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See Thru Scope Mounts?

33K views 36 replies 29 participants last post by  1Caprandy 
#1 ·
Any real disadvantage to these type scope mounts. I don't have any real experience. Going to scope a TC Omega. Have the scope, am looking at mounting bases an rings. The idea appeals to me as in wooded areas, a close in shot is a real possibility. Like some feedback from someone with experience. Part of me says good idea, part says they look impractical. The scope is a Bushnell, 1.5-4.5 power. I'm thinking the lower setting would be fine for a close in, but like I said, new game for me. Help!
 
#2 ·
I have used them in the past and I felt that to be able to look through the scope I had to crane my neck >Very uncomfortable for me.Since your scope has a low 1.5 power I would set it on that and forget the see through rings,but if any of your friends have a set up like that ask if you can shoot a few rounds with thier gun and get a feel for them.
 
#3 ·
In my opinion, don't do it....

see thru scope mounts seem like a great idea, but after using them... they are not all they are cracked up to be.

stick with the 1.5 to 4.5 bushnell on regular rings, if your really concerned about close up shots get a wide angle or 40mm scope with the 1.5 to 4.5 power setting.

keep the scope on 1.5 setting while walking, you should be able to see your target even faster than you can see your iron sights.

I have a 1.5 bushnell on a 50 cal muzzleloader, last year had a nice 9pt come running straight at me, as i picked up my gun and prepared to shoot he turned left at 10 yards. on the 1.5 setting had no problem picking him up in the scope and ended up drilling him thru the heart at 18 paces. (I have to say that im pretty darned proud of that shot :wink:)
 
#5 ·
I have used them and do not like them. I have tried them on at least three guns of my own. Each time I could not make myself hold the gun in a way I could see through them and still pull an accurate shot. When I move my set points around to different places on the gun I think it throws off my accuracy (I hope that makes sense). At least I am going to blame it on that. If I hold my gun the same each time I get good results and if I try to move my head around to different places on the gun I screw the shot up. Maybe there is something to it, maybe not. I think you will be fine with that low of a power scope. Just don't forget and leave it on max power. I no longer own a set of the see through rings and don't see that I ever will again. Just my 2 cents.
 
#6 ·
Gary, the see thru scope mounts are more practical to the people selling them than to actual shooting. You have to raise your head off of the stock to see through the scope. You no longer have a good "cheek weld" or "stock weld" (as some call it) and it's almost impossible to get your eye behind the scope in the same place each time. So, consistent groups are highly improbable and in most cases non-existant.

Another issue is that you have to mount the scope alot higher on the rifle. If you happen to "cant" or tilt the rifle one way or the other, then the farther the shot, the more the shot will be off target.

I've got the same rifle and scope that you do, and love it. I've got my scope mounted in the leupold quick detatch mounts and rings. A quick flip of the two levers, and the scope is off and I've got the open sights. I can put the scope back on, and it's still on. It's never lost it's zero with being taken on and off of the rifle many times. I remove it every time I clean it, makes cleaning a whole lot easier! I had to pay a little more for the mounts and rings, but for repeat zero and convenience, it was worth it.
 
#7 ·
I have a 1.5 bushnell on a 50 cal muzzleloader, last year had a nice 9pt come running straight at me, as i picked up my gun and prepared to shoot he turned left at 10 yards. on the 1.5 setting had no problem picking him up in the scope and ended up drilling him thru the heart at 18 paces. (I have to say that im pretty darned proud of that shot :wink:)[/quote]
Any shot at a running deer is a shot to be proud of! :cool2:
 
#9 ·
Hi Folks,
They make a monte carlo comb to add to the stock which would help on alinement with the added height of the see thru scope mounts.
I have used them in the pass, but I am not real happy with them.
To me if your using a lower power scope, you may want to just stick to open sights.
 
#10 ·
rifles are designed to be shot with the shooter's cheek planted firmly on the stock, not up off it. i has some see through mounts on a rem. 7400 .30-06 and they were horrible. when i did try to use the iron sights, it put my cheek at an unnatural angle where the stock would bite me pretty hard at the shot.

on the illuminated reticle, my opinion is they will be like the illuminated sight i have on my bow. they look freakin awesome, but in a real low light situation they take away from what you are trying to look at with their brightness. you already know where the crosshairs are in the scope, as i know which pins are which in my bow sight. i feel the light in either situaton is going to take away your concentration when you already have precious little time to make a shot.
 
