Author: koshkin
Subject: CAST YOUR VOTE: What's the best long-range scope?
Posted: March/20/2014 at 14:37
Subject: CAST YOUR VOTE: What's the best long-range scope?
Posted: March/20/2014 at 14:37
 PrecisionRifleBlog wrote:Thanks for all the tips. I did actually try to include the Swaro 5-30, but couldn't get anyone there to respond (even though I talked to them about this at SHOT in person and they seemed interested ... frustrating). They were a borderline case, because they really don't have a tactical reticle with even marks on the horizontal and vertical axis ... so I'm not too disappointed. For the optical resolution tests, I plan to tackle that in a few different ways. One of which is FinnAccuracy's resolution test, which seems very well thought out. But you guys are right, I'm a novice at best when it comes to optics ... so if you guys have any other suggestions I'm all ears.So that helps too. That is actually why I posted this here. I know the optics experts live here, so I'm looking for input. My competency here is really that I'm an OCD engineer, which helps me be logical and objective ... and I've also had a lot of formal training and professional experience in analyzing data and representing it visually. I plan to be 100% transparent and publish all the details about how I performed the tests and gathered the data. In fact, I could share the rough draft of that if anyone was interested in looking it over. |
The FinnAccuracy charts are definitely a good start, but you have to be a little careful with what magnifications you test and how you calibrate the relative magnifications of different scopes.
Following FA's instructions is a bit misleading because they do not understand how a focal telescopes work and how imaging works. For example, the results of your resolution measurements are not really comparable between different days or even between morning and afternoon of the same day.
Most importantly, you should more or less give up claiming to have an objective test of the optical quality of the riflescopes. Unless, you plan to invest a lot of money into specialized equipment, there really is not way to do an objective test. However, if you set things up correctly, you can do a pretty good differential evaluation. You just have to keep track of ambient conditions between different days of the test and in which sequence you tested the scopes.
ILya