Shotgun scope on a rifle?

[joshk-k]

Hey there, friends...

Just yesterday, I picked up an H&R combo that includes three barrels, a 20 gauge smooth-bore, a 20 gauge, rifled slug barrel, and a .30-30 rifle barrel. The slug and rifle barrels have iron sights on them, which is fine by me, but I've been thinking about getting a scope to mount as well.

I know that it's improper to put a rifle scope on a shotgun because the recoil beats up the scope and, if you're not careful with the eye relief, your face.

If I bought a shotgun scope, though, could I mount it on both the slug and .30-30 barrels? In other words, is it fine to use a shotgun scope on a rifle?

Obviously, it would be nice to have two scopes, but I'm a bit budget conscious, especially when I could spend that money on ammo instead.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Josh

 

[Vern Humphrey]

It depends. Shotgun and .22 scopes usually have a shorter parallax range. This means for long range shooting, you'll have to accept some parallax-induced errors. How much depends on the scope -- check the specs for the model you're interested in.

 

[joshk-k]

Well, with either slugs or .30-30, I'm not going to be reaching out past 100 yards, really, so long-range shooting isn't really an issue.

Josh

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Then you should have no problem with a shotgun scope.

 

[jkingrph]

I know that it's improper to put a rifle scope on a shotgun because the recoil beats up the scope and, if you're not careful with the eye relief, your face

I don't know why, recoil is recoil and many rifles recoil harder and faster than most shotguns. That said I have a Leupold shotgun scope on a Ruger #1 in 458 Win mag and it works fine.

As stated in some other replies the parallex is adjusted for a shorter range in the shotgun scopes, but that really should not be a problem. Just do not use a scope designed for rimfires or airguns on harder recoiling guns.

 

[joshk-k]

Having never done it myself, my impression is that the substantially greater recoil of, say, a 12 gauge than a 30-06, is enough to rattle a rifle scope around pretty good. And the eye relief is different too, further away on the shotgun scopes. So if you had a rifle scope on, and your eye at the proper eye relief for that scope, the greater recoil might send the scope edge right into your eyebrow.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

I had to move the shotgun scope further out on the rifle to even be able to see through it...

 

[Snarlingiron]

Just about everyone that picks up my AR-15 with the Leupold 1-4 shotgun scope has the same thing to say: "Wow sweet set up. Clear, bright, fast, NO BATTERIES!" I have shot some < 2" groups at 100 yards with it, but that is definitely the exception, not the rule. I can almost always shoot a 3" - 3.5" group at 100 yards with it. Good enough for its intended purpose, and definitely minute of deer. Recoil on a .223 with a muzzle brake is a non issue.

 

[Orr89rocz]

i have a bushnell rifle scope on my 12 slug gun, and been using that for 2 years now with no problems what so ever.. its been on my 6mm remington 700, and worked great till i decided to use the 12 gauge and swapped scopes. its very accurate and its a cheaper bushnell banner scope. still have plenty of eye relief too.

 

[akanotken]

Look for one of the Simmons Pro diamonds, CDNN used to clear them out for ~50 bucks. Heck of a scope for that price ... 1.5 - 5x covers a lot of short shots!