*Disclaimer: Whilst every care is taken to quote accurate prices, ultimately prices are subject to change without notice due to manufacturers changes, currency variations or errors in posting. All prices are subject to change without notice. Please check with us to confirm. E&OE
© Copyright 2014 March Scopes (NZ) Ltd | PO Box 165, Ashburton, SI, 7740, NZ| Phone: 0212255223
Understandably many people ask this question. In Japan,
businesses under a certain size generally offer a warranty of 5 years as per the guidelines recommended by the Industry and Government.
This is also true of similar items like high end cameras and photographic lenses etc. Deon Optical Corporation is a small custom design and
manufacturing company. To maintain their high standards of quality and
attention to detail they intend to stay that way for years to come. The way
these scopes are built would make it difficult for any larger profit driven
company to match. So far Deon have demonstrated to the world they stand behind
their products no matter what. The confidence of never needing to use the
warranty in the first place is preferable for all of us.
The same applies with many other high end products like some cameras and photographic lenses to fine motor vehicles which also have actual warranties much less than "lifetime". In most case 12 months
In general terms lifetime warranties are fine but if you
need to use that lifetime warranty often then there will be little confidence in your ownership and
use of the product anyway. I usually ask people...do you want to buy a good product? Or just a long warranty?
The first scopes manufactured by Deon were the Bench Rest competition scopes. One of the reasons for this is that Bench Rest shooters demand absolute reliability and precision from their scope. Jim Kelbly tells us that between 2005 and 2009 some 72 scopes were sent back to Deon by Bench Rest shooters who suspected they had a problem with their scope. It turns out none did but Deon still carefully dismantled and reassembled each scope before returning to the owner, no charge.
By nature all manufactured products can have defects. That is why we have a warranty. The way these scopes are designed and manufactured is also designed to minimise a defect occurring. So far this has been true. Usually if a defect would ever occur, one would expect that to be obvious when the scope is first used. If it does occur Deon and the distributors will stand behind the product and ensure it gets sorted properly and as quickly as possible. All warranty issues or requests will need the scope to be returned to the manufacturer as only Deon in Japan has the equipment and expertise to deal with this.
There have so far been several documented examples where a March scope has been physically damaged accidentally by their owners. Upon returning the scope to Deon for a quotation on the repairs some of these scopes have been repaired and returned to their owners free of charge if the damage was minor or if more major like a damaged main tube for example then a small fee to cover materials costs (depending on the damage) is charged and in very short time returned with free return freight. This often has included documents and photos of the repair process.
This certainly has impressed these owners and is one of the factors why many March scope owners end up owning several.
Today we find half our March scopes sales are to owners getting their 2nd or 3rd March Scope. This makes us very comfortable that owners direct experience owing and using a March Scope is very positive.
In short........ No.
All rifle scopes should be carefully installed onto the
rifle with quality rings and mounts. For any precision instrument to perform the task
of allowing you to aim your rifle properly it must be precisely installed.
This cannot be overstated. Please take note. Incorrect scope mounting, setup and adjusting is way by far the biggest failure all scope owners have with any rifle scope.
When you buy a March Rifle scope it is a PRECISION INSTRUMENT. If it is carefully and correctly installed it will perform flawlessly for a lifetime and enhance the proper use and enjoyment by owners
For example, and by way of illustration, most shooters know that without correct bedding of the rifle receiver (action) into the stock any rifle will not shoot accurately or consistently. The same thing applies with the alignment and installation of the scope rings and mounts. Absolute scope ring alignment is critical for the reliable operation of any rifle scope. If the main tube is mounted in misaligned rings and therefore twisted or tensioned the close fitting internal components are hardly likely to perform as it is intended. March scopes are designed to handle extreme recoil from large calibre rifles but no rifle scope from any manufacturer can perform properly or reliably in misaligned mounts. If a strong steel rifle action can be tensioned and twisted in the rifle stock by poor bedding fit then it should be easy for people to understand that even the strongest scope tubes can also be distorted in misaligned mounts. Also please remember, do not over tighten those scope ring cap screws because any scope tube can be crushed also.
BRT manufacture a special Scope ring alignment kit which includes a lapping kit. See accessories page. Please discuss this with us.
After your scope is correctly installed on the rifle it is time to carefully set the adjustment of the scope eyepiece lens to suit your eyesight. Follow the instructions in the owners manual carefully. Taking special care and time to correctly install and correctly adjust the scope will likely see you with a lifetime of service and pleasure of ownership.
Generally for target rifles we recommend and stock the Kelbly scope rings. These are designed to fit onto a Kelbly dovetail like on a Kelbly/Stolle action and also onto Davidson bases (with the Stolle dovetail) which fit onto many other Custom style rifle actions. They are precisely machined and numbered. They come in 1", 30mm and 34mm. Also available in tapered sets, 25 MOA in 30mm and 34mm which is most ideal for long range work.
