Service Rifle Scopes...

[XTR]

I know that March jumped out there and brought a new scope to the line with the intended purpose of being used in the new SR rules that allow optics. Has anyone used it enough to have a good review?

I know it's got parallax adj, which is unique in this class of scope. I think the next big deal will be finding the right retical that is useful at 600 in a 4.5x configuration. How is this one?

Has anyone tried any others?

 

[1lnbrdg]

I got to look thru one of the March scopes and they are wonderful! Never going to be in my price range though. I would like to find something I could afford.

 

[MGYSGT]

I use the Little Bushnell 1X4. It is a big improvement over not being able to focus on target/sight, but the reticle is about the size of a telephone pole at 200 yards while shooting the reduced 600 yard target. Wish I could find a 4X with fine reticle or even a 1MOA dot.

 

[Kings X]

I am trying out the Vortex Crossfire. They list for around $250. Seems to be working and I like the size of the dot. Just like old Silhouette days - the dot is the bullet.

 

[Shiraz]

This weekend's service rifle match.

Top 4 spots, all March scopes!

 

[1lnbrdg]

Yep but those 4 shooters would have been in the top with open sights too.

 

[Shiraz]

Yep but those 4 shooters would have been in the top with open sights too.

I didn't say the scopes won the match . They are great shooters!!

 

[Bamban]

Yep but those 4 shooters would have been in the top with open sights too.

True, but there are other hard holders in the bunch that shot with the Camp Perry 2015 TSRA Gold who were in the match. The outcome could have gone different way, and it happened in the past. This time, the guys with March Scopes prevailed.

Keith capped the weekend with a 493 in the LEG match today. The highlight though was the 199-15 @ 600, and that is close to a match rifle X count. Our shooters are getting better with the scopes, their zeros are still forming solidly and Keith turning the sight the wrong way (the service rifle way) did not help either.

This outing marks their first match together shooting the March Scopes.

 

[Bamban]

I know that March jumped out there and brought a new scope to the line with the intended purpose of being used in the new SR rules that allow optics. Has anyone used it enough to have a good review?

I know it's got parallax adj, which is unique in this class of scope. I think the next big deal will be finding the right retical that is useful at 600 in a 4.5x configuration. How is this one?

Has anyone tried any others?

Read the other posts above on how well one of our shooters cranked out the X count at 600.

I used the March Scope with my service rifle at 1000 yards. The adjustments tracked well, did not lose any points due to tracking. I shoot 1000 yards once a year at our championship, I find the 4.5X scope to be the salvation for this 64 year old guy. Pointing the dot on the desired spot is effortless, and keeping with the mirage allows for quick hold over, howevee this kid can't favor for crap and shoot elevations like I do with irons, so clicking was what I stuck with for the most part. It was still tempting to favor with the scope with its clear lens focused right on the target and fine tuned reticle focus.

 

[lee1982]

Though we have only had these scopes for a short time, we are seeing some very apparent advantages to using the March scope. This weekend we had some very good test conditions, ranging from calm to switchy wind, and both dark and bright light conditions, so I feel like I can finally write up a good summary.

First, light conditions do not affect scores as much as it does with irons. Friday was a great example where good light conditions pushed several master and high master iron shooters to personal bests, where the light conditions on Sunday had the same iron shooters struggling to keep them all in the 10 ring at 600. The March scope shooters didn't have this issue, and in fact Keith shot his 199-15x in the worst light conditions of the weekend.

Second, groups are just smaller in general, if you can hold and execute shots well enough. Justin and Keith both had groups at 600 that were not much larger than the x ring, and Keith, who has had the most experience so far with the March scope has put up multiple 100-8x cleans in rapids. Also, over the entire three days worth of matches, I managed to only drop 1 point and pick up an average 50% x count in sitting, which is up there with match rifle scores for me.

Tracking is also working really well on these scopes, as Keith and Justin were both able to click around for x's at 600, and they piled up plenty of them. If there were any dead spots they would've found them. Holding over can work too, which is what I tried, but it was obvious that clicking was more precise. This may or may not be the case with a budget scope.

