Huntsalotey

I need some help. I hope I haven't been misled. I went in today to rescope my new 7mm-08. Heres the same old story. I could not afford to buy what I wanted so had to try and get best I could afford and not be a waste of my money so I could shoot this gun and enjoy it. I picked out 2 scopes . 1st was a Bushnell Banner 3x9x40 with circle x reticle and saids it is a blackpowder/shotgun scope. 2nd was a Swift 3x9x40 Premiere. The only difference was the swift was 35.00 more dollars. I thought, I had to get a bore snake and I could take the Banner at 35.00 less and the boresnake and still come out cheaper. ( Trying not to go overboard with the wife.) The gunsmith in the store told me that the Swift was probably a little better scope, but that the banner would get the job done for me. I asked him about how it would hold up on the 7mm-08 and he told me if it was made to withstand the abuse of a blackpowder or shotgun ( he said 12 ga.) then it would hold up just fine on my 7mm-08. Sorda like telling me that it was built tougher for harder recoiling guns. So it would take the 7mm-08 easy. I thought ok, this is advise from an older gunsmith that i have known for 12 years.
We go to the range and I start zeroing the gun in. The adjustments are working fine, and moving where they should and I get it zeroed relatively quickly and put around 22 rounds through my new NEF Handirifle singleshot 7mm08. The scope held zero and did fine. Then as we were leaving my buddy inquired about the scope. He liked the circle x reticle in it. I went on to tell him it was listed as a blackpowder/ shotgun scope. That did it, he told me he would change that scope as soon as possible. My heart just about hit the ground. I didn't know what to say. I was trying to just let it be water off a ducks back, but then I told him what the gunsmith told me. ( my buddy is far more knowledgeable in firearms than I ) He told me that the recoil was a different kind of recoil and therefore could not be compared.
Now I am having a miserable evening when I thought I done good all along till this news. The only hope I have is to call the shop tomorrow and ask if he would let me return it and pay the difference for the Swift? Do you think I should try that ? And what is your opinion on this setup and the punishment on the scope. Will this 7mm-08 abuse it more or less than a blackpowder/shotgun?
Thanks.

Trebark

I've never heard of "a different kind of recoil". The slug gun is going to kick a lot more than the 7-08, so I would say that you'll be fine. The only difference is that most scopes for shotguns and BP have parallax set at 50 yards, and the ones for rifles are generally set for 100 yards, if I'm not mistaken.
I think you're okay, but maybe someone else can shed some more light on this.
Charlie

Aught Six

Oops, I made a double post when my ISP hung up on me. See the post below.

Aught Six

I'm not going to sit here and claim to be any kind of guru, but that just doesn't make sense to me at all. I agree with Trebark, recoil is recoil. Whether it's a kick or a push depends more on the gun model and the ammo than the type of gun. I'd relax and enjoy your new rig!

And IMHO the average 7mm-08 has a lot less recoil than a typical 12 gauge firing any kind of large game load.

herman

I remember reading sometime back that a pellet rifle was the hardest thing on scopes whether thats true or not,have no idea. But I do know a muzzleloader is hard on scopes,I shoot a lot and have gone through several scopes on them,year before last broke the cross hairs in a nikon.You can get a good one and bad one in any brand,had to send a leupold back last year.If you like the way the scope is working,I would keep it and use it.I have a cheap tasco on one of my muzzleloaders and it has been working fine for over 10 yrs.

Charley

A shotgun scope differs mainly in the parallax and eye relief. I have a Bushnell shotgun scope on my .444, never any problems.
Spring piston airgun recoil, otoh, WILL destroy a scope that is not designed for it. The recoil forces act in both directions, rather than just straight back.

DM

"If" i was you, i wouldn't worry too much about your scope. Cheap scopes are a lilability, but not all of them are bad, so it's the luck of the draw no matter what gun you put one on. Personally, i don't think your friend knows what he's talking about!!

Even the so called "good" scopes can have problems. Over the years i owned a gun shop, i sent back for repair, at least "one" of every brand i sold, except Zeiss, and i didn't sell all that many of those to "find" a "bad" one. More cheap scopes have problems, but every scope mfg. makes a bad one from time to time.

Drilling Man

bigcountry

At Bass Pro last year, they have this special event with all the vendor reps there giving you "deals". A sales rep from Bushnell, tried to tell me a shotgun scope was not good for a muzzleloader cause of different kinds of recoil even though generally a muzzleloader kicks less. I wasn't buying it. Just common sense just can't make any sense out of comments like that.

bugsNbows

Yes to what Trebark said. Shotgun scopes are generally parallax adjusted (and are sighted in) at /to 50 yards. Rifles 100 yards. Shotgun scopes generally have heavy reticles to take the recoil punishment. IMO, you can get away with putting shotgun type scopes on rifles but not the other way around.

RonM

Like veryone else says recoil is recoil, however I use a Swift scope and my next scope and next scope will be Swift. They are good scopes and have a good guarentee..