Defects in the glass. Should I send this scope in or live with it?

papershredder

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May 23, 2021
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Lower right quarter, just right of the vertical stadia below the reticle tree. Looks like bubbles in the glass. I've had this scope for almost three years now and just now noticed this because I rarely shoot below 12X, power setting in the pic is 5X, scope pointed at an off-white door so the glass bubbles hopefully show up better. Now I've looked through this scope below 12X at least a couple times in the past and never noticed them. Leaves me wondering if this is something that can develop over time or something that was always present and I just wasn't paying attention. Anyways, what are your thoughts, advise, opinions, jokes etc..... Send it in and have the manufacturer look at it (Tangent Theta btw) or just live with it like I have been? This isn't a complaint thread, just a mild concern, this scope has served me well.
 
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There would be no point "just living with it" when you could send it in and the maker would have it fixed back to being perfect.

I can't really tell from the pictures but "bubbles in the glass" seems unlikely.
More likely would be lubrication coming out of place and getting onto the glass or a problem with a coating or such.

Either way you should get taken care of in quick order.
 
There would be no point "just living with it" when you could send it in and the maker would have it fixed back to being perfect.

I can't really tell from the pictures but "bubbles in the glass" seems unlikely.
More likely would be lubrication coming out of place and getting onto the glass or a problem with a coating or such.

Either way you should get taken care of in quick order.
Looks like some thin assembly oil specks on the inside of the lens. Like you said, probably dislodged over time and that's where it stuck.

And I agree, being a TT, I'd damn-sure send it back in and have it fixed.
 
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That would not have happened if you only would have purchased a top tier scope instead of
that Barska wanna be.

Send it in.
I think you are confusing Tangent Theta with Tract Toric...

Tangent Theta scopes are like $5,000-$7,000...

 
In before all the $6,000 scope owners start calling the OP a liar, even though he has photographic proof... 🤣😂🤣

Quite a long time ago there was an issues with some S&B scopes (none of the ones I owned) where there was a bad lot of grease and on some scopes the grease eventually dripped a bit onto one of the internal lenses.

S&B took care of everybody promptly and going forward the issue was resolved and didn't come up again.
 
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I think you are confusing Tangent Theta with Tract Toric...

Tangent Theta scopes are like $5,000-$7,000...

LOL, no confusion here just sarcasm.
 
Send it in, it’s possibly grease, or maybe just debris that developed from recoil, just speculation of course. I’ve also seen this when a certain ring was used to a certain spec that stressed the tube. You don’t just live with a scope with $hit in it, I don’t anyway, and especially if it’s high $.
 
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Actually looks like dust/debris and yes send it in!
Not dust or anything accumulated from the outside environment, I cleaned the lens, to be sure before making this thread. I'm leaning toward what @W54/XM-388 and others is thinking and maybe lube residue inside the tube splattered the inside of the lens. I'm well aware of Tangent's return policy and good customer support, so I have no problem with sending in. I may even have the turrets updated as well.

In before all the $6,000 scope owners start calling the OP a liar, even though he has photographic proof (welcome to The Hide!)... 🤣😂🤣
I could provide a lot more photographic and other evidence including a link to the sale thread I got it from. I ain't worried about that happening :ROFLMAO:

Looks like a consensus has been formed. Just Fk'n send it!

Send it in, it’s possibly grease, or maybe just debris that developed from recoil, just speculation of course. I’ve also seen this when a certain ring was used to a certain spec that stressed the tube. You don’t just live with a scope with $hit in it, I don’t anyway, and especially if it’s high $.
Ring or mount? And would that happen to be from ARC? It has been mounted in an M10 QD-L and now it's in an M-Brace mount.
 
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Quite a long time ago there was an issues with some S&B scopes (none of the ones I owned) where there was a bad lot of grease and on some scopes the grease eventually dripped a bit onto one of the internal lenses.

S&B took care of everybody promptly and going forward the issue was resolved and didn't come up again.
Yep I had one of these, was about 2.5 week turn around to get mine fixed.
 
Dust and debris is common in any optic. It's the nature of the beast in a high magnification device. Even the tiniest spec magnified through a rifle scope can look like the dust particle that ate Tokyo!

So a tacky grease like substance is applied to the inside of the tube to capture those particulates, but it also sometimes gets on the lens.

All of that gets on the lens and is an easy fix for the manufacturer. Send it back.
 
Quite a long time ago there was an issues with some S&B scopes (none of the ones I owned) where there was a bad lot of grease and on some scopes the grease eventually dripped a bit onto one of the internal lenses.

S&B took care of everybody promptly and going forward the issue was resolved and didn't come up again.
Same with Leupold. I'm no scope builder or servicer, but it seemed especially prevalent in scopes shot in hot deserts.
 
My S&B has been in Germany since March 2024 with no word on progress. From now on I will stay with NF or Leupold. Update, I finally got my scope back the first part of November. They did a good job and did not charge me so all is well.
 
