Optics Nomenclature 101: Stop Saying it Wrong Hello there I am Chris from Lucky Gunner. Merry Christmas, and happy Boxing Day if you’re into that holiday. Now is the time of year when people start sharing all the cool stuff they got for Christmas. And one recurring theme I see a lot is optics, rifle scopes. They make great gifts, because if you want to get somebody something really nice but you don’t want to mess with transferring a firearm or the hassle of having it shipped, you can just do a rifle scope. It’s a really nice gift, and It’s a lot easier to transport. So a lot of people and up with rifle scopes this time of year. And if that’s you and you want to go tell all of your buddies and neighbors about your awesome new optic, you want to make sure to use the correct nomenclature. And what I mean is, somewhere on your scope will be written something like this. This is the most basic information about your scope that people are going to want to know. And it’s two numbers. And the number on the left is the magnification. And there’s an x. And the number on the right is the objective size. And what that means is the magnification is just how many times larger the scope makes the target appear, or how many times closer it makes it appear. The objective is just the lens that’s on the far end of the scope, the lens that faces the target were all of the light comes in. And this is expressed in millimeters. Now, you may also have something that looks more like this. And this is the same idea. There’s just an extra number here. It’s a 3-9 x 40. And this is for a variable power scope. The other one was a fixed power scope. That is, a 4 by 32 means it’s always at 4 power. There’s no zoom. It doesn’t go closer or farther out. On this one, it’s a 3 to 9 power. That’s the range of magnification. On the low end, it makes things look three times closer than they are in real life, all the way up to nine power. There’s a ring on the scope. And you rotate that ring, and it can go anywhere in between three to nine. And then on the objective end, it’s the same thing. 40 millimeters this time for a 40 millimeter objective lens. Now, where people tend to mess this up is they put an x where that dash is. They either write it that way or they pronounce it that way. And they’ll say three by nine. My scope’s a three by nine by forty, or just a three by nine. Now, most people will know what you’re talking about. But some of us are easily confused. And if you say you have a three by nine, I might not know what you’re talking about. This goes even more so online, especially if you’re trying to post a classified or something like that. If you put 3 x 9 power scope but I’m searching for a 3 to 9 power scope, I’m not going to find your listing. And you might not sell your scope. So if you want to be saying it the correct way, or writing it the correct way, it’s a three to nine– that’s how we pronounce ranges in English– by forty. You could also say this without the objective, and just have the three to nine x. That’s fine, three to nine power. But in that case, it’s even more important to not put an x where that dash is, because then it looks like you’ve got a three by nine power scope. A three power scope with a nine millimeter objective? That doesn’t make sense. Someone like me would eventually figure it out. But it might be confusing for a minute. So if you want to sound like a tactical operating expert sniper hunter with your awesome new scope, then use the correct nomenclature. So when you’re sharing about it with all your friends, they will know that you know what you’re talking about. And it will, I promise, it will change your life forever. So get that scope mounted. And consider this my Christmas gift to you. Sight it in and have fun.
Ever wonder what those numbers on your scope means? Know what they mean but have no idea how to actually pronounce them? Not to fear, friends. I made a video just for you to help you feel even more comfortable in the world of optics .
Are you comfortable talking about optics already? What was your first experience shooting with them?
