My book on scopes, Light at the Start of the Tunnel, which has particular application to big-bore hunting rifles has finally got to the AR Classified forum.

Sorry there's no pic. The link shows one but somehow Bunduki have left a lot of white paper around it not shown on the actual cover.

Excellent, I will have a look.

Thanks Brian,
I'm glad to answer any questions about the contents.

Hope you don't mind the cover. The whole modern industry is a circus as far as I can see and all the elements on the front symbolise problems covered in the text.

Thinking over matters related to a couple of posts in the Optics forum, I may have finally come up with the way to guard scopes from heavy recoil without abandoning constantly centred reticles.

I'll send a copy of the book to the first person here to guess what it is; two if you cite any brand or patent that has actually covered it.

Cheers
- SBM

S&B posicon? Or whatever name / patent they have for having the adjustment engage in a groove and a dial informing the user where you are at and hence which adjustment is at the most tension etc

Shame their convex rail is so slippery compared to a prism or SR system

I don't think so, GBE, but it sounds interesting. As the first response, though, it's worth a book anyway.

PM me your address and I'll pop one in the mail.

Posi-lok like on Burris? Although I own several IORs and was the importer for a while I never did receive a reply as to what exactly the Magnum Lock Support System did. I do know that the adjustment is not to be loosened and tightened like a Posi-lock. Never had an issue with my IORs.

How about a mount which allowed the scope to slide forward during recoil, with a return spring to bring it back to battery, like the system used with Unertl and B&L externally adjustable target scopes (without the external adjustments, of course).

It looks like African Leadwood takes the cigar. Thanks for alerting me to it.

But xausa, your idea has some merit, too, esp. in the case of variables with eye reliefs that shorten drastically as the power ring is turned up.

If you both PM me your addresses with enough ID to satisfy the postman, I'll pop them in the mail. AL, you can have two.

I have the book, and its an awesome read, I found you never get to old to learn something new..It also agreed with my thoughts that simplicity in mounts and scopes is the number one reqirement in a hunting camp..

Thanks Ray,
hopefully you got my update. The story moves on even further though: not only have I discovered that Burris admits articulated erector tubes (if we must have them ) need locking in place but I now see Nightforce appears to have bought their bag.

In the front of the 2017 Nightforce catalogue they mention testimonials from people who had fired from 4000 to almost 13,000 rounds from 50 BMG, '14.5/114 (sic) Russian' and 20mm Vulcan rifles, using two of their scopes.

At the bottom of that page is a picture of a man called John Buhay, with his huge 20mm Vulcan.
I looked at the scope, noting its massive, long objective.

On page 4 is a cutaway pic of one of their scopes. Though it claims precision and the best materials account for the brand's reliability, there is nothing very unusual shown in the graphic.

On page 23 they show the erector spring used in their NXS line, tumbled for two weeks to remove rough spots and burrs that might "interfere with perfectly smooth operation".

Finally, on page 53 (seemingly the last page of individual scope models) I find a sight that looks like the one on John Buhay's 20mm Vulcan behemoth. It is a 'Precision Benchrest' 12-42x56. As well as an enormous parallax adjustment on the objective, I see a small protrusion about 7.30 on the turret bulge.

Despite two pages of specs, features spiel and testimonials, no mention is made of what that turret-like protrusion is. But I think I know.

So, it would seem that if you want a scope to last thousands of shots on an outsized tactical rifle, objective parallax adjustment and a third screw or post to lock the erector tube might make sense.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
It looks like African Leadwood takes the cigar. Thanks for alerting me to it.

But xausa, your idea has some merit, too, esp. in the case of variables with eye reliefs that shorten drastically as the power ring is turned up.

If you both PM me your addresses with enough ID to satisfy the postman, I'll pop them in the mail. AL, you can have two.

Thank you! PM inbound. I am looking forward to reading this. I have appreciated your insights to date...

Thanks AL, I shall post them in the morning. Hope you enjoy the read and are not too alarmed by the conclusions.

Even though I don't like Burris scope which totally failed on my 416 rem mag even the posilock model the Burris signature zee rings are awesome just wish they were four screws on.top instead of two .Here is a huge awesome scope mount tip use clear finger nail polish on all screws it won't come.loose .Use finger nail polish remover to get it loose .It worked all 32-years on my Ruger 338 model 77 and on my 416 rifles 20 years never let me down along with the Burris signature see rings .I put scopes through total hell hunting and Nikon monarch scopes have been the best for toughness and my eyes .You.know they are good scopes if you can make running shots on.caribou at 450 yards .I wish scope companies would listen more to hunters to get it right .I have tried many brands and worked selling scopes a while .A good scope will make your hunt awesome a bad scope will send you home hungry !

Thanks dgr, I'm interested in what qualities make that scope more suitable for a running caribou at 450 yards? Is it stadia with windage you used for lead?

simplicity of the mount or rings that is so right. i got a warne quick detach rings that failed three times on my 375 ruger.

lesson learnt to not use them on a 375 ruger while in the middle of nowhere...

I have seen the first Warn rings, that btw has too weak a spring in them bounce the lever around if mounted with levers on the bolt side like most do, until it blocked the up lift of the bolt, under stress that's a tough fix..I lost a great Eland and later almost got stomped by a cow buffalo..After that I taped the levers upright with electrical tape for the remainder of the hunt. got home sold the Warnes to a gunsmith Warne fan, and started using Talleys for the most part..I suggest in writing to warne and never got a reply, but no matter the Talleys have served me well. Its always smart to surface grind all bolt actions and hand fit the bases if you really expect return to "exact" zero..You would be surprised as to how many hunters swear their QD scopes return to zero every time, when in fact they do not, Ive seen that scenario many many times. Sometimes close but no ceeeegar! sometimes 6 to 8 inches seems to be the rule.

Having to tape the levers turned me off on that type of ring. I use Leupold PRW rings on all my scoped rifles and backup scopes. Carry the little Torex wrench in my pocket. About a minute or so slower than levers. Never had to remove the scope in the field.

Dave

The application for QR mounts interests me. In the old days I think the Germans favored 6x scopes but found them too big to administer the coup de grace, so whipped the glass off whenever that was needed. Also, before full-length hard cases became common, shooters were advised to remove scopes before transport.

Now if the scope is knocked, you may not realise it until you've missed a shot, after which the critter has cleared out. At that point it may make more sense to bore sight the scope and (if you remember the look required) click back to an approximate zero that might be more precise than the open sights.

Nopride2,
I only had that problem with Warnes, as they have a spring in the lever that allows you to position the lever at any position by pulling it out and setting it back into your required position..A great idea, but somelone screwed the pooch and used a very weak screw..I suggested a stronger screw but got rebuked!! so I switched to Talley as they had no problem other than they are a bit difficult to make them come up straight, my preferred position..

I only used the tape on the warnes I referred to to finish the hunt, I was miles plus in the middle of Tanzanias Selous, and it worked well under the circumstances...Tape and rawhide is cowboy ingenuity at the highest level..well, that is with the advent of no more bailing wire.