Rifle Scopes New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

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Flyingbullseye

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    • Jul 24, 2010
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    #1
    Just received the new weaver tactical today. I will try to get a review later this week as long as time still allows. I do want to post some prelim details in the meantime.

    If anyone is not aware this is a FFP mil/mil illuminated scope. The illumination is both green and red with 5 settings each. The illumination knob is on the parallax knob, a nice place to put it.

    The elevation and windage knob have a good tactile feel to them, not much of an audible sound but its there. Big deal, the feel is more important to me. No over/under travel each click lines up where it should. The one nice feature I like with these knobs (I'll post pics later) is you do not have any screws to mess with when setting your zero. You unscrew the top section of the turrets gnarling, lift off the turret, set it in place and screw the top back on. When placed in the down locked setting these things won't move. If you were to use this scope for hunting its a nice feature.

    Parallax and zoom are tight but not too much. They both have a quality feel to them. The parallax setting ranges from 35yd to infinity.

    The reticle is almost identical to nightforces mil-dot. The only difference is this has an open mil dots but with half mil hash marks. Against a light color background you can still see the half hash marks at 3x. Weaver did put a open cross hair center but its pin size, not distracting at all with the quick glances I've made so far.

    As I mentioned I will try to post some pictures later this week. Unfortunately I also received a new barrel which will be installed this week so a range report will have to wait. For $700 at midway this looks to be a winner, hopefully time will tell.

    Flyingbullseye
     
    #4
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I had a Weaver 1.5-4.5x24 and was very impressed with it's glass. It's glass was every bit just as good as the Meopta K-dot that replaced it. If the Weaver was a true 1x on the low end with a brighter reticle, it would have been killer for me.

    I have no doubt this has glass just as good if not better, hopefully it proves to be reliable and tracks perfectly. Would make a killer scope on my SPRish AR on a low budget.
     
    #5
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I don't have 30mm rings yet, I knew I forgot something when I bought it.
    whistle.gif
    Anyway I lightly set the scope on the bottom half of my 1 inch rings and the eye relief ranges from over 4 inches at 3x to about 3.5 inches at 15x. If you get scope bit with this thing you are doing something really wrong or you're blind.

    Flyingbullseye
     
    #6
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Just got mine in today as well, and I'll agree with the info posted above by Flyingbullseye. I'm waiting on my Seekins rings to show up, but in the meantime I did put some older Burris XTR rings on it so I could check it out mounted. I'm pretty impressed with the glass & the turrets feel good to me, kinda remind me of the older non HS NF turrets by feel (maybe a touch easier to turn than the NF). VERY minor tunneling from 3x to approximately 3.8x on mine, nowhere near as noticible tunneling as my S&B 4-16. Has 5 mil per revolution turrets with a little over 31 mils of total elevation travel. The turret locking feature seems like a neat idea, I'm curious to see how it & the feel of the turrets hold up over time & usage. If the OP doesn't mind, I'll see if I can get a couple pics up tonight.

    Thinking the green illum will definitely come in handy while predator hunting with a red spotlight!
     
    #9
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Yep, I think the illum is just about perfect for my intended uses. Set on 5 the illum is daylight visible. I just took mine outside in the dark & set on 1 it stands out, but is definitely not overpowering at all. No "bloom" like you see on a lot of lower end scopes.
     
    #10
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    On 10x with front cap closed & illumination on setting #1 green...

    Shooting011.jpg


    On 15x with same setting (didn't come out as clear as I hoped)...

    Shooting012.jpg


    Please excuse the krylon camo'd rings LOL! Obviously belong on another rifle! Turrets are locked down in this pic...

    Shooting014.jpg


    You can see the turrets are unlocked & up in this pic...
    Shooting013.jpg


    Front pic...
    Shooting009.jpg
     
    #11
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Garrett, what size butler caps did you find fit?

    Checked mine, 31.2 mils of travel. Its supposed to have 100 moa of travel which is give or take about 29.7 mils. Either way that's a long way before you have to holdover.

    One thing I will say about the scope itself is its beefy. Just over 27oz this things feels like you could bludgeon someone with it and still hold zero.

