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Posted: 7/30/2004 6:55:31 AM EDT
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I ordered a 4x30 Illuminated Reticle NcStar scope for my AR. Upon inspection I was impressed with the brightness and clarity of the optics. The reticle is very crisp. It certainly didn't stike me as being "junk". That is a a word that I would reserve for the ridiculous mount that NcStar sent with the scope. It was pathetic. It wiggled even after it was tightened. I tossed it back in the box and bought an inexpensive set of Leupold weaver rings at Wal-Mart to go on top of a Weaver carry-handle mount that I had already bought for $20. The scope now has a reasonably stable mount. I can't speak to the durability of this scope yet, but I'm looking forward to using it soon. My opinion could change if the scope doesn't hold up to recoil. The overall quality of the scope seems good. Besides clear optics, the threads on the focus ring and adjustments knobs are uniform and smooth when turned. The scope is actually fairly heavy for being so small. It appears to be well constructed. All in all, not bad for $60. |
NC scopes are every bit the equal of Leupold and Night Force; every optic is made by Hakko anyway..............didn't you know that? Seriously, I posted about the lower end scopes earlier today, and only got a couple of responses. I guess everyone on this board has so much bling-bling that they can afford ACOGs and such.\ Good luck with your scope.....let me know how it works out.......I have been eyeing the Swatforce and Target Sports myself. JH94 |
Target Sports scopes are re-marked NCStar and BEC... BEC, NCStar, Leapers, and TS are all made by the same company... |
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Dave_A I wouldn't doubt it a bit. I had a Leapers one time......I cannot recommend the AR 3-9x carry handle mount version. It was horrible. That said, I had an el cheapo shotgun scope that was my favorite scope of all time (no markings on it anywhere).........but I sold it to a buddy thinking I could get another one. Never seen another like it. JH94 |
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I've got a 2.5x30 illuminated IER NCStar scope mounted on a forward scout mount on a Marlin 45-70 guide gun. At $35 I could figure out whether I liked the scout placement well enough to fork out the cash for a Leupold. Well, it might be made by babies with guns to their heads, but it's an excellent scope for the price. I can say that it is tough enough to stand up to over 300 shots of 460 grain cast loads at 1800f/s (50 grains of Reloder 7) and hundreds of lesser loads in a 6lb rifle without losing zero or adjustability . These heavy rounds kick so hard that I have to bag the stock with a sandbag to shoot off the bench for more than a couple of rounds. I will say the stock rings were crap, but I already had rings ready for the scope and just threw the stock ones out. The optics are clear and bright (maybe not leupold clear and bright but plenty for this type of scope) and you can illuminate the reticle if needed for the darker shots. The rings are quick detach Leupolds and the mount is an Ashley Outdoors scout. The rifle is even lighter than standard as the front stock has been thinned, and the rear chopped to 10.5 inches of pull. This rifle KICKS wth these heavy loads, but will kill anything in North America and most of Africa with ease. I still dont have a Leupold scout scope after a year now. I am perfectly happy with my cheap NCStar. Although I haven't deliberately abused it, the rfle has managed to fall over on hard ground many times with the scope mounted and not lose zero. One time it was in my bathroom (I had it leaning against the wall while taking a crap) and it fell directly on the scope onto the hard tile without problems. I still get 1.5-2" groups consistantly at 100 yeards and that's the best I can do with such a low power scope. |
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Xer0, That's quite a testament to the durability of this brand. I intentionally purchased a fixed power scope, because I figured the fewer moving parts the better, especially on a economy scope. Once you know the glass isn't going to shoot loose, the next thing to worry about is the mount. Sounds like you've got good quality in that department. I'm confident of the leupold rings I bought, even though they are the aluminum ones, since the 5.56 kicks like a little girl. The no-name carry handle weaver rail mount (bought at Denny's Guns BTW) is untested but appears to fit very snugly in the carry handle, much better than the junk mount that came with my scope. I don't have the heart to intentionally drop my Evil Black Rifle with the scope mounted, so that test will have to wait until Murphy shows up. Maybe a rubber mallet test instead. I think I could do that one without cringing. |
| i just got a new m4style ar bushy bout a month ago. i order up a ncstar from cheaperthandirt.com for $60, its the 4x30 ill. recticle. cheaperthandirt product number (scp-525) i didnt know what i was doin? i am very supprised with the clarity and ill. recticle, its lens covers are crap though, from standing position i can put 3 sometimes 4 consecutive shots touching each other at 40-45yds with wolf 55gr hp, im still trying to learn how to shoot it also, i hope i can save up and get a really good scope and trigger work. |
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Sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes you get more than what you paid for. Nails, I highly doubt your AK recoils and is as abusive to scopes as my heavy loaded 45-70. However yours failed and mine works and continues to work fine. It's all about luck sometimes. The more you pay, "hopefully" the luckier you get, but I have seen very expensive scopes fail too. Was yours a variable? Mine is a fixed low power and fixed scopes are generally always tougher than variables in the same range. For the price you paid, I bet you could keep shipping it back for warrantee until you get a good one and still come out cheap. |
| I put 80 rounds of Wolf ammo through my Bushmaster using the 4x30 NcStar scope today. The image in the scope was very bright and clear. I don't have any complaints about its performance. The range-finding reticle has a 1 moa wide crosshair which is wider than I am used to. But for a general purpose medium power scope it seems to work fine. Didn't detect any shift in aiming point for the scope through out the session. Since I bought this primarily as a range-use scope to aide in the accuracy-testing of handloads I think that it will work well in this role. |
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Update on NcStar scope. I used this compact optic during one stage of a Long-Range Highpower Match this last weekend. The distance was 600 yards. The aiming black on the target is 36" (6 moa) and the X, 10 and 9 rings are 6" (1 moa), 12" (2 moa) and 18" (3 moa), respectively. I managed to put my first 6 shots into the 10 and X rings with a couple of 9's. My group was shading the left side of the 10 ring so I decided to put two clicks of right windage on move it towards the center. After the adjustment my next shot went into the 7 ring on the right side.  I adjusted for a 1/2 minute of windage and it resulted in about 3 minutes of POI shift. The next shot went into the same area. I decided to move the adjustment back. Being supsicious I turned it 4 clicks left and then back 2 clicks right to get to the original setting. The shots were still not centered but they were closer. I continued the two-steps forward one-step back adjustment until I got the shots centered again.The scope is clear and bright but its adjustments are erratic. Once zeroed it appears to be fine, but it is unusable for longer range target shooting. Using the mil-dot style reticle to adjust for wind and range it a better choice. |
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