IOR 3-18x42 Tactical

victor

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2004
Messages
139
Hi Guys,
I just got back from a High country Mule Deer Hunt in WY. Took my new 270Wby Mag that had just been rebarreled by Kirby with a Rock Creek Deep fluted barrel. I put a Bell & Carlson Medalist stock on it and bedded it myself. Rifle shoots consistent 3/8" groups at 100 yards. I put the fixed 16X Super Sniper scope on it. This scope works great for targets. Great turrets, excellent repeatability and fairly clear. Very adequate for shooting paper in daylight.
However, when I was in the field, conditions got nasty. I had a blizzard hit on opening day and temps in base camp were 28 deg. Up at spike camp it might have been colder. For sure I was cold with completely wet feet and clothing.
Trying to view deer thru the scope was difficult under the conditions. Scope would fog or fill with snow. Glass was wet and had to dry it with damp toilet paper. As soon as I would dry it, snow would fly in again as I was putting the toilet paper away (yes I did have scope caps, but as soon as you open them snow flies in). Regardless of the obstacles, I managed to de-virginize the rifle with a poor shot and bagged my deer.
However, I found the fixed power on the scope completely unacceptable for real world hunting situations. If I was closer than 200 yards it was difficult to locate deer in the scope. I'm sure it's easier to see a deer that's on an open hillside, but in thick timber with only little patch of deer showing its difficult. A lower power is a must in the field. A higher power is nice to have if your quarry is 400+ yards off and you have time to build the perfect rest, but nothing ever seems to be perfect in the field.
So as soon as I got home I called Don at Long Range Supply http://www.longrangesupply.com/store/ and ordered the new IOR 3-18x42 tactical scope. The reason I chose this over all others was: 1. IOR has received excellent reviews on this board for clarity. 2. It had a wide magnification range, 3-18 as well as largest field of view. 3. It was only 13.625" long. 4. It weighed only 22 oz.

Below are pics of the IOR 3-18x42mm scope compared to a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44mm and the Tasco Super Sniper in fixed 16x42mm.
[image][/image]
The image above shows the Zeiss 4.5-14x44 and IOR 3-18x42 to be about the same length, 13.625"

This pic shows the Tasco 16x Super Sniper along the other two

Image showing Oculars

IOR with turret caps off and SS

Eyepiece view
The thing that I don't care for is the Illuminated reticle. Personally I don't have a need for it or see an advantage,It's just another thing to bust off in the field, but they don't come without one so I had no option there.

I have not received my bases yet so I havn't had a chance to mount the scope on a rifle yet, but just looking thru it tells me that it is one clear piece of glass. The Zeiss Conquest is also one great piece of glass as well. If you were to ask me which would I rather have on a lightweight hunting rifle, I would say the Zeiss hands down. It's smaller and lighter and that means a lot if your busting your hump hiking steep rugged country with brush that's constantly catching on your rifle.
My Conquest sits on a .300Wby Ultralight weight rifle that weighs in at 8.5 lbs with scope and Burris rings that are adjusted so that when the reticle is at the lowest end of travel it hits 1.25" high at 100 yards. That gives me 45 MOA Elevation. The IOR has 55 to 60 MOA Elevation. Zeiss weighs 17.5 oz and the IOR weighs 22 oz (but feels heavier, maybe because of the huge 35mm main tube). The 270Wby weighs approx 11 lbs with SS scope. I know, it doesn't seem that much heavier, but believe me, when your up at 10,000 feet and you look up and see nothing but near vertical slope, it's heavy!
Can't wait to mount the scope and shoot it on the .270Wby. I guess I will just have to hunt those muley's in the sage next year.

More reports to come on boots and binoculars, as time permits.

Take care,
Vic
 
Victor,

Mount the IOR and don't worry about the weight. I have the exact same scope mounted to my Ultralight Custom .340Wby. Its perfect. The glass is crystal clear and I love the reticle. I bought the IOR for all the same reasons you did. I think once you use it and shoot with it you'll love it even more. Good luck and happy hunting!
 
Victor,

Very good field report.

After much much consideration and consulting with the 'bean counter' I ordered a 16X SS for my LRH rifle. However it is not a carry gun. It will be only used from a hide for LRH shots.

