Rifle Scopes Crimson Trace 3-24 5 series
- Thread starter Gypsy
- Start date
I purchase this scope, and it should be arriving on Wednesday. One thing to consider with this scope and rebate promotion if I understand correctly, if you buy any of the qualifying CT products they add together to reach the different rebate amounts. So if you add on enough to cross the $1000 threshold then you will get $200 back. So you'd end up getting $50 back and $50 worth of product for free. This is the route that I chose, so the scope will end up costing $750 and the light that I bought will be $60 plus any applicable tax that you'd pay.
Anyways, about the scope itself. Prior to purchasing it I was trying to find any information on it that I could, but there isn't much information to be found. This is a fairly new scope, and being that CT optics are new to the market there haven't been many that have used this scope and reviewed it. I am hopeful that the scope is premium optically, and without verifying this the scope may be made by LOW. They have a great reputation for their high end scopes being constructed well, and the image quality being very good.
I will try and report my findings of this scope shortly after I receive it.
Anyways, about the scope itself. Prior to purchasing it I was trying to find any information on it that I could, but there isn't much information to be found. This is a fairly new scope, and being that CT optics are new to the market there haven't been many that have used this scope and reviewed it. I am hopeful that the scope is premium optically, and without verifying this the scope may be made by LOW. They have a great reputation for their high end scopes being constructed well, and the image quality being very good.
I will try and report my findings of this scope shortly after I receive it.
I have the illuminated version.
Without having other scopes side by side, first thing I thought was how big the dots are on the reticle. Turrets are serviceable. Illumination is decent, not day bright. Included scope caps are better than Butler Creek.
Without having other scopes side by side, first thing I thought was how big the dots are on the reticle. Turrets are serviceable. Illumination is decent, not day bright. Included scope caps are better than Butler Creek.
Thanks for your thoughts on this. Do you feel that the dots are bigger than you'd like them to be? CT has the dots spec'd at 0.1 Mil, which I believe to be 0.36" at 100yds. I know a lot of other PRS/competition type reticles are often are a bit thinner such as the MSR that is 0.05" mil, so 0.18" at 100 yds. I can see the advantage of the thinner lines/dots when really reaching out there, but also having a larger dot would be nice for PRS style shooting.
How is the image quality of this scope? Do you have any experience with scopes that you feel are similar to the image quality of the CT?
I have had a Steiner M5 and M7Xi with MSR and MSR2, respectively. Currently have a Cronus and an Optika6 5-30 on the way to compare. I wish it had smaller dots but I get why they went with it. The .2 vertical windage lines will take some getting used to. I have to keep telling my brain that the top of the them are the full mils values.
Dont have enough time behind it to compare optically. Everything looks good when its bright out. I plan on getting some more time behind it next weekend when I'm home.
Dont have enough time behind it to compare optically. Everything looks good when its bright out. I plan on getting some more time behind it next weekend when I'm home.
I received the CTL5324-02 (non illuminated) today. I've only briefly been able to look it over, but my initial impressions are favorable. The image quality is very good, and the controls are smooth. One thing that I haven't found mentioned is that this model has a windage stop, limiting it to about 5 mils of travel in either direction. This is a welcomed feature for me, and will prevent a lost of zero. The only other scope I've owned that has had this is the Leupold MK 8 3.5-25.
With my short time to look over the scope, I feel that it has the potential to be an outstanding value considering the sale price from Midway USA and the CT rebate. I do wish that it had the illuminated reticle, and if I was paying full price it'd be a no brainier to pay the small amount more for the model with illumination, but it's not worth the massive price increase I paid.
I'll update this further as I am able to get behind this scope more.
With my short time to look over the scope, I feel that it has the potential to be an outstanding value considering the sale price from Midway USA and the CT rebate. I do wish that it had the illuminated reticle, and if I was paying full price it'd be a no brainier to pay the small amount more for the model with illumination, but it's not worth the massive price increase I paid.
I'll update this further as I am able to get behind this scope more.
Small update, I spent some more time with the scope yesterday evening. I like the scope overall, but I was having some trouble with the focus of the reticle and parallax. The reticle would only have partial focus, and as I changed the magnification it would change the focus. This also was causing issue with the parallax focus. So I decided it would be best to swap out the scope for another one. I really hope that this isn't an issue with the scope design, and only the unit I had. Hopefully I'll be able to report some more positive information on this scope when the replacement arrives.
I've had a few range trips behind this and thought I'd share what I found. First, ignore most of the specs on the CT website, there are a bunch of copy/paste errors.
