I have decided to put a Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn scope on my T/C Omega. The official Bushnell site lists two 3-9x40 Banner scopes that are "Great for muzzleloaders or centerfire rifles." One is their model 713944 with 4" eye relief, and the other is model 713948 with 3.3" eye relief. I wanted to get the 713944 model, but NO ONE has them in stock, including all the major online shooting supply and optics sites (they are back ordered, and no one can tell me when Bushnell will have them shipped).

I was able to get a good deal on the 713948 model at Dick's (on sale for $69.98 with an additional $10 off coupon bringing it to $59.98). My questions to the experts:

1. Will the 3.3" eye relief be enough? (since Bushnell lists it as a muzzleloader scope it seems it should be ok??)

2. What are the recommendations for base and rings. Leupold lists a dual dovetail base and 1" rings in either low or medium height... would one or the other be better? Is there another good recommendation that someone could offer?

3. Will it be necessary to remove the front fixed site when I put a scope on? In some posts there has been mention of the front site being visible in the scope view, therefore it had to be removed.

Thanks again in advance to all the great info the members of this site have provided to me!!!

My Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn 1.5-4.5x32mm 71-1545 has 4" of eye relief according to my Bushnell Book. I have had it kiss the eye brow a couple times with heavy loads and more then a couple times give my hat a good shove. I have it on a Black Diamond XR which I think is a heavier rifle then your Omega.

The 3.4" would be all right if you never failed to loose attention of your stance and hold on the rifle. I think the first time on the range you forget, that scope will give you a reminder that you're not going to like.

Have you tried http://www.natchezss.com./ Natchez Shooters Supply? I have their catalog for the month and the Bushnell are on sale for $63.95 . Usually is they have it in the catalog they have it in stock and they are a great place to do business with. Also http://www.dnrsports.net/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DSC&Cat egory_Code=muzzleloadersD&R Sports usually have a good inventory of Bushnell Products. Or if you have questions you can call Bushnell at 1-800-423-3537 and they will be more then glad to answer your questions. Ask for Diana. She's a great person and really knows her stuff. If you don't like the phone route, go to http://bushnelloutdoors.ibforums.com/index.php?and Bushnell has a forum where they are more then glad to answer all your optic questions....

Cayugad -

Thanks for the feedback. I have tried both Natchezss and dnr, and they are both out of stock with no answer as to when they will have more. I will check the bushnell forum.

A lot depends on the recoil of the loads you are using, of course, but a short eye relief has two disadvantages: One, of course, is that it makes it more likely that you're gonna get whacked by the scope when using it under field connditions and are concentrating on getting a shot off at a game animal, and are not paying too much attention to where the scope is in relation to your eyebrow. The other problem is that you have less flexibility about where you position your eye when aiming. This can make it take longer to acquire your target and get a shot off.

In general, the less critical your eye position is, the better your scope is for hunting purposes.

Just bought the last one at Dicks in syracuse. I got the floor model so I another 10% off and I spent over 100 with amo bases and rings so I got another 20$ off using my dicks card. My buddy was low on money a year ago so he bought this scope for his Rem 30.06 and was planning on getting a more expensive model this year but it works great for him and he is keeping it. Great scope for the money.

out of all the cheaper scopes i love the banner-s.