The subject of this review is the Mueller Extreme Sports Optics Sport Dot Series 4-16 AO scope with lighted dot reticle.
This scope was sent to me for review awhile back and has taken me a bit longer than desirable to complete the review. For this I apologize but farm chores have kept me pretty busy of late.
My first impression after opening box was WOW! this is one huge scope for a fellow who favors light weight and smaller objective scopes on my rifles. But unlike me a lot of you do prefer the larger scopes and higher powers with the huge objectives on your hunting rifles. For me this would be a varmint scope. To many it fits their definition of a big game hunting scope.
So size aside how does it perform? Pretty darn well thank you. All adjustments worked smoothly and positively. Optics were bright and clear under the conditions of test. Those conditions varied from over cast cloudy days to bright sunny days to near pitch darkness for the testing of the illuminated dot. I did note that to fully correct for parallax at 50 yards I had to place the objective adjustment ring about half way between the 50 and 75 yard settings. I didn't test it at other ranges. But like on most scopes it is best to adjust until you see no parallax rather than just assuming the markings are correct. They seldom are in my experience so I don't consider this a problem with this scope.
Speaking of which that dot is one mighty nice feature. It has enough range of adjustment to be visible without over powering the image at any lighting conditions I can imagine. If you can see the target you'll be able to see your dot to aim and there will be a brightness setting that will allow you to do so without it flaring to cause you to lose the target. It appears very much like the one in the Ultra Dot/Micro Dot 2-7 scope I tested a couple years back. Could be both are made by the same folks. Dunno.
I mounted it on a Remington Model 541-T for the shooting test. Out on the range it sighted in quickly. After three shots it was hitting dead center at 25 yards so I moved to 50 yards and adjusted the point of impact for center there and began a round the clock repeatability test. For this test I fired five shots with scope adjusted to hit point of aim. Then I moved the reticle 40 clicks left and 40 clicks up and fired a five shot group. I then moved it 80 clicks right and fired a five shot group. This was followed by 80 clicks down and a five shot group. Then 80 clicks left with a five shot group and finally 40 clicks up and 40 clicks right followed by a final five shot group.
For this test I used a target with five 1/2" black dots at 50 yards. The outer dots are each 2.5" from the center dot up, down, left and right thus the number of clicks coincided with that distance from previous expected POI since the scope has stated 1/8" clicks. My test varified that is a very accurate prediction of the actual on target POI change as shown by this target.
Just in case you are interested group sizes were 1.2" with four of the five in 0.5" for the first group, 0.9" with four of the five in 0.5" for the second, 1.1" for the third group, 1.0" for the fourth group, 0.7" for the fifth and 0.7" for the final group shown in the photo below.
As you can see in the photos the group center was very close to the proper point for each adjustment. No attempt was made to bang or hit on the scope to assure adjustments took as many are prone to do. I feel that if you need to do this then the scope isn't worth the effort. This one clearly didn't need any beating or banging to cause the adjustments to take. In no case was the initial shot of each new group the one most distant from group center and in all but one instance it was the one nearest to the 12 o'clock position on the black dot.
I did not subject this scope to any heavy recoil. Heck I really don't even have a rifle with really heavy recoil as I use a .30-06 for my heavy gun. I will leave that to you if you feel this is a big game hunting scope. As for me it will most likely be used only on rimfires or .22 caliber centerfires as a varmint scope. It would be idea I think for night time predator hunting as the lighted dot feature really works to perfection. If you are a night time hog hunter as is legal in TX then you also might want to take a look at this scope or one of the others in the Mueller line with this lighted dot feature.
Here are some of the specs on this particular scope according to Mueller Optics.
German #4 reticle with illuminated glass dot.
Fully multi-coated crystal lens.
Eassy fingertip turret adjustments.
Eleven glass dot reticle brightness settings.
Shockproof, waterproof and fogproof.
Ridid body tube for durability and reliability.
1/8" re-settable windage and elevation adjustments with audible clicks.
All weather high-torque power change ring.
Fast focus eyebell.
Scratch resistant matte black finish
Limited life time warranty.
At the price this instrument sells for it sure seems like a real bargain if a large scope with a 4-16X power range is what you're looking for. If you are a night time predator or hog hunter or a varmint hunter I'd say this scope should fit the bill fine. This is the uses to which I'd put it. Now if you are a bean field deer hunter and are used to seeing them very early or late then it also should fit your needs.
I didn't test for heavy recoil so can't adddress that issue personally. But it is stated to be very recoil tolerant and does carry a limited life time warranty. So I feel sure that Mueller Optics has tested its ability to take recoil of magnum rifles. Since I don't use magnum rifles this just isn't an issue to me.
I believe you'll be happy with this scope and for sure will be pleased with the price.
Contact infomation for Muller Extreme Sports Optics is below and is good info to have since I find absolutely no contact info on or in the box the scope came in. A major oversight I plan to discuss with company President Rich Schlampp.
Mueller Extreme Sports Optics
6544 Finnegan Road
Johannesburg, MI 49751
1-888-775-8885 or 989-705-8885
Fax 1-989-705-8886
Website is:
http://www.muelleroptics.com/
