Riflescope calculators
Most optics money is wasted on the wrong number. Rings that will not clear the objective, magnification the exit pupil cannot support, a scope that runs out of elevation before the distance you actually shoot. Every calculator here answers the version of the question that depends on your rifle, your mount and your load, and shows the arithmetic it used.
Researched from manufacturer specifications and published optical and ballistic formulas, never from hands-on testing. Sourced figures and shooter convention are labelled separately, and where a published figure does not exist we say so instead of estimating it.
264 reference pages, each computed rather than written, so the figures match the calculator that produced them exactly. Find the page for your own objective diameter, your own cartridge and zero, or your own parallax setting.
The default first centrefire scope, and the reason is the warranty rather than the glass: Vortex transfers its lifetime warranty to whoever owns the scope, with no receipt and no registration, which is worth more over twenty years than a modest optical upgrade.
Best for: a first deer rifle where the scope should outlast the rifle
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The scope that made low power variables ordinary rather than exotic. A genuine 1x with an illuminated centre that works with both eyes open, and six power when you need to look properly.
Best for: a first LPVO on a carbine
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The default recommendation in this category for a decade, and the reason is that nothing at the price has better glass with a transferable lifetime warranty behind it.
Best for: general hunting and glassing
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The height that fits the most common combination on this site: a 30 mm tube with a 44 mm objective.
Best for: a 30 mm tube with a 40 to 44 mm objective
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Red dots and prisms
Glassing and ranging
Mounting hardware
Bench and care
Every pick is matched to a real objective diameter, a real tube size, a real ring height or a real exit pupil using manufacturer specification sheets, published optical and ballistic formulas, and the recurring themes in verified owner reviews. We do not test products in person and we never claim to. Picks are split into beginner, intermediate and expert tiers so the recommendation fits the rifle and the distance rather than the price bracket.
They are planning tools built on published formulas, and every page shows the formula it used so you can check the working. MOA and mil subtension, exit pupil, twilight factor, ring height geometry and the cosine rule are exact arithmetic. Twist rate uses the published Miller Twist Rule. Trajectory uses a G1 point mass model from the ballistic coefficient the maker publishes, which is the same model that coefficient was measured against, and it is not radar data.
They are two units for the same kind of angle. A minute of angle is one sixtieth of a degree, which subtends 1.047 inches at 100 yards. A milliradian is one thousandth of a radian, which subtends exactly 3.6 inches at 100 yards. One mil is 3.43775 MOA at every distance. Neither is more accurate, and what matters is that your reticle and your turrets use the same one so a hold is a dial.
No, and this is the most persistent myth in the subject. Light entering an optic is determined entirely by the objective lens, and the tube is a housing that the erector assembly lives inside. What a larger tube gives you is room for the erector to travel further, which means more total elevation adjustment before the scope runs out. That is a real benefit and it has nothing to do with brightness.
No. This site covers optics and the hardware that mounts, levels, protects and supports them, and nothing else. We name a chambering where a ballistic figure requires one, because a drop table has to assume a load, but we do not recommend, rate or link firearms, ammunition, reloading components or anything requiring a licensed dealer.
Yes. We earn a commission on qualifying purchases made through the product links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which product we recommend, and it is why several pages here tell you not to buy something: the expert tier most people do not need, more magnification than your exit pupil can support, or a 20 MOA base on a rifle that will never shoot past 300 yards. The full terms are on our affiliate disclosure page.
Researched, not professional advice. Everything here is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, published optical and ballistic formulas, and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Figures described as shooter convention are exactly that rather than sourced numbers, and they are labelled wherever they appear. Ballistic results come from a point mass model and should be confirmed on paper at a measured distance. Confirm your firearm is unloaded with the action open before you mount, level, torque or bore sight anything. Verify a zero only on a supervised range or a safe, legal backstop, know what lies beyond your target, and follow the law where you hunt and shoot, including rules on land access and permitted cartridges.