Just got this scope in yesterday, and mounted it on my b-14 .30-06. Ill try get it to the range this week and see how it does.
Initial impressions are positive, but not stellar. Again this is just from playing with it for a day or so.
Pros:
Relatively compact and light weight (this could be a con, if you have a very long action. there isnt alot of adjustment room left on my B-14 with talley rings)
Good glass. Brightness, clarity, and resolution very good.
Wide power range
Good eye relief, and what seems like a fairly forgiving eye box.
The crosshairs are a good size for a hunting scopes, they are visible enough for shooting in dark conditions even pretty late, but not so thick as to obscure the target.
BDC is simple, and straight forward. Gotta check actual subtension, but it should also track my .30-06 loads fairly closely.
Ocular focus, and power ring run smoothly and feel solid.
Cons:
Target style turrets with over size caps, on what is basically a hunting scope. Not bad but feel out of place. They stick out past the side of my stock, and well above the objective bell.
Turret rotation is mushy, but clicks are positive, and the hash marks settle well into the valley between the clicks.
Powers over about 9-10 REALLY need some form of adjustable focus, 15x is basically unusable except at the range the scope is focused at (but this was expected). Image is clear and surprisingly bright at 100-175 or so yards that Ive checked with my range finder. Before and after that range, focus is an issue.
I looked across our lot at trees, birds, and our neighbors chicken coup (the fine wire mesh is only clearly visible on a couple of my scopes) at 75-200yds.
Compared to my 3-9x40s and 4.5-14x40 Nikon Buckmasters, and Bushnell 45-14x44UltraHD this scope is on par or better than any of them at the same power, at the range its focused for. Its glass is definitely better than the similarly priced UltraHD, but without the adjustable focus its power range is not as usable.
Compared to my Prostaff, Weaver v10, and the Leupold Rifleman that im mounting for a friend, its either noticeably brighter and/or offers better definition.
One thing that surprised me was how well this scope transmits light. Even with the relatively small for power 40mm objective (when set at 15), the image it provided was as bright near dusk as my scopes with 42 and 44mm objectives, and slightly, but visibly better than my Buckmaster set at 14x.
I dont remember any fuzziness or color change around the edges of the image, but its one of those things i have to THINK about when checking a scope. Ill check that better tomorrow.
After initial observations I would recommend this scope based on clarity, brightness, cost, and apparent build quality. I like the reticle so far, but ive gotten used to seeing dots, or circles in my scopes. The dots are fairly large, so ill have to see what they look like on targets at range.
I would NOT recommend it on a hunting rifle used in tight confines or where the long turret caps could catch branches. I would also not chose the 3-15x model over the 2-10, specifically due to the fact that focus really becomes an issue over about 10x. Unless of course your only shooting at small stuff 100-150yds out.
Well see how the range test plays out, Ill try get out tomorrow.Ill also see if i cant borrow my buddies rifle with his vx-3 on it.
Initial impressions are positive, but not stellar. Again this is just from playing with it for a day or so.
Pros:
Relatively compact and light weight (this could be a con, if you have a very long action. there isnt alot of adjustment room left on my B-14 with talley rings)
Good glass. Brightness, clarity, and resolution very good.
Wide power range
Good eye relief, and what seems like a fairly forgiving eye box.
The crosshairs are a good size for a hunting scopes, they are visible enough for shooting in dark conditions even pretty late, but not so thick as to obscure the target.
BDC is simple, and straight forward. Gotta check actual subtension, but it should also track my .30-06 loads fairly closely.
Ocular focus, and power ring run smoothly and feel solid.
Cons:
Target style turrets with over size caps, on what is basically a hunting scope. Not bad but feel out of place. They stick out past the side of my stock, and well above the objective bell.
Turret rotation is mushy, but clicks are positive, and the hash marks settle well into the valley between the clicks.
Powers over about 9-10 REALLY need some form of adjustable focus, 15x is basically unusable except at the range the scope is focused at (but this was expected). Image is clear and surprisingly bright at 100-175 or so yards that Ive checked with my range finder. Before and after that range, focus is an issue.
I looked across our lot at trees, birds, and our neighbors chicken coup (the fine wire mesh is only clearly visible on a couple of my scopes) at 75-200yds.
Compared to my 3-9x40s and 4.5-14x40 Nikon Buckmasters, and Bushnell 45-14x44UltraHD this scope is on par or better than any of them at the same power, at the range its focused for. Its glass is definitely better than the similarly priced UltraHD, but without the adjustable focus its power range is not as usable.
Compared to my Prostaff, Weaver v10, and the Leupold Rifleman that im mounting for a friend, its either noticeably brighter and/or offers better definition.
One thing that surprised me was how well this scope transmits light. Even with the relatively small for power 40mm objective (when set at 15), the image it provided was as bright near dusk as my scopes with 42 and 44mm objectives, and slightly, but visibly better than my Buckmaster set at 14x.
I dont remember any fuzziness or color change around the edges of the image, but its one of those things i have to THINK about when checking a scope. Ill check that better tomorrow.
After initial observations I would recommend this scope based on clarity, brightness, cost, and apparent build quality. I like the reticle so far, but ive gotten used to seeing dots, or circles in my scopes. The dots are fairly large, so ill have to see what they look like on targets at range.
I would NOT recommend it on a hunting rifle used in tight confines or where the long turret caps could catch branches. I would also not chose the 3-15x model over the 2-10, specifically due to the fact that focus really becomes an issue over about 10x. Unless of course your only shooting at small stuff 100-150yds out.
Well see how the range test plays out, Ill try get out tomorrow.Ill also see if i cant borrow my buddies rifle with his vx-3 on it.
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