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March Optics

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Category: Scopes
Forum Name: Rifle Scopes
Forum Description: Centerfire long gun scopes
URL: http://www.opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=44686
Printed Date: March/28/2024 at 19:57
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Topic: March Optics
Posted By: South Pender
Subject: March Optics
Date Posted: February/17/2018 at 13:44
What's the general consensus about the quality of the glass in March scopes?  They have some very desirable features, like a 10X power range on some of the models (e.g., 2.5-25X), and they're pricey.  With respect to the quality of lenses alone, how do they compare with those found in the best European scopes--S&B, Swarovski, Leica, et al.?


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The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
-Bertrand Russell



Replies:
Posted By: Kickboxer
Date Posted: February/17/2018 at 15:09
The March glass is in the "superior" class along with those you mention, mechanicals are excellent, well put together all around.   I have the 3-24x42 at 22.6oz.  It is one of the best scopes in my inventory.  Sits on my Winchester Laredo 7mmSTW and is a great match for that gun.  Eye box is not as forgiving as I would like, but not oppressive.  No other complaints of any sort. 

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Opinion,untempered by fact,is ignorance.

There are some who do not fear death... for they are more afraid of not really living


Posted By: RifleDude
Date Posted: February/17/2018 at 18:54
March scopes are as good as anything optically and mechanically; they are in the upper tier of optics. The only negative issues I've ever heard about them is parallax adjustment is touchy so it's a little harder to nail optimal parallax free setting, and it has a bit less forgiving "eye box" as Dan said. These are the tradeoffs of its wide zoom ratio and compact size.

Regarding "glass," there is a huge misconception about the role of "glass quality" to image quality in optics. Very few, if any optics manufacturers make their own glass, and there is only a small handful of optical glass suppliers the world over that all the optics manufacturers use for their lenses. There are different types, grades, and quality levels of glass to be certain, but the glass itself has relatively little importance to the resulting image quality of an optic. It's what the optics manufacturer does with the glass that's most important to optical performance. This doesn't mean glass quality or type of glass used is unimportant, it's just that there's not much difference in the raw glass used between one optics manufacturer and another. Also, saying one optics uses a certain type of glass or "the same coatings" as another means almost nothing in comparing the resulting optical performance of the two. I often hear someone comment that optics company ABC "uses Schott glass," so it must be great, or that's the reason for its great optics. Schott is a quality producer of raw glass to be sure, but just like the other glass manufacturers, they produce glass of whatever quality and formulation the customer requests and pays for. Even so, using the best quality optical glass in the world means nothing if the optical design is crap.

First in importance to image quality is the overall optical design, or "formula" -- the geometries, arrangement, and number of lens elements used, and the placement of various glass types in the light path to correct for optical aberrations. Second is the precision and quality of the grinding (how mathematically precise are the parabolic shapes) and polishing of the lenses and the types of coatings used. Third is the use of internal baffling, blackening and matte finishing parts, and other methods to reduce internal reflections, and how effective these measures are in reducing or eliminating flare.


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Ted


Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.


Posted By: Kickboxer
Date Posted: February/18/2018 at 17:29

I have no issues with parallax adjustment, at all.  Always seemed rather easy to me.  The 3-24x52 March claimed to have fixed the eye box issue.  I discussed it with Jim Kelbly, when they were selling March, and he assured me that if I got the 3-24x52, I would not have that issue.  However, he did not see it as an issue.  Said I should use it as an indicator that I was properly "on" the scope.

None of the other March scopes I've had the opportunity to use had the problem.  I was just lucky.. I bought the x42 about 3 months before the x52 came out.

I am currently seriously considering the 5-40x56 to put on a custom build I am also considering. 



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Opinion,untempered by fact,is ignorance.

There are some who do not fear death... for they are more afraid of not really living


Posted By: RifleDude
Date Posted: February/18/2018 at 18:07
I don't know that it's a "problem" per se; it's just that the parallax adjustment has a coarse pitch or is "fast," so a small adjustment amount has a large effect on parallax correction change compared to some other scopes. The scope itself has a shallow depth of field. So, if you're shooting at a wide range of distances near to far, you have to make a lot of adjustments to stay parallax-free.

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Ted


Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.


Posted By: helo18
Date Posted: February/18/2018 at 21:03
I have both the 42 and 52 3-24 models and they basically seem the same to me as far as adjustment.  It is more touchy than my Kahles on the parallax, but not to the point that it is too fast.

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To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

GEORGE WASHINGTON


Posted By: Kickboxer
Date Posted: February/19/2018 at 03:22

Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

I don't know that it's a "problem" per se; it's just that the parallax adjustment has a coarse pitch or is "fast," so a small adjustment amount has a large effect on parallax correction change compared to some other scopes. The scope itself has a shallow depth of field. So, if you're shooting at a wide range of distances near to far, you have to make a lot of adjustments to stay parallax-free.


I've never had that issue.



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Opinion,untempered by fact,is ignorance.

There are some who do not fear death... for they are more afraid of not really living


Posted By: RifleDude
Date Posted: February/19/2018 at 06:28
It requires less rotation of the parallax knob to make a significant difference in parallax correction on a March scope than with competing scopes. This makes adjusting a bit more “finicky” for shooters used to knobs with a slower adjustment. This is a trade off of having a high magnification in a relatively short scope, resulting in a “fast” optical design that consequently has a shallow depth of field. It’s not necessarily a negative thing; it just is what it is. Every design is a trade off. You may not have an issue with it, and it’s not necessarily a negative thing for everyone. Some shooters even prefer it that way. But it is a frequently mentioned characteristic of March scopes, some citing it as a negative thing. Here’s an example:

http://forum.snipershide.com/threads/anyone-using-a-march-scope.6831725/ - http://forum.snipershide.com/threads/anyone-using-a-march-scope.6831725/

Koshkin mentions this as a reason he sold his 3-24x42 March in the Tangent Theta 3-15X thread:

http://www.opticstalk.com/tangent-theta-315-in-hand_topic44213_page2.html - http://www.opticstalk.com/tangent-theta-315-in-hand_topic44213_page2.html




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Ted


Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle.


Posted By: Bigdaddy0381
Date Posted: February/19/2018 at 06:55
Originally posted by Kickboxer Kickboxer wrote:

Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

I don't know that it's a "problem" per se; it's just that the parallax adjustment has a coarse pitch or is "fast," so a small adjustment amount has a large effect on parallax correction change compared to some other scopes. The scope itself has a shallow depth of field. So, if you're shooting at a wide range of distances near to far, you have to make a lot of adjustments to stay parallax-free.


I've never had that issue.



Me ether and I shoot 1,000 yard run and gun matches. I can honestly say I have never had any trouble getting the picture tuned into the dark targets with dark back grounds. Just a small twist and whaamm. it is nice and clear. I also think a lot of it has to do with the first set up of the twisty thing at the eye piece.





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