Re: March tactical scopes
I have one of the 3-24xFFPs Erik, and this is a summary of the feedback I gave the March distributor down here:
<span style="font-weight: bold">Good</span>
- Glass is excellent in terms of both colour rendition and resolution
- Excellent construction - tube/housing is strong, far more so than the March BR models, although probably not as much as the SB PMII, Premier and NF NXS(I haven't whaled on it with a hammer though). March have great QC.
- Tracking is excellent, insofar as a 15 mil spread @ 100m test can prove (target backer wasn't big enough to go apeshit). No issues noted that weren't shooter related.
- Turrets are excellent, clicks are sharp and positive,great zero stop functionality
- Amazingly light and compact for a scope with a 10x mag ratio. Probably best suited for something handy and compact, if you're looking to keep overall weight down.
- Illumination (I have the low power variant) good and easy to use. Doesn't flare and the lowest setting should be ok with NV use.
- Price is...pricey but competitive against other top-end offerings
<span style="font-weight: bold">Not so good</span>
- Line edge bleed noted on reticle at 24x mag.
- Fussy eye relief/small eyebox, particularly on higher mag - this appears to be down to a combo of high mag ratio, tube length and small-ish objective (42mm), plus some other technical things which I know sweet f*ck all about. In the 18-24x range, don't expect to rapidly acquire a sight picture, particularly from hasty/improvise positions, or keep the sight picture during the shot on a rifle with a fair recoil, unless you've got very good fundamentals. I think this is a bit of a killer in a practical/tactical scope. You can compensate for it by keeping the magnification down but whether you're happy with that sort of trade-off is up to you. YMMV.
- Stupid lens covers - they aren't flip-ups or bikini type, so you can't attach them to the rifle. Invariably, these will get lost. Small niggle.
Overall, my impression of the scope is positive and I suspect that the next March tactical offering will be hard to beat, given this is their first real attempt at it. Understanding market differentiation between BR and practical shooting might be a part of that battle.
Ilya Koshkin's review of this scope will be a very good guide.
Cheers, Justin
