Is the March FX 4.5-28x52 my new ZCO?

[Sako man]

Of course this is a somewhat rhetorical question, but there is an ounce of query in there. You see, I just picked up a new March FX 4.5-28x52 on sale from Eurooptic. If you have ever looked into this brand you will note that it is generally very expensive, and the premium is interesting considering most Japanese scopes, OEM, or otherwise are in general more affordable when compared to a ZCO, Tangent, or SnB. However from all I can tell this model is absolutely on par with any one of those brands, and it's understandable now why it commands a premium. Now, I have not had time yet to take it out to distance and see how it tracks but I can tell you that from every thing I can see it compares very well against a ZCO or an SNB, and even my old TT and Premier. This honestly feels like the most refined optic I have ever owned, and I have owned about every top tier brand besides a ZCO, now I feel I don't need a ZCO frankly. With the 4.5-28x52 the glass is stunning in clarity, pop, color, and resolution. The wide angle eyepiece offers a very wide field of view, more so than any of my other tactical scopes. Optically it's very impressive considering it's compact size, the glass is very reminiscent of a PM2 in color temperature. At the upper range the eyebox seems a little tight but otherwise 25x and lower it's fine. The turrets are very audible and positive, the zero stop is an eloquent design and easy to set. All of the controls are smooth and offer excellent feedback and lockup. The engravings even look premium and perfect. Though I will not take it out to distance until next week the reticle is excellent, it's not to thick, nor to thin at any mag, it's laser sharp, and all the markings are exactly where they should be, as a matter of fact the reticle was designed by our resident Dark Lord Of Optics, and i'll say great job Mr. Koshkin! Though March has been around for a while it's nice to see them coming out with something so premium. I think the other top tier European brands need a good Japanese competitor. I truly appreciate Japanese excellence, refinement, and attention to detail and the March FX 4.5-28x52 is a great example of Japanese perfectionism, in fact I am so impressed I may have to pick up another March should the need arise.

After I take this the distance I will report further on the scopes performance.

If you want a further review and way more detail on this optic I highly recommend Glassaholics extensive review and comparo against the Canada's main battleship the Tangent Theta.

Rifle Scopes - March 4.5-28x52 High Master Review and Comparison to Tangent Theta 5-25x56

March 4.5-28x52 High Master Review and Comparison to Tangent Theta 5-25x56 If I told you that you could have the benefits of a 4-20 and a 5-25 scope all in one scope would you be interested? Of course, companies like Hensoldt, Schmidt and March have been trying to solve this issue with...

www.snipershide.com

 

[oldrifleman]

No

 

[Sako man]

No

"My"

 

[oldrifleman]

So many reasons but number 1 is they ( last I heard) still do not have a USA service center. Burned from the past!

 

[koshkin]

Of course this is a somewhat rhetorical question, but there is an ounce of query in there. You see, I just picked up a new March FX 4.5-28x52 on sale from Eurooptic. If you have ever looked into this brand you will note that it is generally very expensive, and the premium is interesting considering most Japanese scopes, OEM, or otherwise are in general more affordable when compared to a ZCO, Tangent, or SnB. However from all I can tell this model is absolutely on par with any one of those brands, and it's understandable now why it commands a premium. Now, I have not had time yet to take it out to distance and see how it tracks but I can tell you that from every thing I can see it compares very well against a ZCO or an SNB, and even my old TT and Premier. This honestly feels like the most refined optic I have ever owned, and I have owned about every top tier brand besides a ZCO, now I feel I don't need a ZCO frankly. With the 4.5-28x52 the glass is stunning in clarity, pop, color, and resolution. The wide angle eyepiece offers a very wide field of view, more so than any of my other tactical scopes. Optically it's very impressive considering it's compact size, the glass is very reminiscent of a PM2 in color temperature. At the upper range the eyebox seems a little tight but otherwise 25x and lower it's fine. The turrets are very audible and positive, the zero stop is an eloquent design and easy to set. All of the controls are smooth and offer excellent feedback and lockup. The engravings even look premium and perfect. Though I will not take it out to distance until next week the reticle is excellent, it's not to thick, nor to thin at any mag, it's laser sharp, and all the markings are exactly where they should be, as a matter of fact the reticle was designed by our resident Dark Lord Of Optics, and i'll say great job Mr. Koshkin! Though March has been around for a while it's nice to see them coming out with something so premium. I think the other top tier European brands need a good Japanese competitor. I truly appreciate Japanese excellence, refinement, and attention to detail and the March FX 4.5-28x52 is a great example of Japanese perfectionism, in fact I am so impressed I may have to pick up another March should the need arise.

