I'm spending the week at SHOT show in the marchscopes.com booth. If you are at the show, stop by.
ETA: I'll see if I can get some pictures uploaded to view.
ETA: I'll see if I can get some pictures uploaded to view.
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SHOT show 2020
- Thread starter Turbulent Turtle
- Start date
Guys, I lot to talk about the new 5-42X56 but I'm beat tonight. I'll try to post something tomorrow morning or it may have to wait for the weekend. Right now, there is only a MIL model, with 3 different reticles. The price is $4200. The scope is awesome.
The March FX 5-42X56 HM is now in production. We have a one at the booth at SHOT and it's been picked up, looked at anf fondled by hundreds of people since Tuesday. The marketing literature is being produced and you will be able to read about all the neat features in glowing terms shortly, so I'll just give me takeaways from what I've seen of it so far.
It's an FFP with a zoom ratio of 8.4X, going from 5X to 42X. It measures14.1 inches (358mm for our metric readers) and weighs 33.5 ounces (950g). The tube diameter is 34mm due to its 4mm thick tube walls. This is double the thickness of other scopes. It is currently only available in MIL, not in MOA. The clicks on the knobs are 0.1MIL, with 10MIL per turn for a total of 40MIL of elevation adjustment and 14 of windage. The objective lens diameter is 56mm. It is available in 3 reticles currently, with perhaps more on the way. Before you ask, I do not know if an MOA version is planned.
Now for some of the advanced or unique features.
The HM in the name stands for High Master. This scope uses the High Master lens system which is essentially Super-ED with the use of material that is temperature tolerant to prevent focus drift. Let me explain that a little more. The Super-ED material used to virtually eliminate chromatic aberration has a high fluorite crystal content. As we all know, fluorite crystals are sensitive to temperature. This material is designed to eliminate that problem so that this HM lens systems provides the best IQ possible and is not affected by temperature.
The next innovative feature is the Wide Angle eyepiece. This eyepiece is 26 degrees as opposed to the usual 20 or 21 degree eyepiece and also has a lockable fast diopter adjustment. The benefit of a wide angle eyepiece is that it provides for a greater field of view (FOV) to the eye. In this case, the FOV is 25% larger than regular eyepiece. In essence this means that at 10X on the scope, you have the field of view as large as the one provided by a regular scope set at 8X. I refer to it as the IMAX of scopes. It's an analogy, don't get lost in it.
Needless to say that between the HM lens system and the WA eyepiece, the picture is breathtaking; it's awesome.
The controls are a new design for March and all three knobs are lockable. The elevation and windage knobs have a little tab on top that you slide with your finger and when you're rewarded with a click, the knob is locked. Slide the other way and the knob is free to turn. The tab is designed to be out of the way and protected from accidental activation, but still very easy to manipulate consciously. In other words, it only slides when you want it to slide. The zero stop is easy to set right there on the top of the knob also.
The focus knob locks differently; you control the locking by virtue of pulling the whole knob away from the body or pushing it back in. Pull to lock, push to release. The travel is very short and again, it's designed to be activated as you want, and not by accident. You lock the focus knob so that you can change the intensity setting in the 6 position illumination switch or to change the battery.
HM lens system, WA eyepiece, 8.4X zoom ratio, huge adjustment range in a solid tube; it's a March.
It's an FFP with a zoom ratio of 8.4X, going from 5X to 42X. It measures14.1 inches (358mm for our metric readers) and weighs 33.5 ounces (950g). The tube diameter is 34mm due to its 4mm thick tube walls. This is double the thickness of other scopes. It is currently only available in MIL, not in MOA. The clicks on the knobs are 0.1MIL, with 10MIL per turn for a total of 40MIL of elevation adjustment and 14 of windage. The objective lens diameter is 56mm. It is available in 3 reticles currently, with perhaps more on the way. Before you ask, I do not know if an MOA version is planned.
Now for some of the advanced or unique features.
The HM in the name stands for High Master. This scope uses the High Master lens system which is essentially Super-ED with the use of material that is temperature tolerant to prevent focus drift. Let me explain that a little more. The Super-ED material used to virtually eliminate chromatic aberration has a high fluorite crystal content. As we all know, fluorite crystals are sensitive to temperature. This material is designed to eliminate that problem so that this HM lens systems provides the best IQ possible and is not affected by temperature.