#13 ·
O.K. Brother's,
This is a general post because I am going to answer a couple of questions in one post.
First, The SEE-THRU Scope Mounts.
It seems like these mounts are like that former Indiana University Coach; Bobby Knight! You either LOVED him or you HATED him!
It seems that way with SEE-THRU mounts too. You either love them or you hate them!
When I was in Oklahoma for a couple of years back in the mid 90's the sporting goods store we bought much of our needed supplies for class projects could NOT keep them in stock!!!:eek:oooh:
A couple years later in Southern Indiana and there were three sets of them that stayed on that rack for a year! I guess it all depends on the location and the mindset of the people in that area!
Personally, I don't like them! I will sell them to a customer. I will install them for a customer but you will NOT see one on any of my rifles!
The main reason being that these mounts put the scope way too far above the axis of the bore!
Two, most of the time I have sold/installed them were on Lever Actions! The user thought that they could use either the scope or the open sights as dictated by the conditions at the time! If the open sights were needed then you would push your cheek about halfway "through" the stock to get a comfortable "weld". If you needed the scope then you put your jawbone on the top of the stock and sighted through the scope!
There are better ways to solve this problem, especially with Lever Actions but I am NOT going into that subject at this time.
Also, SEE-THRU mounts are not as "stable" as other mounts and when using them the recoil from the firearm uses that added length to put additional stress on the scope components that, over time no matter if a long or short time, will cause metal fatigue, warping, ect, of your mounts, mounting screws, and the other hardware involved in dealing with them!
Now, to the question about Illuminated Scope Reticles.
I've tried several of them over the past few years and personally and even though I don't need them yet, I Still LIKE THEM! They serve a very useful purpose to those folks over 35-40 year of age who's eyes don't focus as fast, or as well, as they used too when we were all kids!
They do NOT take the place of Night Vision Starlight Scopes nor should they.
The BEST use for an illuminated reticle is during that half hour before Sunrise and the half hour after Sunset and, of course, those "occasional" full cloudy days where the cloud cover is so thick that you have to use your automobile headlights on the roads!:big_smile:
When you go to consider a scope that has this feature be sure to read the instructions that come with it. Carry a spare battery or batteries, whatever your case may be for the scope you have chosen. Most use some kind of "watch" battery so you should have a spare in your "kit" when out in the field and it would not hurt to tape one to your stock with some camouflage tape either. In fact, carrying two backup batteries is just plain old GOOD SENSE, especially in colder weather and especially during freezing weather which as we all know is murder on batteries,even our automobile batteries!
Again, I will remind everyone to buy the best quality optics that you can afford! It WILL be well worth it, especially during that often critical half hour before sunrise and the half hour after sunset! This is an area where the better quality scopes just flat leave the lesser scopes behind!!!
If anything, spend more on the scope than the rifle! A good accurate rifle will work even better with a good scope on top. But if you have mediocre glass and a GREAT rifle, you will never be able to shoot to the level of accuracy that the rifle is capable of doing!!:sad2:
I hope this post has something in it that will help everyone!:big_smile:
If anyone does not understand what I have written, or has further questions, please don't hesitate to contact either myself or any of the Brother's and Sister's you see making posts on a regular basis!!
Thank you ALL for your time and patience with this long winded post.
"May Everyone Walk In Peace"
Fraternally Yours,
Coyote1
[[[[[End of Msg]]]]]
 
#15 ·
On a side note, Has anyone tried out any of the Illuminated reticle scopes? I have looked through a couple of them and have to say they have impressed me in the store... but the store's not the woods..

anyone done any field testing on any of these?

I haven't hunted with them yet, but I just put a Bushnell Banner Dusk and Dawn scope on my muzzleloader. It has 3 settings each for red and green. Shooting at target I really like it. Muzzleloader season opens next Sat. so hopefully I'll get to try it shooting at a deer.
Chip
 
#16 ·
See thru scope mounts are good if you plan to shoot the animal within 50 yards, but after that the scope is off. It's because the scope is so high off the barrel that it can't intersept your line of sight in the same point every time. They are real handy to have during deer drives though.
 