Son has a 10X SS on a 270 Win and its ok for med range open country work. Not much good in the'woods'.

For my LRH carry gun I have a 4.5 X 14 Weaver Tactical.

I hope to move up to the IOR class fairly soon.
 
Hi Guys,

Received my mounts. They are Warne mounts for the Weatherby MK-V Long Action purchased from Cabela's for $19.95. Mounted them on rifle. Screws on rear mount bound the bolt. Ground them down a little to clear the bolt.

Went to mount the scope and found that the cross bolt at the bottom of the rings would not fit into the Picattiny style slot. I guess I must have received the Weaver style mounts. I filed the slot wider so the cross bolt on the rings fit the slot. Mounted scope with no further problems.

Next morning went to range to zero scope. Found that the mounts were off level. I did not have enough elevation adjustment to bring the cross hair down to the point of impact. Went thru my truck and found a copper washer that I slipped under the rear mount. That got me on target.

I shot 2, 3 shot groups and went to local tactical shop to get some spacers for my rear mount (wish I wouldn't have ground those screws down now!). I put 3 .015 thk spacers under the rear mount. Looked thru bore at a spot on the wall to bore sight. Appears that I am on zero with reticle 15 MOA up from bottom limit. This leaves me with 40 MOA elevation remaining. Still need to check this at the range.

The mounting instructions that came with IOR stated that the rings should only be tightened to 12-15 inch lbs. IOR warns right up front that most damage to their scopes is a result of overtightening the rings.

I did notice that after tightening the rear ring the Power Adjustment ring got hard to rotate. I loosened it a little and it was better. So be careful with over tightening the rear ring. The front ring does not have any forucs mechanism under it so it is not nearly as sensitive.

Also when mounting the scope, make sure you have the scope set to its highest power so you can set the distance to your eye correctly. The view changes considerably from 3 to 18x. I had to move the scope back as far as the mounts permited. A little further back would be even better, to allow for the spacing of a thick coat that one might wear when hunting.

Here are some pics of the spacers, mounted scope and targets.

Take care,
Vic

[image][/image] [image][/image] [image][/image] [image][/image] [image][/image]

By the way, I did find a one piece Picatinney style mount made by Near mfg. but they cost $175.00. Way too much for a piece of machined bar stock in my opinion and I don't like the weight of the one piece. Rifle is already too heavy. I also found that Night Force makes nice 2 piece Picatinney style mounts, but they want $95.00 for them. Again too much in my opinion for what it is.

I think the setup that I have will work, if it doesn't I will have to re-evaluate the price of the Night Force mounts.

Vic
 
[ QUOTE ]
Went to mount the scope and found that the cross bolt at the bottom of the rings would not fit into the Picattiny style slot. I guess I must have received the Weaver style mounts. I filed the slot wider so the cross bolt on the rings fit the slot. Mounted scope with no further problems.
Vic

[/ QUOTE ]Whose rings? - I've heard from several sources that IOR rings wont fit P1913 bases.
 
Chris,

Rings were supplied by IOR with the scope. I don't know of anybody else that makes a 35mm ring.

I guess I should have measured the width of the cross bolt on the rings before I mounted them. If I disassemble later, I will take a measurement.

Regards,
Vic
 
Victor,
Sounds like a nice setup and obviously it can shoot!.. I used a TPS base and TPS rings for my IOR. Thanks for the info and the review.
 
I use IOR scopes, their rings will fit a standard Picatinny spec base, not weaver bases as they are different. Weaver bases use a smaller cross notch than a Picatinny rail base.

Yes be very carful on the rings with IOR scopes, i had problems with my 6x24 scope. The front ring was just a bit too tight and the side focus got snug.

I am concerned about the way you shimmed the base on the rifle, If you check the rings are prolly out of alinement now. You should look into a milled rail, that way the rings will be in line with each other. If the rings are not perfect the scope will be binded or pinched. You can check this with a straight edge laying it accross the inside of the rings.

Dave
 
when I mounted the USS 4x16 on my 7mm AM with farrel 2 pc 20 MOA bases, I couldn't go down enough to make zero, so I replace the farrel's with a set of weaver GS bases, the IOR rings fit them just fine.
JS
 
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