After I take this the distance I will report further on the scopes performance.

If you want a further review and way more detail on this optic I highly recommend Glassaholics extensive review and comparo against the Canada's main battleship the Tangent Theta.

Rifle Scopes - March 4.5-28x52 High Master Review and Comparison to Tangent Theta 5-25x56

March 4.5-28x52 High Master Review and Comparison to Tangent Theta 5-25x56 If I told you that you could have the benefits of a 4-20 and a 5-25 scope all in one scope would you be interested? Of course, companies like Hensoldt, Schmidt and March have been trying to solve this issue with...

www.snipershide.com

View attachment 8653019

View attachment 8653020

On balance, this is probably my favourite scope from the March line-up, although I am quite partial to the new shuriken turrets. I have those on the 1.5-15x42 and I am quite impressed.

ILya

 

[YotaEer]

The march glass is fantastic, but not quite ZCO level, IMHO. Controls also aren't quite ZCO level, either.

FOV is significantly better than the ZCO, same for size and weight. all depends what you want.

The new Kahles 328 and 540 are really the bridge between the March style scopes and ZCO. You get the ZCO level resolution and controls, with March style FOV.

Reticles are all in the eye of the beholder...

 

[oldrifleman]

The march glass is fantastic, but not quite ZCO level, IMHO. Controls also aren't quite ZCO level, either.

FOV is significantly better than the ZCO, same for size and weight. all depends what you want.

The new Kahles 328 and 540 are really the bridge between the March style scopes and ZCO. You get the ZCO level resolution and controls, with March style FOV.

Reticles are all in the eye of the beholder...

Yeah, the March glass was always Excellent

 

[Sako man]

On balance, this is probably my favourite scope from the March line-up, although I am quite partial to the new shuriken turrets. I have those on the 1.5-15x42 and I am quite impressed.

ILya

If this tracks well then I am going to look into a FX 5-42x56 with a FML-TR1.

 

[Sako man]

Here is an excellent comparison I found from a member. Granted it's the March 5-42 compared to a ZCO. The author prefers the March.

Rifle Scopes - ZCO 5-27 vs March 5-42

Looking at upgrading my element theos to some alpha level glass. I’m interested in either the ZCO 5-27 or the March high master 5-42. Also debating the ZCO 8-40, but it’s gigantic and I don’t shoot ELR. March is more compact so the extra magnification is just a bonus. I’d be looking at the...

www.snipershide.com

 

[CSTactical]

What’s the warranty on the March? Where does it get serviced? How long does it take on average when it does go in on average? If you want to be north of $3,000 those things matter, especially on resale with a scope that’s about to go out of warranty. - Richard

 

[ohiofarmer]

So many reasons but number 1 is they ( last I heard) still do not have a USA service center. Burned from the past!

Burned by March not having a U.S. facility? Or, are you projecting your experience with another brand not having a U.S. facility?

 

[Sako man]

Burned by March not having a U.S. facility? Or, are you projecting your experience with another brand not having a U.S. facility?

^^^ This is a good question. To be fair it would be nice to have some examples of issues, there could be, but I have not seen very much online? What I have read is there is very little in the way of repair orders with March. But these are complex electro optical devices and I have had issues with many optics that I had to warranty like my Kahles, Leupold, NF, Premier. These things get used and will/can break down.

In no way am I saying ZCO is not a good brand either, I would love to have one some day, I just got a deal on this March and commenting on it's quality.

 

[Sako man]

What’s the warranty on the March? Where does it get serviced? How long does it take on average when it does go in on average? If you want to be north of $3,000 those things matter, especially on resale with a scope that’s about to go out of warranty. - Richard

10Y from date of purchase. Fully transferable without registration. Think they get shipped to Deon in Japan for repair, that's the bummer part. So one would wait a little for repairs I imagine, yes that is a consideration.

 

[CSTactical]

^^^ This is a good question. To be fair it would be nice to have some examples of issues, there could be, but I have not seen very much online? What I have read is there is very little in the way of repair orders with March. But these are complex electro optical devices and I have had issues with many optics that I had to warranty like my Kahles, Leupold, NF, Premier. These things get used and will/can break down.

In no way am I saying ZCO is not a good brand either, I would love to have one some day, I just got a deal on this March and commenting on it's quality.

