Fixed-Power Optics for F-Class — Testing in Competition
March 48x52mm High Master Scope — Tested in Competition
by Jay Christopherson, AccurateShooter.com Systems Admin
Using a fixed power scope on your F-Class rifle is not only effective, but can save you weight and money — key benefits when it comes to the F-Class game.
I recently tested the March High Master 48x52mm scope on my F-Open rifle in three different matches, including a Long Range Regional match in Montana and the recent 2017 US F-Class National Championships in Lodi, WI. While I’ve long been considering a fixed-power optic, it wasn’t until a recent F-TR build came in over-weight (with a large zoom scope), that I finally decided to give it a fixed-power comp scope a try. The March High Master 48x52mm saved me both weight (10.6 oz. or 300 grams) and money ($800+) compared to a top-end, variable-power March.
Across three matches and multiple conditions (including heavy mirage), I never found myself wishing that I had a variable-power scope on top of my rifle. And I never experienced issues holding rings on the target. A fixed-power scope might not be for everyone. However a serious F-Class shooter who needs to cut some weight, or save a little cash (compared to high-end zoom scope), shouldn’t be worried about being “under-glassed” with a fixed power scope such as the March HM 48x52mm. It can do the job. [Editor: Jay finished second overall in F-Open Division at the 2017 F-Class Nationals.]
The Case for A Fixed Power F-Class Optic
There’s been a thought bouncing around and growing in my head for the past few years while shooting F-Class — Why don’t more guys shoot a fixed power scope in F-Class? Nine out of ten F-Class shooters I’ve polled spend most of their time between 40 power and 50 power, regardless of the conditions. It seemed to me that a fixed power in the 40X – 50X range would be a great option.
I’ll admit, that I’ve long been an advocate of needing a variable-power scope so that I could “dial down to see the rings” on those really heavy mirage relays. There’s even been times when I’ve been successful dialing down to 35X – 25X just for that reason. But still, like most guys, I find that I rarely go above 50X and rarely below 40X – 99% of my time is spent right around 42X – 45X. Having gotten used to shooting high magnification now, it’s been quite a long time since I’ve bothered to dial down below 40X, even in very heavy mirage. But, I held on to that notion that it’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
I recently built an F-TR rifle. I made a slight mistake on the weight. Fully built with my zoom scope, the rig ended up at 8.3kg (8.25kg is the limit for F-TR). That’s not much overweight, but I don’t like to be too close to the limit anyhow. There are lots of ways I could have addressed the issue, but I started thinking again about the scope. I love my current variable-power scopes, but I couldn’t help thinking that a fixed power scope in the 40X – 50X range might solve my issue nicely (and give me a chance to try something new). So I obtained a March High Master 48x52mm fixed-power scope to test. The 48X magnification falls right into my comfort zone. With its 52MM objective, the March HM matched the profile of my existing variable-power scopes nicely. Aesthetics is at least part of the goal and in my opinion, 50MM+ objective scopes look “right” on F-Class rifles. It’s also worth noting that this is the only fixed power scope that I have tried so far and that I have no affiliation with the manufacturer.
There’s the notion out there that fixed power scopes have inherently brighter sight pictures or maybe “clarity” is a better word. This may be due to there being less complex lenses and fewer parts inside. I don’t have any way to quantify that, so I’ll just say that the image clarity is excellent on the 48X March. I also found that the scope weighed 300 grams less than my variable-power scope, which brought me under the F-TR weight limit nicely, as I had hoped.
