Description
Last update on June 3, 2023 // Source: Amazon API
Rifle Scope Product Details
Nikon 3-9×40 BDC Reticle Black Riflescope (16558)
The Nikon 3-9×40 BDC Riflescope (16558) features fully multi-coated lenses to boost light transmission for dawn-to-dusk performance. 1/4 MOA adjustment turrets get you zeroed-in quickly and efficiently. The Spot On optimized BDC reticle makes accurate shots to 600 yards and beyond a real possibility. Built on a 1″ tube, the Nikon 3-9×40 BDC Riflescope is waterproof, fog proof, and shockproof.
Rifle Scope Product Features
Brand Nikon
Color Black
Sport Type Hunting
Material Other
Compatible Devices Rifle
About this Nikon 3-9×40 Rifle Scope
Multiple Layers of Anti-Reflective Coating maximize light transmission, brightness and contrast for an extremely bright sight picture.
Constructed of Aircraft-grade aluminum with Type-III hard anodizing surface finish for maximum strength-to-weight ratio and optimum ruggedness.
Positive-1/4-inch click adjustments get you zeroed in quicker and maintain your setting even with heavy recoil
O-ring sealed to prevent moisture from entering body and nitrogen purged for total reliability against thermal shock.
Shockproof construction shrugs off hard recoil and rugged use.
About the Nikon Company
Nikon is a premium maker for firearm scopes, optics, mounting solutions, and other add-ons used for firearms like rifles and long guns. They style and manufacture their mounts and related products choosing building materials which are long lasting and durable. This includes the Nikon 3-9×40 BDC Reticle Black Riflescope (16558) by Nikon. For more shooting items, visit their site.
What You Need to Know About Scopes
Rifle scopes enable you to exactly aim a rifle at various targets by aligning your eye with the target over a distance. They accomplish this through magnification using a set of lenses within the scope. The scope’s alignment can be adjusted for the consideration of various environmental considerations like wind speed and elevation to make up for bullet drop.
The scope’s purpose is to help shooters understand exactly where the bullet will land based on the sight picture you are seeing via the scope as you align the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the target. The majority of contemporary rifle scopes and optics have around eleven parts which are arranged within and on the exterior of the optic. These parts include the rifle scope’s body, lenses, windage and elevation dials or turrets, objective focus rings, and other components. Learn about the eleven parts of rifle glass.
About Scope Types
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” type of scopes. Opting for the perfect type of rifle optic is based around what type of shooting you plan on doing.
First Focal Plane Optic Facts
Focal plane scopes (FFP) come with the reticle in front of the zoom lens. This triggers the reticle to increase in size based upon the amount of magnification being used. The benefit is that the reticle measurements are the same at the enhanced distance as they are at the non magnified distance. One tick on a mil-dot reticle at 100 yards with no “zoom” is still the identical tick at one hundred yards with 5x “zoom”. These kinds of scopes are practical for:
- Quick acquisition, far away kinds of shooting
- Shooting circumstances where estimations are minimal
- Experienced shooters who have an idea for their aim point “hold over” and “lead” equations for their firearm
- Shooters who don’t mind the reticle is enlarged and uses up more visual sight room than a SFP reticle
About Second Focal Plane Glass
Second focal plane scopes (SFP) include the reticle behind the magnification lens. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” one hundred yard tick would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick reticle measurement.
- Far away types of shooting where shooters have more time to make ballistic calculations
- Shooting where most of the shots take place within much shorter ranges and proximities
- Shooters who want a clearer optic picture without area taken up by the bigger FFP reticle
About Rifle Scope Magnification
The quantity of scope magnification you need on your scope depends on the style of shooting you wish to do. Virtually every kind of rifle glass offers some amount of magnification. The quantity of magnification a scope supplies is determined by the dimension, thickness, and curves of the lenses within the rifle scope. The magnification level of the optic is the “power” of the scope. This indicates what the shooter is checking out through the scope is amplified times the power factor of what can typically be seen by human eyes.
Single Power Lens Optics
A single power rifle scope will have a magnification number designator like 4×32. This indicates the magnification power of the scope is 4x power and the objective lens is 32mm. The zoom of this type of optic can not fluctuate given that it is a set power scope.
Adjustable Power Lens Rifle Scopes
Variable power rifle scopes can be adjusted between magnification levels. These types of scopes will list the zoom degree in a format such as 2-10×32. These numbers imply the magnification of the scope could be adjusted in between 2x and 10x power. This always utilizes the powers in-between 2 and 10. The power adaptation is accomplished by applying the power ring part of the scope near the back of the scope by the eye bell piece.
