Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scope Torture Test

How many times does Mr. Barsness need to ask you to quit using him as your Deity and his book as your Bible?

fwiw,
I respect Mr. Atkinson's experience as well, unfortunately, he should qualify his experience as to that of 1.5-5x20 and 2.5x Leupolds. He finishes describing his experience by painting with a fairly broad brush. Which accounts for dick in my book. Tell what you know and be specific. As the old newspaper men said "Tell us what happened" as "I don't care what you think"... No disrespect to Mr. Atkinson but rather a statement of fact...

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year...

Regards, Matt Garrett
Chesapeake, Virginia

Ugh. JWP475 trolled, and got exactly what he wanted.

... And yes, that's the pot calling the kettle black <grin>...

The openig post was, A sharing of infomation, take it for what's worth and to me it's worth as much as E's rapping a scope with a rubber mallet

What a silly thread. Not much of an under vehicle hunter so a not much concerned with my scope being run over. Leupold or otherwise. If I do run over mine I would likely cuss myself, put the beer down, and start thinking of what my next scope will be.

Repeatability, resolution, low-light performance

Once you get past all the hype and and high priced adds.Thats where loopie typically comes in last.

RD,
Just so you know Tasco had MC glass bout 3 years before loopie started buying it for there supplers.
dave

Not to bump an old thread, but I have a Tasco Super-Sniper that has held up to my .50 BMG's recoil.

My Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10 was destroyed by the same rifle.

FWIW, the optics of the Leupold were light years better than the SS, but, that doesn't matter when your scope goes south....

goalie, that just can't be. The Leupold is lighter therefore it is/will/must/has to be stonger............

Goalie - I started to add a caveat for the Super Snipers. While the glass isn't the best of the best, the Super Sniper is among the toughest of the tough.

My bad.

At noon, on the shooting range, most scopes give you a great image. The differences will be small. When you have to peer into dark woods, get near the beginning or end of shooting light, when you need to decide if that's a tine or a branch and finally, if you shoot long and use the knobs, Zeiss, Swarovski, S&B, IOR, Kahles, Docter and Premier's new offering, the "Heritage," really pull away from the pack. A close second is the Bushnell Elite 4200 series.

It wasn't your "bad," I just thought I would point out that a relatively cheap (300 dollars new IIRC) scope has held up to over 100 full-power 50BMG rounds, while my Leupold Vari-X III died a horrible death in about 7 shots.

A lot of people have Leupold Mark 4 scopes on their 50's with no problems at all, but I don't see ANYONE sporting a VX or Vari-X on them.

Then again, Nightforce RULES FCSA 1000 yard matches. They have for a long time. Leupold plays second or third fiddle on the firing line in a big way.....

Gents,
What I reported was a non scientific test designed to satisfy my personal needs.

I reported these findings solely in the light of good conversation for you to take into consideration or not take into consideration..

I don't have the means nor the where to fore to conduct a sho nuff scientific test nor the inclination to do so...

My testing was based on what I had seen in the field and a need to determine what I considered the most dependable of scopes for my big bore rifles to be used on dangerous game..

I make no claim to correctness other than it has proven out to MY satisfaction over a number of years..I conducted these tests over a number of years, not all at once, my shoulder could not take that kind of punishment!

The one and only thing that I am about 99% positive on is that the 2.5X Leupold compact is the strongest scope that has ever been produced. I stand behind this statement, and will not back off, but I only require one person to agree and that be me!

I will also clarify, as it has been questioned, that the old 3X Leupolds are not a particularly strong scope from a recoil stand point, but they are an excellent scope on standard calibers up to an including the .375 H&H IMO...Keep in mind that they are very old scopes and were not built with todays techincal knowledge.

My testing began with reading the May-June, 1991, issue of Rifle magazine no. 135 in a very informative article penned by G. Sitton on the 458 Lott and its destructive effect on scopes..I simply duplicated those tests and came up with about the same findings.

I am sure there are many other options, and mine is tossed out there strictly for your consideration.

I, for one, would be very interested in more details on your test, Ray. I think it could be very useful information for us all. My Rifle library doesn't go back that far so could you describe how you did the test? A blow to the objective bell, then you tested for change of POI somehow?

Could you list what exact scopes you tested? Any 30mm, 34mm tube scopes?

What mounting systems? Any tactical style mounts?

Like I said, I think this information would be very interesting and helpful, if complete. What's getting peoples' goad is E making all sorts of claims about it which likely go well beyond its original scope. Knowing what it really was would help us all.

I would give more weight to the opinion of an experiance hunter like Atkinson than any lab or scientific testing.

Murphy and his Laws live outdoors in the real world.

+1

I have some experience with scopes on heavy recoiling rifles but not so much as Ray. I know Leupold sends their new scopes to a 'smith in Idaho to test fire them on a full house 458 Lott because of the acceleration not the ultimate recoil in ft-lbs. I have no ax to grind against anybody's scope. I have a Leupold VariX-II 2-7 on a 450 Dakota that has survived over 200 rounds of heavy loads. I think it is superior to the VariX-III in strength. I use it for load development and take it off to hunt. It suits me. I usually use iron sights on a DGR.
My 458 Lott has been to Africa twice with the previous owner and once with me. It wears a Leupold VariX-II 2-7. Never had to rezero.
I have a US Optics 24X on a 50 BMG and it does fine there.
One of my 375's has a 4x Zeiss-Jena in rail mount,one has a 2.5-8 Leupold that came with the rifle. Both seem to work
The first time I went to Africa I was impressed that the PH I hunted with used a 2X steel tube Weaver on his 458 Lott. He said it was the most reliable scope he had ever used-not the greatest optically but hell for strong. If I named him I'm sure Ray would
allow as how he might be qualified to judge a scope.
I use a Burris 1.5-5 with a post reticle on my 9.3x62. I have never had to change the setting in 10 years -just check it annually. The old ones were not bright enough( I lost a zebra because of that) at dark but the newer ones are better. I use it because I like the reticle and the optics are acceptable.
I always carry a sighted in scope as a spare whenever I go far from home-a B&L Elite. Most scopes fail fairly quickly but anything can happen.
Fixed power scopes(of equal quality) are always more durable than variable-fewer parts.
Find one you like and shoot it with heavy loads from the bench for 20 or so rounds. Chances are if it's not going to cut the mustard you will know it by then. I just put a nice new brand name(closeout) scope on a 270 win and it never zeroed. Back to Burris.
You generally get what you pay for in scopes but there are some bargins. Be careful with bargins if you are going across the pond or across the country to use them.
My $.02

Do US Optics torture test every scope they sell? The video looks very impressive.