You made the title comparing it to a ZCO which I have a ton of experience with, same with most other brands mentioned here. Questions need to be asked because IMO there is more to consider when spending north of $3,000 on a riflescope that is not mentioned. How easy is it to get behind, is the DOF short with a finicky parallax on this model like some other March models with a high erector system. How does it track? Does it have distortion on the edges like many scopes with wide FOV?

Why warranty makes a big difference is because our experience with Mxxxx for many customers here. Their warranty was abysmal at this price point and customers were waiting up to 6 months with no update on their scopes. We won’t carry a manufacturer that has such poor support. I’m not saying March and Deon are like that, but those things I mention matter IMO

 

[Sako man]

You made the title comparing it to a ZCO which I have a ton of experience with, same with most other brands mentioned here. Questions need to be asked because IMO there is more to consider when spending north of $3,000 on a riflescope that is not mentioned. How easy is it to get behind, is the DOF short with a finicky parallax on this model like some other March models with a high erector system. How does it track? Does it have distortion on the edges like many scopes with wide FOV?

Why warranty makes a big difference is because our experience with Mxxxx for many customers here. Their warranty was abysmal at this price point and customers were waiting up to 6 months with no update on their scopes. We won’t carry a manufacturer that has such poor support. I’m not saying March and Deon are like that, but those things I mention matter IMO

Fair enough, but the question is does this work for "me" is the March my TT/ZCO/SnB? It's the "My" in the title on the post. So in other words is the March MY top tier pick? I'm not experienced with a ZCO but always wanted one, and still may get one some day. And I'm not suggesting people go buy a March instead of a ZCO, i.e. cutting into your sales... What I am saying is that I have enough experience around high end optics to know what I like, and what probably works. As well it's sort of a PSA that there are optics out there that could fit that premium category, and if you look around I'm not the only one saying this.

I do appreciate the feedback that people are chiming in with, and I agree that warranty issues are a big part of a purchase.

Thanks

 

[davethedog]

I have two 4.5-28s and two zcos - a 420 and a 527. The March scopes are a killer deal for what they are but they do not inspire the same level of confidence that my zcos do. I do appreciate the glass quality and FOV in comparison to the ZCO and either reticle of the Christmas tree or straight crosshair works fine for me, but in holding them you understand the price disparity though depending on the rifle it’s not always enough to justify it for me.

 

[oldrifleman]

Burned by March not having a U.S. facility? Or, are you projecting your experience with another brand not having a U.S. facility?

Burned as in way out of my price comfort zone back then bought what was the best optical scope but with a questionable service history ( only service was in Japan). It lost tracking about 8 months in. Was told to expect 2-3 months turn around, rumor mill said 9-12. Sold to a guy for 1/2 price who was willing and able to wait. Took the money and got a converted Leopold big dot. As I said glass was great.

 

[codym]

I just mounted my 4.5 x28 on my nrl light hunter setup. I have two zco 5-27’s I will compare the glass to. I can already say it’s way better than the mark 5 5-25 it replaced. I’m really not sure how I feel about the turrets yet, very sharp with heavy clicks, not nearly as nice as the zco and I actually like the mark 5 turrets except for the fact that they never seem to line up perfectly. For me the zco is amazing but would never make the weight I need it to for a nrl light gun. I searched and got a deal on this scope about 1200 less than my ZCO’s both brand new. If it tracks and hold zero I will be ecstatic as the glass and field of view seem to be epic and in a set of Hawkins light tactical rings it’s just over 31 oz no illumination shuriken (or whatever the hell) locking turret version. Very hopeful…

 

[kthomas]

What’s the warranty on the March? Where does it get serviced? How long does it take on average when it does go in on average? If you want to be north of $3,000 those things matter, especially on resale with a scope that’s about to go out of warranty. - Richard

Similar issues as Khales.

 

[koshkin]

If you need repair, with March, the scopes do need to go back to Japan. They do have someone in the US, so you send the scope there and they deal with everything from that point on.

I am not aware of anything ever taking nine months for them to repair. Maybe there was some sort of a glitch during Covid?

I have had one scope of theirs that needed to be repaired. It took just under two months as I recall.

In that way, you are very likely to get faster turnaround time with ZCO.

As far as overall support goes, I know the people at March quite well (I've done some consulting for them in the past) and I have never seen them leave a customer high and dry.

