mastiffhound
06-30-14, 18:34
This last week or so I've been helping a buddy at work look for an optic and the weights are kind of puzzling to me. We looked at tons of optics from 1-4x to 2-10x in the $200 to $350 range and the weights were so far from each other that I started thinking what could make such a large difference?
I just can't figure out how two scopes like the Leupold's 1-4x20 VX-1 Hog Scope can weigh 8.1 oz and Nikon's 1-4x20 M-223 scope weighs in at 13.93. I wonder if Nikon was so specific because the weight is so high, you know like "It weighs less than 14 oz!". It's not even illuminated and the weight is 5.83 oz higher. The illuminated Leupold 1.5-4x20 Mark AR MOD 1 is 9.6, still 4.33 oz lighter. The 3-9x scopes weren't as far apart but the Leupy Mark AR 3-9x40 is 12.6 oz while the Nikon 2-8x32 M-223 (the closest that Nikon sells in price and intended purpose) is 15.17. That is still 2.57 oz with the Nikon having a 8mm smaller objective? I'm not picking on Nikon by any means, Bushnell's 3-9x AR optics scope was 21 oz and Vortex's Diamondback 3-9x is 14.4.
Weaver makes some lighter scopes also in their Classic V line like their 1-3x at 8.5 oz to the 2-10x at 11oz so it's not just some Leupold magic or something. All of the scopes we looked at had 1" tubes not 30mm so that isn't the reason. So what gives? The only thing I can think of is they're using much heavier lenses or the aluminum for the tubes is of lesser quality so they have to use more of it to make it stronger? Does anyone have some insight they can share with me? I'm just looking for a little education on scope construction and materials. As always, thanks for the help guys.
I just can't figure out how two scopes like the Leupold's 1-4x20 VX-1 Hog Scope can weigh 8.1 oz and Nikon's 1-4x20 M-223 scope weighs in at 13.93. I wonder if Nikon was so specific because the weight is so high, you know like "It weighs less than 14 oz!". It's not even illuminated and the weight is 5.83 oz higher. The illuminated Leupold 1.5-4x20 Mark AR MOD 1 is 9.6, still 4.33 oz lighter. The 3-9x scopes weren't as far apart but the Leupy Mark AR 3-9x40 is 12.6 oz while the Nikon 2-8x32 M-223 (the closest that Nikon sells in price and intended purpose) is 15.17. That is still 2.57 oz with the Nikon having a 8mm smaller objective? I'm not picking on Nikon by any means, Bushnell's 3-9x AR optics scope was 21 oz and Vortex's Diamondback 3-9x is 14.4.
Weaver makes some lighter scopes also in their Classic V line like their 1-3x at 8.5 oz to the 2-10x at 11oz so it's not just some Leupold magic or something. All of the scopes we looked at had 1" tubes not 30mm so that isn't the reason. So what gives? The only thing I can think of is they're using much heavier lenses or the aluminum for the tubes is of lesser quality so they have to use more of it to make it stronger? Does anyone have some insight they can share with me? I'm just looking for a little education on scope construction and materials. As always, thanks for the help guys.