The next innovative feature is the Wide Angle eyepiece. This eyepiece is 26 degrees as opposed to the usual 20 or 21 degree eyepiece and also has a lockable fast diopter adjustment. The benefit of a wide angle eyepiece is that it provides for a greater field of view (FOV) to the eye. In this case, the FOV is 25% larger than regular eyepiece. In essence this means that at 10X on the scope, you have the field of view as large as the one provided by a regular scope set at 8X. I refer to it as the IMAX of scopes. It's an analogy, don't get lost in it.
Needless to say that between the HM lens system and the WA eyepiece, the picture is breathtaking; it's awesome.
The controls are a new design for March and all three knobs are lockable. The elevation and windage knobs have a little tab on top that you slide with your finger and when you're rewarded with a click, the knob is locked. Slide the other way and the knob is free to turn. The tab is designed to be out of the way and protected from accidental activation, but still very easy to manipulate consciously. In other words, it only slides when you want it to slide. The zero stop is easy to set right there on the top of the knob also.
The focus knob locks differently; you control the locking by virtue of pulling the whole knob away from the body or pushing it back in. Pull to lock, push to release. The travel is very short and again, it's designed to be activated as you want, and not by accident. You lock the focus knob so that you can change the intensity setting in the 6 position illumination switch or to change the battery.
HM lens system, WA eyepiece, 8.4X zoom ratio, huge adjustment range in a solid tube; it's a March.
Denys, I have been shooting a March HM-X 10X60X 56 going on 3yrs. @ Williamsport 1000yd range. The scope is extremely bright & crystal clear and the adjustments are rock solid. Couldn't be happier! The WA eyepiece sounds very interesting, look forward to hearing the reviews when they hit the market. Good luck with the rollout and keep us benchresters on your Radar as well. 
T T Say Hi to Annie & Stuart for me please.
Good Day Mates
Good Day Mates
Message delivered. The response was "piss off, mate." Fair dinkum.
Actually, Stuart and Annie smiled and were very pleased to read the note on my smartphone.
Actually, Stuart and Annie smiled and were very pleased to read the note on my smartphone.
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A quick recap of the new March scopes.
1- The 5-42X56 FFP reviewed above; an awesome all around, do it all scope.
2- The Genesis 4-40X52. Now in production and with awesome long range capabilities in a trim package.
3- A concept scope for PRS: The March-FX 4.5-28X52 FFP with HM glass and a wideangle eyepiece. That should be finalized during 2020 and ready for production late in the year. 12 inches and 30 ounces.
4- Another concept scope March compact 1.5-15X42 SFP. This will be excellent for the new AR Tactical NRA class. Look for that scope later this year. 10 inches and 21 ounces.
5- A March compact 1-10X24 FFP; 8 inches long and weighs 17 ounces.
1- The 5-42X56 FFP reviewed above; an awesome all around, do it all scope.
2- The Genesis 4-40X52. Now in production and with awesome long range capabilities in a trim package.
3- A concept scope for PRS: The March-FX 4.5-28X52 FFP with HM glass and a wideangle eyepiece. That should be finalized during 2020 and ready for production late in the year. 12 inches and 30 ounces.
4- Another concept scope March compact 1.5-15X42 SFP. This will be excellent for the new AR Tactical NRA class. Look for that scope later this year. 10 inches and 21 ounces.
5- A March compact 1-10X24 FFP; 8 inches long and weighs 17 ounces.
I discussed the WA eyepiece with the head engineer during SHOT. That wide angle eyepiece is fantastic but we could not think of a good reason why a benchrester would want one. On the other hand, I could make a case for Fclass shooters. Imagine having the FOV of a 30X with 40X magnification . I call it the IMAX of riflescopes.Denys, I have been shooting a March HM-X 10X60X 56 going on 3yrs. @ Williamsport 1000yd range. The scope is extremely bright & crystal clear and the adjustments are rock solid. Couldn't be happier! The WA eyepiece sounds very interesting, look forward to hearing the reviews when they hit the market. Good luck with the rollout and keep us benchresters on your Radar as well.
Why would you not want one for 1000 yard benchrest, as chuckhunter asked?
Let me answer your question with another question.
Do you pay attention to the other targets when shooting benchrest at 1000 yards?
Toms
Silver $$ Contributor
A wide angle would be very helpfully veiwing wind flags or seeing mariage. We shoot 600 yd matches and the mariage can be seen very good on the sillhouette ram rail at 500 meters diarectly in front of the targets. With my NF benchrest scope i have to turn power down to 32 power to see the mariage. Would be nice to see it on 42 power setting. A wide angle would be very helpfully. Toms.
