Scopes With No Objective 'Bell'

[whitfang]

Why do some scopes come with no objective bell on the front?  You see these scopes sold especially for pistols, muzzleloaders, and shotguns.  They look like normal scopes, but then just end where the front bell would be.

It will cut the length of the scope down by a couple of inches, but if it's not required for some optical reason, why would any scope ever have one?

Just wondering.

[Dave in WV]

I you look at the amount of magnification the "no bell" scopes have it is low. As long as the objective lens is large enough to give the optics at least a 4mm exit pupil it will work ok in dim light IF the quality of the optics is good enough. Over 5x you need a larger objective lens. I have a Leupold VX2 1x4 and it works fine in dim light.

[Redhawk1]

The larger the bell the more it lets in light. Smaller objectives don't let as much light in. But they do make great scope's for up close hunting. I have a Leupold Vari X III 1.5X5X20 on my 416 Rigby and it is all I really need.

Some guys like the bigger bells because they are in darker area and it lets more light in so they will see better in low light conditions.

[whitfang]

Thanks for the replies.

[wncchester]

As stated above, lower power scopes rarely need an enlarged objective lens. 

A straight tube scope is lighter, more compact and, all things being equal, less fragile than those with large bell.  They can be mounted lower on the rifle for a better line of sight so they make ideal choices for fast shooting woods rifles.