Last, the parallax adjustment is the icing on the cake. The eye box is so big that you can lose perfect head position and not know it, as there isn't really a reference point to go off of, and dialing out parallax completely is proving to be very beneficial. I know theoretically maximum parallax error can be very small if set somewhere in the middle of 200-600 yards, but in practice we are finding that dialing it completely out is the way to go.

Thanks again Shiraz for leading the way and making this happen.

 

[XTR]

What distance do you lose the rings for holding off, or are they always there? I would think with a 4.5x your holding center for the most part.

I'm not a Service Rifle competitive shooter (yet) so waiting is easy for me. From the fist announcement of this looking at the offerings out there I thought the need for parallax adjustment would be important. I'm kind of waiting to see what else, if anything, comes out. Though I'm not sure I'll ever find the time to play with my SR while I'm shooting F class.

 

[wolley]

Even though the error can be small the bigger advantage to adjustable parallax is having the target in clear focus. Even at 600 the scoring rings can be seen unless the mirage is a heavy boil.

 

[lee1982]

You can make out the rings at 600 in the morning before the mirage gets going. In heavy mirage it's tough but I can make them out vaguely, though not good enough to really use for reference. We favor pretty well with irons without seeing rings at all, so we don't really need the rings anyway.

 

[M95M]

Good day all, well after close to a 2 year hiatus for medical reasons I got back into the ENGC f class matches in July and august. It was great to shoot again and nice to see old friends. Didn't really shoot that bad but everyone else has improved steadily. Anyway I was digging around in the safe and had the great idea of digging the loaded M1A out and shooting SR. Went to a 600 yd prone match shooting SR with steel. What a bummer. Front sight fine but target nonexistent. Eyes are shot so I basically DNF'ed myself! 56 year old wants to give it another try. I found the gen 2 parts in the original 1997 box so I need help with a left hand cheek weld and a 4.5X scope. I have way too much money tied up in optics now but nothing that works. Don't want to go cheapo but sure would like a < $500 parallax adjustable. If there is a better OP let me know.
v/r, Ed

 

[XTR]

The only parallax adjustable scopes currently available, that meet the requirements for SR shooting today, are the March at @$2000+ and the HiLux MSRP in the range of $545 or so. Nothing else out there in a 4.5x mag with adjustable parallax. There are lots of people trying work arounds.

There is a metric buttload of information and opinion at the National Match Site

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Nikon makes a Black Force 1000 1-4X24 in a 30mm tube. It has parallax adjustment as a side focus knob. It's listed at $400 at the Nikon website.

 

[swehrman]

Nikon makes a Black Force 1000 1-4X24 in a 30mm tube. It has parallax adjustment as a side focus knob. It's listed at $400 at the Nikon website.

I believe that side dial is for the adjustable illumination, not for parallax.

The following is from the SWFA web site information section for the Nikon Black Force 1000 scope.

• Side-mounted Illumination control: Features 10 intensity settings and powers down after 1 hour of non-operation.

-- Scott

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

Yeah, I was going by the Nikon website where is says that the scope has parallax adjustment. There's not much info on that scope at their website and it may contain bad information.

http://www.nikonsportoptics.com/en/....html#tab-ProductDetail-ProductTabs-TechSpecs

If only there were someone from Nikon on this site...

 

[swehrman]

Yeah, I was going by the Nikon website where is says that the scope has parallax adjustment. There's not much info on that scope at their website and it may contain bad information.

http://www.nikonsportoptics.com/en/....html#tab-ProductDetail-ProductTabs-TechSpecs

If only there were someone from Nikon on this site...

I'm guessing that section of the Nikon page is wrong. The main description of the scope on the Nikon page says that it has a side mounted illumination control also.

-- Scott

 

[bman940]

You guy's are correct. The BLACK FORCE1000 does not have parallax adjustment. The left turret/knob is for illumination adjustment. I have been using this scope for 3 months now and it has performed great. The illumination let my son put some pork in the freezer the first weekend we used it. I just recently put the new BLACK Series mount on the scope and I love the lock up plus it looks pretty nice too.