#17 ·
See thru scope mounts are good if you plan to shoot the animal within 50 yards, but after that the scope is off. It's because the scope is so high off the barrel that it can't intersept your line of sight in the same point every time. They are real handy to have during deer drives though.
If your shots are inside 50 yards, then there's not much need for a scope in the first place.
 
#19 ·
I agree with what most of your replys say. Most people learn to shoot with their cheek tight to the stock and thats as it should be. With the see through mounts the scope is mounted about an inch higher, causing you to have to lift up to see. Not the best for comfort or accuracy. I have a set on my Savage 24, .223/ 12Ga. Only because the riffle barrel and the shotgun barrel don't zero to the same point. I have the scope zeroed for the .223 and the open sights for the shotgun. That works for me. But I would never have such a mount on a normal rifle.
 
#20 ·
I do not use see-thru mounts. I think it just adds one more thing to think
about. If your scope is mounted properly you should not have any problem
at any range as long as you do not dail up to high. I shoot 4X most of the time. I will dial up to check a rack or to shoot over 250 yds but never over
6X to shoot.
 
#21 ·
OK fellas Im going against most for one reason only MONEY unless you have a high dollar scope you will not be able to see through it in that last five mins of after sun set when that big gun steps out in the edge of the woods. so what do you do cry unless you have see through scope mounts then you drop that eye down and use your iron sights and kill that big gun.
my dad has a $400 buck Leapold and I have a $140 buck bushnell and standing side by side he can see through his scope almost ten mins longer than I can. ( that is a big difference ). I dont think there for everyone just people like me! its alot cheaper to put see throughs on than shell out for a high dollar scope, dont get me wrong I would prefer to shell out for a high dollar scope but I cant with out living in my truck ( sayes the old lady:embarassed:) so for anyone on my kinda bugget I think its the only way to fly.
 
#22 ·
I agree that the see threw mounts put the scope in a position that's uncomfortable to shoot. I do not use see-thru mounts for that reason. I do like your choice in the 1.5-5 X. They are a great choice for deer hunting or hunting in general IMO. If I was mounting a scope with see-thru mounts I would sight it in at about 2/3 of the guns maximum range. This will give you a better on target accuracy in close and at long range.
 
#23 ·
I got a scope with the see-through rings as a gift. Not wanting to cause any hurt feelings I reluctantly mounted them on my muzzleloader figuring that this is a short season and if necessary would buy new mounting rings during the off-season. The rings are Thompson Center and aren't as tall as I first thought they might be. The see-through clearance is only enough to see the iron sights. I hunt in the mountains of SW VA so long shots aren't typical. I have to say, I kinda like this outfit. I'm pretty tall and can quickly pick up the target, even in low light, with the iron sites (by the way, my gun has the Tru-Glo fiber optic sights) and only have to barely straighten up my head to acquire the target in the scope. This setup isn't for everyone but does work for me. Unless I see any patterns of poor shot placement I'll probably keep them on for a while. I've been lucky enough to bag two nice does so far and am looking forward to the late muzzleloader season in December.

Mike
 
#24 ·
I have see thru mounts on one rifle, and I have bought them for another, I also have regular mounts for it. There is a big difference in stock weld using the iron sights and scope. Sometimes its uncomfortable. I have quick release mounts. I think Weaver makes a mount that makes it easier and faster to use open sights, some makers have a pretty small opening for using the iron sights. Its an inconvenience.

As far as illuminated reticles, I have heard people talk about them and they like em, but I've never been able to find a display model that I could try. The battery thing is another deterrent for me.

I'd recommend try both ways if you can afford it, or try someone's and make a comparison before ya buy. I use em but I don't think they are totally practical.

My dad had a swing-away mount on his rifle with a pretty good scope. Unfortunately the rifle was sold before I found out it was for sale. The buyer didn't like the rifle, I called to try and buy it but it had been stolen and not recovered.
 
#25 ·
Boots, i've just tried one set of them about 25 years ago. Can't really say that I liked them and haven't used them since. The main problem I had was in the exitement of the moment I would forget they were there:eek:oooh::smile2: and wouldn't use them when the shot would have been easier up close with open sights. I now have the over 40 disease and couldn't use open sights if I had to, and expect to hit anything.
 
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