Rifle Scopes March 1.5-15x42 inquiry

[Glassaholic]

I have the dual focal plane reticle and the center fiber dot is definitely daylight bright, reminds me a bit of the old Leupold firedot reticle (one thing I think they actually did a good job on), makes it very easy to pickup center even on 1.5x so that's a big plus!

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

I have the dual focal plane reticle and the center fiber dot is definitely daylight bright, reminds me a bit of the old Leupold firedot reticle (one thing I think they actually did a good job on), makes it very easy to pickup center even on 1.5x so that's a big plus!

Good news so far. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Got high hopes for this one.

 

[mercracing]

Anyone have a FFP version coming soon for testing? Anxious to hear about my first March.

 

[Glassaholic]

I cannot wait for your review on this.

For sure, one thing to keep in mind is that this is an early release model and meant for cursory review, I will not be posting a full review of this scope nor will I be making any evaluations about IQ other than minor observations. Once I have a full production model, I will do an in depth review and comparison to other scopes. Production units will hopefully be shipping later this month or early next based on what I've been hearing. @MOUNTIC had a pre-order page setup but I think that's already gone in, you might want to contact him and maybe he'll do another order if you're interested in this scope.

 

[MOUNTIC]

Production scopes will be beating the 90 day lead time significantly from the Feb 28 production start. We are looking like end of March / early April. I'll have emails out to folks who placed orders here in the next week or so with the updated earlier than originally schedule. I will be making another order of these after the inital batch hits the ground. Guys can PM me or shoot me an email [email protected] for any new orders on March scopes.

Jake

 

[nrspence]

Anyone know if March offers any military/first responder discounts? They aren’t on guidefitter or expertvoice.

 

[koshkin]

I received a DFP March 1.5-15x42 and started looking at it.
This is my first look at the Shuriken lock turrets and I like the feel. It is a useful improvement over their original design.

ILya

 

[Qwack]

I'm eager to see @koshkin and @Glassaholic reviews.

I wonder if I'm the only one who ordered the FML-4 reticle. I don't expect the illumination to be nuclear bright, but I hope it will be daylight visible at 1.5x. Does anyone know ?

 

[mercracing]

I'm eager to see @koshkin and @Glassaholic reviews.

I wonder if I'm the only one who ordered the FML-4 reticle. I don't expect the illumination to be nuclear bright, but I hope it will be daylight visible at 1.5x. Does anyone know ?

I have one coming. Also interested to hear reviews.

 

[ClangClang]

Bumping for more info if anyone has had a chance to evaluate the early models that have arrived

 

[pmarkov]

I'm eager to see @koshkin and @Glassaholic reviews.

It's been more than a month since the first units have arrived...

Are there any initial thoughts or impressions from those who have received them?

 

[Burdy]

It's been more than a month since the first units have arrived...

Are there any initial thoughts or impressions from those who have received them?

I don't think anybody has a full production unit on hand yet. I could be wrong but when I prepaid for my order I was told I was the very first paid pre-order and I still don't have my scope yet. Now it's possible some of these reviewers or influencers got a production model, but from the status updates I'm getting, I don't think a full production unit is out yet, so I don't know that it's fair to comment on an unfinished product if that's the case. I'm sure someone will advise\correct me.

 

[mercracing]

Mine should be in on Wednesday.

 

[Burdy]

Mine should be in on Wednesday.

Is it the DFP or FFP?

 

[mercracing]

Is it the DFP or FFP?

FFP

 

[Burdy]

FFP

Ah, I think the delay is in the DFP which is what I ordered.

 

[Wild dog]

I got an Email from Jake saying my DFP is in route. Should be here on Wednesday .

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

I got an Email from Jake saying my DFP is in route. Should be here on Wednesday .

Same. My original tracking for the DFP version had the estimated delivery for last Friday but that was just based on the shipping label creation. Tracking has since updated to show actual progress and delivery is expected Wednesday too. It's in PA right now, so it should hit MD as scheduled. Just received my barreled action last week so the timing is almost perfect.

 

[Qwack]

I don't think anybody has a full production unit on hand yet. I could be wrong but when I prepaid for my order I was told I was the very first paid pre-order and I still don't have my scope yet. Now it's possible some of these reviewers or influencers got a production model, but from the status updates I'm getting, I don't think a full production unit is out yet, so I don't know that it's fair to comment on an unfinished product if that's the case. I'm sure someone will advise\correct me.

As all pre-order scopes appears to have shipped at roughly the same time, only 10 weeks after pre-order date, it seems like they began production in advance.

