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The larger the exit pupil, the brighter the image in the scope will seem.Įye Relief-This is the distance between the shooter's eye and the eyepiece from where the shooter can see the entire image inside a magnified scope without the dark eclipse effect called "vignetting." Eye relief shifts on a variable power scope as you change the magnification. And that circle of light is the amount of illumination that enters the scope. Here's a look at a few terms you should know.Įxit Pupil-If you hold a scope at arm's length and point it at a bright surface such as a wall in a well-lit area, you'll see the exit pupil it's a circle of light. In any discussion of firearms optics, a lot of lingo will get thrown around. For example in the product name of the Leupold VX*R Patrol 1.25-4x20mm, the 1.25-4 signifies that the scope offers variable magnification of 1.25 power to 4 power, and the 20mm is the diameter of the objective lens.Īimpoint's Patrol Rifle Optic (PRO) was designed specifically for law enforcement operations. Telescopic sights are categorized by their magnification capabilities and tube size expressed as a series of numbers. Although they do not use reflection, holographic sights are generally classified as a type of reflex sight because they offer a single point of reference for quick target acquisition. However, holographic sights first marketed by EoTech (now L-3 EoTech) use lasers to project a single point of aim onto a film enclosed inside the optic. Almost all reflex sights use a mirror and an internal light source such as an LED to reflect the image of the reticle back to the eye of the shooter. The term "reflex" sight is a shortening of the word reflector.
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One shooter who assisted with this article said he can hit a 12-inch plate about 75% of the time at 300 yards with a short-barreled 5.56mm rifle and an Aimpoint T1 with 3x magnification. They can also be used at ranges beyond 200 yards by skilled shooters. They are very useful in close-quarter combat, especially against multiple targets and moving targets. Reflector sights or "reflex" sights are optics that do not magnify the image of the target and feature a single point of reference such as a red dot for extremely fast sight acquisition.
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