eye relief . is 3.6 inches enough ?

[JeffB1961]

i have a bushnel AR 4.5-18 side focus scope without a home . i called bushnell and asked about using it on a muzzle loader and they said the would honor the warranty if something happened . i haven't got a ML yet but i think i've decided on a CVA Accura LR-X in .50 cal. . i won't be shooting max loads and i think i want to use either 2 white hots or 70-80 grains of BH209 with 240ish grain bullets . should a 3.6 inch eye relief be enough or am i asking for scope eye ? i'd rather not buy another scope since i have one without a home , but i don't want to have a flinch because i'm concerned about getting scope eye or even worse actually getting scope eye . i have exactly ZERO experience with ML's . i can shoot 308 and be comfortable with it ..... 30-06 gets a little uncomfortable after several shots . FWIU ML recoil comparatively is more of a slow shove than a fast push ...... it it one of those things that i just won't know till i try the scope with it ? or should i just plan on buying a new scope also ? BTW .... i wear glasses .

thanks , jeff

 

[ENCORE50A]

How To Prevent "Scope Bite" | NRA Family

 

[JIMYJAC]

I always liked the Nikon scopes because of sufficient eye relief. But their a passed deal.

 

[GM54-120]

I think the better question is...Is 3.6" of relief enough for THAT rifle. Can the scope come back far enough for 3.6" to be enough?....Maybe but it dont look all that good with the supplied rail and you dont have many options as far as rails go. Getting the rear ring far enough back might be an issue.

 

[ported45]

And is 3.6" measured or advertised?

My experience with the Bushnell AR scopes are that they have very little eye relief. At least the 3-12x one on a buddy's AR that I shot. It was maybe somewhere between 2-2.5". All I know for sure that I was glad it was on a .223 AR and not on anything larger.

 

[GM54-120]

3.6" on what also.....Max or minimum magnification because it can change a great deal on some scopes. Even good scopes can change a half inch between min and max.

 

[FredB]

Sounds like a very mild recoiling load. I'd say go shoot without a scope first, and see if you are still worried about eye relief.

 

[Dwayne]

Another way to tell. ..

If you get scoped, you know your answer.

 

[Squint]

When I first wanted a good scope, the first thing I checked was eye relief, so I went with a fixed power Bushnell that had four inches. I was never sorry, I've always maintained I can see further with my naked eye then any of my rifle can shoot, all I needed was crosshairs, So I went with a 2.5 power and it was good in the woods, good on the plains and really good when they were only 60 yards away. I have met a couple of those fellows that had that neat half-moon scar in their eyebrow. It is a dead giveaway.
Squint

 

[JeffB1961]

Another way to tell. ..

If you get scoped, you know your answer.

LMAO Dwayne !

it's advertised @ 3.6 . shooting without a scope is something i hadn't thought of . the link and other comments are appreciated . i know eye relief can change quite a bit between min and max mag . i'll try min and max mag with a tape on the front of my eye glass lens .
thanks folks , jeff

 

[Neumonic]

I have that scope on my AR, the 3.6 is the max eye relief. I personally wouldn’t use it on either of my ML’ers. I have a Bushnell Elite 3200 on my Traditions and a Leupold VX Freedom ML’er scope on my CVA and both have more than 4” of eye relief and work very well. Honestly, the Bushnell AR scope is very mediocre as well compared to pretty much all my scopes it would rank at the bottom for clarity but in the end does work fine on my AR.

 

[rangerod]

3.5 is the least amount of eye relief I like on a scope. I was once scoped pretty good with a twelve gauge. Three nice little stitches. Of course I didn't tell the truth as to what really happened at work.I just told everyone that you should've seen the other guy.

 

[JeffB1961]

the 3.6 on the bushnell is a optimistic spec by bushnell IMO . i got a votdex diamond back HP 4-16 and it has a very noticable longer eye relief and is also cleaner and i like the finer BDC reticle on the vortex . thanks again GM 54-120 for helping me decide to go that route .

 

[bluebanana]

Make sure the buttstock is hard against your shoulder so it is a good backstop for recoil.

 

[GM54-120]

3.5 is the least amount of eye relief I like on a scope.

The whole deal is though, is that at the lowest or highest magnification. My STACs for example are 3.7 on high and 4.1 on lowest. Nearly ideal for anything needing room for heavier recoil. It does have 1 negative though, you might lose some FOV with more eye relief.