Glass

Thanks to an anonymous NY commenter for planting the germ of an idea when I put out a bleg for post material ideas.



I am shopping for glass.

Well actually, I shopped for it and know what I want.

I want a scout scope and scout scope configuration. Colonel Cooper preferred a scout rig. Leopold makes a nice one. (though THIS is very cool if you like the AR-15 style carbine as you primary. Ooooooo.) You have a few options when attaching a rifle scope when it comes to the Garand. I chose forward, with a lower power but long eye relief scope. This will allow for a greater range of view when not using the scope but presenting the rifle to shoot. And, theoretically, faster target acquisition. If you mount a 10 power scope and it take up all of one eye's field of view, and part of the next eyes' and a deer pops up only 25 yards away, all you see is fur and you have no idea when you are hitting that deer unless you spend the time to hunt around. Precious time is lost. A 10x scope has its place, but that isn't it. And a 2x scope is fine for all reasonable sporting ranges. And when good enough people can be known to shoot zombie sized targets, in center mass at least, at 600 yards with iron sights, I imagine a 2x scope at that range could be a nice crutch for an intermediate rifleman like me. If I get really good, I might get a head shot in at that range too.

A 10x scope is in the future, just not for this Garand.

If I got a 10x scope, I'd have to mount it back closer to my face. And I have the disadvantage of being left handed. With the ejection from the receiver shooting out to the right on a Garand, to mount a scope at the rear of the receiver you have to offset it over to the left. This is easier for a righty to line up his eye. A lefty has to lean way over the stock. Doable, supposedly, but less practical. At least the iron sight can often remain in place with this rig. Doing double duty.

Now I am a lefty and left eye dominant. Leaning over for a lefty and being RIGHT eye dominant, the lean over can become impossible. In that circumstance you might be fooked.

Speaking of eye domination, and how to tell, I found a new, to me way to check that. You do need a partner. If you want to check which eye is dominant, have you buddy close one of his or her eyes. Then YOU, keeping both eyes open, stand 15 feet away and extend your arm, pointing at his visible eye without thinking about it. You partner will see your finger tip lining up with your dominant eye. Nifty! Most people's eye domination matches up with the hand they write with. My dad, his finger tip lined up with the bridge of his nose, so he is odd... Both eyes. If you are cross dominant, you may want to shoot the other hand, or close your dominant eye.

There is another advantage to the scout scope. You can more easily keep both eyes open. Something you hear you are supposed to do and I have been training myself to do more. Why? I have no authoritative answer, why. Thought I have some logical guesses. Close an eye and you sort of squint the open eye, and this can distort you a bit. Adds a bit of semi-flinching too. With both eyes open you can have a broader field of view, taking in more targets while aiming at one, to avoid unpleasant surprises. Both eyes open and you have better depth perception, though why you need too much of that with a scope I don't know.

But it all comes down to what works best for you. Try both, I say. Or use those fancy shooter's glasses. They do a neat little trick, making you eye like a long lense used to show a pitcher and batter in focus. You can't walk around in public with it, though, so it is impractical in real life.

A future acquistion for fancy glass? A fixed 9 or 10 power scope to go with a bolt action tack driver. Rugged. That's why the fixed power, less to jiggle and break than a variable power. And really good $200 rings to go with it. THAT kind of fancy. But I'd want a proper range to shoot such a rifle regularly at the ranges it would call for. Who know if I'll ever have that kind of access. I will try.





A bore sight system too. Either the laser pointer kind, or I need to check out this one, from Leopold.

The other glass item is a gargantuan spotting scope. 30x. 60x!! Really big eyes. For shooting? Yes, but there is so much fun to be had with such a scope if you have a horizon to scan. I'll probably go for a used one. Getting the latest model is fancy, but lots of spotter like to upgrade over the years. I am hoping there are cast off that can be had for a bargain.