March 8-80x56 or 2,5-25x52?

[Erik]

Hey all, been considering a March scope and have been looking at the 2,5-25x52 and 8-80x56. I saw that the 8-80 is available on special order with the MML reticle. (I'm a mil Guy) That is their only SFP mil based reticle, question is If it is Mil/Mil or Mil/moa but will ask about that later. Anyways, too the questions!

Wich one would you pick and why? The more versatile, tactical and allround scope that weighs less or the bigger one, because why not?

Here are some specs taken from marchscopes.com

2,5-25x52







8-80x56





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Things to note is 30mm vs 34mm maintube. 52 vs 56mm objective lens. Also, the 8-80 will be available with a new lens in the near future, the "Highmaster lens" this is what March told me:
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There are some new scopes in the pipeline: ·
8x-80x56 with Highmaster lens·
10x-60x52 with Highmaster lens·
10x-60x56 with Highmaster lens·
Fixed 48x52mm BR Scope with highmaster lens·
40x-60x52 EP Zoom with Highmaster lens (this along with the fixed 48x52 will replace all the fixed power BR Scopes) 
We do not have any further information on these scopes currently (or delivery times). There’s no new reticles planned at the moment that we are aware of however maybe in the future..

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This is their explanation of the Highmaster lens:

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The Highmaster lens are new fluoride coated lens. Ultra HD quality.​

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So what do you guys think? Get the allround scope or go all out? Any opinions on this matter would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Goodtogo]

I think when you are spending $4k for a scope you are all out. What type rifle are you putting this beast on and what type shooting will you be doing?

 

[Erik]

Shooting will mainly be Target shooting for recreational purposes. Gun is undecided, I will eventually get a bigger .25 gun, right now all I have is the .22 Cricket.

 

[Marksman3006]

2.5-25 would be my choice of the 2 in question. Im a ffp guy. Give the 3-24X 52mm ffp a look. Cant go wrong here no matter which way you go. All your other scopes will be meh after this. The 8X80 is very specialized and good for benchwork. Very tight eyebox on 80X.....no big deal if bench shooting. Alot of people would say this is overkill, and it is, but I love march scopes. Overkill the hell out of it I say!

 

[weatherby]

For a general purpose scope, in my opinion, 2.5-25 is too little, and 8-80 too much magnification.
I'd get the 5-50x56, it is also available with the MML reticle, and has a very nice usable magnification range.
80x mag. translates into an exit pupil of only 0.7mm, which will make the scope very dark on high magnifications.
I don't think any mag. above 50x will be used very often, maybe only when weather conditions allow (not very often), or for ranging purposes while shooting FT.

 

[Erik]

Don't like the reticle thickness of a FFP scope on high mag, prefer a nice thin SFP reticle.


Weatherby, that is sound adviced. I will look in to that model

 

[Marksman3006]

ErikDon't like the reticle thickness of a FFP scope on high mag, prefer a nice thin SFP reticle.


Weatherby, that is sound adviced. I will look in to that model

I cant argue with that. That is the drawback of ffp.

 

[Alan]

Talk about overkill! 

Unless someone reinvented the physical properties of optics, the 8x80 has several flaws which aren't mentioned, except in passing. The exit pupil is .7 mm. That is very small indeed, and for all practical purposes, unusable!

There are times when 20 power is a bit too much due to heat mirage. I can't imagine what 80 power would be like, even in sub-zero weather. 

And the parallax adjustment? At even 30 power, that becomes a rather critical adjustment, even in high-end scopes. 

Lastly, in my opinion, even 20 power is beyond the capability of any airgun I'm aware of. 

 

[Goodtogo]

1,000 yard shooters like March scopes. And they also like Nightforce. I guess part of it is the dream At 25 yards I'm not sure I would use that level of scope(or even at 50 yards) ? What is the longest shot anyone makes in air gun competitions?

 

[bobseagles]

I agree with Goodtogo. Ok, 8-80x is "cool", but on an airgun this would be almost silly. If you are getting a March, I would go for the 2.5-25x, but SFP with the smaller objective bell (42mm). At over $3,000, the 8-80x is really expensive. At $2,000 the 2-5-25x is still quite a bit, but may not be more than an expensive PCP. How much power do you need for benchrest and probably only to 100 yards ?

 

[Jonnes]

8-80 for an airgun?! Even when you take the price out of the equation, assuming you're going to slam it on an airgun, it's overkill! The accurate range on a powerful airgun is 200 yards max. Scopes like this are made for 500+ yards shooting with center fire rifles. If you want punch paper and want to be able see the strains in the paper, or if want to able to count the amount of hairs there are on the brown bahookie of the squirrel you're trying to hit, go for it. Unless you shoot from the bench, keeping 80x magnification still is next to impossible. Same goes for 50x. Something between 24x or 34x is good enough for airguns or up to 100/150 yards.

Just my two cents....