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My S&B has been in Germany since March with no word on progress. From now on I will stay with NF or Leupold.
that is why I stay away from S&B and kahles and zeiss etc. I've heard that in the off event something does go wrong, it can be a hot minute... it took a friend of mine I think 9 months to get his back, something with a turret i believe. it's been darn near a decade since he told me though so I could be missremembering slightly.
nein.
fwiw if you're spending S&B money anyway, I HIGHLY recommend TT.
 
Why? I no thought their USA service center was in northern Virginia??

@GBMaryland - didn’t you mv say you’ve take scopes directly to their NoVa location for service??
I’ve taken several scopes over there to have reticles swapped out, and they even have them PMI scope before I was going on a trip.

The folks are fantastic and the turnaround times tend to be pretty quick.

I assume if it’s something that’s more esoterically a problem they won’t have to send it to Germany, but I doubt it
 
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I guess an update is in order here. Today was the first time I've been to the range since early July. (The TT is on the bolt gun set up on it's bipod, forward right corner of the mat)

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Between the weather, the gun club stacking all their events on the weekends, and life in general I haven't had much opportunity this summer to go shoot. The scope was delivered back to me June 19th. So 5 weeks total from shipping it out to getting it back. Which is not bad considering a complete clean and inspection is done along with the repair. Plus shipping both to and from is paid by ATI. Scope came back looking brand new! Overall I'm impressed, ATI/Tangent Theta takes care of their customers.

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When I first got my scope back last June, I had plans to do a big review, even made a tall test target. Went to the range and leveled my targets started shooting. Had trouble with grouping. Unbeknownst to me at the time :

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My mount was broken :( . It wasn't until after a club match the following week that I realized that. I did poorly that day. Fast forward to today, this morning I put the Mbrace back on the rifle, remounted the scope, and low and behold, more grease on the lens. (apology for the cruddy pics, I'll try to get a better one tomorrow. The first pic that is all blurry, centered in the grassy background below the right edge of the 6 sign to the right of the vertical crosshair you'll see a little black blob, that is one of the grease spots. The 2nd clearer pic was taken at the right angle for the spots to not be visible.)

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When I initially received the scope, glass was clean. The first thing I checked on it, so no fault on TT's part there. Sometimes, if I didn't have bad luck, I would have none at all. I'm going hold off on sending it back (now that the club is done with matches for the year), just so I can get some range time in this fall/winter. My shooting today was atrocious, but, I was happy to finally be back out shooting again :cool:

Edit: Here's a better pic of the new grease splatter. Three spots, all below the reticle. Scope is set at 8x in that pic. I normally shoot 12-16x or more if mirage isn't bad.

20241117_151107.jpg
 
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I guess an update is in order here. Today was the first time I've been to the range since early July. (The TT is on the bolt gun set up on it's bipod, forward right corner of the mat)

View attachment 8547613


View attachment 8547614

Between the weather, the gun club stacking all their events on the weekends, and life in general I haven't had much opportunity this summer to go shoot. The scope was delivered back to me June 19th. So 5 weeks total from shipping it out to getting it back. Which is not bad considering a complete clean and inspection is done along with the repair. Plus shipping both to and from is paid by ATI. Scope came back looking brand new! Overall I'm impressed, ATI/Tangent Theta takes care of their customers.

View attachment 8547619

When I first got my scope back last June, I had plans to do a big review, even made a tall test target. Went to the range and leveled my targets started shooting. Had trouble with grouping. Unbeknownst to me at the time :

View attachment 8547623

My mount was broken :( . It wasn't until after a club match the following week that I realized that. I did poorly that day. Fast forward to today, this morning I put the Mbrace back on the rifle, remounted the scope, and low and behold, more grease on the lens. (apology for the cruddy pics, I'll try to get a better one tomorrow. The first pic that is all blurry, centered in the grassy background below the right edge of the 6 sign to the right of the vertical crosshair you'll see a little black blob, that is one of the grease spots. The 2nd clearer pic was taken at the right angle for the spots to not be visible.)

View attachment 8547662

View attachment 8547663

When I initially received the scope, glass was clean. The first thing I checked on it, so no fault on TT's part there. Sometimes, if I didn't have bad luck, I would have none at all. I'm going hold off on sending it back (now that the club is done with matches for the year), just so I can get some range time in this fall/winter. My shooting today was atrocious, but, I was happy to finally be back out shooting again :cool:
Puts a TT in a cheap ass aero mount. Yup sounds right.

I just got a TT back from servicing. Bought it second hand and the elevation turrets felt mushy and Skippy. Perfectly usable but not to TT standard. Sent it in on their dime and had it back in 2 weeks completely cleaned and rebuilt. TT/Armament has some of the best customer service out there and it's what you expect when you drop that kinda coin on a optic.
 
That mount is an Audere mount I bought from one of the vendors here. I won't be buying another. My TT was second hand as well, I do plan on sending it out again, but that will happen in late Jan-early Feb when the weather around here really turns to shit. Until then, while the range at the local club is pretty vacant this time of year, I'll be putting it to use.
 
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