It seems logical that the first units that #glassaholic and #koshkin got a month ago are more the first units of production rather than pre-production units. I suspect they should not differ in any significant way.

Just a deduction, I have not facts to back that...

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Mine arrived early! This thing is sweeeeeeeet! DFP is exactly what I hoped it would be since this is going on my hunting rifle. I was surprised by how nice the illumination is. Daylight bright for me. Eyebox is a bit tight on higher magnification but not horrible in my opinion. Parallax was another surprise for me after having the 3-24x March FX Tactical a while back. I did not like the 3-24x at all because of the parallax but this 1.5-15x is so much better. The parallax dial does go well past the infinity mark so to keep it set on infinity will have to be a regular double check. The turrets are nice and tactile and the locking mechanism is pretty cool, although I do think it can be bumped from locked/unlocked if not careful. It only takes about a 1/10th of a turn counterclockwise to unlock it and it moves smoothly. I would have liked that to be a little tighter so it takes more purposeful pressure to engage/disengage. The throw lever that comes with the scope is interesting. No bolts on it, just a self tightening latch that is all plastic. Curious how it will do in the woods and hold up over time. They positioned it well so it doesn't interfere with the bolt which was something I worried about with a 10x mag range.

I have a Zeiss V8 1.8-14x that I put this next too and the glass is great in both, hard to tell a difference. Felt like the leaves on a pear tree 100 yards away looked more vibrant in the March but not by much. Compared to the V8 this thing is tiny. Curious to see how they compare in low light, although I expect they will be on par which will be fantastic.

Overall at first glance: I'm impressed. Not that my opinion matters much but I am very happy with this scope even though I had to get it in Mil.

Here are some pictures I was able to get. Hard to do comparison pics with the V8 mounted outside since it's as sunny as it gets outside right now. I tried.

Mounting it up in a Nightforce Ultralight using my John Wick cards.

Rig Setup:
Lone Peak Fuzion Ti action
Straight Jacket spun 16.5" Proof .308 1/8 twist with YHM qd comp
MDT HNT 26 folder
Atlas V8 w/ Gray Ops Arca throw lever
Nightforce Ultralight 20 MOA mount
March FX 1.5-15x DFP
Total weight as seen (mag not loaded) = 8lb 14oz.

 

[Burdy]

As all pre-order scopes appears to have shipped at roughly the same time, only 10 weeks after pre-order date, it seems like they began production in advance.

It seems logical that the first units that #glassaholic and #koshkin got a month ago are more the first units of production rather than pre-production units. I suspect they should not differ in any significant way.

Just a deduction, I have not facts to back that...

Mine arrived early! This thing is sweeeeeeeet! DFP is exactly what I hoped it would be since this is going on my hunting rifle. I was surprised by how nice the illumination is. Daylight bright for me. Eyebox is a bit tight on higher magnification but not horrible in my opinion. Parallax was another surprise for me after having the 3-24x March FX Tactical a while back. I did not like the 3-24x at all because of the parallax but this 1.5-15x is so much better. The parallax dial does go well past the infinity mark so to keep it set on infinity will have to be a regular double check. The turrets are nice and tactile and the locking mechanism is pretty cool, although I do think it can be bumped from locked/unlocked if not careful. It only takes about a 1/10th of a turn counterclockwise to unlock it and it moves smoothly. I would have liked that to be a little tighter so it takes more purposeful pressure to engage/disengage. The throw lever that comes with the scope is interesting. No bolts on it, just a self tightening latch that is all plastic. Curious how it will do in the woods and hold up over time. They positioned it well so it doesn't interfere with the bolt which was something I worried about with a 10x mag range.

I have a Zeiss V8 1.8-14x that I put this next too and the glass is great in both, hard to tell a difference. Felt like the leaves on a pear tree 100 yards away looked more vibrant in the March but not by much. Compared to the V8 this thing is tiny. Curious to see how they compare in low light, although I expect they will be on par which will be fantastic.

Overall at first glance: I'm impressed. Not that my opinion matters much but I am very happy with this scope even though I had to get it in Mil.

Here are some pictures I was able to get. Hard to do comparison pics with the V8 mounted outside since it's as sunny as it gets outside right now. I tried.
View attachment 8118059

View attachment 8118060

View attachment 8118061

View attachment 8118062

Mounting it up in a Nightforce Ultralight using my John Wick cards.
View attachment 8118063
View attachment 8118064

View attachment 8118065

Rig Setup:
Lone Peak Fuzion Ti action
Straight Jacket spun 16.5" Proof .308 1/8 twist with YHM qd comp
MDT HNT 26 folder
Atlas V8 w/ Gray Ops Arca throw lever
Nightforce Ultralight 20 MOA mount
March FX 1.5-15x DFP
Total weight as seen (mag not loaded) = 8lb 14oz.
View attachment 8118066

Looks like they came in nearly an ounce over budget.
Is that mount a 1.5 high?