    Glad I got mine when I did, its now out of stock at midway. When more hit the market it would be great if lowlight could do a review on it. Probably would be better that what I'll do.

    Thanks for the pics, can't post anything yet myself.

    Flyingbullseye

     
    #12
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I have one of the new PST's (4-16x)and I think it is a great scope, especially for the money. Please don't take this the wrong way because I am a fan of the PST!

    The one thing I don't care for with the PST is the glass. Now, I think the many other features of the PST still make it a good scope for the price even with the glass. Also, I am one of the ones that say that the glass only needs to be good enough to hit your target and the PST certainly exceeds that criteria.

    Now, I was shooting with my PST yesterday for some time and enjoyed myself quite a bit! After shooting my PST I switched to my 7RM hunting rig to try some ammo I forgot I had to see if it would be usable for (no lead) hunting here in Cal. It was the old Barnes bullets that were painted blue, but that's another story.

    What I am getting at is that this rifle has a Nitrex scope on it that I paid like $320 for and got a $100 rebate for a net cost of $220 I believe.
    I knew that the glass in this scope was quite good and better than the glass in the PST but WOW, what a difference!
    BTW, Nitrex was made by Weaver.

    If the glass in the Weaver Tacticle is as good as the glass in the Nitrex, well, let me put it this way, If the PST had that glass I would need a VERY good reason to buy something more expensive. That is some bad-ass glass!

    Too bad Vortex could not have contracted it's glass from Weaver or from their source as it seems they could have kept the same price point.

    I am still happy with my PST.
     
    #14
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Flyingbullseye, the Butler Creeks are a #18 eyepiece & a #44 objective. I saw an old review on the 4-20 Weaver & the dimensions were the same for the 3-15.

    I was pleasantly surprised on the amount of travel as well!

    I'll be going out Wednesday & shooting out to 500 yards or so with it. Will check tracking & try to get a few decent pics through the scope during daylight if I have time.

    jeffersonv, I haven't looked through a PST yet to directly compare, but I will say that I'm pretty damn impressed with the clarity on this Weaver. To my eyes, I think it's a bit better than my little 3-9x Zeiss Conquest I have on a 223 Ackley, & so far I'd say that based on memory it's pretty close to the 5.5-22x50 NXS I had a while back. I'll be able to tell more after I get to really try it out Wednesday evening. Barring something crazy happening with the adjustments tracking or something, I think (in my somewhat limited experience) that Weaver has a helluva scope at this price point.

    Will update Thursday afternoon on the range session!
     
    #15
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    You can leave the turrets unlocked. Mine will probably stay that way on the range. Locking them IMHO, would be better for insuring the turrets don't get accidentally moved in transport while in a drag bag or soft case. All you do is pull up to unlock, or push down on them to lock them in place. Feels like a detent that holds them in place. As Flyingbullseye said, the turrets are removable via the large knurled screw on top of the turret to "slip" them & reset to zero as well. Neat concept, but not sure how many folks will use it (or like it). Guess it will boil down to personal preference, like most things optic related LOL!
     
    #16
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Nice to see a company like Weaver produce what looks like a good solid scope at a good honest price. This sort of thing should help to keep companies like Leupold who are now charging rediculous prices for similar spec'd scopes on their toes. I hope Weaver sell lots of these.
     
    #20
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I'll tell you what my opinion is, if the production model turns out like I hope I have a hard time turning this scope away for $750. That seems way underpriced for what you get. We are trying to find the best deal on these and stock them ASAP.

    Maybe ATK is subsidizing the cost of these to break into the market. I will say if the scope is as solid as it seems that may be a brilliant strategy. I think adding this scope to your stable is a low risk/high reward proposition. Know nothing about warranty/service issues with Weaver, but the product looks like it won't hardly need it.

    Wait until the 1-5x24 arrives....

    Enjoy your purchase, range report is requested

    Scott
     
    #23
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TrapperSGD</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LibertyOptics</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wait until the 1-5x24 arrives....</div></div>

    It is already here:

    http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=168838

    168838.jpg
    </div></div>


    Well there ya go!! I really liked that scope at SHOT. Have at it. The knobs are capped and nothing extraordinary but the glass, reticle, and illumination were nifty. FFP too.