Fixed-Power Scope at 2017 F-Class Nationals and Other Matches
Because my F-TR rifle was still in load development, I decided to try out the March HM 48x52mm at a couple matches on my F-Open rifle, while I waited on a part for my F-TR rifle. I fitted the 48x52mm scope to my F-Open rifle and used it at three matches: 1) a local 600-yard mid-range match in WA State; 2) the Long Range Regional at Deep Creek in Montana; and 3) the 2017 US F-Class Nationals in Lodi, WI. I ended up using it the entire match at all three matches. With three different matches, all a few weeks apart and in different parts of the country, I got a nice cross-section of light, weather, and mirage conditions to sample. At all three matches, and even in a medium-heavy mirage situation, I never found myself wishing I could dial down the power. In fact, I never thought about variable power at all — the scope was excellent in all of the different conditions. Even with a good deal of mirage present, I never had a problem making out the rings well enough to hold on. For what it’s worth, I used the scope while shooting on two different teams that set (pending) National LR and MR F-Open team records at those matches. If I didn’t have confidence in a fixed-power scope (and the March in particular), I would never have taken a chance shooting it where a team depended on me. [Editor: In individual competition, Jay finished second in F-Open at the Nationals.]
Scope Tracked Great and Click Values Were Right On
In terms of technical details, the scope tracked perfectly on my scope checker (there are several threads on the AccurateShooter forums regarding checking a scope for drift), which meant I felt comfortable using it at the F-Class Nationals. Critically, I spent a good bit of time working on the ocular focus (reticle focus) so that it would be perfectly set-up for my eye. I’ve found that many complaints about parallax and “soft” or “blurry” images can be traced back to the owner never taking this critical step with a new scope. Normally my scopes all have external, tactical-style turrets — the March HM 48×52 has covered turrets. I wondered how this would work for me, but again, I never thought about it while shooting. Once the covers are off, the clicks are extremely tactile and easy to read and it just never became an issue. The parallax adjustment works nicely and the scope tracked well with every adjustment I made, from 600 yards to 1000 yards.
What Could Be Improved
On the con side of things, I find the scale on the elevation turret to be a bit confusing. Most scopes I have used have an incrementing scale on the elevation (and windage) turrets, so that you can count up from zero as you dial up the adjustments. The 48X HM uses a ‘0’ that is centered on the turret travel (see photo above), so that you count down or up on the scale. Here, I would prefer a scale that bottoms out at zero (or that you can adjust to bottom out at zero) and then increments. I think it’s an easier and more consistent way to measure, but your mileage may vary. Other March scopes I’ve used have a color-coded system on the turrets which I also find a little less than useful. Again, I wouldn’t mind at all if March re-thought its system there.
The other con for me is the eye-relief. It’s middle of the road as far as other high-end scopes I’ve used, but for me personally, I still find it a bit on the short side — I would prefer more eye relief.
Save Hundreds Compared to a Premium Zoom Scope
On the plus side (from a cost standpoint), fixed power scopes are generally priced quite a bit lower than equivalent-quality, variable-power optics. The March HM 48x52mm (product # MAR1076) I tested is no exception. Bullets.com sells the HM 48x52mm for $1951.00. That’s $810 less than its variable-power relative, the March HM 10-60x52mm, priced at $2763.00. I consider the 48x52mm’s $1951 price to be very reasonable for such a quality piece of hardware.
Conclusion — High-Quality, Fixed-Power Scopes Are Worth Considering
Overall, if you find that you spend 99% of your time in the 40X – 50X range with your variable-power scope, I’d encourage you to give some thought to a fixed-power scope for F-Class. I’ve only tried one fixed-power optic — the March HM 48x52mm. But having used this excellent, fixed-power scope in several high-level F-Class competitions now, I’d have no qualms about recommending a high-grade, fixed-power optic to anyone shooting F-Class.
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Tags: 48x52mm Scope, F-Class Nationals, F-Open, Fixed-Power Scope, Jay Christopherson, JayChris, March High Master, March Scope
Buy an IOR 35x , costs less and will hold POI better than March and glass is at least as good
High fixed power, ok wait until the mirage is going full bore, all you’ll see is a bouncing target bull, wishing you could lower the power down.
