There is a lot in common between a crossbow and an air rifle. From the mode of action to important features like the scope, and more, a crossbow is pretty much characteristically similar to air rifles to traditional bows. Talking about scopes, will a crossbow scope work on an air rifle?
Generally, a crossbow scope will work on an air rifle thanks to the great build quality that can handle the reverse recoil generated on the air rifle. A crossbow also produces the forward recoil. So the scope used on it is robust and holds up on the immense double recoil of a spring-piston air rifle.
In fact, a crossbow’s action exerts more forward recoil compared to a springer. What this means is that the impact of the forward momentum is significantly higher in crossbows.
Naturally, they would sport some serious scopes that are rugged and durable to resist the destructive forces of the reverse recoil. The only letdown with crossbow scopes is the low magnification that may be most useful for short-range shooting.
Stick around and let’s find out more about this topic in the next sections.
Will a Crossbow Scope Work on an Air Rifle?
When you shoot an arrow, there is a light kick backward. Then you have a reverse recoil that pulls the crossbow forward when the string hits a stop with a more serious slamming as a result of the forward momentum.
This dynamic of action is the same exact phenomenon you can see with the spring piston air rifles. Initially, you experience the backward or rearward recoil as a result of the spring and piston returning to their original positions.
But when they reach the front end of the compression chamber, they are suddenly stopped thanks to the violent slamming of the components against the chamber. Outside the gun, there is a rapid reversal of direction as the gun now moves in the forward direction.
Having laid the two sets of actions in place, you can now quickly understand why having a crossbow scope on an air rifle doesn’t create a fuss. The crossbow scope is therefore built to withstand the double recoil phenomena – which is the case in both scenarios.
If you are planning to use this scope on your air rifle, it would be ideal for short-range situations. This is because the crossbow scopes come with lower magnification powers compared to what you may be used in air rifles.
Can an Air Rifle Scope Work on a Crossbow?
The recoil dynamics of an air rifle, particularly the spring-piston powered air rifle is almost similar to what you would see in a crossbow. The two weapons come with nearly the same action while using them.
We’ve already found out that a crossbow scope will work fine on any type of air rifle. But can the same be told of an air rifle scope? Can it function well on a crossbow?
As a whole, an air rifle scope will not always work on a crossbow. This is because some air rifles that use pneumatics and CO2 to propel projectiles have low-quality scopes that cannot take in the double recoil of a crossbow.
Still, the scopes designed for the break barrel air rifles seem to offer a proper hold since they are rugged and robust for the dynamic recoil of the spring and gas-ram air rifles. Hence, they cannot get damaged that easily.
Having a proper air rifle scope on your crossbow gives you the chance to take out targets from close range to long-range. Air rifle scopes offer high-power magnification to help you focus clearly on far-placed objects.
While the crossbow-specific scopes can shoot only up to a limited range, the air rifle scopes can start as low as 10 yards all the way up to 100 yards. Read more in this post!
Is There a Difference Between a Riflescope and a Crossbow Scope?
It’s expected that your accuracy will improve once you have a scope on your air rifle or crossbow. Then you can shoot better.
When you look at scopes for both weapons, you can definitely see a lot of similarities. Nevertheless, there are lots of differences between these two. Let’s explore the differences between riflescopes and crossbow scopes right next.
1. Effective Range
As usual, rifles and air rifles are designed such that they can fire projectiles over long distances. Generally, their effective range is long. So, riflescopes can come with the capability to shoot accurately over 100 yards.
On the other hand, crossbows are for short-distance shooting. This is the reason crossbow-specific scopes only favor shorter practical ranges of between 20-50 yards.
Any moment you think of interchanging between these scopes, think about what you want to achieve in terms of the range.
2. Magnification
Another substantial difference between riflescopes vs crossbow scopes is the power of magnification. As said a moment ago, air rifles or rifles are suited for long-range shooting while crossbows are for short-range distances.
Most riflescopes come with variable magnification that enables you to switch the zoom accordingly between short ranges and long ranges. This enables you to view your objects clearly no matter the distance.
The magnification settings for crossbow scopes are quite different. Generally, the optimal magnification for these scopes is between 1x to 4x. This range is low and can only allow for short-range magnification.
We would say the magnification power of riflescopes is higher while that of crossbows is low-power and fixed.
3. Reticles
Riflescope reticles feature multiple reference points so that the shooter is able to shoot at targets located at a fixed distance. You can easily estimate the distance to the target by use of these ranging marks.
Crossbow scopes come with descending range marks that estimate the range – but not all of them. For each range mark, you have an increase of a 10-yard range.
Moreover, crossbow scopes offer multiple reticles that help archers track the arc of the arrows fired.
4. Objective Lens
Riflescopes provide shooters with larger objective lenses that are good for high light collection. With enough light into the objective lens, you can see your targets very clearly even if the lighting conditions are the best in the day.
Crossbows come with slightly smaller scopes that have smaller objective lenses limited only to up to 40mm. This makes having clear views at long range or in the dark quite hard.
So for the benefit of the doubt, a riflescope and a crossbow scope are not the same. They come with a stark list of differences.
What Should I Look for in a Crossbow Scope?
Your outcomes are definitely going to improve when you add a scope to your crossbow. The odds are better.
What should you look for in a proper crossbow scope as you inspect some in the store? There are a lot of things to consider as indicated below.
1. Magnification
You need to decide whether variable or fixed magnification is okay for you or not. You cannot adjust the magnification with a fixed one but the variable magnification allows for adjusting depending on what settings work for you.
So you can choose anything from 1x to 6x. If you get a proper fixed power scope, you’d better work with that as the variable magnification can be often hard to nick accuracy always because of the need to zero in each time.
2. Durability
You want to have a scope that is well built with high-quality parts. The true test of time will come when it is subject to the reverse recoil.
A poor scope will collapse with time. A proper scope will last for a long time given its ruggedness and robust build.
3. Weatherproof
The ability of the crossbow scope to resist elements of weather is key. It should be fog-free especially when there’s moisture condensation.
If you can clearly see through fog and mist, that’s a good scope you have there.
4. Field of View
Check on the size of the field of view. You want your image to be clear enough. A good scope offers a decent magnification and proper configuration of the lenses so that your field of view is not altered.
Final Thoughts: Will a Crossbow Scope Work on an Air Rifle?
All in all, a crossbow scope can work on an air rifle. These scopes are built with great ruggedness and robustness to stand the test of time when subjected to the impact of the forward recoil of the spring-powered air rifles.
However, a crossbow scope is only going to be good for short-range shooting. If you are mounting it on your air rifle, you probably want to have it for the winter indoor shooting.
You shouldn’t expect much for as much as long-range shooting is concerned because the scope has low magnification power.