Power Levels and Range Correlations
Here are some advised scope power levels and the distances where they could be effectively used. Highly magnified optics will not be as beneficial as lower magnification level optics considering that too much magnification can be a bad thing. The same idea goes for extended ranges where the shooter needs increased power to see exactly where to best aim the rifle at the target.
Info on Lens Covering
All cutting-edge rifle glass lenses are covered. Lens coating can be an essential element of a shooting system when considering high end rifle optics and scope systems.
Info on Glass Lens Coatings – HD Versus ED
Some rifle scope producers also use “HD” or high-def lense coatings that take advantage of various procedures, aspects, chemicals, and polarizations to draw out various colors and viewable target definition through the lens. This high-definition finishing is typically used with increased density lens glass which lowers light’s chance to refract through the lens glass. Some scope brands use “HD” to describe “ED” indicating extra-low dispersion glass. ED deals with how certain colors are represented on the chromatic spectrum and the chromatic difference or aberration which is similarly called color distortion or fringing. Chromatic aberration may be noticeable over things with well defined shapes as light hits the object from particular angles.
Single Optic Lens Finishing Versus Multi-Coating
Various optic lenses can likewise have various coverings used to them. All lenses generally have at least some type of treatment or coating used to them before being used in a rifle scope or optic.
Single covered lenses have a treatment applied to them which is normally a protective and enhancing multi-purpose treatment. This lens treatment can preserve the lens from scratches while decreasing glare and other less useful things experienced in the shooting environment while sighting in with the scope. The quality of a single coated lens depends on the scope producer and how much money you spent on it. Both the make and cost are indications of the lens quality.
Some scope makers likewise make it a point to specify if their optic lenses are coated or “multi” covered. This means the lens has multiple treatments applied to them. If a lens receives multiple treatments, it can show that a manufacturer is taking several actions to fight various natural factors like an anti-glare covering, a scratch resistant anti-abrasion finishing, followed by a hydrophilic coating. This also doesn’t necessarily suggest the multi-coated lens is much better than a single covered lens. Being “much better” is dependent on the producer’s lens treatment techniques and the quality of components used in building the rifle optic.
Hydrophobic Finishing for Glass
Water on a lens doesn’t help with keeping a clear sight picture through a scope at all. Numerous top of the line and military grade scope makers will coat their lenses with a hydrophilic or hydrophobic finish.
Alternatives for Installing Glass on Firearms
Installing solutions for scopes come in a few options. There are the basic scope rings which are individually installed to the optic and one-piece mounts which cradle the scope. These various kinds of mounts also normally come in quick release variations which use throw levers which allow rifle shooters to quickly install and remove the scopes.
Hex Key Rifle Glass Ring Mounts
Standard, clamp style mounting scope rings use hex head screws to mount to the flattop style Picatinny scope mount rails on rifles. These types of scope mounts use two separate rings to support the optic, and are made from 7075 T6 billet aluminum which are designed for long range precision shooting. This type of scope install is great for rifles which require a resilient, rock solid mounting solution which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abused.
Optic Mounting Solutions with Quick-Release Cantilever Rings
These types of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to rapidly connect and take off a scope from a rifle before reattaching it to a different rifle. Multiple scopes can also be swapped out if they all use a similar style mount. These types of mounts are handy for rifles which are carried a lot, to remove the optic from the rifle for protecting the scope, or for scopes which are used between several rifles or are situationally focused.
Sealing and Gas Purging for Optic Tubes
Moisture inside your rifle glass can ruin a day on the range and your highly-priced optic by inducing fogging and creating residue within the scope’s tube. Most optics protect against humidity from going into the scope tube with a series of sealing O-rings which are water resistant. Normally, these water-resistant optics can be immersed within 20 or 30 feet of water before the water pressure can force moisture past the O-rings. This should be sufficient moisture content prevention for standard use rifles, unless you plan on taking your rifle on boats and are worried about the optic still performing if it is submerged in water and you can still rescue the rifle.
Gas Purged Optic Tubes
Another component of preventing the accumulation of moisture within the rifle scope’s tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Because this space is already occupied by the gas, the glass is less affected by climate alterations and pressure differences from the external environment which could possibly allow water vapor to leak in around the seals to fill the vacuum which would otherwise be there. These are good qualities of a good rifle scope to look for.
