The Vector Optics Marksman 4.5-18x50 SFP Rifle Scope, an in-depth Review (LONG TEXT !)

The Vector Optics Marksman 4.5-18x50 SFP Rifle Scope, an in-depth Review (VO Order code: SCOL-15).

I. Out of the Box

(a) The Contents

This scope came with a series of accessories, exactly as described in Vector Optics Germany's product overview.

This includes: SCOL-15 Marksman 4.5-18x50 SFP scope, mounting rings for 21mm Picatinny/Weaver or 11mm Dovetail, cleaning cloth, flash kill objective filter, lens protection caps (“bikini”), turret reset screwing tool, turret knobs with click values expressed in 1/10 MIL, 0,1 MRAD and 1cm at 100 M, and a throw lever for the zoom power ring.

It was well packaged and arrived under an excellent shipping and delivery arrangement, with tracing and tracking facilities.

The inside scope carton box was not highly protected from movement within the outside postal box, but everything seemed quite OK on arrival.

My experience with the German sales operation of the brand is very, very positive until now, after a few pleasant pre-delivery and after sales contacts.

Reply was prompt and friendly.

The scope originally came with the standard medium mounts which did not fit the rifles I used. They were too low and after feed back I quickly received a set of High sized mounting rings.

The main specifications of this scope are:

Magnification: 4.5-18x, fully multi coated lenses with 85% light transmission, Etched Glass MPN-1 MIL Reticle, Side Focus from 10 yards, 1/10 MIL low profile finger adjustable turrets with lock and re-zero feature and 15 MIL total adjustment range, objective lens dia.: 50mm, main tube dia.: 30mm, eye relief:105-100mm/4.13-3.93 inch, weight: 700g / 24.7oz, length: 350mm / 13.8 inch, shock proof to 1000 G, water proof and fog proof (nitrogen purged) and ocular lens diopter compensation +2 to -2.

Very thoughtfully, the manufacturer also printed the specs on the box it came with.

How nice !

Finally, here is a Second Focal Plane scope of quite affordable, “non-sniper quality” that combines MIL reticle markings with MIL turret clicks !

Contrary to First Focal Plane scopes, especially on SFP (second focal plane) reticle scopes these MIL-MIL adjustment systems are presently still far and few between.

I never understood why for such a long time so many manufacturers kept combining MIL value reticles with (mostly ¼) MOA value turret clicks !

Hurray for Vector Optics, here !

The guarantee provided by Vector is for 5 years from date of purchase, but not transferable to follow-on owners.

(b) Outside appearance

From the outset it must be taken into account that this a scope in the “budget” price bracket.

It is nicely finished with good looking, deeply anodized matte black surfaces. Some small casting irregularities were found at the edges of the knurled turret knobs.

This scope is of slender and rather compact build with low profile adjustment knobs. It does not have the “fashionable” three huge turrets sticking out from the waist that make many other “full feature” scopes so bulky. The slender and rather short design makes this scope quite useful in field and hunting applications and it more easily fits the gun slips.

Its short build makes it also easier to mount on break-barrel air rifles, without obstructing the barrel cocking stroke.

The markings at the controls such as the turrets, focus knob and power ring are OK but a bit small and not very clear.

The marking dots at the zoom ring and zero positions on the turrets are too small and not easily visible from behind the scope.

This power ring is sufficiently grippy and smooth as it is and the extra “Throw lever” pin included that one could screw into the ring is a nice gift added to the box, but it is quite unnecessary. As it comes the ring is smooth in operation with the right resistance, unlikely to change position inadvertantly. But a grip “ridge” would be nice to add to suit gloved hands and cold weather use.

The dot on the tube indicating zoom power setting is very small.

The numbering on the zoom ring skips certain numbers, jumping from 8 to 10. This could be a problem for Hunter Field Target competition. Since in that discipline the power cannot be changed during the match and some shooters prefer lower settings like 9 x, one has to guess the actual power setting by the spacing between the numbers. This means that there is no fixed reference point after power changes, which could result in missed shots.

Turning the rear eye focus ring is smooth with the right resistance; it will not change position inadvertantly.

Markings on the focusing ring are very widely separated for the lower distances, with very little space between the longer range numbers. These yardage markings are starting with a “blank” run-up, then 10, 15, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500 yards and infinity. Turning the side focus knob is in the reverse direction used on other brands and counter - intuitive: downwards for longer distances and up for shorter ranges.

(c) Accessories and Operation.

