I had a new competition rifle build by Wade Stuteville which is pretty much an exact duplicate of my previous rifle (which will become a practice rifle), except I'm using the new bighorn action with the integral recoil lug. I also wanted to try the shorter Thunderbeast can (5" instead of 9") to save both a little weight and length. I got those a month or so ago and I've been waiting to shoot them until my new glass arrived, which just came this Monday. Since it's only Wednesday, I've only made 3 range trips with it so far and did break in (took 2 rounds), and zeroed (way too many rounds) and a box drill.
So here are a couple pics and first impressions, keeping in mind I have about 42 rounds on the gun.
Vortex Razor HD gen II 4.5-27x56 with EBR-2C reticle
-It's heavy, but also short.
-The glass is fantastic. No distortion that I've seen so far. I tried to take some 'through the scope' pics of the vortex test chart, but between my crappy iphone, the sun and the .jpg compression algorithm the little lines on the target were completely whited out. My eyesight is pretty bad, so I was really only able to read the 3rd 'vortex' down on the right side. I could see the others but couldn't tell what they were.
-The knobs are very stiff. I expect they will break in a bit. (I hope)
-The clicks are very crisp. I like them.
-The parallax so far is better than any scope I've owned, including my S&B. The image is crisp and parallax free at the same setting (inexplicably not the case on some of my other scopes) and so far, that spot lines up with the markings on the turret. (rarely the case with my other scopes, especially S&B) But at the same time, it also seems sensitive to it.
-Spinning the diopter has that super high quality feel that an optic should have before it gets gritty from sand and all the crap that happens when you use them. But I haven't figured out what's going on with it yet. The reticle seems fairly clear over most of the diopter range, so I can't really tell if I have it set right or if it doesn't matter.
-I put the scope all the way forward in my spuhr mount, and the mount all the way forward on the rail, and I still had to hold my head back a little uncomfortably on the stock to get the right picture. Today I went to the hardware store and bought extra long screws and stuck additional spacers in the stock. (shown in 2nd pic)
-I like the illumination control a lot. and the illumination in the reticle is the way it should be
-The reticle is usable, but I sure hope they offer more choices in the future. On the positive side, it is labeled, is an appropriate thickness and isn't obnoxiously busy like the Horus, while still offering hold points for wind and elevation. The hold points aren't as nice as the MSR, but they're better than the H2CMR.
-I really like the way you zero the knobs, which is sometimes an engineering feat with zero stops and locking turrets. it is kind of like the USO EREK knob but not exactly. Essentially, you dial the knob to zero, then spin the cap off and turn a brass screw with a flathead screwdriver until it's zeroed. The upside is it is basically continuous, not discrete clicks, so you can put your zero EXACTLY where the bullet hits, instead of being stuck with the impact between 0 and .1 mil and having to remember to hold just a little high or low. The downside is nitpicky, but the markings you use for zeroing don't match the bullet adjustment at all. (they seem to be 2x what is written a .4 adjustment moved me .8 on paper, and when i needed .2 right, 2 marks moved me .4 right, and 1 mark moved me the .2 back to center). So where I used to be able to zero a scope with 1 round, adjust then shoot one to confirm and slip the knobs to zero, with the new vortex, I'm guessing, adjusting, guessing, adjusting, etc. but it's worth it to eventually get it exactly where you want it.
-also nitpicky, but it takes 3 tools to zero the knobs. a coin, an allen wrench and a narrow flat blade screwdriver. somewhat surprisingly, their solution was to invent a combo tool and include it in the box that does all 3. problem solved, i guess.
-looking forward to getting my cat tail / switchview lever soon. that will be very nice.
-as expected, the box test went pretty well. I'm going to say it tracks ok
I shot the bottom dot labeled 0 eight times, dialing up 1 mil after each shot. Then I dialed back to zero and shot the black dot on the bottom right 5 times (in order ABCDE), adding 4 mil left, then 4 mil up then, 4 mil right, then 4 mil down (which put me back at zero on the knobs. The cows were icing me on the 2mil dot. I think the box may be some sloppy shooting on my part, but it does seem to be leaning a bit left.
The Thunderbeast PSS
-shorter
-weighs less
-jury is still out on sound reduction, but so far it's right on the border of being uncomfortable to me, the shooter. so I swapped back to the 9" today to zero and shoot the box drill. i may use the 5" in matches where i'll be wearing earpro anyway, or use it on a SBR AR15 blackout. I like lightweight, but I like my hearing more.
