Scope field evaluations on rokslide

[cooperjd]

Not sure how many have seen these over on the slide, i'm sure there is some crossover on forums, but these are interesting to follow, and a little heartbreaking for some of the favorite scopes...

Rifle Scope Field Evaluations

rokslide.com

 

[PlumberEd]

You're right about the disappointment, some of my favorite scopes didn't do so well. I learned a lot by reading through their evaluations.

 

[Huntnful]

Yeah there's a ton of legit info in there for sure. Basically nightforce, trijicon and SWFA have been the consistent ones to pass over several models. Most scopes are trash lol. Hell, most of them lose zero just riding in the backseat.

 

[CRJR45]

I followed that and I'm glad I did . Theres a episode of Fresh Tracks where the guy Erik was Elk hunting and dropped his rifle and it lost zero . He hit it on his first shot but way back . Then when he was moving to get a better angle he dropped the rifle , then proceeded to miss it completely till he was out of bullets . Had to go get Randy's gun and find the bull again to finish it off . It was a high end Leopold , the very one I was thinking of buying .
I went with Trijicon , then NF SHV , I like both of then , but the Trijicon Accupoint has the green dot , it seems to be a little better to get on target , but it might just be me .
But think about it , it's standard procedure to re-zero your gun before every hunt , why is that ?

 

[cooperjd]

There is also a shoot2hunt podcase with Form discussing the test, it's pretty good.

I have several NF 3-10 SHV's that i started collecting before i knew about the tests, guess i got lucky. I just picked up a trijicon tenmile on sale so i will see how i like the 6x eyebox....and a FFP reticle.

I have a buddy that dropped his rifle on a moose hunt in NF, when he shot at his bull he killed the cow that was standing next to it. His vortex "lost its zero" slightly Luckily his tag was good for either.

It is pretty amazing how many scopes lose zero just riding around in the truck. I still have a couple laying around i need to swap for one of the 3 survivors, as Huntnful pointed out....just gotta build up some cash.

 

[PlumberEd]

Isn't weird that we are willing to accept re-zeroing our rifles every year?

 

[cooperjd]

Isn't weird that we are willing to accept re-zeroing our rifles every year?

and every time we travel. To Form's point, what good is an aiming device if it doesnt hold zero so you can aim with it?

my NF SHV 4.5-14x56 flew with me to alaska, then on a bushplane, we checked zero when we landed, perfect. hunted for 10 days packing around. shot caribou on the last day, perfect, flew home to CO, drove across the country, set a target out at 500m, dialed, perfect impact (to my ability). I want everything to work like that.

 

[Small Lady]

I do have to wonder why these people are all so ridiculously uncoordinated, that they are constantly dropping their rifles to?
Thank God they don't have babies, or carry eggs in from the car!
But I wouldn't let them use anything of mine, and I'm usually an extremely sharing person.
But no way I would lend them anything, not my ATV, snowmobile, guns, rangefinder, dishes, laptop, cellphone, or anything else, because they are incapable of being at all careful, or even coordinated enough to carry, or ride anything.
I was in Nursing school with a guy like this years ago, he was always dropping stuff, tripped while walking, and I soon distanced myself from him. If I ever drop my rifle, it would make me do some deep self evaluation. It would likely make the decision to never have kids easier to, because it would seem logical that I would also be dropping my baby.
Hopefully you droppers have a great case on your phone, we all know how delicate iphone screens are. I've seen them break even from a gentle fall.
When I get so old that I'm dropping my rifles, I will know that its time to stop hunting, and take up bingo.....

 

[Quicksilver338]

Yeah there's a ton of legit info in there for sure. Basically nightforce, trijicon and SWFA have been the consistent ones to pass over several models. Most scopes are trash lol. Hell, most of them lose zero just riding in the backseat.

Buddy went to Montana then Colorado, made out to a 450yd kill which is great. We were shooting steel at 440yds a few days ago and his impacts were a little high and about 4" right of where they grouped last time. Rifle rode in a cheap padded hard case the entire time in the truck…but he knows already why it was off haha. We listened to that podcast on a 4 day deer hunt and in the tent he already decided he needs a nightforce for next season. Current scope is a vortex pst Gen 2, which hasn't been terrible but this guy hunts a ton. Rezeroing every season is mandatory…at minimum.

What are your thoughts on forms test of the 4.5-28 March scope that you've ran? My out take is similar to his trijicon tests. 36" drops eventually start to show something. Otherwise it's solid. I know you've had great experience with it and like you've stated it gets strapped right and isn't babied.

