These are our top picks for Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting. We've chosen these based on our experience of using these scopes in the field.
Benchrest shooting requires pin-point accuracy, and you need to be able to see exactly where you are aiming. With this in mind, a fine crosshair can be very helpful as it doesn't obstruct the shooter's view of the target or point of impact. There are a few scopes available that are dedicated to benchrest shooting, all of which have large magnification and fine crosshairs with centre dots. Due to restrictions in some competitions, these scopes generally tend to be quite light weight.
The scope must track straight and true so you can achieve the best possible score, so accurate and precise clicks are a must. Generally, benchrest shooters prefer 1/8 clicks, although other click adjustments work too, and a lightweight scope body tocomply with weight restrictions found in most benchrest competitions.
Magnification
Benchrest shooters tend to use higher magnification scopes so that the target can be seen clearly and you can make sure you are dead centre of the 'bull'. 36-50x is generally popular but higher magnifications can increase visible heat haze. Scopes with 20-35x magnification can be used and are usually more affordable, making them perfect for beginners to learn how to use the equipment and get into benchrest shooting before paying for a top-end scope.
Entry Level Hawke Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32×56 Riflescope with Free BSA Shooting Rest/Bag and Scope Rings
£439.99 £369.00
The Hawke Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32×56 was built with long range shooting in mind, with this being said it ticks all the specific boxes that long range shooting requires when choosing an optic. The Hawke Sidewinder 30 SF 8-32×56 delivers performance and features at an almost unbeatable value.
Mid Level Sightron SII 36×42 BRD Bench Rest 1/8 MOA Riflescope
£475.00
The Sightron SII 36×42 scope is designed purely for benchrest it combines value with added performance. The Sightron SII 36×42 comes with a one inch main tube made of high quality aircraft aluminium. The Sightron SII 36×42 is made with Japanese lenses giving a crystal clear crisp image edge to edge ideal for bench rest shooting, these scopes also fogproof, shockproof and waterproof and feature Sightron’s unique ExacTrack windage and elevation adjustment system. The Sightron SII 36×42 has an adjustable objective down to 10m and out to infinity making it perfect for air rifles, rimfires and full bore rifles.
Top Level Nightforce NF 12-42×56 Bench Rest CH1 Riflescope
£1535.00 £1,240.00
The Nightforce NF 12-42×56 Ch1 Benchrest line of optical rifles scope are in a league of their own, featuring the superb Nightforce NF 12-42×56 Ch1 multi coated 56mm lenses that provide the ultimate resolution that competition winners have been craving for. The Nightforce 12-42×56 benchrest scope provides adjustable objective that offers the control over the ultra fine focus adjustments to parallax, from approximately 20 metres to infinity.