Re: Cabelas Scope for LeverEvolution shells

On Feb 1, 5:29 pm, decalod85 <decalo...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Cabela's is selling a scope with 200 and 300 yard bullet drop ticks on
the crosshairs that are specifically for Hornady's new LeverEvolution
rounds.  It's a 3x9 with slightly longer eye relief.

Anyone have experience with this?  The reviews on Cabelas.com were
mixed.

A gimmic to say the least, but one that prompted me to go read the
reviews out of curiousity. I suggest anyone interested in the scope
read the reviews - every one of them - because they summarize more
specific experience than any of us can give. I can give a reasonably
experienced opinion of what the reviews in total mean.

The reviews tell me first that this is an $89 scope with the quality
control problems typical of this relatively lowball price point. Four
out of five people were more or less satisfied and 20% or so thought
the scope was trash out of the box. Most opinions are clearly enough
expressed that I believe they accurately separate customers that
received at least reasonably OK product from those that received
defective product. Like with all cheap scopes, you might get lucky
and receive a product good enought to make you happy. My guess is
that a much lower percentage of those experienced with higher quality
optics were satisfied than those lacking this experience and you can
sort of guess who was who in reading the reviews. As a point of
comparison, go read the reviews of those that bought say Leupolds.

A fair percentage of these reviews also rave favourably about the long
eye relief as just what a scope needs on a lever gun with a smaller
percentage claiming that the eye relief is too long - making it
impossible for them to establish a comfortable head position on the
comb that enables a full field of optical view. This could be a
quality problem. But it is more likely a design property.

At about 5 1/2", specified eye relief is indeed longer than on most
cheap scopes (which typically are at 3" to 3 1/4" inches). But
strangely enough, the "unusually long" eye relief of this scope is
about typical for a Leupold, suggesting first that those that were
impressed lacked previous experience with a better quality scope on a
levergun. But also, others were upset with the eye relief being too
long to get a good and comfortable view through the tube. It would
appear that for this scope that while the eye relief is long, it is
unforgiving, allowing little variation in optimum eye position
relative to the scope The missing forgiveness might be necessary
because the shooter has a larger head or longer neck than might be
average or because the particular rifle has a very short LOP. But
this would be a very unusual complaint for a user of Leupold hunting
scope (e.g., a VX-III 3- 9) that is accustomed to a good view across
about an 1 1'2" of variation in eyeball to scope distance. This is
one of the big reasons why many experienced hunters prefer Leupolds.
Not only do you get pretty good optics, durability, and a great
warrantee, you get a scope that, when properly mounted on a rifle with
reasonable fit to the shooter, allows you to quickly acquire a target
and pull the trigger across a variety of field positions without
worrying about getting your head in just the right point to see.

Returning to the gimmic part, if you put a Leupold on your lever gun
(or other scope that provided eye-relief jointly appropriate to you
and the scope as mounted on the rifle), shooting the LeverRevolution
cartridges you really would not much care about the crosshair ticks
for 200 and 300 yards. Knowing that the range is in fact 300 yards
(in combination of awareness of bullet drop at that range) is of much
greater importance than presence of the hold-over ticks.

What I found interesting, however, was the particular enthusiasm maybe
1/3 of the reviewers expressed for the product. I think this means
partly means that there are people out there that for the first time
(maybe because they have never tried or can not economically justify a
Leupold) have found a good match between how their body fits a lever
gun and the eye relief of a scope on that gun. I also think it
represents significant relief that someone authoritatively endorses a
particular scope and gun and bullet going together to the non-expert.
It is a little like Marth Stewart telling a the buyer lacking
confidence in their own taste that a particular set of sheets and
towels are color coordinated. And I also think it also represents a
fair percentage of users who clearly knew their own needs and found
them satisfied.

My preference for a lever gun is some sort of tang or receiver sight
because I think a scope compromises the quickness and handiness that a
lever gun in particular delivers. But if you want a scope, your rifle
is already tapped for mounts, and $89 is a firm budget, I might give
this scope a try because the eye relief it offers is relatively hard
to find in this price range. Just set high standards for results that
will make you happy. Send anything that falls short back to Cabelas
for a refund.
.