The Anatomy of a Rifle Scope

by Andrew R. Researcher

Riflescopes are designed in a way that shooters can take a perfect shoot with any firearms available to them. It means rifle scope enhances the shooting experience and helps the shooter have a clear view of the target, It aims it ideally without any trouble. Perhaps you have heard that rifle scopes are so cold or seen the movie Shooter where Mark Wahlberg shoots correctly using a scope. As a result, it caught you curious about the inside and outside mechanism of a rifle scope.

Well, let’s break it down as simply as possible. So put on your safety goggles and get ready to anatomize a rifle scope.

Exterior of Scope

Let's know some terminologies before we dive in deep. Take a rifle optic as an example, it can be any model. The exterior interior of scope is known as Tube, which contains the inner parts of the scope. Tube depends on the size of the scope; it can be either 1inch or 30mm. The rear-facing glass is known as Objective lens, which is responsible for transmitting light through the lens, allowing shooters to clearly see the target. In general, the objective lens size also depends on the power of the scope, which means the higher the lens's power, the bigger the lens will be. Since an objective lens transmits light through the scope, it means a larger objective lens will send more light, making the subject clearer.

Then comes the eyepiece, also known as the Ocular Lens, which shooters use to see through the lens and mark their target. Besides, the Power ring is one of the most sensitive parts of the scope as it deals with the magnification of the scope. Usually, a power ring is set by the upfront of the Ocular Lens. Still, it varies based on the design and scope of nature.

Forging ahead to the more technical terms, Windage Adjustment Dial, also known as Turrets are usually covered in the hunting riflescope. It is still adjustable as per the shooter's wish to move the bullet impact left or right, depending on the subject. In contrast, Elevation Adjustment Dial is used to measure the bullet impact up and down. Moreover, in the exterior part of the scope, some scopes have side focus dial. Some have an Adjustable Objective Ring, and few have an extra knob on the outside to illuminate the reticle. Moreover, most rifle scopes have either Elevation Adjustment Dial or Windage Adjustment Dial or both in one Tube.

Interior of Scope

Now let's take a look at the inside of a rifle scope. The first thing you will notice when you see through the lens the reticle or a crosshair (one horizontal line crossed the vertical line creating a center). This allows the gunman to point at the shooting area accurately. Furthermore, there is nothing complicated inside the riflescope; instead, its design is quite similar to telescopes. And for your kind information, rifle scope actually originated from telescopes.

In a nutshell, the scope works simply: first, it takes the light from your surroundings and then reflects it on the subjects to posterize it in front of the users. Each part of the riflescope is designed to assist shooting aiming the target more accurately. Advance rifle scope also gives more options to determine the bullet impact, fix the parallax as per shooter’s preferences and needs.

On another note, night vision scope and thermal scope work in almost a similar way, like regular scope. Of course, it has some special features that set those aside from the ordinary, which helps shooters shoot at night. Night vision scope uses image intensification technology. Thermal scope uses installed infrared radiation technology to determine the target's movement ever during the pitch-dark night. Besides, the night vision scope comes with an analog or digital parameter, which one can understand shooting. To overcome such issues, most of the shooters or hunters set up extra infrared illuminator to enhance target visibility. A thermal scanner, on the other hand, doesn't need additional illuminator, but as you will zoom it, the target will start to get blurry and won't be able to detect it.