I was looking for a nice scope for my new RRA LAR 8 .308 Varmint with 26" Bull barrel. To be honest, I'd like to have a Schmidt & Bender, Swarovski, Nightforce or Leupold. I even looked at the specs of the Shepherd scopes, The power that I'd like to have can't be no less than 32X or better and 1/8 MOA adjustments, 30mm tube, that is what I needed and will not settle for anything less.
After waiting a little over a year for the rifle, my trigger finger is very itchy and I just can't wait to shoot this fine rifle. I didn't mind spending $1000 on a scope but then again the features that I am looking for can't be found on sub $1000 scopes, something that came close is the Nightforce bench rest scope 32x but still thats almost $1300, after spending an arm in a leg on my new LAR 8 varmint, I just need to watch my money.
I thought I put the gun aside for now until the right scope comes along. I visited one of the Gun Shows in Jacksonville Florida and I noticed 3 tables selling different lines of scopes. One of which was Osprey, the other is NCStar and Accu Shot. I looked at all three just out of curiosity. I scratched off NCStar from the list as fast as I can open the box, I'd rather go iron sight than put that junk in my rifle. The other was the Accu Shot which was not bad at all. it was 40X by 50mm, side focus, and all the bells and whistles one could ever want including push button red and green recticle, the lens was clear and the price was not bad at all... still under $300.
For about the same money, I looked at the Osprey 40X by 50mm, it had all the features that the Accu Shot had except the push button recticle. Now, I do know they are all made in China but if I were to take a chance on Chinese made scopes I'd pick the Osprey. According to the guys selling it, they used Chinese labor but the parts were imported and lens are from Japan... honestly, I could care less if it was made in Pluto. If it works, I'll buy it. I am as skeptical as anyone, after all I'm not putting it on a .22 lr or .17 hmr... it has to withstand the recoil of a semi auto .308.
3 more gunshows later and I kept coming back, did my research on the internet and found a whole bunch of info about the Osprey scopes, some I could care less to know but some are very helpfull in making my decision. I've read some post that there are people don't like it just because it was made in China, some post are reflection of other post they read somewhere with no first hand experience which were not helpful, some sounds a little fishy but then again 'garbage in, garbage out".
Well, after three visits to the show I finally decided to give it a try, why not, after haggling a deal has been struck for less than $200 bucks, If I don't like it, I'd take it off my rifle and sell it half price, so my loss would just be $100 and someone will be happy with their $100 scope. It was worth a try and risk.
I requested one that was fresh out of the box, checked for common issues I read on the internet, like windage and elevation not working, clicks are mushy, lens cover broken etc. I pretty much spent atleast 30 mins quality checking the darn thing. There's gotta be someting broken somewhere but I just can't find it, everything seems to work fine, including the range estimator side focus. The lens was surprisingly clear inside a dimly lit convention hall.
I took it home and immedietly did a side by side comparison from 10X to 24X against my Nikon scope, I just can't believe my eyes that it seems that the Osprey has better optics, it could be just my eyes but I can see the grains of the trees 150 yards away that I can't with the Nikon, the Nikon can't go higher than 24X but I did try the Osprey @ 40X and image is still very clear and bright... so far it passed the lens quality test but the million dollar question is "Will it hold true Zero?" Will it change its POI when the power is adjusted? Will the clicks really 1/8 MOA and go back to zero when adjusted.
Getting ready for the range, loaded up 40 rounds of 180 grains BTHP, bore sighted the scope, adjusted the crosshair, loctite the mounts and I was the first guy at the 100 yard lane very early in the morning. Fired one shot and it was just 6 inches higher and 1 inch to the left @ 100 yards with 2" target... made corrections on windage and elevation, using max power @ 40x, did 5 rounds and confirmed that I established my baseline zero with less than 6 rounds.
Fired 5 rounds using 40X once more just to make sure I just didn't get lucky, then 5 more rounds using 32X and 5 more @ 24X and so on. I was surprised that it held its zero at varying power, most groups are within half inch but the groups got bigger below 24X, It was hard to see my 2" targets less than 20X @ 100 yards.
All in all, this is pretty good for the money, I am hoping that this scope will work as advertised but I can say that if anything is not up to par with this scope are the rings rings, a good one would cost just as much what i paid for the scope but so far it has proven to be a good investment. The scope rings seems to be working for now and solid but I got my eye on a new one.
It will undergo some more testing at 200, 300, and 500 yards, I expect to have no more than 3~5" group at this distance. I will update this post if I have to eat my words later on but until then, the scope is fixed on that rifle.
I figured I post it here since this is one of the forums I found and used to research for the Osprey, I don't work for Osprey or planted by the guys selling Osprey scopes, I'm just a somewhat satisfied customer on a budget glad to see a product that I can afford without breaking the bank and at the same time getting all the features I want.
Yes, I'd still want a Schmidt and Bender, Swarovski, Nigthforce and Leupold but until I can afford the ones I want, I may need to settle for the lower cost scope that can do the job. I'd buy one again and I'll tell my friends to buy it too.
From what I learned so far, this company uses Chinese labor but imported parts, I could care less if it was made in other 3rd world countries offering cheap labor, if it doesn't work I'd throw it away... I once paid more for a scope mount than what I paid for this scope so it is all good. For the price, I didn't think it would work, I honestly think something will break and I prepared my self for disappointment. If I can find a 30 mm one piece steel scope mounts I'll be a happy camper.
Again I don't work for these guys, and yes, this is my first and only post, you can believe it or not I just thought I'd share this information to anyone who may find it usefull. If you need to contact me for any reason here is my email:
[email protected].
Thanks for reading.
