Whether you’re a bow hunter or an archery target shooter, you might be seeking for some tips on how to improve your aim. In this case, having the correct crossbow scope is crucial.
You’ve got your new crossbow and all of the extras. One thing you don’t have is a scope, and you remember you already have one in your gun safe. Do you want to know if a riflescope can be used on a crossbow?
A riflescope can be mounted and used on a crossbow. It’s possible that it won’t hold up to the crossbow’s powerful ‘forward’ recoil (which is the polar opposite of a rifle), but many people have done it for years. There are, however, a few distinctions between rifles and crossbows that could present issues. The recoil of the scope, the distance discrepancies between rifles and crossbows, and the kinds of reticles are three issues that arise when riflescopes are mounted on a crossbow.
Many hunters have had experience mounting a riflescope on their crossbow with positive results. Manufacturers, on the other hand, create riflescopes for rifles. Crossbows provide unique issues and necessitate unique scope specs. Understanding these distinctions is crucial to selecting the best crossbow sight.
The scopes for crossbows and rifles are very similar. Aside from their appearance, riflescopes and crossbow scopes are very similar in operation. The overall goal is to bring the target image closer and larger in order to allow for more precise firing.
Consider the might of rifles and crossbows. They’re both used for hunting, but in quite different ways. The contrasts between a rifle and a crossbow show the need for rifle and crossbow optics.
It’s not unexpected that riflescopes and crossbow scopes have different reticle styles. Crossbows aren’t designed for long-range shooting in general. Most modern crossbows have an effective range of 75 to 100 yards. Modern rifles can easily shoot out to 1000 yards. The demands on reticles are different at these vastly varied yardages. Multi-reticles of a typical crossbow reticle make it easy to compensate for arrow drop and varying distances.
It’s not uncommon for riflescopes to have objective lenses that are 50mm to 56mm in diameter. If the objective lens on your spare scope is larger than 40mm, it won’t fit on your crossbow.
Scopes for crossbows should be mounted as near to the crossbow’s body as practicable. The objective lens of a crossbow scope is rarely larger than 40mm. At effective crossbow ranges, a 40mm objective lens provides more than enough field of view and light gathering power.
What I don’t like about utilizing a riflescope meant for long range shooting (100 yards or more) is that its performance at ‘near’ firing distances (typical archery hunting shooting distances) is a compromise. Telescopic sights with fixed objectives are configured (tuned) for a specific shooting distance at the manufacture. It’s normally 100 or 150 yards with a riflescope, but not so much with a crossbow.
Riflescopes are constructed to withstand the backward forces of rifle recoil. A powerful crossbow’s forward recoil can cause strains that a riflescope isn’t built to handle. The strains of forward recoil are taken into account when designing crossbow optics. Therefore, instead of using a riflescope when hunting with a crossbow, a crossbow scope is the prime solution.
Conclusion
A riflescope can absolutely be mounted on a crossbow. However, we believe you will be dissatisfied with the results in the long run. Riflescopes are designed to be used with rifles. Prime Crossbow scopes are designed to be used with crossbows. When you put the appropriate tools together, you’ll always get a better product.