Let me just state upfront that I know nothing about benchrest shooting. I always thought that you guys just aimed the rifle at the target, looked at the flags and your colorful spinners and twirlers, and then when you decided to shoot, it was 5 rounds as fast as possible, blindfolded.
I'm stretching a bit, of course but your comments are very good. Let me just say upfront that I asked if the WA eyepiece could be installed on the high magnification SFP scopes such as the 10-60X56 as an example. That's the one with the High Master Super-ED glass. I did not get a hard "no," which is good, but we shall see. Right now, they have several new models coming out but I will keep up the drumbeat.
In passing, instead of changing magnification to view the mirage at different yard lines, I change the side focus on my scope to focus at a different yard line then pop back to focus on the target. The big wheel I have on my side focus knob makes this a snap, and a very precise one.
I'm stretching a bit, of course but your comments are very good. Let me just say upfront that I asked if the WA eyepiece could be installed on the high magnification SFP scopes such as the 10-60X56 as an example. That's the one with the High Master Super-ED glass. I did not get a hard "no," which is good, but we shall see. Right now, they have several new models coming out but I will keep up the drumbeat.
In passing, instead of changing magnification to view the mirage at different yard lines, I change the side focus on my scope to focus at a different yard line then pop back to focus on the target. The big wheel I have on my side focus knob makes this a snap, and a very precise one.
I get that and I'm an MOA kind of person also. That's really because I'm primarily focused on F-Class competition. However, after spending the week at SHOT playing with those FFP/MIL scopes, and playing with reticles, I totally understand the attraction for MIL, especially coupled with the ranging capabilities on the FFP riflescope.
Yes, it works just as well with MOA, but then we talk about 1/4 MOA and 1/2 MOA and so on. So we have 4 divisions to an MOA or 8 divisions, depending on the granularity of the knobs.
MIL is simpler with everything base 10. Or so they say.
When you mean ELR and "past 1500", what is your longest distance at which you want to shoot?
Reason I'm asking is that March makes scopes specifically for ELR, the GENESIS models. While the March-FX 5-42X56 has 40MIL of internal elevation (about 140MOA), it's 20MIL up and 20MIL down. The GENESIS is a different type of scope and there are 2 models; the 6-60X56 and the 4-40X52. Both have the High Master lens system and Wide Angle eyepieces for increased FOV. They are both FFP. The 4-40 has 72MIL(250MOA) of up elevation and 14MIL(50MOA) of down. The 6-60X56 has 100MIL (350MOA) of up elevation and 14MIL (50MOA) of down.
The March scopes are all handmade in Japan and the production is small. If you want one, you can order them through EuroOptics on the phone. If you want to look through one, you will need to meet up with someone who has one and look through their scope.
Forgot to mention that the Forum Boss stopped by the booth at SHOT. He seems nice, in a "get off my lawn" kind of way. Just kidding. He was very nice and courteous .
A couple of comments on March scopes, reticles and wide angle eyepiece.
First of all, I would not be surprised if a MOA reticle showed up in the 5-42x56 scope a little further down the line.
As far as the wide angle eyepiece goes, there is more to it that how much you can see through it. There is also another factor in play: it is how much you do not see around the eyepiece. The way your visual cortex processes images involves taking in the whole view available to the eye and when using a riflescopes, some of it is through the scope and some is around the scope, which looks totally different and has an impact on iamge fidelity. That is one of the reasons you will see much better detail through a similarly sized and similar quality spotting scope than riflescope. The apparent FOV of the spotting scope really fills the FOV of the eye helpign your brain process the image correctly.
March's new eyepiece is the widest available of this type and helps you have a nice immersive view of the target. I would imaging that is a good thing for all shooting disciplines.
ILya
www.darklordofoptics.com
First of all, I would not be surprised if a MOA reticle showed up in the 5-42x56 scope a little further down the line.
As far as the wide angle eyepiece goes, there is more to it that how much you can see through it. There is also another factor in play: it is how much you do not see around the eyepiece. The way your visual cortex processes images involves taking in the whole view available to the eye and when using a riflescopes, some of it is through the scope and some is around the scope, which looks totally different and has an impact on iamge fidelity. That is one of the reasons you will see much better detail through a similarly sized and similar quality spotting scope than riflescope. The apparent FOV of the spotting scope really fills the FOV of the eye helpign your brain process the image correctly.
March's new eyepiece is the widest available of this type and helps you have a nice immersive view of the target. I would imaging that is a good thing for all shooting disciplines.
ILya
www.darklordofoptics.com
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