To start with a negative, fitting the anti-flash objective “whaffle screen” is a real pain between the heels.

The threading is so fine that starting the screw-on into the objective bell is met by resistance that makes one very concerned about cross-threading. The force needed to fit the flash kill screen is uneven and at places very stiff, and definitely very annoying.

It seems the sales promotion sees this anti-flash screen as sort of an alternative to a sun shade ! This is incomprehensible, because a flash kill only serves to damp out direct sun light reflections from the objective lens giving away the shooters position to hunted game.

In origin this accessory serves the military sniper as a protection from enemy fire and has nothing to do with sunlight coming sideways or at a shallow angle, hindering the shooter's view.

So, why provide this piece of accessory ?

In practice, I tend to view it as a protection of the objective lens when handling the scope. But removing it is a problem, because of the great difficulty in re-fitting it on the threads.One therefore risks to leave it on the objective also when not needed and thus lose a lot of image clarity and resolution in regular use.

For lens protection purposes, the scope is delivered with a “bikini” with very soft rubber covers. It seems useful, but it looks not very solid and raises uncertainty about its longevity.

Function of all adjustment collars is rather even and regular, without disturbing intermediate stops or hickups.

The turrets carry knurled top edges for good finger grip, also probably for most of those shooters wearing gloves.

Turning is rather smooth, with the right amount preventing inadvertant position changes.

Turret knobs are both easily removable with a center top screw, for which a handy special tool made of soft plastic is included.

Turrets have small 1/10^th MIL mark sub-divisions and clearly marked, longer full MIL positions. Half mil positions are not marked separately.

The standard fitted Elevation turret knob carries 6 full mill positions per revolution for a total adjustment range of 16 MILS (meaning 8 MILS up and 8 down) as specified in the manual. However, VO's web site mentions a range of 15 MILS.

Elevation clicks are clearly tactile and audible, without feeling mushy.

However, the Windage turret knob (according to the manual, also with a total adjustment range of 16 MILS, being 8 MILS each left and right) has a 3 MIL marking, then a number “Zero” indication, and then 3 more MIL figures with 1/10^th subdivision markings. This is also a total of 6 MILS per revolution, but why is it subdivided differently ??

It is unclear to me why this elevation marking is different from the one on the Elevation turret !

Could Vector Optics explain this, please ?

More importantly, the turning of the Windage turret has less crisp clicks, and these are also less audible and less tactile and just a bit “mushy”. Also the windage turret has less clear “snap” in the lock / unlock action.

(d) Turret markings

As delivered, both turrets were in the “zero” position. This does however not mean that they are in the position of the mechanical, or the optical center and such will have to be verified.

I checked the adjustment range of both turrets. The Elevation knob could be turned for a total adjustment range of plus 19 MILS = UP and DOWN, 9 MILS plus in each direction.

Very surprisingly, the Windage knob had more than 21 MILS of total adjustment range.

Remarkably, the windage turret seems to have substantially more adjustment range than the Elevation turret and both turrets have clearly more than the 16 MIL mentioned in the manufacturer's specifications ! Many scopes carry more range on the Elevation turret than on the Windage - were these turrets mistakenly mixed up in assembly ? Or is there some internal erector tube slip ?

There are 2 additional or spare parts which I understand both to be Elevation turret knobs, with alternative click value readings. While the standard turret knob carries the marking “1CLICK=1/10MIL”, one of the spares reads “1CLICK=1CM”, being the same value as 1/10 MIL. These click units in CM are possily aimed at the European market, although at present the notions of MIL and MILLIRADIAN are widely known and accepted internationally.

The third knob reads: 1CLICK=0.1MRAD. Yet again another way to express identical click values. To me these 2 additional turret knobs are superfluous, unless they are meant to be spares.

NOTE: To be quite clear: each one click of turret adjustment on this system moves the point of aim by 1 centimeter at a target 100 meters away. At the same time, one mil (or ten clicks) indicated by the markings in the reticle subtends (“covers”) 10 centimeters on the surface of a target 100 meters away. The shorter ½ MIL hash marks thus each cover 5 centimeters of target at 100 meters distance.

The marking on the sides of the knobs is also different on all three. These values total 6 MILS on the standard knob, 60 cm per revolution on one and 6 MRAD on the other spare knob.

It is not clear for what markets these different readings are intended, when they mean the same.

Maybe Vector Optics just wanted to add a few options to suit the individual shooter's personal preference.

