Best Scopes for the Air Arms TX200

Start with the springer rating. The recoil of a spring-piston rifle is a rearward then forward shuffle, and it can shift reticles, loosen internals and crack lenses in scopes made for PCPs or centrefires. The TX200 is smooth, but you should still insist on an airgun-specific or springer-rated scope. Hawke's Airmax range is designed for airguns and is the most common choice in UK listings; confirm the rating for the exact model before you buy.

Match the magnification to how you use the rifle. For hunting, 3-9x or 4-12x keeps the field of view wide enough to find quarry at 15 to 45 yards, and low power helps in the dim light of a woodland edge or a barn. For field target and paper, the TX200 is a popular choice, and shooters tend to run 6-24x or 8-32x with a side-focus wheel, using the focus setting to estimate range. Check your club or league's rules on maximum magnification before you buy. For a single rifle that does both, a 4-16x with side focus is a good compromise.

Parallax is the make-or-break feature at airgun distances. A side-focus wheel that reaches down to 10 yards, or 7 yards if possible, lets you remove parallax error at the distance you actually shoot. Scopes with a fixed 100-yard setting, or with adjustable objectives that bottom out at 25 or 50 yards, will let the crosshair drift across the target when your head moves, which is a common cause of the zero seeming to wander.

Mount with care. The TX200 has 11 mm dovetail grooves, so use 11 mm rings or a good one-piece mount, ideally with a recoil stop pin or arrestor. Springers can walk a scope backwards in the rings, so tighten to the maker's torque and check them after the first session. Set the rings so that neither the scope nor the rings foul the sliding breech or loading port when you cock and load, and leave generous eye relief. A 40 to 50 mm objective needs rings tall enough to clear the barrel shroud and the stock.

On cost, the live catalogue shows Hawke Airmax scopes from around £160 to £220 for the 2-7x32, 3-9x40 and 4-12x models, and 30 mm side-focus models from roughly £280 to £430 for 4-16x, 6-24x and 8-32x, at the time of writing. Prices and stock change daily, so use the live picks above. The TX200 is a precise rifle, and field target in particular rewards sharp glass and a clear, repeatable side-focus wheel, so it is worth putting more of the budget into the scope.

Finally, zero it with the relaxed hold the rifle likes and a stable rest. Zero at 30 to 35 yards, check close and far zeros, and keep a written drop card. Re-check the zero after changing pellets, after any knock and after the first few hundred shots with a new scope. Our guide to zeroing an air rifle scope walks through the process. Shoot only with permission and a safe backstop; in Scotland an Air Weapon Certificate is required for an air rifle, and a sub-12 ft-lb rifle needs no licence in England or Wales.