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Looks like they came in nearly an ounce over budget.
Is that mount a 1.5 high?

Yeah, I went 1.5" in hopes I could use my PVS30 but I think it's going to be too far forward with the stock and compact scope. Would love if MDT came out with a fully closed forend with mlok on the top for the HNT 26. That piece is removable so they could do it and it wouldn't add much weight at all.

 

[Denys]

Just a quick note on the fast lever, or throw lever, as you call it. I have been using one on my competition rifle for years. This is the bestest design lever I have seen. Let me explain why.

- It is made of polymer (plastic) whereas others are made of aluminum (aluminium) or other metal. For this purpose, I prefer plastic. This thing sticks out and regardless of how careful I try to be in handling rifles, stuff happens, and I have hit it a few times over the years. It doesn't hurt and it won't scratch anything. It won't gouge out a piece of flesh by mistake.

- It comes apart if you hit it on something, unlike more durable ones that screw into the magnifying knob. Again, for this purpose, I prefer it comes off when hit. The last thing I want is something solid that is firmly attached to my multi-kilobuck riflescope and can screw up the zoom assembly.

As I said before, I have hit it or I have had it hit something. In such cases, the lever comes apart in two pieces and falls off. Just pick up the pieces and put it back on while thanking your stars if did come apart and did not cause any damage to you or the riflescope.

If you lose it, get another one, they are not expensive.

Another neat feature of the fast lever is to be able to look at it and you know the approximate magnification your riflescope is set at. You can do that from position, or, if you're scurrying around in the dark, you can do that by feel if you need to.

 

[Qwack]

@UNRL Ghandi beautiful rifle !

Got mine too ! Now I have a problem, I don't know which one to open first

 

[Denys]

Crap, now I'm envious. Looking forward to some reviews.

 

[Qwack]

I would be interested to see what the production scopes are actually weighing at

 

[mercracing]

Glanced through mine quickly before I was back out the door. Pretty impressed with glass and illumination. Will put it side by side with my G3 this weekend. Very interested in side by side low light comparison.

 

[TheOE800]

Y’all gon make me buy a 1.5-15x I wasn’t planning on buying! Man those shuriken turrets look tall as fuck though.

Shame the 4.5-28x52 is over 30oz now.

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Y’all gon make me buy a 1.5-15x I wasn’t planning on buying! Man those shuriken turrets look tall as fuck though.

Shame the 4.5-28x52 is over 30oz now.

The turrets don't seem too tall to me. I took some measurements to get a comparison to some scopes I have on hand. Here are the results (note the PST Gen 2 might be a tiny bit taller since I didn't realize the tape measure wasn't all the way to the base of the turret because of the ring).

 

[TheOE800]

Ah you have actual monster turrets, I see a Zeiss S5.

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Ah you have actual monster turrets, I see a Zeiss S5.

Yeah I signed those turrets up for basketball this year.

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Low light comparison to my Zeiss V8 last night was very good. Couldn't pick a winner between the two and my V8 is the best low light scope I had. The illumination at the 1 setting didn't have any bleeding. I did notice that when adjusting the illumination dial it is easy to accidentally adjust the parallax.

I mounted my PVS30 in front of my March and because it sits so far away from my scope on my HNT 26 stock I had to go to 3x to get full picture but it looked great. My barn is about 60 yards from my house and I could zoom to 15x and still see fine. Looked great on 6-8x.

My one gripe so far is the wind hold dots are near impossible for me to see. They're too small even at 15x. No matter how I adjust the diopter and/or parallax I just can't see them unless I have a light background and am really looking for them. I have no idea how anyone can see them on darker background targets. I can see the "+" starting at 6 Mil (circled below) easily enough, but the .05 Mil sized holdover dots are too small for me.

Tried to get a pic through the scope to show you what I'm talking about. This is at 10x pointed at my refrigerator 2.5' away. Best pic I could get.

 

[Denys]

Y’all gon make me buy a 1.5-15x I wasn’t planning on buying! Man those shuriken turrets look tall as fuck though.

Shame the 4.5-28x52 is over 30oz now.

Yeah, the weight went up by a whole ounce and a bit. From 29.8 to 31.04.

The shuriken knobs do look tall on that scope, because it is so short. We are used to somewhat different proportions, I guess.