    Scott
     
    #24
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Is the illuminated reticle day-light-visible? If it is, Weaver will sell a lot of these? Products like this at this price point are what the scope sector needs to shake up some of our primma donna manufacturers.
     
    #25
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I wish Sightron and Weaver would get the hint about reticle design. Plain mil-dot reticles are so 80's. This is the one last hurdle (well, Sightron still needs an FFP) that keeps them both from getting my business. Vortex provides so many key features *AND* a great reticle in the PST, it's hard to pass up even with iffy glass (and I think this is HIGHLY exaggrated. FWIW, JonA said the glass in his PST 6-24 and Weaver 5-20 were comparable...). But if the Weaver had a enhanced hash reticle with decent holdover, I doubt that I'd wait for a PST.

    John
     
    #26
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I have had several conversations with weaver telling them the same thing about the reticule design. The more people send them requesting these changes, the better off this scope will be.
     
    #27
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Yes the PST has a nice reticle, zero stop, and the turrets are going to be hard to beat now. I believe it will be found to be a rugged scope too. It uses the same engineering as the Razor for shock proofing.

    My observations about the glass is likely going to differ from the next guy's. Opinions on glass are very subjective. The PST performs well regardless.
    I think in my last post I was not so disappointed with the PST glass as I was <span style="text-decoration: underline">astounded</span> by the Nitrex/Weaver glass.

    Having the PST, the Bushy, and the Weaver Tacticle to choose from at this price range is a big improvement from just a couple years ago. And who knows what Super Sniper will come out with next? It looks like they already have a 10 mil turret.
     
    #28
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    sititunga1, the illuminated reticle is daylight visible. Dependent on background & brightness outside, you'd likely have to use the brighter of the settings (3-5).

    jrob300, here is the reticle in this scope, the EMDR ...

    http://www.weaveroptics.com/downloads/WO267_EMDR_Reticle_11_x_8-5.pdf

    I will say that I'd like to see something more like the NF MLR2, but honestly this EMDR is much nicer to me than a plain mil-dot hands down. Reticle is very fine, no worries of covering up your target unless your shooting at spent rifle brass or other TINY objects.

    Scott, I remember reading your blog from SHOT about these scopes, and you were spot on! Definitely a great buy on these scopes for the features. A little competition in this price range is going to be a good thing for all of us!!!
     
    #29
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LibertyOptics</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'll tell you what my opinion is, if the production model turns out like I hope I have a hard time turning this scope away for $750. That seems way underpriced for what you get. We are trying to find the best deal on these and stock them ASAP.

    Maybe ATK is subsidizing the cost of these to break into the market. I will say if the scope is as solid as it seems that may be a brilliant strategy. I think adding this scope to your stable is a low risk/high reward proposition. Know nothing about warranty/service issues with Weaver, but the product looks like it won't hardly need it.

    Wait until the 1-5x24 arrives....

    Enjoy your purchase, range report is requested

    Scott</div></div>
    Let us know as soon as you do, and I'll go buy one from you.
     
    #30
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    AFAIK the Weaver use LIGHT OPTICAL in Japan for their glass! One of the best lens makers in Japan. Their Classic extreme had some brilliant glass in for the money and a bargain on closeout also!
     
    #31
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Man these look awesome. I saw them on the weaver site and was wondering when they would be showing up. I would love to see some through the scope picks with some side by side comparisons with some other scopes.
    No sun shade or zero stop with these?
     
    #32
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ggarrett1911</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sititunga1, the illuminated reticle is daylight visible. Dependent on background & brightness outside, you'd likely have to use the brighter of the settings (3-5).

    jrob300, here is the reticle in this scope, the EMDR ...

    http://www.weaveroptics.com/downloads/WO267_EMDR_Reticle_11_x_8-5.pdf

    I will say that I'd like to see something more like the NF MLR2, but honestly this EMDR is much nicer to me than a plain mil-dot hands down. Reticle is very fine, no worries of covering up your target unless your shooting at spent rifle brass or other TINY objects.