The important thing to keep in mind is that as an example 5 clicks on the turret equal the half mil hash marks on the reticle and the full MIL marks translate to 10 clicks on the turrets. While half-MIL values are marked on the reticle, this is not the case for the turrets.

So, here one needs no longer to convert the MIL values to MOA values; a big advantage of this scope model ! No more calculations during target acquisition, but just follow the number of hash marks in the reticle by clicking the turrets to the same value of adjustment.

But: one has to first look at the illustration of the reticle that sets out the subtension values, before shooting.

This is valid also if one prefers to leave the turrets untouched, using only the reticle markings for “aiming off”, as many shooters prefer to do.

By the way, the inside screw threadings of the turret zero reset system appeared to be nicely finished, without the usual burrs and irregularities seen in some other Chinese scopes.

Very thoughtfully, Vector also includes spare sealing rings with the spare turret knobs.

(e) Turret operation

The turrets are of the lockable type. The pull-up movement to unlock the turrets has a very short travel, leaving one uncertain if the mechanism is unlocked or not. Mechanical reliability of the turrets may only be determined after a longer period of intensive use, of course. This is valid for all scope controls, of course.

Pushing the knob down to lock feels not very, very positive, especially on the Windage turret.

There is no distinctive “click” sound to indicate the right position of the system and there is no clear tactile “signal” either. The Elevation knob had no movement at all after locking it.

The Windage knob was a bit more unclear as to its unlock / lock action. It feels less positive than its Elevation brother. On locking, this knob could still be moved a fraction, just short of a click.

I wonder what materials are used inside the mechanism, but let's remember that this is a budget class scope.... At least for now, the system seems to function.

One drawback of this locking feature is that the number of revolutions made on the turret cannot be tracked by the user on a scale of horizontal lines, since the knob stays on the same plane and does not move up or down with each revolution.

(f) Variable Power and focussing

The zoom power ring turns almost too smoothly to my liking. It certainly does not need the screw- in “throw lever” that it comes with.

On the side focus knob, turning is rather even and smooth and almost without the slightest hitch.

Here, the ranging markings do not seem to correspond with real world distances, but this is a general problem with lower price point scopes. One should not compare such scopes with top class high grade scopes costing thousands of Euros or Dollars !

I doubt that the side focus could serve for reliable distance measuring (“ranging”) and reading.

At this moment readings are clearly “off” to my eyes.

The eye-piece focus ring at the rear of the scope that should bring the reticle sharply into view does not seem to make much difference in sharpness.

This is a problem I found with budget class scopes, generally.

(g) The MPN-1 half mil reticle explained

On FFP scopes the reticle increases in size together with the image, in line with the power setting on the zoom ring. It therefore covers always exactly the same size or distance on the target, independent of zoom power setting. It will therefore “cover” the same spacing on targets, on any zoom power setting.

This MPN-1 reticle is not in the first focal plane and stays the same size independent of magnification. This being a Second Focal Plane scope, the reticle carries spacing values that are only “true” at a certain power setting.

On this scope that power is not clearly indicated and is not mentioned at all in the manual or at the web site.

My preparatory work was made difficult because the Vector website first showed a reticle with longer mil markings that were stated to be HALF mils at a true reading of 10 x power..

Subsequently and after asking about this, I was sent a reticle image with FULL mils for each longer hash mark, but no true value magnification was stated. At first I took it to be at 18 x magnification, but readings on a calibrated target were off. Only after more contacts with the sellers it appeared that the true MIL values were at 10 x power !

Unfortunately, only later I discovered that the figure 10 on the power ring had a barely visible even miniscule hash mark that was intended to indicate the true value magnification.

This reticle is NOT illuminated and has a rather interesting layout, with clear and thick outside “bars” leading the eye easily to the center. The full and half mil marked center lines are indeed very fine. It appears that Vector are specialized in FFP scopes and it shows here. FFP scopes usually have very fine reticles, because thicker markings easily obstruct the shooter's view of the target at higher magnification. The hash marks for full and half mil spacing are a bit difficult to distinguish for my eyes. Finding the center is not very easy, but fortunately this is compensated by the heavy, thick outside bars. This reticle lay out seems more intended for target work, but at lower power settings it may well be used for hunting also, thanks to those fatter bars at the 4 corners.

The floating center dot is quite small and could be larger. It appears very much directed at Bench Rest shooting or similar use.

The 1 to 9 MIL numbering along the lower centre line may work a bit distractive. From the center cross the inner lines each span 6 MILs in the top, left and right directions. The lower vertical line spans 11 mils downwards from the cross to the fat outer bars. All 4 inner cross lines have their MIL spacings subdivided into ½ MILs by small hash marks.