Editor: Except that did NOT happen either at the week-long nationals or at the Long Range Regional (which Jay won). His comment: “At all three matches, and even in a medium-heavy mirage situation, I never found myself wishing I could dial down the power. In fact, I never thought about variable power at all — the scope was excellent in all of the different conditions.” Jay wouldn’t contest that in a super-heavy mirage maybe you want less power — but remember you have a spotting scope which can operate at 25X or so. At my local club I’ve rarely seen a need to crank below 35X at 600 yards (our max target distance). YMMV.
One thing not often talked about that we have learned with scope testers is the rather large poi changes that can occur when changing power. You should NEVER change power during a record group or string. Unless you have tested your scope and its one of the rare ones that does not move poi.
Agree with Mr T. Buy an IOR 35x for half the cost. I have one on an F-Open Surgeon .284. Excellent combination.
A lovely article and some very valid points made. Noting the quickest way to start a bar brawl in cyber-space is to “like” a brand, let me just say the findings presented replicate my experience in F-Class. I tend to run my March 10 – 60x at between 45 – 50 power.
What the nay-sayers tend to ignore is glass quality. March glass is great, better than most, in the standard fitting. The High Master racks it up several notches. Add an MD disk and you can see the target more clearly than other brands.
Oh, one final point, re-read the paragraph about reticle focus then go out and check your equipment. Your scope has probably never been focussed.
I use the 10-60 March and usually have it set at 52X. I shoot through all mirage conditions and in “bouncing” target mirage as well, without changing the power. I would rather see the bounce than hide it and pretend it does not exist by trying down the power. On an F-open gun, your return to battery is usually good if your set-up is good and so bounce or no bounce, you need to have a good set-up.
Wish this comment section had a “review post” button so you can check your post properly before submitting.
Seems this is a very context specific discussion and I’d like to see a poll of international shooters, not just USA. The reason this is key is when shooting single string, meaning one shooter per target, as opposed to how most of the rest of the world shoot f class in squads of 3 that share the target and shoot one shot at a time per shooter then repeat.
Single string shooting leans toward chasing the spotter, but you cant do that in a squaded match.
If you expect to shoot outside the greater USA, you better have the ability to dial it down especially when the wind kicks up over 40 MPH like it did a Ottawa last year. That’s a lot of wind at the 900 meter firing point.
Very true – but squadded shooting relies on solid record keeping at the firing point – which benefits from watching your squad shoot.
Not sure what “dialing it down” achieves.
Just spit-balling here, another advantage I see is that with a fixed scope there is less to go wrong, fewer moving parts to get out of alignment, as mentioned less glass to look through making the the sight picture clearer. It seems to align with ‘Ockham’s Razor’.
Responding to Richards comment above I suppose in my efforts to remain brief I suppose I was also vague.
I relatively calm conditions and when shooting single string you have the luxury of shooting quickly and to a large extent you can chase the spotter. Under these conditions a high power scope may have some advantage.
I think there may be an advantage at 300 yards/meters since the target is close and less washed out by mirage and is usually shot early in the day before wind and mirage kicks up. Here you are shooting for the bull and at ½ minute, you need the resolution to pick and place.
As we move later in the day and wind and mirage tend to run, and then add to that the variable talent and speed of other shooters in your squad chasing the spotter is more often the road to the bottom of the pack.
In such conditions, (unlike at 300 when calm) a precise aiming point is of limited value. Once in the general area many shooters no longer change the dial unless really large changes are going on. Either way on the Canadian side, few shooters run more than 32x. I myself have never used more than 20 and seem to do very well.
I suppose the main point here is that we are aiming all over the target to compensate for WAG changes and sometimes 2 targets over when conditions are bad enough. When the duration between shots is extended, (as is the case during a squadded event) so does the size of the change and in my opinion that negates the value of such high magnification which may even act as a handicap in such conditions.
Rule 1: Never chase the spotter
Rule 2: Have a look at what you are doing – I think there is a bit of group think that needs shaking up. The flags are there for a reason. Ottawa was an aberration, something to prepare for, but not something seen every other shoot.
Rule 3: Never chase the spotter.