    Scott, I remember reading your blog from SHOT about these scopes, and you were spot on! Definitely a great buy on these scopes for the features. A little competition in this price range is going to be a good thing for all of us!!! </div></div>

    Can you guys tell me how close the parallax focuses to ? One of the things I like about the Bushnell 3-12 is that the parallax goes down to 10Y.
     
    #33
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: steve123</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ggarrett1911</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sititunga1, the illuminated reticle is daylight visible. Dependent on background & brightness outside, you'd likely have to use the brighter of the settings (3-5).

    jrob300, here is the reticle in this scope, the EMDR ...

    http://www.weaveroptics.com/downloads/WO267_EMDR_Reticle_11_x_8-5.pdf

    I will say that I'd like to see something more like the NF MLR2, but honestly this EMDR is much nicer to me than a plain mil-dot hands down. Reticle is very fine, no worries of covering up your target unless your shooting at spent rifle brass or other TINY objects.

    Scott, I remember reading your blog from SHOT about these scopes, and you were spot on! Definitely a great buy on these scopes for the features. A little competition in this price range is going to be a good thing for all of us!!! </div></div>

    Can you guys tell me how close the parallax focuses to ? One of the things I like about the Bushnell 3-12 is that the parallax goes down to 10Y. </div></div>

    The parallax knob goes as low as 35yd but looking through it, it will focus sharp and clear much closer than that. As for the sunshade, no it doesn't come with one. I don't personally don't use one and don't care but others probably will.

    I plan on posting some pictures thursday and will try to get some long range ones through the scope. Ggarrett1911 will have to post his range report first as my rifle will still be with the smith getting a new barrel. Personally I'm jealous as I really want to get to the range asap and try this thing out.

    Flyingbullseye
     
    #34
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I'll be shooting tomorrow afternoon & reporting back on the scope either later in the afternoon or first thing Thursday morning (gotta work night shift tomorrow night). Anybody with more experience on digital camera settings have any suggestions for taking pics through a scope? I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination LOL!

    Also posted in Photography forum looking for good digital camera settings for through the scope pics... any help would be appreciated, as I'm a total newb on photography & I'd like to get the best representation possible of the glass quality on this scope!
     
    #37
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TMshot</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Man these look awesome. I saw them on the weaver site and was wondering when they would be showing up. I would love to see some through the scope picks with some side by side comparisons with some other scopes.
    No sun shade or zero stop with these?

    </div></div>

    where are you at in PA? this could be easily arranged.
     
    #38
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    How does the glass compare to the Bushnell FFP 4200? I have been thinking that I should have gotten one for my CZ 452 when they were $625 for the 6-24x50. On the outside the weaver looks nicer I think.
     
    #40
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Flyingbullseye</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: steve123</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ggarrett1911</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sititunga1, the illuminated reticle is daylight visible. Dependent on background & brightness outside, you'd likely have to use the brighter of the settings (3-5).

    jrob300, here is the reticle in this scope, the EMDR ...

    http://www.weaveroptics.com/downloads/WO267_EMDR_Reticle_11_x_8-5.pdf

    I will say that I'd like to see something more like the NF MLR2, but honestly this EMDR is much nicer to me than a plain mil-dot hands down. Reticle is very fine, no worries of covering up your target unless your shooting at spent rifle brass or other TINY objects.

    Scott, I remember reading your blog from SHOT about these scopes, and you were spot on! Definitely a great buy on these scopes for the features. A little competition in this price range is going to be a good thing for all of us!!! </div></div>

    Can you guys tell me how close the parallax focuses to ? One of the things I like about the Bushnell 3-12 is that the parallax goes down to 10Y. </div></div>

    The parallax knob goes as low as 35yd but looking through it, it will focus sharp and clear much closer than that. As for the sunshade, no it doesn't come with one. I don't personally don't use one and don't care but others probably will.

    I plan on posting some pictures thursday and will try to get some long range ones through the scope. Ggarrett1911 will have to post his range report first as my rifle will still be with the smith getting a new barrel. Personally I'm jealous as I really want to get to the range asap and try this thing out.