Kelbly rings are now available for many Rimfire actions with the 1mm dovetail. Kelbly are now making Picatinny style rings in 30mm and 34mm to fit Pic rails. We stock all Kelbly scope rings.
Davidson manufacture base sections with Kelbly dovetails to fit round actions and other non Stolle actions. If using these types ensure you check the ring alignment as any two piece mount base can create misalignment issues.
For Tactical rings to fit picatinny rail systems we recommend Ken Farrell rings. These Tactical style heavy duty rings are precisely CNC machined and numbered. They come in Steel and alloy.
There
are many version of scope mounts on the market today. Most of which will be
suitable for the job as long as they are strong and precisely manufactured in alignment. Two piece scope base systems
increase the likelihood of misalignment. Even with any quality brand name mounts
the fit to the top of the action is critical so care needs to be taken when
selecting and installing. Misalignment can occur even with precise match sets of rings installed onto a bent receiver or rifle action.
It cannot be overstated, you cannot rely on the expectation that 'brand name' rings will always be in perfect alignment. There could be a problem with the shape of the action that the bases or rail are installed onto. YOU MUST CHECK USING PROPER TOOLS. The BRT scope ring alignment tool set is recommended
Some people do like to do this. We do not recommend this
because it increases the risk and chance of misaligned re-fitment.
Whilst generally this should not happen with good
rings and base (quality picatinny rail). But something like dust or other foreign
material may become caught up just once upon refitting the scope rings to the rail. Misalignment occurring just once and
damage to the scope tube could result. Also not to mention the reliability and repeatability of previous settings.
Many people like to use the vertically split style rings like Warne brand. These can be OK but THEY MUST be checked for alignment. The only issue is that lapping or ring bedding of this system is difficult is difficult or impossible. Our experience has been that these type of vertical split rings and bases are the most misaligned of all systems.
The use of Kelbly rings on a Stolle dovetail is least likely to be a
problem as the dovetail bar is integral in the action manufacture and being the full length of the action. The Kelbly rings are designed to slide onto this dovetail. So with this system only, a carefully removed scope with attached Kelbly rings and then refitted is usually the only reliable remove and refit system we are comfortable with.
In summary the same experience might apply if you constantly removed and refitted your rifle receiver (action) into and out of your rifle stock. The alignment and true fitment of the bedding to the receiver is critical and the possibility of something going wrong is increased every time it is dismantled and then refiited.
A permanent scope mount setup that is installed properly can get no better or worse but a setup continually being removed increases the risk every time it is removed. I know these statements will not convince some people to change their ways but at least i hope they consider cause and effect.
Every week we deal with issues that come back to people not paying enough attention to detail.
Plug-n-Play is best left to smart phones and the like in our opinion.
The MD disc (Modifier Disk) is a perforated aluminium disc which screw onto the front objective lens. These have a 35mm hole for March scopes with a 52mm front objective lens and a 43mm hole for the March-X and March-FX models with a 56mm front lens.
This has 3 effects.
Standard camera filters can be installed on the
eyepiece lens if required.
These can be sourced through regular major camera and photographic suppliers. The threads are compatible with the thread on regular photographic equipment. Please refer to the DEON handbook for details.
The numbers shown on the parallax (focus) dial are not necessarily an absolute
reflection of the actual distance where proper focus and parallax free operation is adjusted at.
The correlation if this is dependent upon on the eye of the shooter as well as temperature so it will be slightly different from user to user, day to day. The dial numbers are not a rangefinder, rather the numbers are a general guide only. This is true of all scopes brands.
It is important to understand the effects of correctly adjusting for parallax free movement of the reticle to target for good shooting performance. Adjusting the dial to simply get a focus on any target does not necassarily mean it is perfectly parallax free. Parallax error is small reticle movement relative to the target. Paying attention to some fine tuning may be needed. This is particularly true at lower magnifications where the depth of focus is long but the point of parallax free reticle movement needs to be more precisely established.
The focus dial cannot be unscrewed and reset on March Scopes. There are optional large diameter focus wheels available which will fit onto the regular focus dial. The basic add on wheel as an accessory is 50mm in diameter. There is also another wheel of 110mm diameter which can be added top the 50mm wheel. This is commonly used by people in Air Gun Field Target.
For March Scopes there are three (3) diameters of the scope focus dial. 31mm is used on all target scopes and the the 5-32 and 10-60 Tactical. All other Tactical non illuminated have a 34mm dial and the illuminated scopes have a 36mm dial.
There are 500mm accessory wheel for each of these sizes.
Field Target air rifle shooting in particular use larger diameter focus wheels with self calibrated distance marking placed on the circumference of the large wheel which they can use for short range precise calculations since these are self calibrated . The small diameter focus wheel of 50mm can be very helpful for other target shooting.
Please read next section on PARALLAX
Parallax in rifle scopes is the apparent movement of
the reticle on the target in relation to the position of the shooters eye.
Of course a "target" could be a paper competition target, an electronic form of target or even a game animal for hunting. Either way it is the object at which you want to aim at.
