❔ Scope Flip Caps — and Turret Magnifiers — What's out there?!

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JungleShooter

JungleShooter

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Scope Flip Caps —
and Turret Magnifiers — What's out there?!


🔶 SCOPE CAPS
I'll need new scope caps. Loosing, breaking, and then some.


Went to the biggest river in the world to shop — Amazon.
Assumed I'd find a huge selection of brands and models.

And.... what a disappointment.... 😟

▪Monstrum = $10 (rubberized for firmer fit)
▪Vortex = $20 (two positions: 90° and 270°)
▪Butler Creek = $9 (exact sizing for firmer fit)
▪Besides some caps that the manufacturer seem to think he made from gold.... — there are only a few Chinese products out there — and they are all(!) surprisingly ugly, bulky, and then some.


The END!! 

No other options....!?! 😧


❔ So, you got any suggestions?
......











🔶 TURRET MAGNIFYING GLASS
This is what I'm talking about:
turret-magnifier-from-behind-small.jpg


black-fdm-turret-magnifier-profile-small.jpg


But seriously, $30 plus shipping?! And the Pro model for $40?!
sad.gif

Source: https://mkmachining.com(Now, for the model below, a lens cap with magnifier, I'd gladly pay that....)

Here is MTC's version — magnifying glass integrated into the lens cap. Genius! Where can I buy one like that (that fits my 44mm and 40mm ocular pieces [outside diameter (edited, thanks Bigragu)])?

vp31850scb_d.jpg











❔ So, do you have any better suggestions for a turret magnifier?


Thanks, 😊

Matthias
 
OK SO I JUST BOUGHT 3 SCOPE CAPS BRANDS TO COMPARE ,



butler creak , poor quality cheap spring $12

Monstrum better but not good quality $10



I did find a OEM one , it was called Swarovski it was like $100 ,

I never spent this uch for 1 cap I just needed to see why , OK first off it clamps to objective with a like clamp screw , and it has 3 magnets 20 on cover 1 on body and a very nice fit and it opens with no effort and silent , it also came with stickers blank white ones to put scope dope in it ,these were by far best quality I ever saw and I never think of caps lol



But on my Tier 1 scopes I like good flip cape , I want my lens protected and not junk on them or to mare the scope or stick or not close , ok ,because when I get dust on my lens , it is a ritual for me to clean them I fist use a brush then air to blow away dust , if it needs a full clean I use a liquid lens cleaner with a lint free disposival lens cloths , I then use a Clean micro fibre cloth to it if needed , I take great care in my hi end scopes ,

here is the oem cap , now I like it but for 2 $200 is hard to swllow , I had to call factory and ask why , Their answer was , they are made by hand with quality componets and if not perfect they are rejected all are , he then said well our tier 1 scopes range from $2800 to $4300 so we dont offer $20 caps for them like a $200 scope would have . He said I am sure you understand this if you own a scope for this prt number cap .

LOU



View attachment 1592030217_6435919965ee4740995c643.60775207.jpg






 
Upvote 0
Those scope cap magnifiers are cool. Just yesterday I was shooting from my Garrage, outside was bright, so I felt blinded. I needed to move my turrets down a couple clicks. I couldn't see the numbers. I was getting bummed I thought "Im going blind" I can't even see the numbers on my turrets. Then I get in better light and realize my scope caps still on. 
 
Upvote 0
I used to make my own..

I had a bunch of flip-up-caps that were collecting dust, then ended up with some pieces and parts from another hobby, 
a little of this and a little of that, and I was in biz. The end result actually worked very well too!

Take the cap, use a Dremel tool to cut out a 'window' of desired shape and size.. 
Now use a 'magnifying sheet' aka 'fresnel lens' to do the magnifying..
That sheet is then cut to just about 1/8" more than the 'window', and fixed using whatever method you choose.. 
I've used C.A. Glue, [which if you're not careful can/will cause the lens to milk out / turn hazy whitish]
Loc-Tite silicone, RTV Sealer, and the 1st one was done with just a few strings of hot-glue..
I like to go a bit overboard [blames perfectionism and OCD] so I also made little carbon fiber / fiberglass frames 
to give a professional appearance vs. hobby / DIY build..

Anyways.. They worked great. I did a few different versions. 1x, 1.5x, and 2x and I think a 4x..
I liked being able to have the caps down and protecting the glass, while still being able to peep through the scopes.. 

🙂👍 

Sam -
 
Upvote 0
DirtyDovi,

went straight to the Bay searching for fresnel lenses.

Great idea! Thanks for sharing. 👍🏼

Thanks for the tips on the magnification, too.



If you have a chance for a couple of photos, shot away.



🔶Question:

Which scope lens caps arrest in the upright position so that this DIY works? 