As far as build quality goes, their products are second to none. They are extremely well built. They do like to keep the weight moderate when they can, so if you are looking for something to weigh your rifle down, March is not it.

ILya

 

[oldrifleman]

Still a hard no, ZCO has earned my trust, the have a spectacular product that check every box for me with exceptional service.

 

[TrevK]

Just another mouth breather here, but I don’t buy scopes or suppressors if it doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. Seems stupid in this day and age to not offer lifetime warranty on something that pricy and it doesn’t give off much confidence in the product in my opinion.

 

[koshkin]

Still a hard no, ZCO has earned my trust, the have a spectacular product that check every box for me with exceptional service.

ZCO is an excellent scope. Nothing wrong with that.

ILya

 

[koshkin]

Just another mouth breather here, but I don’t buy scopes or suppressors if it doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. Seems stupid in this day and age to not offer lifetime warranty on something that pricy and it doesn’t give off much confidence in the product in my opinion.

It has to do with some sort of a Japanese law that pertains to businesses of certain size. I know for a fact that March has been providing service for scopes older than a decade just fine. They just can't put it on the website.

ILya

 

[Bacarrat]

Looked through a Gen 2 March 5-42 in the wild the other week. It's impressive. Was debating on a ZCO, or a TT. The March Gen 2 will run with both easily.

 

[Sako man]

I just mounted my 4.5 x28 on my nrl light hunter setup. I have two zco 5-27’s I will compare the glass to. I can already say it’s way better than the mark 5 5-25 it replaced. I’m really not sure how I feel about the turrets yet, very sharp with heavy clicks, not nearly as nice as the zco and I actually like the mark 5 turrets except for the fact that they never seem to line up perfectly. For me the zco is amazing but would never make the weight I need it to for a nrl light gun. I searched and got a deal on this scope about 1200 less than my ZCO’s both brand new. If it tracks and hold zero I will be ecstatic as the glass and field of view seem to be epic and in a set of Hawkins light tactical rings it’s just over 31 oz no illumination shuriken (or whatever the hell) locking turret version. Very hopeful…

This is my story as well, I replaced my trusty MK5 5-25 PR2, great optic, turrets were good and tracked perfectly, glass was good as well, it ticked a lot of boxes..... but you are totally right, the FOV and glass on the march is on another level. I was resolving details on a hillside and reading text at 2300Y away on the March.

I will say this, and I know it's anecdotal but I know the Japanese very well, and worked in Japan twenty years ago, and have been there six times since, their customer service is second to none, it's in fact the gold standard for all of Asia, so I would find it odd that they wouldn't support their products to the same degree as other optics companies, I don't know why March/Deon would be any exception. Culturally their customer satisfaction game trumps ours, it's literally in their DNA and considered shameful if the customer is not happy. I am really not concerned about them not supporting my optic should it ever need repair IMHO.

 

[koshkin]

Having worked for two Japanese companies in my career, I can argue the customer service part and cultural traditions both ways.

However, in this case, since I know the people at March pretty well, I am not at all concerned with their ethics and willingness to support the customer.

ILya

 

[stanley_white]

What’s the warranty on the March? Where does it get serviced? How long does it take on average when it does go in on average? If you want to be north of $3,000 those things matter, especially on resale with a scope that’s about to go out of warranty. - Richard

Personally, if I am north of $1 those things matter.

-Stan

 

[V-Ref]

It has to do with some sort of a Japanese law that pertains to businesses of certain size. I know for a fact that March has been providing service for scopes older than a decade just fine. They just can't put it on the website.

ILya

This is exactly correct

 

[Denys]

Just another mouth breather here, but I don’t buy scopes or suppressors if it doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. Seems stupid in this day and age to not offer lifetime warranty on something that pricy and it doesn’t give off much confidence in the product in my opinion.

You mean like a car or truck?

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Just another mouth breather here, but I don’t buy scopes or suppressors if it doesn’t have a lifetime warranty. Seems stupid in this day and age to not offer lifetime warranty on something that pricy and it doesn’t give off much confidence in the product in my opinion.

Guess you will never buy a non made in the USA scope. They all have limited warranties due to the laws of JPN and EU. Enjoy your XXXX.

The tech on both scopes and suppressors will change making them obsolete before the warranty runs out. Its about the useful life.

 

[Sako man]

The new Kahles 328 and 540 are really the bridge between the March style scopes and ZCO. You get the ZCO level resolution and controls, with March style FOV.