The open spaces at the four corners of the inner reticle have a l MIL spacing and serve to take measurements of objects and help in ranging them.

The function of the 3 small dots totalling 1 1/2 MILs at both sides of the 5^th mil mark below the center cross is not clear to me. They seem insufficient for windage compensation.

Unfortunately, the reticle is not explained in the manual, but pictures with spacing data can be found at Vector Optic's web site. This reticle seems to be a later version since there are two different illustrations on the web site. The illustration of the one in this scope was communicated to me directly by the Vector Headquarters in China. This situation may result in very confusing information to buyers.

(h) Some background info on the MIL – MIL system

All in all, there is a strange piece of history to this.

In Europe, for a long time the top notch scopes from Germany and Austria already had a turret system with 1 cm clicks at 100 meters, but.... these scopes had no MIL based reticle markings. In fact, their markings where of a totally different value. In the USA, in the 1970's or 1980's, scopes with an American based design (Unertl, Leupold) started to use MILs and at first the military versions came with the basic 4x4 oblong dots, the so-called Mildots. However, generally scope turrets still had a click value of ¼ INCH or for target work, 1/8 INCH clicks. The US military started to combine MIL reticles with MIL based turrets. In both of the European and American areas, manufacturers in the civilian market for a long time persisted to mismatch the incompatible

principles: on the one hand the Imperial British or MOA turret click system and on the other hand the decimal MIL system in the reticles. The only explanation I can think of are the finer / smaller adjustment increments provided by an MOA click system and the fact that so many shooters, especially in the USA, were used to it for such a long time. Even considering these reasons, for a long time there were very few MOA based reticles around to match an MOA click system.

Only since about 6 or 8 years, the matching aiming systems are becoming more widely accepted for civilian use, also in SFP scopes. I'm glad with my first scope showing this feature.

(i) The Manual

Unfortunately, this manual leaves a lot to be desired (also see above). In several languages, the contents are not the same and the work done in drafting and translations is obviously hasty and sloppy.

It is advisable to read the instructions in several languages in order to get a better idea of what is intended and relevant !

The lock/unlock function was not even mentioned. The reticle was not explained and its relationship with the turret system was neglected. Moreover and this being essential in my view, the manual does not mention the magnification at which the reticle's mil markings are of true mil value !

(j) The lenses and image quality.

The glass of this scope is not bad at all, certainly considering it is in the price bracket of about € 200 in Europe.

While this model certainly is a budget class scope, it seems to be better than most in this range.

It is certainly quite “shootable” and possibly or even likely is better than other scopes at this pricing point.

In my surroundings I discovered a tree stump at about 40 meters away, after the falling of autumn leaves around it. It was obviously visited frequently by a woodpecker and the set of differently sized holes hammered into the trunk made a nice testing object for the clarity and resolution of the lenses. This took place during January, with very low sun light.

Off the rifle, it seems very promising.

I did compare the scope with three other well known brand scopes of comparable specification, but of a higher price point, using the same power setting. These where: one American brand with Japanese glass, one European brand manufactured in China and one UK brand with glass from Japan.

Testing again on the woodpeckered tree stump, under the limited light conditions of several very grey winter afternoons, including the time just before light snow fall and dusk, the Marksman did a fine job. The holes and spots of damaged tree bark were clearly visible, the image slipping out of and back into sharp focus easily. This scope has about the same image quality glass as its

€ 300 to 350 - plus priced competitors. The American brand that is no longer on the market did a bit better here.

It seems that the quality of Chinese glass, also in the lower price range of this scope, is catching up with Japanse glass... However, the specs mention a light transmission factor of between 85 and 87 percent. Why is there so much tolerance here ? A variation or tolerance of 2 % seems a bit much...

II.  Mounted on the rifle

(a) The mounting rings.

The above first impressions will now be verified with the scope mounted on the gun.

With its 50 mm objective this scope does not fit just any air rifle. With the medium – high rings, on Weihrauch spring piston rifles the objective bell cleared the action by only about one millimeter (!). This clearance does not allow to fit lens protection caps and it will prevent a cleaning cloth from passing underneath the objective bell. On some guns like the Air Arms TX 200, it abuts on the action cylinder, so it cannot even be mounted. This scope and its set-up will clearly need the VO High model scope rings, in stead of the standard included Medium size.

