Tag: Optics

Up for review today is the Konus Spotting Scope 20-60x 80mm which I purchased from Midway USA  on sale for $198.00. Midway has some of the best prices around and I have good experiences both of the times I have had to contact customer service. A decent spotting scope is a necessity for high power rifle shooting. The Konus scope has been talked about quite a bit with an assortment of good reviews, and Jim Owens seems to like it. The Konus has a variable zoom from 20x to 60x and an 80mm objective lens with a sun shade. It weighs just under four pounds and is about 17″ long. Here is the picture of the box that the scope comes packaged in. Once you open the box you can see the carrying case that comes with the scope. The carrying case is kind of thin and nothing special but it helps keep everything together. Unzipping the carrying case reveals the scope itself and the accessories that come with it. Included are a camera adapter and a plastic table top tripod. The tripod works acceptably on the table but it is a bit wobbly and apt to tip over. I …

I have been in the market for some decent optics for my flat-top AR. With the economy the way it is I initially tried to keep the cost down and crashed and burned with the NCStar Mark III. Thankfully Midway USA made the recovery much easier with their no hassle return policy. After that experience I put aside some money for a little while until I was able to save up enough to order a Leupold Mark AR from Optics Planet with a coupon. I also purchased a one-piece Burris Scope Mount from Midway to go with the scope. The Leupold Mark AR comes in a 1.5-4×20 model and a 3-9×40 model. You can buy it with Duplex or Mildot reticles and the lenses are coated with Leupold’s Multicoat 4 System. This coating is supposed to result in increased brightness, contrast, and clarity. The view through the scope looked good to me although I did have some issues making out 22 cal holes at 100yds. I bought the 3-9×40 version with the Mildot Reticle. It is a one inch tube in matte finish.  The elevation knob is adjustable in 1/2 moa increments and includes a built in bullet drop compensator …

Up for review this month is the NC Star Mark III Tactical Scope. I got this from Midway with a coupon for about $115. I was kind of apprehensive about this purchase as I had read a couple of not so hot reviews and I am usually of the mind that you get what you pay for. Anyhow this is a 3 to 9 variable power scope with illuminated mildot reticules. It comes with an integrated quick release weaver style mount. My intention was to put this scope one of my flat top ARs. The package from Midway was packaged adequately as usual and I pulled the scope box out to take a look. The box packaging looked decent and I did not see any damage to the box.  The end of the box shows the 3-9X with a 42mm objective. the actual model number is STM3942G. I carefully removed the scope from the box and checked it out. One of the reasons that I picked this one is that it has the built in bullet drop compensator that is calibrated for 223. It is actually calibrated for a 55gr M193 round and I usually shoot 69 or 75 gr. …