Goods
Glass is very good. Nice and clear. Compares very well with my Cronus. Gets darker at 20x, but not terrible. I had no trouble with head placement or eye fatigue shooting a couple hundred rounds at max magnification. No fisheye at minimum mag.
Tracking is spot on with Strelok. I havent put it on a board and tested it but I dialed my 22lr out past 250 yds, made 1st round impact, dialed back to 25yds and hit a 1/4' KYL target. Being on my 22, the turrets get turned a lot. So far so good.
Turrets are good. I like the way they are marked. The lines changing sizes makes it easier for me to see. Clicks are tactile and audible but I'm also no turret snob.
Comes with caps that are nicer than BC. They dont fold flat though.
Lots of interior travel. Have a total of 40MOA in the mount and still maintain a 25yd zero.
Parralax goes down to 10yds.
*Free batteries for life*
Indifferent
Once you zoom in, the reticle lines are all really bold. It's bigger than I'd like, but I didnt find it a hindrance when actually shooting.
Lines on the outside of the scope to "help with leveling" are dumb.
Mag ring is tight but smooth. Hoping it loosens up with use.
Bad
Illumination is dusk or night time only.
Battery cover is a bitch. Theres nothing to hold on to
Turrets only allow 2 turns. While not a huge issue on a centerfire, it limits what I can do with a 22lr. Why have so much internal elevation if your dumb cap only allows 2 rotations? Looking at you too Vortex Strike Eagle.
Slight visible CA near top of mag range. Nothing that will make you miss your shot but apparently people really care about it.
Reticle has nothing above center, nothing below 14 down, nothing left or right of 20. With the lack of day bright illumination and a reticle that doesnt go to the edges, unless you have good contrast, I'm not sure how well you are going to find an aiming point.
For the price Midway has the non illuminated version for, it's a damn good deal. I wouldn't pay the $1700 or whatever price everyone else has it listed for.
Goods
Glass is very good. Nice and clear. Compares very well with my Cronus. Gets darker at 20x, but not terrible. I had no trouble with head placement or eye fatigue shooting a couple hundred rounds at max magnification. No fisheye at minimum mag.
Tracking is spot on with Strelok. I havent put it on a board and tested it but I dialed my 22lr out past 250 yds, made 1st round impact, dialed back to 25yds and hit a 1/4' KYL target. Being on my 22, the turrets get turned a lot. So far so good.
Turrets are good. I like the way they are marked. The lines changing sizes makes it easier for me to see. Clicks are tactile and audible but I'm also no turret snob.
Comes with caps that are nicer than BC. They dont fold flat though.
Lots of interior travel. Have a total of 40MOA in the mount and still maintain a 25yd zero.
Parralax goes down to 10yds.
*Free batteries for life*
Indifferent
Once you zoom in, the reticle lines are all really bold. It's bigger than I'd like, but I didnt find it a hindrance when actually shooting.
Lines on the outside of the scope to "help with leveling" are dumb.
Mag ring is tight but smooth. Hoping it loosens up with use.
Bad
Illumination is dusk or night time only.
Battery cover is a bitch. Theres nothing to hold on to
Turrets only allow 2 turns. While not a huge issue on a centerfire, it limits what I can do with a 22lr. Why have so much internal elevation if your dumb cap only allows 2 rotations? Looking at you too Vortex Strike Eagle.
Slight visible CA near top of mag range. Nothing that will make you miss your shot but apparently people really care about it.
Reticle has nothing above center, nothing below 14 down, nothing left or right of 20. With the lack of day bright illumination and a reticle that doesnt go to the edges, unless you have good contrast, I'm not sure how well you are going to find an aiming point.
For the price Midway has the non illuminated version for, it's a damn good deal. I wouldn't pay the $1700 or whatever price everyone else has it listed for.
Well I just got one in the mail from Adorama. Paid $800, which normally would be an amazing deal, but I'm sending it back. Illumination is not visible even at 8:15PM today with cloudy skies - tried two batteries. If I'm going to have illumination, 11 needs to be BRIGHT like my Nikons. The illumination knob is next to impossible to turn, actually hurts your finger tips trying, and is difficult to grip because it has no real knurling. There is a defect in the lens seen at about 7 o'clock at 3x zoom (I'm sure Crimson Trace would fix/replace because of this, but it's an annoyance). The reticle is effectively useless unless you're at 10x+ zoom and, while I suppose I could get used to it, it requires an extra bit of mental energy to figure out where center is. Not something that'll work for me. Oh well.
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