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Bart B. · November 30, 2012, 07:37 AM

Brian, you asked if $765 or $1,275 come close to buying that comparative quality today. I say maybe, maybe not. Here's a decent "Consumer's Guide" to rifle scopes.

http://www.6mmbr.com/optics.html

Well, almost decent. It suggests the "box" test for checking a scope's mechanical repeatability. To me, if you want to trust the numbers derived from box testing a scope, you gotta use something you can shoot no worse than 1/10th MOA at 100 yards if you want your data to be accurate to 1/4 MOA. If you shoot your stuff no better than 3/4 MOA, your box test accuracy will be no better than about 1 MOA or a bit more. But it will let you find out if your scope's adjustments and zoom lens positioning are bad or horrible; nothing any better.

You'll get very accurate results putting an optical collimator in your barrel's muzzle, then setting the scope's reticule on it and boxing the adjustmenss 5 or 10 MOA on it. Also watch the reticule figure 8 about the collimator as you zoom power from limit to limit. But nobody puts this method anyplace on the internet except me. Surely, I'm not the only person who's figured this out.

Note the Weaver T36 still has excellent adjustment s but still's a bit weak in the optics. If one doesn't need to count the hairs per square centimeter on an animal or dots per square inch on a picture, both at longer ranges, that's a good scope.

Nightforce scopes seem to ride a lot of rifles used to shoot good scores and groups and the get rave reviews. That's good because I tested one back in the early 1990's. I'd called Nightforce to ask a question on their scopes' optical and mechanical qualities and the man said he would send me one to test; totally free of charge. On my home-made scope tester, it had 3/4 MOA hysteriesis (figure 8 movement of the reticule when zooming power from limit to limit), 1/2 MOA adjustment slop and looseness from simulated recoil in both E and W (as seen on the collimator in my scope tester) and focus was sharp at about 200 yards and no further when the objective lens was set at its infinity stop. So I returned that scope with a letter detailing what I had observed. Never heard back from them.

November 30, 2012, 07:37 AM	#14
Bart B. Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Posts: 8,927	Brian, you asked if $765 or $1,275 come close to buying that comparative quality today. I say maybe, maybe not. Here's a decent "Consumer's Guide" to rifle scopes. http://www.6mmbr.com/optics.html Well, almost decent. It suggests the "box" test for checking a scope's mechanical repeatability. To me, if you want to trust the numbers derived from box testing a scope, you gotta use something you can shoot no worse than 1/10th MOA at 100 yards if you want your data to be accurate to 1/4 MOA. If you shoot your stuff no better than 3/4 MOA, your box test accuracy will be no better than about 1 MOA or a bit more. But it will let you find out if your scope's adjustments and zoom lens positioning are bad or horrible; nothing any better. You'll get very accurate results putting an optical collimator in your barrel's muzzle, then setting the scope's reticule on it and boxing the adjustmenss 5 or 10 MOA on it. Also watch the reticule figure 8 about the collimator as you zoom power from limit to limit. But nobody puts this method anyplace on the internet except me. Surely, I'm not the only person who's figured this out. Note the Weaver T36 still has excellent adjustment s but still's a bit weak in the optics. If one doesn't need to count the hairs per square centimeter on an animal or dots per square inch on a picture, both at longer ranges, that's a good scope. Nightforce scopes seem to ride a lot of rifles used to shoot good scores and groups and the get rave reviews. That's good because I tested one back in the early 1990's. I'd called Nightforce to ask a question on their scopes' optical and mechanical qualities and the man said he would send me one to test; totally free of charge. On my home-made scope tester, it had 3/4 MOA hysteriesis (figure 8 movement of the reticule when zooming power from limit to limit), 1/2 MOA adjustment slop and looseness from simulated recoil in both E and W (as seen on the collimator in my scope tester) and focus was sharp at about 200 yards and no further when the objective lens was set at its infinity stop. So I returned that scope with a letter detailing what I had observed. Never heard back from them.