quote:
Originally posted by offgrid:
I've looked through a handful of March scopes. Very good glass. I like the 10 MIL elevation turret, space between hash marks. 10 MILS gets me out to 1200yds plus with the calibers I'm shooting. What March is lacking is a good reticle for my game. Their MIL reticles are outdated, need to offer a simple Christmas tree reticle.
NikonUser it's great you have 20K rds on your scope. I doubt I would get that many rounds before a tracking failure. I've seen two March scopes go down in a match. I'm turning the elevation knob on most every shot. A few years ago talking with the Premier tech (who also has repaired S&B's....) said my game is tough on scopes, cranking on the elevation knob on every shot. Every one of my scopes that have failed were tracking/elevation turret issues, S&B, NightForce and Premier. I'm now to the point I'll trade off my scopes every two years. I've had scope failures in expensive entry fee matches, long travel.... it stinks! Most likely my next scopes will be the Minox 5-25/MR4 reticle.
Your game is different than mine. I will turn knobs on my scope only at the very beginning of a match, for distance. I do go from 600 to 1000 yards and back as I use the rifle for both distances and that represents 17.50MOA of dialing up or down. But once the distance is set, I may change elevation by a click or two all day. Maybe a little more if there's a big temperature difference between the first match in the morning and the last one maybe in the early afternoon.
As for windage; that is something I will set at the beginning of a string and never change during the string unless there's a massive change in conditions. (It has occurred a few times every year.) But once the windage is set, I will hold on target and that's when seeing the rings perfectly is critical to me and that's where the CA-controlling properties of ED glass come into play. ED, or Super ED glass is critical for long range competition. It wasn't when nobody had ED glass, but now, it's just another thing that you need to have at the level of competition.
ETA: As for having a backup scope when going to competitions, I drag my old Nightforce NXS 12-42X56 with me as backup. You're totally right about match fees, travel, accomodations and so on. For example, going to the Worlds in Ottawa in 2017, I made sure I had the backup scope and every other part I could think of at that time. Since then I have added a complete firing pin assembly, some springs and tools for replacing a firing pin spring. With a tool, I can swap the firing ping assembly on the line withing about 2 minutes. Then I can replace the spring back at the hotel and once again, have a backup. I have an action wrench and barrel clamp on a 2X4 that I can use to swap barrels. The last thing I'm looking at for getting a spare is the trigger. I also have canned air in my shooting bag on the line. That was useful for a fellow competitor on the line last match, when he had a misfire and pulled the bolt open and was rewarded with 40-some grains of powder in his action and everything locked up. After a few squirts of air from the can I lent him, he was back in the action.
