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12/15/2008 3:55:23 PM EDT
i've been having a bad run of luck with optics of which i expected better.

bushnell legend 5-15x40 mil dot = fail
burris fullfield2 4-12x40 LRD = fail
leupold vx3 1.5-5x20 (30mm tube) = fail
bushnell elite 4200 1.25-4.5x (30 mm tube) = fail

fail = good groups for 15-50 shots on a new armalite m15 upper, then a sudden inability to hit the paper with all screws snug, coupled with a seeming unresponsiveness of the windage and elevation knobs.  only armalite 1 piece mounts were used for an all armalite package.  thank goodness for cabela's return policies.  the legend lasted the longest.  i've had good luck in the past with the legend on high recoil airguns, which eat most scopes quickly.  a buddy uses one on his 300 wby. but it rapidly failed on my armalite ar15.  i've had burris scopes crash and burn before but i was hoping they would have gotten better.  the leupy was a tough buy.  it was at the high end of my price range but some overtime let me afford it (sorta).  i was very disappointed when the vx3 gave up thje ghost.  the elite 4200 was a last ditch effort.  i really didn't expect it to work but the "10,000 rounds of .375 h&h" gave me hope.  

by now, i would have wrapped the armalite around a tree if i didn't have a crappy hakko 4x21 with which the rifle does 1moa consistently.  but i want "better", and the hakko belongs to my bushy.  now i have a aimpoint 9000sc 2moa 2x en route.  less magnification & battery reliance hopefully equals less fail.  

ymmv but my advice is not to buy optics from vendors who don't have a return policy unless you want to get stuck in a return, repair, re-fail loop.  

12/15/2008 4:58:52 PM EDT
[#1]
hmmm, so you're saying that all 4 of those optics failed within 50 rounds ?
That is an almost unbelievable run of bad luck. I'm surprised that your AR transmits more scope damaging energy to your scopes than ,what I assume is, a bolt action 300 wby. Or indeed a high recoiling airgun, although I confess I've never personally encountered an airgun that recoiled particularly savagely. Thank heavens for the Hakko, if you're doing 1 moa consistently with it, maybe you should buy another for your Armalite and give up your search for "better" ?


12/15/2008 5:06:09 PM EDT
[#2]
you're not joking?
12/15/2008 5:14:58 PM EDT
[#3]
Airguns are hard on scopes not because of the recoil, but because they 'recoil' in both fore and aft directions.  As to the OP, that is some incredibly bad luck.
12/15/2008 5:39:28 PM EDT
[#4]
Wow that REALLY sucks, I've owned gobs of scopes in more than 5 flavors and have not had a fail like that EVER.  I even had a Simmons 3-9x40 8-point on my German RWS 52 airgun for two years w/o a fail.  And +1 on the air gun recoil thing.  It's not that it hurts AT ALL, but apparently the "two-stage recoil" can really be hard on things.  I know it's hard to believe, but in all the high powered airgun reading I used to do(I could only own airguns before I took a hunter's safety education course w/ my old man as per his regulations), it seems to be the case.  YMMV
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