Jordan,
Thanks for the clarification. Obviously I was not getting that from your earliest post--but am still skeptical about how much effect heavier scopes have on recoil energy/acceleration, given the overall weight of the entire rifle "system."
In general, my experience is that reliable "dialing" scopes these days weigh a minimum of 18 ounces, though obviously some are much heavier. The 2.5x Leupold on Phil's 9-1/4 pound .458 weighs 6.5 ounces. That's about 12 ounces less than a typical small-variable dialing scope--and yes, I have used many, and hence weighed many, being pretty compulsive.
Here's how the difference breaks down, using the basic recoil formula accepted these days:
With a 6.5 ounce 2.5x Leupold, overall rifle weight 9.25 pounds, 500-grain bullet at 2100 fps, 70 grains of powder:
67.2 foot-pounds of recoil energy
21.62 fps of recoil velocity
With an 18.5-ounce scope, overall weight 10 pounds:
62.16 foot-pounds of recoil energy
20.0 fps of recoil velocity.
In both foot-pounds or fps, the difference is 8%. I am skeptical that an 8% difference makes a meaningful difference in scope function, regardless of the scope. In part, this is due to not only LOTS of lightweight fixed-power scopes on harder-kicking rifles, but dozens of heavier dialing scopes, including most well-known brands. Obviously the experience with the second type of scope is less, because most didn't exist before about 20-25 years ago, but have experienced a "failure" rate higher than some report.
Am not going to comment much more here, but will by PM if you want. I have some results that might surprise you.