Bighorn TL2 short action
-super slick and smooth (slicker than surgeon, imho)
-lots of updates since my old bighorn, too many to list here
-I think Wade's put together a pretty accurate rifle here. I haven't done any load development or anything and am out of practice. That last shot "E" is the only one that's more than 1/4" from the center, which isn't bad for 12 rounds.
So here are a couple pics and first impressions, keeping in mind I have about 42 rounds on the gun.
Vortex Razor HD gen II 4.5-27x56 with EBR-2C reticle
-It's heavy, but also short.
-The glass is fantastic. No distortion that I've seen so far. I tried to take some 'through the scope' pics of the vortex test chart, but between my crappy iphone, the sun and the .jpg compression algorithm the little lines on the target were completely whited out. My eyesight is pretty bad, so I was really only able to read the 3rd 'vortex' down on the right side. I could see the others but couldn't tell what they were.
-The knobs are very stiff. I expect they will break in a bit. (I hope)
-The clicks are very crisp. I like them.
-The parallax so far is better than any scope I've owned, including my S&B. The image is crisp and parallax free at the same setting (inexplicably not the case on some of my other scopes) and so far, that spot lines up with the markings on the turret. (rarely the case with my other scopes, especially S&B) But at the same time, it also seems sensitive to it.
-Spinning the diopter has that super high quality feel that an optic should have before it gets gritty from sand and all the crap that happens when you use them. But I haven't figured out what's going on with it yet. The reticle seems fairly clear over most of the diopter range, so I can't really tell if I have it set right or if it doesn't matter.
-I put the scope all the way forward in my spuhr mount, and the mount all the way forward on the rail, and I still had to hold my head back a little uncomfortably on the stock to get the right picture. Today I went to the hardware store and bought extra long screws and stuck additional spacers in the stock. (shown in 2nd pic)
-I like the illumination control a lot. and the illumination in the reticle is the way it should be
-The reticle is usable, but I sure hope they offer more choices in the future. On the positive side, it is labeled, is an appropriate thickness and isn't obnoxiously busy like the Horus, while still offering hold points for wind and elevation. The hold points aren't as nice as the MSR, but they're better than the H2CMR.
-I really like the way you zero the knobs, which is sometimes an engineering feat with zero stops and locking turrets. it is kind of like the USO EREK knob but not exactly. Essentially, you dial the knob to zero, then spin the cap off and turn a brass screw with a flathead screwdriver until it's zeroed. The upside is it is basically continuous, not discrete clicks, so you can put your zero EXACTLY where the bullet hits, instead of being stuck with the impact between 0 and .1 mil and having to remember to hold just a little high or low. The downside is nitpicky, but the markings you use for zeroing don't match the bullet adjustment at all. (they seem to be 2x what is written a .4 adjustment moved me .8 on paper, and when i needed .2 right, 2 marks moved me .4 right, and 1 mark moved me the .2 back to center). So where I used to be able to zero a scope with 1 round, adjust then shoot one to confirm and slip the knobs to zero, with the new vortex, I'm guessing, adjusting, guessing, adjusting, etc. but it's worth it to eventually get it exactly where you want it.
-also nitpicky, but it takes 3 tools to zero the knobs. a coin, an allen wrench and a narrow flat blade screwdriver. somewhat surprisingly, their solution was to invent a combo tool and include it in the box that does all 3. problem solved, i guess.
-looking forward to getting my cat tail / switchview lever soon. that will be very nice.
-as expected, the box test went pretty well. I'm going to say it tracks ok
I shot the bottom dot labeled 0 eight times, dialing up 1 mil after each shot. Then I dialed back to zero and shot the black dot on the bottom right 5 times (in order ABCDE), adding 4 mil left, then 4 mil up then, 4 mil right, then 4 mil down (which put me back at zero on the knobs. The cows were icing me on the 2mil dot. I think the box may be some sloppy shooting on my part, but it does seem to be leaning a bit left.
The Thunderbeast PSS
-shorter
-weighs less
-jury is still out on sound reduction, but so far it's right on the border of being uncomfortable to me, the shooter. so I swapped back to the 9" today to zero and shoot the box drill. i may use the 5" in matches where i'll be wearing earpro anyway, or use it on a SBR AR15 blackout. I like lightweight, but I like my hearing more.
Bighorn TL2 short action
-super slick and smooth (slicker than surgeon, imho)
-lots of updates since my old bighorn, too many to list here
-I think Wade's put together a pretty accurate rifle here. I haven't done any load development or anything and am out of practice. That last shot "E" is the only one that's more than 1/4" from the center, which isn't bad for 12 rounds.
