Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Redfield Revolution 3-9x40 Impressions - Accurange reticle

Found a used Redfield Revolution here on the fire - it was the one Dan had on the 22-250 he was selling. I figured it was fine, but Dan had mentioned the rifle not grouping quite like he wanted when he offered it for sale, so I wanted to be sure it wasn't the scope.

I didn't have time to shoot the box with it the first time out, but I did have it on a new Sako A7 243 that had proven it was a real shooter with another scope.

I played with it bore sighting it, and it seemed fine. I did adjust it a bunch on a target with 1" squares while I was bore sighting it. I sand bagged it real solid at 100 yards and clicked it all over the place, and it always seemed to track very true - always moving left, right, up and down five inches with 20 clicks and 4 with 16 and so on.

After playing with it enough that I was really confident it was tracking right, I bore sighted it and took a shot. I was only about a half inch right and right and about 5" low, so I just adjusted it up 29 clicks and came back down four (I've found going past desired POI an inch or so and coming back to it works a lot the best.) This should have put me a little over an inch high and maybe a little right (which was the direction what wind there was would have pushed a bullet - one of the reasons I didn't mess with windage adjustment.) That's exactly where it shot.

It was getting dark, but the wind had layed for the first time in days, so I went on and shot a pretty quick 3 shot group.

Scope tracked perfect, as far as I could tell, and held a real nice group together.



I am pretty happy with the scope.

Eye relief, weight and overall configuration are good.

Eye box is forgiving.

Locking focus ring is a plus for flip up use.

Magnification ring was easy to adjust without being too stiff or too loose.

Turret adjustment was fine, although not as easy to feel and hear as some scopes I've used - could be a bit more firm and distinct. (That said, I don't think I missed a click anywhere. I noticed it most when looking through the scope on bags and watching the riticle move on the target while playing with it while bore sighting. If I was more on top of it, it really wasn't an issue.)

Numbers on mag adjust on scope body could sure be lost under a ring - that wasn't the best idea.

Optics seemed bright and clear. Not as good as the VXIII that I had on the other rifle I had along, but plenty good. Maybe a hair short of VXII, but lots better than bottom tier glass, IMHO.

Overall configuration was pleasing - pretty trim and nice. Again, VXIIish, but I think the eyepiece might rub a scope a little easier just because the knurled part of the focus ring is a little rougher. This did make it easier to grip for me - on both the magnification and focus rings, so that I liked.

Appearance was fine. Nice enough matte finish without too much splashy writing all over it, and most of what's there ends up under scope covers, anyway.

Reticle was great for targets at 100 - circle was exactly the same size as the outer bull on my target - which allowed for a very precise hold - although I didn't shoot my group at the center and get to use it - already had holes there. It will work fine for hunting. I don't know if some will find the circle too busy, or if it will zero them right on their target. I would prefer just a duplex with a couple of hash marks like a Burris BP, or TDS or B&C, but this one may grow on me. I don't typically find ballistic reticles distracting, though. The reticle is ideal for load work up - I can't imagine being able to hold more precisely than I could - I could center the circle on the outer bull - the bull was wider than the circle, so I could center it perfectly, and it put the crosshair rock solid on the bull.

I'm going to varmint hunt some with the scope this spring, and will give more feedback if I figure anything else out.

All in all, for a lifetime warranty scope with Leupold eye relief/eyebox characteristics, a trim design and nice appearance, good tracking and glass, I think it's a winner as long as it holds up and holds zero. Time will tell on that.

Hope this is helpful.

DJ

Great............thanx!!!

I picked up one this week, it is mounted but I have not shot using it yet. As noted the clicks are not distinct and also it has a relatively short mounting surface, it should work okay on most short actions but long actions may require creative bases or ring mounts. I have it setting on a Savage short action using Weaver bases and with the base mounted so that the cross slot on the front base is mounted rearward to minimize the distance between the rings the front ring is at the juncture of where the front objective bell begins. I agree that the power ring numbers on the body is not a great idea, they are just visible behind the rear ring.

The only other thing I have noticed that I am not overly happy with is the finish on the scope, it appears to be a paint rather than anodized. Very coarse, think of the finish on a Remington SPS and the scope finish about the same texture. The bright side is that there should not be an slippage.

Optically, to me it seems to be on a par with a couple of recent manufacture VX-1's that I have. I have a newer VX-11 and it doesn't seem to be quite up that level.

It has the potential to be a good entry level scope for that beater rifle or someone who doesn't want to spend to much on a scope. Since it is going on a rifle that lives in my truck for 365 days a year we will see how it holds up.

drover

I will be interested to see how the finish holds up, as well.

I sure like the features of this scope. I want to play with it and compare the glass to others a bit more. If it holds zero well and is rugged and tough, there's not much not to like.

I want to try a low light/see the reticle/brightness, etc. comparison with some others and see how it stacks up there if I can get a little time one evening or morning.

DJ

Glad to hear it was the rifle and not the scope that was the problem!

Bad news on the Redfield. I had some time to shoot this morning and some good conditions also so I decided to give the Redfield its test, I went out back to my range and set up my equipment to give it a try. The first thing I did was check for parallax - Bad News! at 100 yds this particular scope has at almost 2 inches of parallax. I tried adjusting some of it out by refocusing the eyepiece and that didn't work out very well, at the point in focusing where the parallax was beginning to lessen somewhat the target became blurred to the point that the aim point was indistinct.

I adjusted the eyepiece focus to the minimum parallax where I could see my aimpoint well enough to distinguish the image and even then I still had at least an inch of parallax. I did go ahead and try a few shots and as long as I kept my head, as nearly as I could, in the same place I could hold an inch group but if I didn't make an extremely concentrated effort to repeat my head position to exactly the same place the groups would open up.

My biggest disappointment is that I purchased the Redfield to replace the Simmons that came on the rifle (it was as a Stevens package gun) the Simmons did not have any parallax although its image is less than desireable, to give credit to the Redfield though it's image is much better.

I was hoping for better from Redfield / Leupold than this, I am disappointed. I realize that I can return it and they will fix it but that means spending another $15 for shipping on a brand new scope - it just shouldn't be that way, someone is not doing quality control checks. Hopefully this particular scope is an anomoly but right now Ihave a bad taste in my mouth and it is unlikely that I will purchase another one in the near future.

as an info point - this Stevens is chambered in 223 and using the Simmons scope will shoot into 3/4" for 5 shots at 100 yds.

drover

I ordered one for my AR and am excited to try it out. For and US made $135 scope with lifetime warranty I am hoping for good things.

I've looked through several new Redfields and have to say I'm disappointed. Why??? I've noticed some god-awful "reflections" all around the periphery of the view. At first, after discussing with a friend, I thought maybe it was poorly ground lenses. After picking up several and seeing the same thing in all of them, I think that maybe it's a case of reflections inside the tube. I've looked through Nikon Pro-Staff's each time and seen no such "reflections". Try looking through one at several different power settings, and see if you don't get the same thing.

I wish Weaver would tweak their "Classic" series a little for better eye relief. If I could get a V9 or a K6 with 4" of eye relief, I'd be in heaven.