MY DREAM SCOPE:
Instead of describing you a dream scope for ratting, or for quick midrange hunting shots, or for HFT, here is my do-it-all dream scope:
⭓
Do-it-all scope
⭓ Hunting (10-150y) and
target shooting (50-150y)
⭓ Bullpups, .22-.30cal
⭓ I video my shots with scopecams, so I need good glass
➊ So, to "do it all" — the
magnification range needs to be at least 8-fold.
Since I need a wide field of view (FoV) for hurried close-range shots, I choose a
magnification range of 3-24x
(as in: Riton 7 Conquer 3-24x56 FFP | Delta Titanium 3-24x56 SFP | Vector Tauron 3-24x56 SFP -or- FFP)
➋ The latter has a
FoV of 41ft (at 3x @100y). Excellent!
➌ A 3-24x scope with all the glass for an 8-fold magnification needs a large objective lens to get
enough light to the eye and the scope cam. So, a 56mm is normal.
Also, a larger objective will keep the
size of the eye box larger — important to mount the gun rapidly for quick shots.
However, for a dream scope I would like to loose some weight and get away with an unusually small objective (say, 50mm), like Nightforce's NX8 and March have demonstrated.
Of course, the optical engineers would need to do a dream job of enlarging the eye box despite the smallish objective lens.
➍ Then of course, what I consider
the basic requirements for airgun scopes:
● 10y minimum parallax (for scope caming a min. of 15y is not acceptable)
● exposed turrets (i.e., turrets that have been designed to dial, best would be stainless steel internals)
● hold-off reticle (envenly spaced dots or hashlines, no BDC)
In my
Scope Specs Tables I have found hundreds of scopes that offer that. Markedly absent are scopes from: Leupold, Burris, Bushnell, Kahles, Nikon, SIG, Steiner, Zeiss....
➎ I prefer MIL turrets and MIL reticles — MIL has less numbers to read and to memorize than MOA.
➏
FFP, yes. I like to use the reticle
regardless of the magnification in order to measure the offset of my shots on target (or on quarry). Then I can dial the difference on my turrets, and make a hit.
➐
Reticle:
● With an 8-fold mag. FFP I'd want a crosshair line thickness of about
0.04mil: not too thin at min. mag., and not too thick at max. mag.
● Also, with an FFP, to aid in quickly putting the crosshairs onto a killzone at minimum magnification — the
reticle must have thick ouside posts. These guide my eye to the center, the intersection of the crosshairs.
(Hawke is a frequent offender in this department.
)
● To see my long range misses better, and for scopecaming — it is nicer if the
reticle does not have a grid, just crosshairs with 0.2mil hashlines.
(It is hard to find
non-gridded reticles in similar magnification ranges of FFPs: The few brands that offer a choice of reticles that includes one
without a christmas tree are few: Nightforce, Element, US Optics, TRACT, Delta, Maven.
)
● Yes,
illumination please, daylight bright.
And no "pimple growing on the ocular" for the dial, put it with the parallax, pls, like most scopes nowadays.
➑
Turrets
I know there are those who scorn and ridicule turrets. — Please, let them (and me) live!
● As mentioned above: Exposed turrets, made for consistent dialing.
● I used to think 10mil per revolution was better than 5 or 8mil — however, for writing ranges on the turret I get more writing space when there are fewer mils per turn.
In any case, I like large diameter and tall.
(Exemplary are e.g., Vector [Continental] and Arken [EPL4, EP5, SH4].)
● Definitely, a
turret turn counter.
●
0-stop. A real one.
Not like one where your maximum elevation adjustment gets limited.
(Offenders: Riton, Vector [Continental], US Optics [non-Japan], Element [Titan], Vortex [Strike Eagle]).
●
Maximum elevation adjustment should be at least 100moa (30mil) with a 30mm scope tube.
However, if we're talking dream scope, give me 150moa (45mil), and I'll trade that by accepting a 34mm tube.
(Exceptional for max. elevation adjustment with a 34mm tube are: 160moa: TRACT Toric 4-25x50 | 170moa: Delta Stryker 3.5-21x44
)
● If the
turrets are tool-lessly adjustable, excellent.
At least, with only one screw: Because I rather not have to loosen 3 (in words, three!) screws just to reset zero.
(Offenders: Hawke [Frontier], some Sightron, Arken, Riton, Vector [Continental], and then some.)
● If I can have
locking turrets, I'll take them!
➒
Size and Weight:
I like my equipment to be
as small and as light as possible. But that goes directly against many other features that I want also.
● On Sniper's Hide I learned that extra-short scopes ("compacts") have to make significant optical compromises. So, I'm fine with a
14" (35cm) long scope.
● Weight depends a lot on the objective size and the tube size. Assuming 56mm and 34mm, respectively —
realistic would be
32oz (900grams). And
dream would be
28oz (800grams).
(Heros are: Nightforce NX8, Vector Continental, Hawke Frontier
)
➓ We haven't talked about the
glass quality....
I'm no glass snob. So, March, ZC & Co are beyond the "regular dream" scope — they are at the "psychedelic dream" level.
It's hard to measure and compare quantitatively, it's rather subjective, "in the eye of the beholder".....
Soooo:
Japanese or European glass it would be.
Very little chromatic aberration.
Very little fuzziness or darkening at max. magnification.
Athlon Cronus level would be enough for me, I suppose.
⓫ Yeah, we can add a few things....:
● Lockable ocular adjustment, so my scope cam doesn't mess with it.
● Tough plastic lens caps, with stops that open at 180⁰ and 270⁰.
➧ PRICE:
Well, I'd pay $1000 on the used market for such a scope.
Holler at me when it comes out for the first time.
And hit me up, when you see it in the classifieds.
Now, I have to return from dream land and get back to work!
Cheers,
Matthias
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