefSparrowRagazzi said:

No, not to be combative. That's just an old wives tale.12x or even 10x is plenty for 30 yards. You won't see much difference , if any and you might do worse at 24x. I have many 1 tiny woodpecker hole groupings at these ranges and never went over 12x at these short ranges.

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Chef, If we could find the equipment used by the top benchrest shooters we would find higher magnification the norm. My info is from 22lr 50 yard matches though. I have said before when I was shooting bench matches with my Sako 22lr I used what was on it. That’s the Leupold 6.5-20. It’s a silhouette gun. Very accurate gun. I never wanted to mess with the scope but wanted double the power easily. I plan on doing some club matches and will put my Athlon Ares 15-60 on for my comeback tour Haaaa !

I'm usually rocking a variable between 2 and 12x for backyard duty. If I get to shoot out to 100yds I step up to 15x.

It's my understanding that many of you shoot field target. I have never shot field target. I do not know that game.
This is where a heavy magnification can be beneficial. The higher the magnification , the more parallax. So at 40x and 60x magnification , you will be much better at ranging while using the parallax wheel. This extremely shallow depth of field at these high magnifications allows for nearly pinpoint ranging on a marked Parallax wheel.

In my opinion, for basic backyard target shooting at known ranges, this is not needed and more, not wanted.
Once that scope is on at a known distance, you really don't want to touch it.
The other thing that I do that some of you may or may not do, is I will zip the scope up to its highest magnification, say at 25 yards.
I will set the parallax as perfect as I can get it.
The scope I'm using is a 3-18x50mm.

I will then back off of magnification, way down to 12-10, somewhere around there to cancel any remaining slight parallax error that my eyes missed.
The sight picture will be better, there will be minimized parallax. There will be much more depth of field.
But that's just me.