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

Everything I had been looking at through the scope to this point had been 100ish yards. Looked good. I was just able to go out and look through it at some steel targets at 300 and scope a ridge at 700 and I'm not overly excited about the image quality. Appears to be anything over 8x at the longer ranges looks blurry no matter what I do to try to correct it. Pretty obvious edge distortion too. Took my Zeiss V8 out and at 14x compared it to the March at 15x. Zeiss won hands down. Guess there are some compromises for how compact and lightweight this is and at the ranges I'll use this for most it's really good, just not happy with the image resolution at longer ranges. Bummer.

@Qwack you seeing anything similar to what I'm seeing through your 1.5-15x with the FFP reticle?

 

[TheOE800]

That sounds more in line with what I expected when I heard about this scope. Diopter and parallax dialed in?

 

[tightgrp]

Got mine as well, and put on my MDT HNT-26 with LP Fuzion TI action.

A few observations:

• I prefer the parallax yard markers on my March 3-24x52. Guess that size is a consideration here so not a huge deal
• I am not sure if this is typical, but when adjusting the diopter, I can get a clear picture of the reticle in the center and left side, but the right side- especially the right lower quadrant is significantly blurrier. I don’t know if this is typical, or if perhaps this one might be off-spec? I am also a photographer and it’s VERY common with many of the major camera lens manufacturers to have significant copy/sample variation that relates to decentering, as well as other issues. Not sure if that's the case here, but some obvious asymmetry in clarity here.
• An interesting ‘issue’ I found is that the primary vertical reticle doesn’t move when moving my head side-to-side, when parallax adjusted optimally, but the rest of the reticle in the FFP moves significantly if my head isn’t perfectly centered. Perhaps this is one of the issues related to the DFP design?

Looks great at the lower mags (was using an older Leupold VX-6 2-12), but at the higher mags, it sure does make me appreciate my ZCO 4-20. If March made this in an 8x erector, with THIS reticle and w/ 52mm objective, I'd sell both this and my March 3-24x52 in a heartbeat and put that on this rifle. One can dream.

Taking out to range this coming weekend to see how it's working in a real world situation...

 

[UNRL Ghandi]

That sounds more in line with what I expected when I heard about this scope. Diopter and parallax dialed in?

Yep. Looks good at 1-8x but image can't be resolved at the longer range at the higher magnifications. It's interesting that on 8x it's nice and clear but 10x gets worse and 15x is bad.

I kept saying I'd love it if the old Vortex 1.5-8x LH were illuminated and it would be the only scope I owned for my hunting rifles...kinda got that with this scope being clear only through the 8x range at distance but with the addition of the higher magnification even it's not perfect. For this price point though I want the image at 15x looking clearer than what I'm seeing.

 

[glock24]

Thanks for saving me 3k, gentlemen

 

[gxer]

An interesting ‘issue’ I found is that the primary vertical reticle doesn’t move when moving my head side-to-side, when parallax adjusted optimally, but the rest of the reticle in the FFP moves significantly if my head isn’t perfectly centered. Perhaps this is one of the issues related to the DFP design?

Yes, that’s how DFP is. FFP is more subjective to parallax error than SFP, when you have both on the the same scope, that’s what you will experience.

This is why I feel it’s better to dial than to use hold for longer range for DFP scopes

 

[Chargerguy]

My one gripe so far is the wind hold dots are near impossible for me to see. They're too small even at 15x. No matter how I adjust the diopter and/or parallax I just can't see them unless I have a light background and am really looking for them. I have no idea how anyone can see them on darker background targets. I can see the "+" starting at 6 Mil (circled below) easily enough, but the .05 Mil sized holdover dots are too small for me.

Same for me. Disappointing.

 

[SubGun]

Same for me. Disappointing.pre-production scopes had this problem.

I wonder if the pre-production March 1.5–15x42 FFP scopes had this problem.

 

[SubGun]

Maybe that's why everyone is radio silent

The silence is deafening...

Perhaps the next post will be in the PX

 

[mercracing]

I’ll be getting some real comparisons tonight or tomorrow. Really looking for low light.

 

[tightgrp]

I'll be taking mine out to range on Sunday. Will try to break out my macro lens and take some pics of what I see in the scope tomorrow, and post here...

 

[mercracing]

Ok here's what I know so far. I didn't get to check at dusk last night. I was able to look through both the March 1.5-15 and a G3 1-10. I was able to look out to about 140 yards. Conditions were not really bright. It was 6:20am, and fairly overcast making things darker than normal. I played with both throughout the magnification range.
For me, this is 100% a hunting scope. Here where I hunt max range is 300yds. I personally think the March is the better of the two scopes. I was able to focus in on stumps and pine needles better with the March. I was also a fan of the extra 5x zoom over the Razor.
Tonight I should be able to look through both at dusk as compare again.