Reticles are all in the eye of the beholder...

Yes ^, I have been interested in the 328 and was looking for a deal on it but couldn't find it for less than 4k, just out of my budget, and that's kind of how I fell into the March at little more than half the price, similar compact nature and mag range. The reviews though limited have all been favorable on the 328. Back in the day I had a 624 that had abnormally bad CA and I had to send it back to Jeff Huber at Kahles and he just sent me a new scope, pretty good. So warranty wise Kahles has treated me well. Once used 328s start popping up then may be the time to act.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Guess you will never buy a non made in the USA scope. They all have limited warranties due to the laws of JPN and EU. Enjoy your XXXX.

The tech on both scopes and suppressors will change making them obsolete before the warranty runs out. Its about the useful life.

I think part of the problem is that the hoi poi have gotten spoiled by folks that produce cheaper items, sell them at a very large markup and throw in, hey if you break it for any reason or whatever fine, we'll take care of it and just pass the cost on to everyone else since we have enough margins and volume to socialize the costs for folks breaking their stuff or rough handling it, oh and hey it will always be "free" (folks don't understand there is no such thing as a free lunch).

Originally, especially in the European and Japanese type laws, the buyer was also expected to be a responsible party and treat the item with reasonable care and not damage it or let it get damaged. "Warranty" was specifically to cover if there was actually a real manufacturing defect in the item that caused it to break or stop functioning as expected during normal use and a reasonable (but fixed length) time frame since everything ever made pretty much eventually can be made to wear out and break under usage.

For example, in my S&B scopes:

The issue with lubrication coming out of place and causing a spot on the lens = manufacturing defect that I expected to be covered under "warranty"
When I had a scope that had been used and abused for 5 years and run through a lot of sand and such and had the turrents banged around and such and was getting a bit gritty, well that was user caused degradation and I was happy to pay a reasonable price for them to take it apart and rebuild it and make it look and work like new.

But apparently "consumers" in the USA are becoming a bit of an entitled lots that think they deserve endless hand holding and nothing to ever be their fault.

There are companies that can easily cater to that because they make much bigger margins and pad the costs across a wider group of people.
There are companies that make higher end, more niche stuff where they don't have such huge margins and can't democratize the costs of stupidity across a wide group of people quite so easily.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

The 328 has some pretty glaring shortcomings that keeps it from competing with the alphas. DOF was not great and parallax is super finicky. You are going to have to make sacrifices somewhere when you smash that much erector mag and fov into that size package.

Hopefully the 540 is better executed. I am excited to get behind one.

What they companies really need to do is realize no one is shooting these high mag scopes on low power.

Something like a 12-40x while focusing on the best glass, DOF, forgiving eyebox and parallax, turrets, ect without making compromises which is what most of these scores are that are pushing the boundaries. Very few scopes do everything great.

 

[Sako man]

The tech on both scopes and suppressors will change making them obsolete before the warranty runs out. Its about the useful life.

This is what's been going through my mind a lot. If I didn't swap out my scopes or buy better optics I would still be running an R700 with a MK4 from the 90's. It doesn't mean that no one does that, but most of us don't. 10 years and an optic is obsolete. However for most 2-4k$ is a steep commitment.

 

[CSTactical]

Yes ^, I have been interested in the 328 and was looking for a deal on it but couldn't find it for less than 4k, just out of my budget, and that's kind of how I fell into the March at little more than half the price, similar compact nature and mag range. The reviews though limited have all been favorable on the 328. Back in the day I had a 624 that had abnormally bad CA and I had to send it back to Jeff Huber at Kahles and he just sent me a new scope, pretty good. So warranty wise Kahles has treated me well. Once used 328s start popping up then may be the time to act.

Jeff Huber is the DIRECTOR, HPS LLC & Zero Compromise Optic - North America

So that great customer service is what we get here

Richard

 

[TrevK]

You mean like a car or truck?

I trade them in or sell them private party before the warranty expires.. so did you have a point?

 

[Denys]

I trade them in or sell them private party before the warranty expires.. so did you have a point?

Yes, and you just made it.

 

[TrevK]

Yes, and you just made it.

I don’t do that with scopes or suppressors. I haven’t sold one yet. It goes on another gun or upper.

 

[CSTactical]

Yes, and you just made it.

I know plenty of people that have scopes that are passed down to their children after 20 years or so. Not saying it doesn’t happen with cars, but it happens less often than firearms and riflescopes.