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TEST OF NEW REDFIELD AND S&B SUMMIT |
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John Barsness
Optics Optimist Joined: January/27/2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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Posted: December/07/2009 at 11:40 |
This is the 10th in a series of articles written for Opticstalk.com by John Barsness, co-author the quarterly on-line magazine Rifle Loony News (www.riflesandrecipes.com) Recently I’ve been testing a couple of new scopes, one much anticipated and the other something of a surprise, a Schmidt & Bender Summit 2.5-10x40 and a new Redfield 3-9x40. Let’s look at the Redfield first. Leupold bought the Redfield name a year or so ago, and there was much speculation about what would happen. Some people guessed Leupold might just let the name die, but instead they started another company, also in At first glance the new Redfield 3-9x40 appeared pretty conventional, a matte finished scope with the typical American lock-ring for focusing on the rear bell. (Also available are a 2-7x33, a 3-9x50 and a 4-12x40.) There are two choices in reticles, a typical plex called the 4-Plex, and the Accu-Range reticle, which came in the test scope. This is a plex reticle with a circle around the intersection of the crosshairs, with a dot below the bottom of the circle on the vertical crosshair. It’s fairly simple, but provides some ranging capability, plus several aiming points that can’t be confused with each other. First some basic indoor tests were made. An electronic scale confirmed the specification weight of 12.7 ounces. Next the scope was mounted on a semi-custom Winchester Model 70, rebarreled to .300 H&H with a cut-rifled, hand-lapped barrel by The eye relief is listed as 4.0” at 3x and 3.7” at 9x. Using a flashlight shining into the objective lens, the eye relief on the test scope measured 3.9” at 3x and 3.4” at 9x, a little less than the specs but still probably within manufacturing tolerances. Next I stuck a collimator in the muzzle and looked for any trace of “runout”—reticle shift between 3x and 9x. There wasn’t any, and in the final bench test the 1/4” adjustments also checked out. The reticle moved with each click and, as far as could be told on the collimator grid, accurately. The turrets are finger-adjustable, with ¼” markings on top, and the clicks easily felt. However, it’s one thing to check out adjustments inside, with no rounds fired, and another on the range. Range day proved to be about the nicest day of the first week of December in my part of After a couple of shots at 25 yards to get basically zeroed with some Winchester Silvertip 180-grain ammo, the first 3-shot group at 100 yards measured slightly over an inch, but was several inches high and to the right. I wanted to sight-in the rifle 2” high at 100, so made the appropriate number of clicks and fired another 3-shot group that again measured just over an inch. The center of the three shots was 2.25” high, and right on horizontally. The next test was a version of shooting the square. First I clicked 5 inches up and shot one round, then clicked 5 inches right and shot another, then clicked 5 inches down and shot another, and finally clicked 5 inches left and shot a final round. The first three shots all landed within less than ¾” of where they theoretically should have, the second shot landing within ¼”. The final shot landed within ¼” of the lowest shot in the initial group. This may not seem very impressive—after all, that’s what a scope should do—but I have tested a p |
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Smokey53119
Optics Apprentice Joined: November/02/2005 Status: Offline Points: 165 |
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Nice review John, as usual
Is there a place where you show the optical quality results for all the scopes you have tested?
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13181 |
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Nice review, John.
ILya
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338LAPUASLAP
Optics Master Scope Swapper Joined: October/17/2009 Status: Offline Points: 2596 |
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Thank you... Redfield keeping the bar high hopefully...
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No one
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John Barsness
Optics Optimist Joined: January/27/2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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Smokey,
I'll post one here after I test a few more.
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Dale Clifford
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: July/04/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5087 |
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Thanks for the review, was wondering how the Summit would come out.
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Offline Points: 9042 |
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Nice review and thanks John. I was wondering about the Summit, too. It's nice to see they have a good one in a 1".
Doug |
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Average Joe
Optics Master Joined: April/24/2008 Status: Offline Points: 2178 |
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Well written review, thanks.
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I'm classic shag nasty type.
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Good review, John! Thanks for the info! From what little I've seen of the Summit, it looks to me to be a 1" version of the Zenith.
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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. |
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Ed Connelly
Optics Retard God of no Chihuahua Joined: December/16/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 24225 |
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How much are the Summits.....or shouldn't I ask.......?
[ "....if you have to ask..." ]
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John Barsness
Optics Optimist Joined: January/27/2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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Ed,
I included that info toward the end of the article: $1500.
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Al Nyhus
Optics Apprentice Joined: March/08/2009 Status: Offline Points: 127 |
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John: Thanks for the review. -Al
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"Marsupials scare me".
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Ed Connelly
Optics Retard God of no Chihuahua Joined: December/16/2007 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 24225 |
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Kickboxer
MODERATOR Moderator Joined: February/13/2008 Status: Offline Points: 23679 |
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Great article, John. I like your "eye chart"...
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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 |
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helo18
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: December/02/2006 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 5620 |
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Great article as usual. I like you eye chart as well. Might have to adopt that chart for my uses.
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To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
GEORGE WASHINGTON |
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John Barsness
Optics Optimist Joined: January/27/2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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It's easy to reproduce. I just copy a bunch off on my computer printer., from the original.
The lines (both black and white) are, from top to bottom:
1"
3/4"
5/8"
1/2"
3/8"
1/4"
3/16"
1/8"
3/32"
1/16"
They're pretty easy to draw with black Magic Markers.
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helo18
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: December/02/2006 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 5620 |
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Thanks John! Will get one drawn up.
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To be prepared for War is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
GEORGE WASHINGTON |
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13181 |
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I use a somewhat similar chart except I have both vertical and horizontal lines on mine. Vertical and horizantal resolutions is not always the same.
ILya
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John Barsness
Optics Optimist Joined: January/27/2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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ILya,
That thought occurred to me after I had already pretty well gotten my chart where it needed to be. As a result I just turn the scope 90 degrees after looking at the chart in the "normal" position. This works whether the scope is on a rifle or not. Haven't found any meaningful differences yet, but there have been some slight ones.
Eye fatigue can also be a factor, the reason I don't normally test more than 4-5 scopes at one session. Of course, it's also critical to have them focused perfectly. They can appear to be focused when they're really not quite there....
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brodeur272
Optics Journeyman Joined: September/23/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 609 |
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Thanks John! The Redfield sounds like a good deal on a good scope...
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