 

[xsn10s]

I do have to wonder why these people are all so ridiculously uncoordinated, that they are constantly dropping their rifles to?
Thank God they don't have babies, or carry eggs in from the car!
But I wouldn't let them use anything of mine, and I'm usually an extremely sharing person.
But no way I would lend them anything, not my ATV, snowmobile, guns, rangefinder, dishes, laptop, cellphone, or anything else, because they are incapable of being at all careful, or even coordinated enough to carry, or ride anything.
I was in Nursing school with a guy like this years ago, he was always dropping stuff, tripped while walking, and I soon distanced myself from him. If I ever drop my rifle, it would make me do some deep self evaluation. It would likely make the decision to never have kids easier to, because it would seem logical that I would also be dropping my baby.
Hopefully you droppers have a great case on your phone, we all know how delicate iphone screens are. I've seen them break even from a gentle fall.
When I get so old that I'm dropping my rifles, I will know that its time to stop hunting, and take up bingo.....

Operating in the outdoors is a bit different than in a hospital setting. I can appreciate the amount of care and caution medical staff will take especially in a stressful situation, but the outdoors is far different. The constant changing terrain, weather conditions, and even need to move quickly can cause a spill. This only gets magnified when you get up in the years like myself lol. When I was a young wrestler it was easy to catch myself when the ground would give out under me. A few years back a lava rock caught my boot sending me tumbling down a rock pile, and it wasn't gracefull lol. My mind instantly flashed to my Judo training and I thought of tucking and rolling. My Dad bod said "Here hold my beer and watch this....".

 

[Small Lady]

I don't hunt anywhere that has super extreme terrain, because if I shoot something, how would I ever pack it out.
I'm not capable of carrying a deer or moose up Everest, or even up the mountains around me.

 

[xsn10s]

I don't hunt anywhere that has super extreme terrain, because if I shoot something, how would I ever pack it out.
I'm not capable of carrying a deer or moose up Everest, or even up the mountains around me.

It doesn't really even have to be super extreme terrain. Hunt long enough either a fall happens, gear breaks, or even some scopes will shift zeros just from driving around in the truck.

 

[cooperjd]

The drop tests are just a way to quickly determine the inevitable. If a scope fails it will eventually fail with normal use. If it passes the drop eval it goes for use with Form for at least 3,000 rounds. If it passes that, then that ONE scope passed. One passing scope does not mean all of them are great, just like one failing scope does not mean that all of them are terrible. But it is a data point to gather.

When a pattern starts to emerge, like virtually all vortex and leupold scopes fail the testing, then we start to approach some useful data to make decisions on.

It sucks, because i love leupold vx5's and 6s'. good glass, good weight, nice optics. However, am i willing to risk my one shot at my animal after who knows how many miles and bumps? nope.

Lean a rifle against a tree to take a leak and it will slip off, this impact is about what the 18" drop test does. how many times have we had that happen and not been able to immediately check zero? We continue on and HOPE the zero is still there.

 

[Huntnful]

I do have to wonder why these people are all so ridiculously uncoordinated, that they are constantly dropping their rifles to?
Thank God they don't have babies, or carry eggs in from the car!
But I wouldn't let them use anything of mine, and I'm usually an extremely sharing person.
But no way I would lend them anything, not my ATV, snowmobile, guns, rangefinder, dishes, laptop, cellphone, or anything else, because they are incapable of being at all careful, or even coordinated enough to carry, or ride anything.
I was in Nursing school with a guy like this years ago, he was always dropping stuff, tripped while walking, and I soon distanced myself from him. If I ever drop my rifle, it would make me do some deep self evaluation. It would likely make the decision to never have kids easier to, because it would seem logical that I would also be dropping my baby.
Hopefully you droppers have a great case on your phone, we all know how delicate iphone screens are. I've seen them break even from a gentle fall.
When I get so old that I'm dropping my rifles, I will know that its time to stop hunting, and take up bingo.....

Haha what an unrealistic post. Give me a break.

Ever slipped and fallen? Not that hard to do on a rough country hunt. And your rifle goes down with you.

Setting a rifle down on its bipod when you eat or glass, and then a friend not seeing it and knocking it over on accident.

Sling studs pulling out of a stock. Sling connections failing on the sling itself.

There's more than one way to impose an impact to a rifle scope. The drop tests are just that, TESTS for durability to impacts. We're not talking about dropping babies from waist high do to stupidity.