Meopta Scope Reviews and or Opinions

[Mark M.]

Does anybody have any real experience with this brand of scope, I'm not familiar with them, I'm looking for a varmint scope with a illuminated retical, do you guys like them? What do they compare to?

 

[Gary in MD]

I have Meopta binoculars and I’ve owned 4 scopes made by them and still own 2 ( the early Zeiss Conquests ).
You won’t beat the glass for the money.
I don’t have any with illuminating reticles so I can’t comment on that part. They were noticeably brighter and more clear to me than the Leupold VX 3 scopes that I had, with more positive adjustments and great zero retention. That’s my experience with Meopta.
Gary

 

[nmkid]

I'll know personally in a few days. I just ordered a 3x18x50 Optika 6. Well, I gotta take that back...The scope is for an unfinished rifle so it will be a while until it's mounted.

 

[afret]

http://opticsthoughts.com/?p=2621

 

[codybrown]

I have a 3-18x56 sfp with the illuminated 4c reticle I put on a 257wby about 2 months ago and was impressed with it. So impressed in fact that I just bought 2 of the 4.5-27x50's with the illuminated 223 reticle for a pair of 222's. They came in yesterday and I've already got them mounted. I plan on going to the range this weekend to sight them in. I believe you get a lot for your money with them. I'm really looking forward to the Optika5 line coming out later this year, I have some hunting rifles that could use some new glass.

 

[pemo]

I have had the Meopta R2 2,5-15x56 RD for 6yrs. Very happy with it. The light control came loose after 20 rounds on the 9.3x62 Mauser, 2 weeks after I had it back again and with a new reticle (4K for 4c). Very good glass, good service if anything happens.

The 'missing' parallax adjustment is not a problem to 300m, 6.5x55 Swede:

Mine is a keeper

 

[accuracyman]

I have an older model Meopta Meopro that is similar to the Zeiss Conquest in 6.5-20x50 with target turrets. I purchased it new as a demo model. I have to agree the glass is excellent and the clicks are good, not great, but good. I did have tracking issues with mine. I put it on a 280 Ackley and immediately started getting point of impact issues. I replaced it with a know Zeiss Conquest of the same power and problem went away. I sent the scope back to Meopta and we'll see how it does when it returns.

I will not fault Meopta for a sample of one and a demo at that. I still like the scope and the optics.

 

[AWS]

I have an Artemis 1.5-6x40mm with a German #1 reticle and it is one of my favorite coyote hunting scopes. The glass is very nice although the scope is heavy it rides on my bike and holds zero very well.

 

[bluestreakrem]

Does anybody have any real experience with this brand of scope, I'm not familiar with them, I'm looking for a varmint scope with a illuminated retical, do you guys like them? What do they compare to?

My Comments
Comparing a Meopta Optika 3-18x50 to the Tract Toric 4-20x50 and Vortex Viper PST Gen. II 5-25x50.

