For a while now I've been thinking about putting a scope on my .454casull.

I have never looked through a "handgun" scope and am curiuous as to just how long the eye relief is.

Can you shoot holding the weapong at arms lenght as you normally would?

In any case, what are some of the good handgun scopes?

Thanks.

Yes you can hold at arms length and get a good picture. The TC scopes are pretty good. I like the illuminated recticle. I have a swift that seems to be just as good. My Simmons is not as bright.

I've gone through a few handgun scopes on my T/C Contender barrels. I actually had probelms with the eye relief being to far. With the 6X Tasco Pro-Class target scope I had on my .30-30win, I had to hold the gun at arms length, then tip my head back a little to get a full field of view. Then again, I'm only 5' 7". A taller person probably wouldn't have that problem. The BSA 2X scope I replaced it with has a much more comfortable eye relief, at least for me. I also have a T/C 2.5X illuminated scope on my .45-70 barrel. The eye relief on this scope is right in between the Tasco and the BSA, so it's pretty comfortable.

on my savage stiker 260 ive got the Leupold m8-2x extended eye relief and i can hold like i do with 357 with iron sights great window no stain. i had simmons on and like last post stated i had to strain neck back at full arms reach to get full view. didnt like that one.

I have Leupolds on all my barrels except one. My .22 Long Rifle Contender has a Tasco which is parallax free at 50 yards. The Leupolds are 100 yards. They seem to have the longest eye relief at 18 inches. Being 6'3" tall I have no problems but some people have said they do. The Burris is very forgiving with eye relief but I think that the Leupolds are better quality. Slim

I have used Leupold and Burris quite a bit and like both, it just depends on which firearm you intend to put it on. My revolvers have Leupolds and my Strikers have Burris. The Burris work better for me on Striker due to ER being better suited to the hunting positions I get into w/ Striker as opposed to the revolvers. Leupold ER seems a bit longer than the Burris on average.

Bushnell Trophy & Bushnell Elite 3200 2x6 handgun scopes have up to 20" of eye relief which is the most that I have seen on the market, which is why you see a bunch of them on the silhouette range.

You can check out an article about handgun scopes at this link.
Scoping your handgun

The best handgun scopes are Burris in my opinion but not all models are well suited for every gun.

The article lists the FOV, eye relief and other measurements listed for the major scopes currently in production. The one missing is the new Nikon 2.5x8 and I can provide those stats if you're interested. I just got the Nikon in for a review but I have not had time to update the article with the Nikon info yet.

I have a Leupold 2.5x8 on my FA 454 because that's the way it came but I wouldn't hesitate to put the Leupold 2.5x8 or the 2x6 Bushnell 3200 on it. The Bushnell 3200 is nice because the eye relief is constant at 20". All variable scopes will have a shorter eye relief as the power ring is turned up with the exception of the Bushnell but that generally isn't a big deal. The Leupold is in the same class as these other scopes but the Nikon has a bit better resolution. Leupold and Burris have excellent warranties and service. However all these have much less FOV at 100 yards than the Burris 2x7 which is what I will replace my Leupold with if it ever breaks. With a 454 I would get the posi-lock feature...it can't hurt.

If you're considering fixed power scopes the Leupold and Burris are excellent choices. Since you're new to handgun scopes I would start out with a variable with a low end of 2x or a fixed 2x because the wobble of the crosshairs will be disconcerting till you get used to it and a high power scope only adds to the problem.

[ 09-17-2003, 00:35: Message edited by: Hunt4Fun ]

Of all the variable power pistol scopes I've owned or looked through the now discontinued B&L Elite 3000, which was replaced by the Bushnell 3200 series, has the longest eye relief and the eye relief stays constant through all power settings.

[ 09-19-2003, 14:11: Message edited by: IKE ]