 

[Qwack]

Everything I had been looking at through the scope to this point had been 100ish yards. Looked good. I was just able to go out and look through it at some steel targets at 300 and scope a ridge at 700 and I'm not overly excited about the image quality. Appears to be anything over 8x at the longer ranges looks blurry no matter what I do to try to correct it. Pretty obvious edge distortion too. Took my Zeiss V8 out and at 14x compared it to the March at 15x. Zeiss won hands down. Guess there are some compromises for how compact and lightweight this is and at the ranges I'll use this for most it's really good, just not happy with the image resolution at longer ranges. Bummer.

@Qwack you seeing anything similar to what I'm seeing through your 1.5-15x with the FFP reticle?

I had little time to play with it, but yes I did found the reticle blurry at high magnification if I set the diopter at low mag. I assume it's a compromise thing.

That said, my eyes are pretty good for adjusting, even if I'm 45. My way of adjusting the diopter is by turning it in the "+" range. There, my eye cannot adapt. I then turn the ocular clockwise until I get a crisp view of the reticle.

What I found so far with the 1.5-15 is that I need to do it at higher magnification. If I set the diopter at 12x for exemple, I can back the power down and still have a crisp reticle, my eye adjusting instantly to it.

I found the same thing happens with the 4.5-28, but to a much lesser extent.

Hope it helps

 

[Qwack]

There's something very odd with my new March scopes, both of them.

When installing them in M-Brace mounts Thursday night, they kind of got wedged in the lower part of the rings. I didn't like that feeling at all. Went through with installing them anyway, thinking they were just on the large size of specs. I measured the tubes after, not sure why I didn't do it before, I was probably tired

Turns out they are 34.10 - 34.11 mm. It's very odd. I wonder if someone else had the same issue.

Everything looks ok though...

 

[tightgrp]

Played around a bit more with mine today, before taking out to range tomorrow. I also tried to take some pics, but the way my scope is mounted, I couldn't get my 'good' camera lens to work with the scope mounted to gun. I did manage to get a shot with my phone that shows how daylight bright that red dot is. The poster who mentioned that this really is a scope for hunting hit the mark. This was exactly what I was looking for, to replace my (older, not the HD) Leupold VX-6 2-12 x 42. It's a bit heavier, but at least in the modest mag ranges, appears to be clearer, and this dot is sweet. Points still go to the VX6 for being lighter and more streamlined (turrets not as big). Pic attached of the red dot in mid/late afternoon light. Easily visible at the highest setting, which was a weakness of the 3-24 x 52 March I also own with FML-T1 reticle. Love the 1.5x. Those dots for the FFP are pretty useless unless you have the right color background. Lastly, the issue of the FFP vertical lines moving with head is far less of an issue now that it's mounted onto the rifle, and I have my cheek weld reference. That slight movement isn't that meaningful. More when I get back from range tomorrow, where I'll try at 100 and 300 yds.

 

[beetroot]

Played around a bit more with mine today, before taking out to range tomorrow. I also tried to take some pics, but the way my scope is mounted, I couldn't get my 'good' camera lens to work with the scope mounted to gun. I did manage to get a shot with my phone that shows how daylight bright that red dot is. The poster who mentioned that this really is a scope for hunting hit the mark. This was exactly what I was looking for, to replace my (older, not the HD) Leupold VX-6 2-12 x 42. It's a bit heavier, but at least in the modest mag ranges, appears to be clearer, and this dot is sweet. Points still go to the VX6 for being lighter and more streamlined (turrets not as big). Pic attached of the red dot in mid/late afternoon light. Easily visible at the highest setting, which was a weakness of the 3-24 x 52 March I also own with FML-T1 reticle. Love the 1.5x. Those dots for the FFP are pretty useless unless you have the right color background. Lastly, the issue of the FFP vertical lines moving with head is far less of an issue now that it's mounted onto the rifle, and I have my cheek weld reference. That slight movement isn't that meaningful. More when I get back from range tomorrow, where I'll try at 100 and 300 yds.

What is glass like compared to the VX6 2-12?

 

[tightgrp]

What is glass like compared to the VX6 2-12?

I'll be taking out to range this AM. Overcast/dark and rainy so a good test. I sold the 2-12 to my son-in-law and he'll have it at the range today as well, so can compare the two...