    Flyingbullseye </div></div>

    Thanks FB
     
    #41
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Wow, the under 1k tactical scope market is getting interesting, which is good for those of us on budgets. I picked up the Classic Extreme in 1.5-4.5 when they went on sale for an AR and was very impressed with the scope overall. The glass, IMO, was <span style="font-style: italic">very</span> nice. I let a bunch of others shoot it and many made comments about the clarity. Definitely better than my Viper (non PST). Anyway, looking forward to impressions of this scope.
     
    #44
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Ive had a weaver grandslam for many years, its a great scope for the money. I figured I would check out the tactical line so I bought a 4-20x50 last october. Well after only 23 rounds the reticle canted, A LOT. I sent it back to weaver this morning. I was pretty bummed when it happened as it took me out of shooting for the day at TVP. Hopefully when i get it back it will be good to go.
     
    #45
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RobfromME</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good afternoon, guys,

    What ring heights did you fellows find to be optimum for this scope? With or without BC caps? Are you all using a 20MOA mount?

    Warmest regards,
    Rob</div></div>

    Leupold 20 MOA base with Mk 4 Med rings works w/ BC caps
     
    #46
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Badger 20 moa with Seekins mediums & BC caps here... just got my rings today & permanently mounted the new scope. There's enough clearance between the magnification ring & the base to see daylight and not much more. Had to mount it like this due to the gobs of eye relief..it's about as low as possible! There's about 1/8" between the objective scope cap and the barrel.

    Shooting.jpg


    Looks a lot better with these rings on it...

    Shooting022.jpg


    Shooting021.jpg


    I'm sorry guys, but I did not get to take any pics like I wanted to do yesterday. Figured I'd be better off waiting until I got the rings today & got it permanently mounted. I had attempted to take a few pics through it here at the house through the front storm door glass (which I'm sure did not help the picture quality at all). I tried my best to get the "fisheye" effect minimized as much as possible, but I guess I wasn't meant to be a photographer! It does NOT look like this through the actual scope, as vatriggerman66 can attest to (he checked it out yesterday)... but I did promise some pics, so here they are... (DirectTV dish is approximately 70 yards from my front door)

    3x

    Shooting018.jpg


    6x

    Shooting017.jpg


    10x

    Shooting016.jpg


    15x

    Shooting015.jpg


    Green illum on max power in daylight

    Shooting019.jpg


    Red illum on max power in daylight

    Shooting020.jpg


    Again, I don't think this a fair representation of the glass in this scope, it just proves (to me) that I'm not a professional photographer by any stretch of the imagination!!! I will be going to the range tomorrow afternoon to do some actual zeroing & tracking tests, so I'll try to get some better pics then.

    Tactical_Tom, one of my friends has a 6-24 Bushy Elite FFP. I'll see if I can get him to bring it out to the range tomorrow so we can check them out side by side.
     
    #47
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    I stopped in Cabelas tonight.....they appear to be selling these also under their store brand "Blackhawk Tactical". Seemed like a decent scope for the feature set and price point. If you got the latest Cabelas coupon you may be able to get $50 off your $500 purchase to bring the price down further.
     
    #48
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    Im way more interested in this than the PST, the PST is meh. Weaver glass is some of the best and way above its price range.

    Reviews of the PST so far have been around all of the bells and whistles added to it.

    Give me high quality glass and image in a rugged design and ill take that over stuff i dont need anyday
     
    #49
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wegner426</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I stopped in Cabelas tonight.....they appear to be selling these also under their store brand "Blackhawk Tactical". Seemed like a decent scope for the feature set and price point. If you got the latest Cabelas coupon you may be able to get $50 off your $500 purchase to bring the price down further. </div></div>

    From looking at the Cabela's scopes on the web it does not look like they are illuminated. Can anyone confirm this?
     
    #50
    Re: New Weaver tactical 3-15x50

    <div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TrapperSGD</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wegner426</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I stopped in Cabelas tonight.....they appear to be selling these also under their store brand "Blackhawk Tactical". Seemed like a decent scope for the feature set and price point. If you got the latest Cabelas coupon you may be able to get $50 off your $500 purchase to bring the price down further. </div></div>

    From looking at the Cabela's scopes on the web it does not look like they are illuminated. Can anyone confirm this? </div></div>

    Unless they came out with a newer version they are not illuminated like the weavers.

    Flyingbullseye
     
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