Having some fun with a new Scope
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 3:40 pm
As some of you know, I had a little mishap one afternoon with my Weaver T36 scope - I think the rifle fell off the back seat in the car, and hit the floor with the elevation turret taking the brunt of the impact. I didn't know this at the time, and only discovered the damage the following weekend - the left side of the horizontal spider crosshair had "let go", and hung limply down in the reticle. Luckily for me, the scope retained its zero.
That was around early December last year, and I'd persisted with it up till a few weeks ago, when my replacement scope turned up. In the intervening 3 or so months, I hadn't dared change the clicks on the elevation or windage turrets, so I've been shooting the breeze and learning about holding off for each and every shot.
On Thursday, I fitted a new March 40-power scope to my bench rifle, and took it out to Sutherland to continue on shooting in the club comp.
This is the March 40x52 fixed power scope, with the Large Focus Wheel attached. The theory is that it's possible to get much finer adjustments to the focus than by manipulating the focus knob proper. It's a cinch to add and remove the large focus wheel, just by screwing three tiny hex keys.
I elected to have the spider crosshair with a 3/32 dot, as that's what the Weaver T36 used.
I shot three details today. I was nervous coming into this shoot, as last night I decided to remove the barrel tuner and give it and the crown a good scrub. They were both filthy. I'd made several witness marks before removing the tuner, but was still nervous this morning that I'd completely stuffed it all up, and turned a tack driver into a shotgun.
I shot 198.17 using a new brick of my favourite batch of X-Act (#1734355672). Not bad, but it took a while to settle down, with the first dropper shot on the third target in, low against the breeze. I attributed this more to my scope click settings, as I'd held off in a particular position to shoot the breeze, but the shot printed low - I really needed to aim a bit higher as the scope wasn't completely zeroed.
Second detail, I shot 200.19 using what I call my "crap" batch of X-Act (#1574455775). The rifle felt completely different, even though all I did was wind up two clicks, it felt zero'd at that point, and the shots were going where I was expecting them to go when I held off.
Third detail, I shot 199.16 (I think), using a new batch of Midas+. Completely different zero setting, so I elected to hold off in some very weird positions to get the centres.
What can I say about the scope itself? The sight picture is very bright, but the eye relief and focus are critical. Didn't take me long to get used to the idea of having a solid scope that will provide many years of service. Buy once cry once - these March scopes aren't cheap at all!
Although the price is steep, I received awesome service from BRT. The scope arrived in the mail with a scope rings lapping kit. The kit contains two 30mm bars which, when mounted in the scope rings, will instantly tell you whether the rings are in-line with each other. If they're not (and they are likely not), then a third long bar is used with some wet-and-dry to lap the rings.
When I received the scope, and lapping kit, I also received my shiney new Kelbly scope rings. They fit Anschutz dovetails perfectly, but my FWB dovetails were 1mm thicker, so they were sent back to BRT, who had them machined down a smidge, returned to me, and fit perfectly.
That was around early December last year, and I'd persisted with it up till a few weeks ago, when my replacement scope turned up. In the intervening 3 or so months, I hadn't dared change the clicks on the elevation or windage turrets, so I've been shooting the breeze and learning about holding off for each and every shot.
On Thursday, I fitted a new March 40-power scope to my bench rifle, and took it out to Sutherland to continue on shooting in the club comp.
This is the March 40x52 fixed power scope, with the Large Focus Wheel attached. The theory is that it's possible to get much finer adjustments to the focus than by manipulating the focus knob proper. It's a cinch to add and remove the large focus wheel, just by screwing three tiny hex keys.
I elected to have the spider crosshair with a 3/32 dot, as that's what the Weaver T36 used.
I shot three details today. I was nervous coming into this shoot, as last night I decided to remove the barrel tuner and give it and the crown a good scrub. They were both filthy. I'd made several witness marks before removing the tuner, but was still nervous this morning that I'd completely stuffed it all up, and turned a tack driver into a shotgun.
I shot 198.17 using a new brick of my favourite batch of X-Act (#1734355672). Not bad, but it took a while to settle down, with the first dropper shot on the third target in, low against the breeze. I attributed this more to my scope click settings, as I'd held off in a particular position to shoot the breeze, but the shot printed low - I really needed to aim a bit higher as the scope wasn't completely zeroed.
Second detail, I shot 200.19 using what I call my "crap" batch of X-Act (#1574455775). The rifle felt completely different, even though all I did was wind up two clicks, it felt zero'd at that point, and the shots were going where I was expecting them to go when I held off.
Third detail, I shot 199.16 (I think), using a new batch of Midas+. Completely different zero setting, so I elected to hold off in some very weird positions to get the centres.
What can I say about the scope itself? The sight picture is very bright, but the eye relief and focus are critical. Didn't take me long to get used to the idea of having a solid scope that will provide many years of service. Buy once cry once - these March scopes aren't cheap at all!
Although the price is steep, I received awesome service from BRT. The scope arrived in the mail with a scope rings lapping kit. The kit contains two 30mm bars which, when mounted in the scope rings, will instantly tell you whether the rings are in-line with each other. If they're not (and they are likely not), then a third long bar is used with some wet-and-dry to lap the rings.
When I received the scope, and lapping kit, I also received my shiney new Kelbly scope rings. They fit Anschutz dovetails perfectly, but my FWB dovetails were 1mm thicker, so they were sent back to BRT, who had them machined down a smidge, returned to me, and fit perfectly.