In use, these rings seemed well aligned showing no binding and worked just fine.

The anti scratch pads glued into the rings could be placed better (or even be discarded all together).

The first trials were carried out with a recoiling air rifle, a Weihrauch HW 97 K, an underlever spring-piston gun developing about 13 to 14 footpounds of energy.
The Vector mounting rings posed no problems; their holding up to the recoil is on test. To that end, the stop pin in the rear ring base was on purpose kept in the upward position, not engaging a stop hole in the rifle's action tube. This way, the mounting's clamping action can be verified later.

(b) Eye Relief / eye box

Eye relief on this scope seems rather long, calling for exact positioning of the scope before mounting it on a rifle.

In fact, eye relief seems to be a bit longer than 10 cm at 18 x power. This I find a bit long since it tends to distract my aiming. On airguns this relief length is unnessesary since there is hardly any recoil. In addition, especially when aiming with both eyes open, there is too much lateral / peripheral image in the other eye for easy concentration on the shot.

Sideways there seems to be very little “forgivenness” when the eye is not exactly straight behind the scope. However, as such this may help to prevent parallax issues that could spoil the shot.

This eye box set-up will require some time for me to get used to.

(c) Zeroing the scope

Zeroing the scope was about a 10 minute and 6 shot job. The paper target was put at 12 or 13

meters, the first shot taken with the turrets set as out of the box. Eye relief is indeed a bit long and the cross hair is very, very fine. Even on a white carton background and using an aiming cross drawn in dark-blue felt marker ink, the center dot is difficult to find. Finally, the pellet impact was about 4 cm low and 3 cm to the right. Converting to 100 meters, this was estimated at 4 respectively 3 full mils on the turrets. Correctly so, because I finished at about 1 cm low and horizontally straight in line, and it took only 1 closing shot to confirm. In total I took ony 7 shots. This result was more than OK to start with at the 25 / 50 meter gun range at a later date.

It really makes a very nice system, this MIL-MIL scope !

(d) Focus and Range finding

I found that the minimum focusing range is a bit shorter than the 10 yards specified.

I took the opportunity to compare the Marksman with two other scopes of my collection.

Range finding on the same tree stump resulted in a reading within a few yards of the other two scopes, but on longer range targets, the Vector gave a reading of about 70 yards opposed to almost 100 yards with the other two scopes. Interestingly, the readings of shorter ranges on the Vector scope seemed to be the more realistic to me.

Very tiny holes and the edges of larger holes in the trunk were just a tiny bit less clear compared to the other scopes.

Depth view of dark spots in the tree bark was just a bit less clear than on the € 300 and € 350- plus scope.

Detail images of the brick walls of buildings were very good.
Although there is no sidewheel providing easier distinction of distances (more markings for distances between 25 and 100 yards would be useful), this scope seems to enable the user to measure ranges below 100 yards rather accurately ! However, beyond the 100 yards ranging becomes very difficult, not to say very iffy.

It seems that over all distances, generally only an approximate range finding can be expected from this scope. Of course, most scopes of this price range are having the same problem and the Marksman does not seem to be any worse and even a bit better than other brands of the € 350 price point. None of the scopes compared gave identical readings.

The focus ring turns very smoothly and seems markedly better than on the other scopes.

We then moved from outdoors daylight to indoors artificial light.

On the indoor range, the yardage numbers on the side focus ring for 10, 25 and 50 yards proved to be very near the actual known ranges. In- and out of focus images jump abruptly, making fine tuning the focus difficult.

(e) Image quality

Resolution

Tested indoors at the maximum 18 x power, on white target paper put at 25 meters, the image sharpness on a target grid of 1 x 1 centimeter squares was not great. At 50 meters, sharpness was weak to insufficient, but some of this could be due to the local indoor range lighting.

As to the sharpness of the reticle, because of its small size, even at a range of 10 meters the center dot was very small. At 25 meters the dot was hardly visible and very difficult to detect.

The center crosshair with the mil and half mil markings is very thin / fine and at 25 meters is hard to see against the lines of the target. At 50 meters the center dot is practically invisible against the white paper target.

Brightness

In normal daylight and dusk, this scope pleasantly surprises with good brightness, providing a very good image repeatedly.

Edge distorsion

With the limitations imposed by the Winter Season, the testing that I was able to carry out did not reveal any substantial edge to edge distorsions.

Chromatic abberration

With leaves and other foliage largely absent, all colour alterations that I could detect were around the tree branches under certain (back) light conditions. These were in light green, showing a sort of moderate sheen.