(Because most scope caps fold almost all the way back, right, so in that case I wouldn't be able to see much though the magnifier.)



Matthias


 
Upvote 0
Bigragu,

thanks for the correction! 😊 (OP is edited).

I misspoke, the magnifier goes somewhere around the ocular lens, not the objective lens!

Basically somewhere between the turrets and the eye — as to make the turret numbers better visible to those who don't want to mess with putting on glasses.



The 44mm (and 40mm) is not the lens diameter itself, but the outside diameter of the ocular piece, that's why its so "large".

Thanks again. 😊

Matthias


 
Upvote 0
Matthias,

Good deal buddy, and you're very welcome! 
At least now, you'll have an idea about the lenses, how they look/work, etc. 
And.. the fact that they can also be 'stacked' to increase their magnification levels also. 
[of course that would also decrease the image clarity, but, can be beneficial to some - in a pinch]

Photos - Aw man, I wish I had some to share! 
1, I'm thinking that it must have been 6-8 years ago that I was making them.. 
2. If the photos of them are still kicking around, they're saved on old out of commission laptops..
IF I run across any, I'll be sure to post them. Highly doubtful though unfortunately.. 

Caps - Another unhelpful answer. haha
Back then, I had a few friends that owned/ran our local gun shops.. 
They sold random pop up lens covers, and I just used what they had. No clue of a model/brand..
The few that I made, I used on Nikon scopes for some of my Ruger 10/22s. 
I had a few bullpup conversions, shorter 'walk-and-stalk' carbines, and long/rifle for bench/precision.. 
Different scope magnifications on them.. But w/ the low mag scope on the bullpups, 
I could use the lens-cap magnifier to kick up the mag level to that of the scope on the long-range rifle, 
and I wouldn't have to swap anything - other than just the caps. It was pretty sweet actually. 
As long as they were used in very bright lighting. haha

I used the same lens-idea with video-goggles used to first-person-view fly radio controlled aircraft.. 
The headsets that utilized single monitors vs. mini monitors for each eye
Viewing the monitor a few inches from your eyes - encased in the headset was 'okay'... 
You'd see like a black tunnel - then the rectangular picture up ahead - like being in a movie theater.. 
Using the freznel lenses, at varying distances between eyes and monitor, the image would magnify
and eventually bring the picture to where it looked like just viewing with eyes vs. viewing on a movie screen.
100% immersive experience.

I probably shouldn't say this publicly but whatever...

I made a few 100% wireless scope-cam-setups [concepts/prototypes] years ago
CCD / CMOS mini-cams & wireless video transmitter on the scope
then sent wirelessly w/ almost no noticeable latency to the video receiver on a few things.. 
1 - ground station video monitors. 2 - rifle mounted mini monitor. 
3 - the fun/dangerous one: Directly to my video-goggles. haha 
With those on, it was like literally seeing whatever the scope saw, and nothing else! 
100% immersive, so very disorienting.. Cool though. Just not practical.. 

Since then, I've come up with a few new ways of doing things.. 
I *might* go for round-two and build something new.. Who knows..

Sorry for the ramble.. That was wayyy off topic.
[Just the way that my highly scattered mind works]

🤣 

Sam -
 
Upvote 0
That turret magnifier is kind of nice...

- I tried with some clip-on-flip-up reading glass sewn inside my shooting hat. Worked ok, until I stepped on my hat...

- Tried carrying a small magnifier... Kept on misplacing it.

Now I've taken an old pair of reading glass and removed the right lens (I'm right-handed). If I need to read something on the turret, I just use my left eye...
 
Upvote 0
Using "Cheaters" aka 'reading-glasses' definitely also works! 
They can be found as inexpensively as a buck at some Dollar Stores, 
and usually aren't much more than 5-10 bucks for other stores / pharmacies also..

SillyMike - Your profile pic reminded me of a pirate - 'skull / x-bones'
Then you mention removing 1 lens from a pair of glasses.. 
All I could think of was you using a patch on the other side. 🤣 

Back to reading glasses..

I'm 'far-sighted', and a lot of the things I do: precision soldering, precision TIG welding, 
photo editing, shooting, etc. obviously involves being able to see 'properly'...
While I have a prescribed lens reading glasses [lost somewhere / never used]
I also used to have a bunch of cheaters kicking around..
I'd keep a pair with my soldering station, welding station, in my range-bag, etc.
Same deal as w/ the fresnel lenses.. cheater lenses come in different magnifications.. 
I think they're 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1x, etc. 
And I think they're marked as .25x, .5x, .75x, 1x, etc. 
If I remember correctly [yeah right] mine were usually 1.5x mag. And worked great.

🙂👍

Sam -
 
Upvote 0
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