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mpvo for bad weather

SquarePizza

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 9, 2012
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NY
Most of my events are from Oct-March and it’s not uncommon to get wet, grey, low contrast days and even some fog.

When I was shooting PRS, I went through a fair amount of glass before buying a March that really felt like I could pick out targets in bad weather.

That said, that is the only tier 1 scope I can swing.

In the sub 1k mpvo market, is there any good performer for low contrast days? I’ve been looking a lot at the helos 2-12, gpo 4-16, and uso ts12.
 
My general view of the Helos BTR G2 2-12x42 is this - it is so cheap and performs so well for the price if it's even on your radar just get one from a Hide dealer at a great price and if you decided it's not for you I doubt you'll lose much in selling it. I have not taken mine out with my March to test on foggy days as we don't get many where I'm at so YMMV.
 
You’re not wrong. I should just buy it and try, resell if it’s not up to expectations.

Speaking of expectations, I don’t expect a low price glass to hold up to a march for contrast, but my pst II was such a let down that it made me gun shy to buy anything else in that range. That pst fogged sooner than any glass on the line and struggled the hardest when mist/fog settled into the range. Two PRS matches and that sucker went into the cabinet.
 
You’re not wrong. I should just buy it and try, resell if it’s not up to expectations.

Speaking of expectations, I don’t expect a low price glass to hold up to a march for contrast, but my pst II was such a let down that it made me gun shy to buy anything else in that range. That pst fogged sooner than any glass on the line and struggled the hardest when mist/fog settled into the range. Two PRS matches and that sucker went into the cabinet.
Just for clarification, are you wondering if the optic itself gets foggy - condensation on the objective and eyepiece? Or are you asking how well it does in foggy conditions image quality wise?
 
How it does in foggy conditions. Once a target turns grey from all the hits it would just get lost. I could look through a nice set of maven binoculars and still make it out, but my pst was just looking at fog.

The fog forming on the lens of the pst was just an extra annoyance. But worse case I can always clean that off.
 
How it does in foggy conditions. Once a target turns grey from all the hits it would just get lost. I could look through a nice set of maven binoculars and still make it out, but my pst was just looking at fog.

The fog forming on the lens of the pst was just an extra annoyance. But worse case I can always clean that off.
Roger that. Since we rarely get fog where I'm at, probably be best to have someone else comment on how well the Helos does in those conditions. You might also look into the Leupold Mark 4 2.5-10 if the reticles work for you. Biggest reason I like the Helos is the reticle, nothing under $2k comes even close to being effective at bottom of the mag...
 
This doesn’t answer your exact question, as nor is the NX8 4-32 the right mag range or price bracket. But I did have a PST II 5-25 to compare it to at the same time (and a S&B 5-25).

But it’s the best answer I’ve got. Not sure how many have shot in much fog, so that’s why I’m throwing it out there. Maybe the NX8 2.5-20 is equally good in fog?


There’s a followup post too.
 
I’ve even considered a nightforce, but maybe not this year.

For context I used to shoot about 3 prs matches a year but I have recently gotten into run n gun matches. Which are mostly a struggle against the elements.

Since I’m short on time to load and bounce around from RnG rifle to PRS rifle, I’ve decided to set up a 6.5 Grendel and just use that exclusively for the next year or two. that rifle will probably see 4 RnGs a year including an unknown distance DMR match, and I will probably take it to 1 or 2 PRS matches.

I’m out there for fun and not to win, so if it under performs at one event I don’t care. And I don’t want to throw top tier glass on something that I may get bored with in two years.

I’ve honestly been half tempted to just move the march over to the AR, but I hate changing up setups that are working good so I dunno.

The helos has been on my radar for awhile because I really like the reticle, so I should just not be cheap.
 
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