Tracking and the box test

Magnification change and reticle shift: with the rifle sitting in shooting bags, no disturbing shift could be seen. This test should be repeated with the scope clamped in a vise, however.....

Turret adjustment and reticle shift: The box test done with actual shots taken did not show any disturbing tracking faults with 2 respectively 4 mils of adjustments in all four directions....Some shots landed spot on, others landed about 1 cm away from the point of adjustment.

This test should ideally be repeated with the scope clamped in a vise, however.....

(f) My main intended use: for air rifles

In this context the short minimum focus range of 10 yards is important and very suitable for airgun use. Since this price bracket is in line with the budgets of beginning shooters and/or air rifle users, for now and to start with I intend to use it on a few of my spring-piston and PCP airguns.

This implies possible problems resulting from use on the more powerful types of recoiling air rifles and possible guarantee problems. Time will show if this scope will withstand the double recoil of “springers”, presently with a power output of between 6 and 24 footpounds of energy. In this collection there are also rifles with a “sledge” or semi-recoilless system, taken to be even harsher on scope life than rifle actions that do not move within the stock.

The Vector 5 year product warranty conditions are not clear as to coverage of any damage resulting from spring-piston airgun use, so time will tell. In this regard, any claims about its resistance to certain calibers of fire arms is completely useless, because nothing compares to the violent knocks in both directions (foreward and to the rear) generated by spring-piston and gas ram airguns. Meanwhile, we express our trust in this promising brand. Use on PCP air guns will of course pose no problems in this respect, since these guns are virtually recoilless.

Bench Rest use

A separate session of Bench Rest shooting will follow to test the image and reticle on 25 Meter indoor shooting.

Hunter Field Target use

Being a Summer HFT shooter, this will be tested later in the season, but a few preliminary observations can be made here.

For use in (air rifle) HFT, the reticle center seems too fine and it also lacks windage compensation markings. For this purpose, a thicker lined “christmas tree” type of reticle is more appropriate. Turrets may not be touched during the match in this discipline and the shooter therefore has to aim off, using only the reticle. The zoom ring on this Marksman scope is marked with the numbers 4 1/5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. The ring should at least show a hash or triangular marking for shooting with the alternative (double) mil value on the reticle, in this case at the number 5 zoom rate. Unfortunately this number lies very near to the minimum power of 4,5, so this is difficult to achieve.....

III. Points for improvement

Not considering the extra cost and a higher price point possibly resulting therefrom, I would like to see the following items changed / improved:

• The MPN-1 reticle seems to be designed with Bench Rest use in mind. This shows by the very thin lines of the inner cross and the extremely fine dot.

  However, the 18 x power is too low for BR use and for more general use, the floating center dot on the reticle could be at least about twice or even four times the size for better aiming in non – BR or general use. (On the positive side however, I found that on the quick aim, the fatter outer lines automatically lead the eye toward the center of the reticle, working almost instinctively).

• Alternatively, an uninterrupted cross or a small center cross instead of the dot would help.

  Possibly other scopes in the Vector product line with different reticles could be considered by buyers to solve this problem.

– The dot markings on the main tube for zoom power indication, turret readings and range reading at the focus sidewheel should be bigger and more clearly visible.

– For airgun use, a few ranging numberings on the focus ring need to be added, at around the 35 yard mark.

(In practice and in many competitions the ranges around the 30, 35, 40 and 45 yard / meter mark are often used.)

– The zoom ring needs a clear marking of the true mil value magnification. In this case the number 10 should be painted in red or have a clear triangular shaped indicator.

– I would like to see a screw thread protection / stop ring for the objective included.

– Threading on the Flash Kill screen should be improved, or rather, a real 3 of 4 inch sun shade should be provided in its place .

– Also, adding flip-up lens protection caps should replace the dodgy bikini item.

– The zoom ring “throw lever” pin and the additional turret knobs could instead be deleted.

– The manual should be corrected and improved.

– N.B.: The GUARANTEE should expressly mention that the scope withstands the double recoil of spring-piston and gas ram air rifles, up to a certain energy level to be specified by the manufacturer.

IV. CONCLUSION

Overall, this scope surprised me by being better than expected.

I would recommend it to both the experienced and the new shooter, for a varied but carefully considered range of shooting situations ! This includes the use on air rifle, rimfire as well as centerfire rifle. But keep in mind that thin lined inner reticle.

COPYRIGHT, Hendrickotto FEBRUARY 2023