Initial (unfired) evaluation of the Leatherwood/Hi-Lux 18” 6-power scope with mounts & blocks (Model # M634181)

Scope specifications: 18” long, ¾” tube diameter, 6X power, 17mm objective, 12’ field of view at 100 yds, 4.5” eye relief, weight 18 oz (see more on this below), 5.8mm exit pupil, no parallax adjustment.  All air-glass optic surfaces are fully multi-coated for maximum light transmission.  Parallax is set for 10’ to infinity.  The reticle is a fine crosshair.  The scope is shockproof, waterproof and nitrogen filled.

Opening the shipping box I found the following:
1) The scope, with mounts installed, metal protective end caps and scope blocks, came double sealed in plastic bags (sealed in a clear plastic bag inside a sealed bubble wrap bag).  Also included is an 8-page instruction manual and a cheap, small square piece of felt cloth to clean lenses.
2) The scope, end caps, mounts and scope blocks were covered with lightweight oil.
3) Only markings on the scope (Wm MALCOLM over 6X) are located 1&1/4” in front of the eyepiece locking ring.

To remove the front and rear mounts from the scope required 1st removing the adjustable eyepiece and locking ring.  The scope has as inner sealed glass lens in front of the eyepiece to maintain the hermetic seal and allow eyepiece adjustment and removal.

I weighed everything on a very accurate postage scale.  The results were:
1) Scope, end caps, mounts and bases (no base screws) – 19.6 oz (1 lb 3.6 oz)
2) Scope without mounts, end caps or bases – 12.8 oz
3) Both protective end caps – 2 oz

SCOPE
The exterior surface finishes of the all-metal (possibly steel) scope tube, objective lens housing, eyepiece and eyepiece locking ring are acceptable.  The blued metal finish has a few very light machining marks in a couple of areas.  The adjustable eyepiece and end cap threads are rough but functional.  All were coated with a light oil, including the inside threads for the end caps, which were very close to the objective and ocular (eyepiece) lenses.  To eliminate the possibility of oil getting on the lenses, I gently removed all the oils in the threads with Q-tips and solvent, being cautious not to get solvent on the lenses.  I wiped the scope surface oils off the exterior surfaces with the cheap felt lens cloth and threw it away.
INITIAL EVALUATING OF OPTICS CLARITY WAS EXCELLENT.

FRONT MOUNT & LOCKING RING
Functional.  Blued metal surfaces are rough with lots of casting and machining marks.
The mount is designed with a locking screw to attach to a standard 60-degree dovetail block (base).  The separate locking ring works with the front mount to prevent the scope from rotating or moving fore and aft but allows the scope to pivot for windage and elevation adjustments.
Note – I did purchase a sliding lock ring (Part # 17SLR - sold separately), which allows the scope to slide out of battery under recoil.  It replaces the standard lock ring.  The construction and metal surfaces are similar to the front mount.

REAR CAGE-TYPE MOUNT WITH WINDAGE AND ELEVATION ADJUSTMENTS
Functional.  Blued metal surfaces are rough with lots of casting and machining marks.
The scope contact surfaces of the turret knobs are very rough and will definitely scratch or score the scope surface during adjustments.  One complete turn of the knobs provides 0.020” of scope adjustment.  The mount is designed with a locking screw to attach to a standard 60-degree dovetail block (base).  To contradict an earlier statement I made in another posting, to call it a micrometer-type mount would be a misnomer since there are no micrometer-type scales on the turret knob housings to use as a reference.  In other words, if the turret knobs are turned and the number of rotations is not noted, it would be almost impossible to return the knob to a previous setting.  Clearly, at least in my mind, the mounts are made for recreational shooting or hunting, where the scope is adjusted for a specific distance and the knobs locked in place with the locking rings.  Even in this case I would definitely file and polish the ends of the turret knobs to eliminate or reduce scope surface damage.

DOVETAIL STYLE MOUNTING BLOCKS (BASES)
The two identical standard 60-degree type dovetail, mounting blocks are reasonably well machined, blued and finished.  The blocks are ½” (actually 0.490”) wide on top with 60-degree shoulders, and are 1.285” long.  The two mounting holes in each block are spaced 14.2mm (0.559”) apart and will accept standard 6-48 or similar size screws.  The blocks are designed with a half moon slot on one side and a Posa slot on the other side to also fit Unertl, Fecker or similar type mounts

BOTTOM LINE:  FOR SILHOUETTE COMPETITION, KEEP THE SCOPE AND REPLACE THE MOUNTS WITH UNERTL, FECKER OR SIMILAR HIGH-QUALITY MOUNTS.

As a final note, keep in mind that I have not evaluated the scope under actual firing condition or in competition.  The lack of parallax adjustment may or may not be an issue.

Wayne

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I have to wonder what it's going to cost to get a Leatherwood up to speed compared to buying a used Lyman STS or Unertil. Or even a new MVA.

Unertils were crazy price wise but perhaps the slowing economy will bring it back down to reason.  I Bought a BV 20 X for 600 this year and have seen another for sale same price. 

600 is about the price of a new quality target scope, Leopold for example. It's not too much to have in a good external adjustment scope thats going to hold it's resale value well.

Boats

Tex

Agree Hunting or informal shooting it's a good deal. For serious target competition particularly when any power is allowed like in ASSRA matches I am pretty sure Leatherwoods are not the way to go.  Equation is a bit different with BPC limited power rules.  I will say that match puts a high premium on repeatablity of sight settings, Must be right on with little time to make adjustments. It's much more important than power.  The Unertil mount ought to fix that problem.

I bench marked against a Unertil BV at 600, If you go to a Lyman or more likely a Redfield 3200 they probably even lower priced. Unetil 12 x are less expensive too. 

Having said that have gone wrong on used Unertils before, thought they were OK when purchased and ended up spending hundreds on repairs.  Only thing though they are ready currency if you ever want to sell one. And hard to lose money on.  Of course most Unertils are too powerfull for NRA rules BPCS.  They can be bosted at reasonable cost, wonder if they can be reverse bosted, power reduced.

Anyway enjoyed your post and look forward to range test

Boats

Thank you for the excellent evaluation of the Leatherwood scope. It sounds like it would be an excellent scope to put on a .22 that already has Unertl blocks on it to use as a small game rifle.
Does the scope lock into the half moon cuts on the blocks provided or does it lock into the posa cuts?
On using Unertl type rear mounts for BPCR, I played a little with a 1 1/4 10X Unertl on my 38-55 with black powder and found that I ran out of elevation very fast.
Someone else had posted that the fine adjustable Leatherwood mounts for their longer scopes are from a soft or perhaps unheatreated steel. I am wondering if having something done like ion nitriding done, which is essentially some kind of low temp case hardening, might help to solve the problem with those mounts. Maybe also setting the scope up to slide in the mounts would lessen the chance of the recoil doing damage to the mount.
Sam

After another trip to the range this last weekend, I'm still very pleased with the Leatherwood scope and mounts on my .50 caliber caplock muzzleloader.   

After the initial range evaluation I had slid the scope and mounts off the blocks to facilitate dunking and cleaning the muzzleloader barrel in a bucket of hot soapy water.  I also took the opportunity to check the blocks and mounts closely for any wear or damage.  There was none.  After reinstalling the scope and mounts I wondered how well it would hold the original settings.  More shooting at the range this past weekend indicated the settings had not moved.

I did take the time to evaluate parallax to some extent.  By holding the rifle and scope in a solid fixed position and moving my eyes around the ocular lens, I could see some (definitely no more than 1/4") movement on the target at 50 yds.  At 100 yds or more I could not discern any crosshair movement due to parallax.

Wayne