If parallax adjustment is not correctly set and you move your eye up or down, then left and right, very slightly then the reticle position moves on that target. What I mean is that it will not hold a fixed position. If this occurs it means you are
not ‘parallax free’. You must adjust
the dial carefully be free of parallax movement for absolute accuracy or you will be unintentionally aiming
in a very slightly different position at that target for each and every shot. The problem is that you will not realise this as you will still experience a "full view" anyway and apparent object focus
The result of this will give you larger than intended shot dispersion (grouping) because you will not realise that in fact you are aiming (slightly) at a different position every time.
For general shooting, hunting and varmint shooting
simply adjusting to get the sharpest focus on the subject will
be reasonably parallax free for the job and usually good enough for hunting situations. But if you are hunting at long range or for small targets then the same issues apply as with the many forms of target shooting. You shots need to be precisely grouping as tight as your outfit will allow. Maladjustment of lack of attention to this simple parallax free adjustment principle will deliver less than expected performance for sure.
Many people believe that the focus dial is just for that....focus on the object. With high magnification scopes the depth of focus distance is short which helps you to get closer to a parallax free setting. But at lower and medium magnification levels the situation is more difficult because the actual depth of focus is usually fairly long (or deep). Meaning when you focus on an object and move the dial back and forward a little the object still remains in sharp focus. Yet for parallax free performance more precise checking and fine adjustment of that focus dial needs to be carried out.
Attention to detail.
Stuart & Annie Elliott are appointed as a World Wide MARCH SCOPE distributors by DEON Optical in Japan.
We work very closely with DEON on product development and distribution.
March scopes are not just a product to us. We have a love and special affinity to these high quality precision made Japanese optics. Having a personal relationships with the four people at DEON is something we are very proud of.
We are located in Australia and service this region directly. We can technically sell to any country and in some areas we have appointed sub dealers. They service Russia, Philippines, South Africa and New Zealand for example.
Please contact us so we can handle your inquiry.
For areas within Europe we recommend contacting Gary Costello at www.marchscopes.co.uk and for the area within the USA we recommend contacting Jim Kelbly at www.kelbly.com
Call +61 7-3808 4862 (AEST). Or use the email 'contact us' form on this website.
We can ship to many other parts of the world so feel free to contact us for International orders on +61 7 3808 4862 (+ 10 hours GMT) or email us - stuart@marchscopes.com.au or brtshooterssupply@gmail.com
These scopes are quite a bit different from other rifle
scopes which you find available through retail outlets like gunshops. For a start they are handmade
and the supply quantities are not unlimited. Their design are world first and industry leading. The material used are the very best. Deon have chosen experts in the field to
be their representatives. People who know about, people who actually use and people who understand about these special products. People with a proven track record and the technical expertise to back that up.
In Australia, Stuart and Annie Elliott have been appointed
agents because of our experience in the field. We are both primarily competition target shooters who have each won World Championships, many National Championships, many Super Shoots and most of major feature matches in more than 35 years of Bench Rest rifle competition within Australia and Internationally. Both of us are members of the
Australian Benchrest Hall of Fame (HOF) which means we have each won at least 10
National Championships. We are bot also member of the Australian Benchrest Hunterclass Hall of Fame and have each won more than 15 Nationals in this. We also shoot other forms of Bench Rest rifle competition including Rimfre, F class and Long Range (1,000 yards and 500m). We have held or still hold many National records in most of these. We both
enjoy hunting and varmint shooting and also some informal Tactical Rifle shooting.
We run two businesses. BRT Shooters Supply at www.benchrest.com.au and a training business called Bench Rest Training at www.benchresttraining.com We have trained many shooters for both competition and non competitive shooting and ammunition reloading on 4 continents around the world since 2004.
We have March Scope dealers appointed to service some specific countries:
RUSSIA - Anatoily Tsebenko
PHILIPPINES - Chim Estaban
SOUTH AFRICA - Ge Jooste & Gino Van Niekerk - info@marchscopes.co.za
NEW ZEALAND - David Smith - info@marchscopes.co.nz
Each of these people have personal experience and a love of March Scopes. They are not in business to sell other brands of scopes. So like ourselves they believe March rifle scopes are a very unique and special product.
For the USA the sole distributor is Jim Kelbly of
Kelbly’s Inc, Marshallville, Ohio. www.kelbly.com .
For the UK and Western Europe the sole distributor is Gary Costello. www.marchscopes.co.uk Gary has extensive experience in Long Range and F class style of shooting and is also a World Champion using March scopes at the F Class World Championships in 2009.
*Disclaimer: Whilst every care is taken to quote accurate prices, ultimately prices are subject to change without notice due to manufacturers changes, currency variations or errors in posting. All prices are subject to change without notice. Please check with us to confirm. E&OE
© Copyright 2012 BRT Shooters Supply | PO Box 1124, Springwood,
QLD, 4127, Australia | Phone: 07 3808 4862
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