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Rifle Scopes 💥2024 Just Announced💥 MARSc - Onboard VCSEL NIR Illum & Laser
- Thread starter SkyScrapin
- Start date
Okay, just got this guy setup and some initial impressions....
- the cover that latches easily to the side is handy
- the screen is <chef's kiss> - easier to read than the RAPTAR S or MRF Xe because it's so much bigger
- the auto display brightness actually works really well (MRF Xe guys, you know what I mean)
- cable attachment is an improvement over the MRF Xe - doesn't jut out and easy to route
- haptic feedback was a little jarring at first, but after doing some initial tests outside, I really like it (can be disabled if you don't)
- lateral battery compartment with big cap is a plus too
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This thing needs a matte screen. The one headache I ran into in the Nevada sun yesterday was strong reflections in the display. Minor squabble though.
Oh, and mounting on a low diving board, this was the one time I was frustrated by the CNVD's top mounted focus lever: every time I tried to focus, I blocked the beam.
Oh, and mounting on a low diving board, this was the one time I was frustrated by the CNVD's top mounted focus lever: every time I tried to focus, I blocked the beam.
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Posted this in the wrong thread...
Second desert session with the Mars-c
I've got this 6ARC 103 ELD-X w/ LVR all trued up now and it showed by getting some really consistent hits out to 935 yards with the elevation being spot-on. With this setup, as much as you can add in wind values to the solver, I find just setting zero wind in the solver, taking the Elevation and Wind (mostly spin drift in this case) from the Mars-c, then holding for wind, is fastest - especially in this one spot where the winds can get pretty turbulent (though they weren't strong this day).
For the night shoot, I did another LAM comparison, this time with a civ power RaidXe and this one felt different, even though I know the MAWL C1+ is comparable. In this case, I think it's because last time we had incredibly dark conditions the comparison seemed fairly equal, however this last weekend you can see we had some ambient illum and the difference appears a lot less subtle.
The target is a 2/3 IPSC steel at 85 yards with the hillside about 250 yards from source, so not a long distance test. The first part shows the divergence of the Mars-C illuminator (dial on left side). Next we aim a civilian power RaidXe set to high power for comparison and you can see it feels quite a bit stronger. Lastly, we switch the RaidXe to low power and the illuminator power looks more comparable to the Mars-c. So a little disappointing, but not a dealbreaker. (Edit: I should have adjusted the divergence on the RaidXe on high power mode to better match the Mars-c - obviously it would appear a lot brighter being tighter). I could still use it just fine for shots with the pointer out to about 250-300 yards. And with a CNVD-LR, the illiuminator wasn't needed inside of 500 yards.
Speaking for that - this session was the first time by buddy and I got night hits on steel at 935 yards. We obviously needed some secondary illum, and that was quite a challenge. It felt like we either were getting too much illum on target, causing the L3 tubes to really lose resolution, or we had too little illum and got too much noise. The big surprise was switching to spotting with a ClipNV-LR on another rifle - that Elbit tube stayed nice and crisp in the high resolution. With the high illum shot splash was casting a dark shadow that was easy to track. Just made a couple of wind hold adjustments and started seeing the blinking hit markers.
Overall, I give this unit a 4 out of 5 stars - really impressive.
PS. also that damned haptic feedback when using the rangefinder is really handy.
Second desert session with the Mars-c
I've got this 6ARC 103 ELD-X w/ LVR all trued up now and it showed by getting some really consistent hits out to 935 yards with the elevation being spot-on. With this setup, as much as you can add in wind values to the solver, I find just setting zero wind in the solver, taking the Elevation and Wind (mostly spin drift in this case) from the Mars-c, then holding for wind, is fastest - especially in this one spot where the winds can get pretty turbulent (though they weren't strong this day).
For the night shoot, I did another LAM comparison, this time with a civ power RaidXe and this one felt different, even though I know the MAWL C1+ is comparable. In this case, I think it's because last time we had incredibly dark conditions the comparison seemed fairly equal, however this last weekend you can see we had some ambient illum and the difference appears a lot less subtle.
The target is a 2/3 IPSC steel at 85 yards with the hillside about 250 yards from source, so not a long distance test. The first part shows the divergence of the Mars-C illuminator (dial on left side). Next we aim a civilian power RaidXe set to high power for comparison and you can see it feels quite a bit stronger. Lastly, we switch the RaidXe to low power and the illuminator power looks more comparable to the Mars-c. So a little disappointing, but not a dealbreaker. (Edit: I should have adjusted the divergence on the RaidXe on high power mode to better match the Mars-c - obviously it would appear a lot brighter being tighter). I could still use it just fine for shots with the pointer out to about 250-300 yards. And with a CNVD-LR, the illiuminator wasn't needed inside of 500 yards.
Speaking for that - this session was the first time by buddy and I got night hits on steel at 935 yards. We obviously needed some secondary illum, and that was quite a challenge. It felt like we either were getting too much illum on target, causing the L3 tubes to really lose resolution, or we had too little illum and got too much noise. The big surprise was switching to spotting with a ClipNV-LR on another rifle - that Elbit tube stayed nice and crisp in the high resolution. With the high illum shot splash was casting a dark shadow that was easy to track. Just made a couple of wind hold adjustments and started seeing the blinking hit markers.
Overall, I give this unit a 4 out of 5 stars - really impressive.
PS. also that damned haptic feedback when using the rangefinder is really handy.
Thank you for posting the above. The illuminator in the Mars-C has been the question mark for me in this unit or waiting for the new Raptor Xe. How far is the effective range when illuminating and resolving targets at distance?
Hard to say exactly. After two sessions with different conditions, my gut says 200-300 yards. I did use it to 500 yard standalone in the last session, but there was some ambient illum and the CNVD-LR was doing the heavy lifting at that point.
I've used that exact setup, CNVD-lr with the Mars-c and would say it depends on the night but 500 +/- 100 yards sounds about right. The other illuminators I've used are the Kiji 3*, NGAL, and FP Raid Xe. The kiji at midpower (85mw I think?) is nice but even that 3 degrees is too much flood at distance. I really like how tight the mars can get. The NGAL and Raid both cause the CNVD-LR to autogate at anything inside 500 however bumping the output of the Raid down a couple clicks makes it very nice. These units would be incredible with a little extra juice in the illuminator department (if a civ Raid can do it I don't know what the hold up is). I love how fast and accurate it ranges though, that part still makes it tops for me. Envision if you're listening I'll happily send mine in to get the first leg of the illuminator tuneup testing underway!
Just realized I need to chill out for a little bit.
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Dangerous liberty over perceived safety 7 days a week.
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