· Image Quality and Feature Set is Exceptional for this price point. Optical Clarity and Contrast Definition are Exceptional and equals the Tract Toric 4-20x50 although Color Rendition is just a hair below the Tract when compared at the same magnifications. Optically the Meopta is slightly better than the Vortex all round in Image Quality.
· Construction Very Good all round despite not having better sealed turret caps.
· Turrets There is no specific gasket or O-ring used to seal the low profile, large diameter caps to the scope body. The caps themselves are high quality with a rubber outer covering therefore the lower edge of the cap performs the seal against the scope body. Turret body cap threads are somewhat rough. Turret detents are not as crisply positive as typical exposed tactical turrets. Division marks are very close together (25moa per turret turn) and are painted white, not laser engraved. These low profile .25moa turrets are not intended to be regularly operated after initial zero, so the above issues shouldn’t be a problem in use after initial zeroing but I wish the caps were sealed better.
· Tunneling- None occurs throughout a sweep across the entire magnification range.
· Pin Cushion/Fish Eye- No image distortion is apparent at any power magnification.
· Vignetting- Very Slight amount of image darkening (one ‘F’ stop at outer 2% of image perimeter) can be seen at all magnification powers. Meopta has less Vignetting than the Tract Toric 4-20x50 or Vortex Viper PST Gen. II 5-25x50 at the same power magnifications. This issue is very minor. Most users will not notice it in actual use.
· Image Brightness- Very Good even in low light conditions. Better than the naked eye. Begins to darken (one F stop) at 14x.
· Image Contrast and Color- Both are Exceptional across most of the power range and equals scopes costing much more. Image contrast and color fidelity begins to only slightly degrade at 15x and above. Most owners will not detect this in normal use.
· Focus- Very Crisp image can be obtained using the Parallax side focus knob at any magnification. Depth of Field (DOF) is rather shallow as is typical with scopes which have a focus/parallax knob. This requires a re-focusing as target distance changes to maintain crisp focus. Best hunting use DOF magnification is 8x set at 100 yards. Objects between 20 yards and infinity will be in focus at 8x and below. Image or reticule appearance quality does not degrade as power magnification is varied up or down. Image is crisply focused all the way out to the edge of the image on every power after re-focusing. This Meopta is just slightly better than the Tract and even more so than the Vortex on focus quality.
· Close Focus- Minimum distance on 3X is 18 feet. Minimum distance on 18X is 30 feet.
· Parallax Knob- Sweeps 0-180 degrees of rotation and is rather easy to turn. The 100 yard setting requires 140 degrees of rotation from the minimum 10 yard starting point. The remaining 40 degrees of sweep covers 100 yards to Infinity.
· Ocular- Fast Focus type, rubber coated eye ring adjustment is very smooth and works well. Medium stiff ring movement reduces the potential for mis-adjustments due to casual impacts.
· Power Magnification Ring- Large 2.082" diameter rubber ring with finger knob, adjustment is very smooth and has medium stiffness to turn. Included large accessory thumb stud lever post can be installed if required but it is not necessary and sticks out too far when installed. Magnification values are visible from a prone shooting position without breaking position which is very nice.
· Turrets- Capped Elevation and Windage turrets are precise with a light tactile feel and slightly audible clicks. Caps are not water sealed using a specific gasket or O-ring. The caps lower edge preforms the seal.
· Exit Pupil Eye Box- Very generous and does not require precise centerline head placement behind scope to avoid ‘Scope Shadow’ even in the upper magnification range. It is fairly easy to ‘Get Behind’ this scope and stay there.
· White Wall Brightness Test- Image brightness is Very Good at or below 14x but begins to slightly darken beginning at 11x and then dropping approximately one ‘F’ stop at 15x through 18x. At 15x and above it is only slightly noticeable and is not a real concern in full sun light. This darkening is mainly due to physics of the Exit Pupil getting very small (2.8mm) as power magnification increases to near full power (18x).
· Reticle- The # 223RD Second Focal Plane, Floating Center Dot, BDC reticle is very precise and crisp. The BDC is graduated to have the crosshairs zeroed at 200 yards. As per Meopta....with the scope on 6x......the BDC moa hash marks coincide with a Hornady V-Max 55 grain.
· Reticle Illumination- Only the center floating dot receives illumination. The Excellent 1moa illuminated dot is Very Crisp at all magnifications and at any brightness level. Brightness increase is linear across the full dial range of adjustment from 1-6. Dial knob has very positive detents with six interspaced ‘OFF’ settings. At the very last moments of dusk sun light, low settings #1 or #2 work best against dark tree backgrounds to provide sufficient contrast yet avoid Red Blooming against the subject or tubes interior. Illumination on #6 is just bright enough to be usable in Full sunlight conditions against light subjects.
Illumination negatives. In very low light (at near dark) conditions, if dot illumination is set too high for the incoming ambient light conditions, a small amout of red light is reflected off the tube body interior. This will only be noticed if the shooters head is not on the proper scope centerline AND not at the proper eye relief distance and therefore will not be a problem or concern in actual use.
· Tracking- I have not performed a tracking test yet but it is known to track perfectly from other internet comments.
· Bottm Line Impression I feel this scopes performance and features are a Bargain for the price. The only meaningful negative I can detect is that the turret caps are not better sealed but the cap edge should seal well enough.

 

[SEGARE]

^^Thank You!!^^

Well done. I've been seriously considering this exact scope for my son's hunting rig.

Does anyone have any experience with the Dichro version of this line?