Bruce H

Minnesota has passed a law allowing scopes on muzzle loaders during muzzle loader deer season for people over 60. I am presently 66 and the way my eyes are going, I am actually considering it for next year. I have a Pedersoli Frontier .50 caplock; it presently has fiber optic open sights and even those are starting to get a bit fuzzy.

So I am starting to look at scopes and I see scopes specifically made for muzzle loaders. What is the difference between a muzzle loader and conventional cartridge rifle scope? I also see that mounts I have seen so far are for round barrels, but my barrel is octagonal.

BTW, it just about killed me to put fiber optics on my Pedersoli; I can only imagine what putting a scope on it will do to me! But it's either that or give up muzzle loader deer hunting and I'm not about to do that.

cayugad

The thing I look for in a shotgun/muzzleloader scope is eye relief. Many of the muzzle loader scopes have a generous eye relief. Like 4 inches in that area. If your shots are close, a simple 4x is all you need. As for your scope mounts that should be an interesting search.

Semisane

For the mounts you'll likely have to get two Weaver #61 Top Mount Scope Bases and a set of Weaver Rings, and have the barrel drilled and tapped (two holes for each base).

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/337...-flat-receiver

And don't be embarrassed about putting a scope on your sidelock.



Those are Simmons 4X ProDiamond scopes and they work very well on a muzzleloader.

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Bruce H

Thanks for the responses! So it appears the "muzzle loader scope" is more hype than reality as long as it's a reasonable quality scope?? My Pedersoli with 80 grains of 777 under a 295 Powerbelt (I know, I know; but it's worked for me 5 out of 5 times) actually has less recoil than my lever action .308.

I actually like the lower power scopes because it's dense woods where we hunt and my longest shot (rifle or muzzy season) has been 85 yards. I like the wider field of view the lower power gives me, too. I may look at a 2-7 Leopold like I have on my rifle and maybe at their muzzy scopes too.

Bruce H

Just an FYI, here is the response from the Leopold factory when I asked about the difference in their ML and centerfire scopes.

"The difference between Leupold Shotgun/Muzzleloader scopes and Centerfire scopes, is that Shotgun/Muzzleloader scopes are prefocused at the factory for 75 yards, whereas Centerfire scopes are prefocused for 150 yards. I'd suggest looking through our scopes at various reticles to see which best suit your eyesight. Cabela's would be a good Dealer for such a thing."

So it's whatever works best for me. That's good news!

Gm54-120

I would suggest making sure 4.2-3.7" of eye relief is enough for your application.

Semisane

Bruce, I just thought of another scope mounting option. The DNZ #12042 one piece mount made for the Marlin 1894, 1895 and 336 has a flat base that would fit quite well on an octagon barrel. Though it's a bit expensive, it's a great mount and the cost is somewhat mitigated because you don't need to buy rings for it. It would require drilling and tapping at least two holes to mount on the barrel.

See it here: http://www.opticsplanet.com/dnz-dedn...ope-mount.html

Here's what it looks like on my Marlin with a 4X scope mounted.

Bruce H

Thanks for the responses. Lots of things to consider, as usual.

Semisane, I do seem to like your original suggestion of separate mounts and rings because it gives me a little more flexibility for fine tuning eye relief. And BTW, I'm very slowly accepting that I will have to have a traditional ML with a scope and not to stress so much about it. The only thing that really concerns me is that the wife thinks it will be OK LOL!!

Blackpowdersmoke

Bruce...

Glad you looked into that. Had you not that's what I would have suggested. Any decent quality shotgun scope is fine for a ML as they're built basically for the same trajectory.

BPS