Compact vs Regular

[HeavyRevy]

I recently had a gentleman offer me a 4.5 X 14 x 32 Burris Short Mag scope which he said would be an excellent choice for the short action rifle I was going to mount it on. I have always been a believer in larger objective lenses to let more light in like 42,44, or 50mm. Since the tubes are both one inch is the field of view for both scopes the same? All the reviews I have read about the Short Mag have been good with excellent clarity. Would the light transfer suffer that much or are they made differently to let the smaller objective lense still let sufficient light through in low light situations?

 

[Evil_Lurker]

There's no way to "make it different". Better quality glass can give some benefit, but the biggest factor is Objective Diameter divided by magnification.

So at 4.5X you've got 7.1 mm exit image (more than your eye can use)
At 14X you've got 2.28mm. That's not going to be a "bright" image, because you're pupil can dilate bigger than that.
On a bright day, it may not be that big an issue.
It's not much of a "twilight" scope, though, unless you keep the magnification close to minimum.