March scopes

VinceB

New member
Guys,
Some advice please.

I'm about to order a March scope for 100 and 200 yard benchrest.
Which is the preferred power - 40, 50 or 60?
Which reticle? Eighth or sixteenth dot?

I currently use 36X Leupolds with crosshair/dot reticles.

Thanks
Vince (UK)
 
Most people

seem to want all the magnification they can get but I am not of that persuasion. I had a 45X Leup and traded it for a 40. I shoot Score primarily and the 10 ring @ 100 appeared too big for me. I was over-holding all the time. The 40X suits me better.
 
Vince ...

Here is info I copied awhile ago and put it in my Benchrest folder. It sounds relevant to your inquiry:

"At Rachels Glenn this past October I had a 45x Competition Leupold on my Rail Gun, and 50x Marches on bag Guns.

Several shooters also had 40x Marches on Rifles.

We placed the Rifles all in line, on a bench, and looked at the target.

By unanimous vote, the opinions were that the:

40x March was the best,

the 45x Leupold second,

and the 50x March third. ... jackie." Art :)
 
G'day Vince,

If you have been shooting the 36x then I would recommend you go for the 40x.
I have shot a borrowed 50x March, and quite frankly it was good, but the mirage on the day defeated me. In clear conditions the 50x is great, but we have a lot of mirage in Australia, and in South Africa it was fierce at times.

Perhaps the answer for you might be the March 36-55x variable. I have shot some groups using one of these, and just maybe its the best of both World's where mirage may be a problem.

Brendan
 
Guys,

Which reticle? Eighth or sixteenth dot?

Vince
Power is a personal preference, I have a couple of the 10-60 March scopes and use them at 60x.

However let me tell you the sixteenth dot is tiny but I believe I saw a post by Jim Kelbly saying they now have a dot in between the two, that may be what you want.

Dick
 
Vince
I have both. To be honest, there are times I don't care much for my 50.
If I only could have one, it would be a 40. Larry Sharnhorst has only 60s and loves them. The ball is in your court.
RR
 
Vince,

My friend Carlos Pacheco just got a couple of 36-55x52 EP Zoom.
He says best scopes he ever had :D
Might be a way to go for you, if you can afford the couple of hundred $ more.

I have myself a x40 and a x50 and I love both of them.:eek:
The dot is 1/8th, the 1/16th being on the small side for my old eyes :(

Good shooting.
 
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Vince
I have a 10-60 with a 1/16" dot. It's small, reeeeeeeal small! If I were to order another one it would be 1/8"
vinny
 
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James A. Kelbly
Registered User

Now to add to the mix March now has a 3/32nd dot. I think this will be very popular as the 1/16th is too small and the 1/8th is too big.

Jim
 
David,
You had three scopes fail on you in less than a week, all in St Louis at the Nationals ? tell me more.
Joel
 
David,

Just like the credit card commercial sezs:

3 Leupold scopes $950.00 times 3 = $2850.00

One week at nationals(all wasted due to bad scopes)
7 times $200.00=$1400.00

March Scopes PRICELESS

Obviously you do not value your time or money spent going to shooting matches, that you think three scopes going bad at one shoot is not worth buying a scope that will not fall apart.

At this point (including Jackies 50x) not one March fixed power BR scopes has had a point of aim change. You guys can keep trying to convince yourself that a March is not worth it.

Of course you can win with other scopes but do you have a chance to win with those scopes every weekend? How much is your time and effort worth?

Jim
 
10-60x

I shoot score 100-300. I have the March 10-60x and love it. I use it at 60 for all the 100 matches and turn it to approx. 45x for the 200 and 300's so I can get more flags in the scope. I would only own a variable so that I can use whatever magnification is going to work best on any given day. The other nice part of 10-60 variable is that I can turn down the power for setting flags, very convenient. I can only afford one Benchrest gun, but I would make the purchase of a March scope again. If you are shooting score, that 60 power is mighty nice for holding EXACTLY where you want to be. Keep in mind the Mr. Wass shoots 6x most of the time. Even 15x looks big to him. :) Randy J.
 
About the Price of the March Scopes.

I am about as frugal as a person can get and when my Friend Rod Morton said the March scopes were the way to go but their price was over $2k I pretty much told him he was crazy.

But here it is a couple years later and I own two of the 10x60 models and I do not regret a penny of the money I spent.

Dick.
 
Guys,

Your response has been magnificent and very helpful.

Weight-wise, a variable is out so it's down to 40 or 50X.

Opinion (Tony, Jackie, Brendan, Jean etc.) appears to favour the 40X.

Jim Kelbly also informed us of the 3/32 dot now available.

So, that's my choice - 40X with 3/32 dot.

Thanks to everyone for their contribution.

Vince (UK)
 
EP zoom or 40x?

Hi Vince,
Agree with Brendan and Fergus. Your choice should probably be 40x or the new 36-55 EPZ.
Annie and I are now using the EPz's and just love them. We love them better than the fixed power versions but that is just our prefernce. We have just finished a 4 Gun State championships over here in Brisbane, AUS and at least half the field have March scopes. Fergus won the 2 Gun within this match with his new EPZ. We all ran those scopes on 55x surprisingly. I can tell you that the mirage here is often worse than Texas but the optics in these scopes are excellent.

You know how Annie shoots. She previously always shot a 36x scope. First a D series Leupold since 1994 and later a B&L. She could not handle my boosted 45x B&L. Now with the March 36x-55x EPZ she is more often than not on 55x. Sort of explains how comfortable it is. She came a very credible 3rd place today in Experimental Class (Unlimited) 10 shot groups, shooting her Light Varmint rifle against a good many rail guns. Heavy mirage, the lot. Scope on 55x.

One thing with this scope that needs understanding. The eye relief (focal position) is different significantly when zoomed. To go the full range between 36x (fully out) to 55x fully in is over 1" of eye position change. To us that is no problem. We set the scopes at 48x, slid the rings along the Kelbly rails on both our Teddys till correct positioning and locked em up. We never turn the scope to less than 45x now so there is no issue. To some others this may be off putting so select the fixed 40x. Besides the 40x will cost you less. A 3/32nd dot might be nice when it's snowing at Diggle you know! :)
Buy a March, take the time to carefully set the eyepiece focus to correctly suit your eye and get on with enjoying shooting life!

Stuart Elliott.
 
Fergus, Stuart,

Great to hear from you - thanks for responding.

I'm seriously chasing weight to even mount the March 40X, so the zoom might be a step too far with this rifle.

Snow? Diggle? (Any day now!)

Best wishes
Vince (UK)
 
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