Scope from EBay.com

[SriramK]

Hi Guys,
I'm a huge fan of sniper rifles, but not so much about putting a scope on an air rifle. But I decided to buy one from ebay.com anyway because who knows - I might feel like using one.

Knowing that this would be a gamble - as it's being shipped from China, I didn't want to take a big risk. I picked the cheapest scope I could find on ebay.com, and bought it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220701700997

Including shipping, it came up to Rs. 300. I purchased it on Oct. 28th, it arrived today, 19th Nov. at 2:30pm. It was shipped via Hong Kong post, which is ordinary post.

Note: Rightclick and select "View Image" if you can see just the left portion of the image


It was packed in a brown paper bag with bubble wrap on the inside. The scope itself had a cardboard box, with a very thin sheet of foam, and a plastic bag to prevent dust. The packaging is cheap, but I got what I paid for I'm amazed it's arrived in one piece.


They declared it as "Electronics" and "Gift", probably to avoid customs checks, as HK sends a LOT of electronics to India.

Throughout this post, there's one thing I want to highlight - you get what you pay for.


The scope feels very, very light, and rather cheap. The body is made of aluminum as advertised, but the lens caps are plastic, the "Bushnell" painted on top adds to the cheapness. The reticule isn't aligned perfectly horizontal, but I could loosen the mounts (included, metal) and set it right.


The rear sight with the painted "Bushnell" is made of plastic and can be screwed off, or adjusted to required distance.


The scope is very long and narrow, I've placed a new Rs. 5 coin next to it for scale.


I admit I don't have any experience regarding how good the scope's reticule should be, but this seems fine for my beginner's plinking Not perfectly horizontal to the mounts, I guess I could adjust the mounts and fix that.


There are metallic screw heads (which were covered by screw-on plastic caps) which allow for adjustments. Haven't tinkered with it, don't want to either as I don't want to break it - who knows what might happen This setup is made of plastic, but the screws are metal.

All in all - the scope arrived safely, it's got a metallic body with metallic mounts, but very light - feels cheap. The quality of finish is also not great - the reticule is not horizontal. But for the money I paid, it'll be a nice addition to my AR when I get one, and will probably aid me when I'm doing some casual plinking.

[SriramK]

Found it on DealExtreme too, with good reviews. I'll post how good my own experiences are with it after I get my hands on a Precihole Pegasus or IHP 35 by end of this month/start of next.
http://dx.com/p/4x20-rifle-scope-6280

[u_vaste]

Lucky you my dear friend !....
its seems Item description given as "ELECTRONICS" the one you got from ebay.

I have similar tasco scope shown on deal extreme site. probably most cheapest available in our local market. I just bought in my eagerness to get feel of scope, it cost me Rs.1600/- quality is as per price. so-so , you can some how adjust to ok quality at 10m but its get better further distance than 10m. fired almost 1000 pellets so far,still its holding (not broken) but it slides back on scope rail due to high recoil ,I am using IHP35 .22cal . need to get single piece scope mount with stopper but i think I won't get it for this type of scope, the tube is much smaller and probably will cost more than my scope.

Uv

[SriramK]

Lucky you my dear friend !....
its seems Item description given as "ELECTRONICS" the one you got from ebay.

I have similar tasco scope shown on deal extreme site. probably most cheapest available in our local market. I just bought in my eagerness to get feel of scope, it cost me Rs.1600/- quality is as per price. so-so , you can some how adjust to ok quality at 10m but its get better further distance than 10m. fired almost 1000 pellets so far,still its holding (not broken) but it slides back on scope rail due to high recoil ,I am using IHP35 .22cal . need to get single piece scope mount with stopper but i think I won't get it for this type of scope, the tube is much smaller and probably will cost more than my scope.

Uv

That's true, I don't plan on adding/changing anything. If I find this scope to be very useful - I'll buy a good one after a year or so. But right now, I just bought one to see if I could, and to see how it suits me
A scope for Rs. 300 is more of a gamble than an investment

[pratik_mahale]

I think this scope is for toy guns or may be for BB guns

[SriramK]

Could be But it's being sold for Air rifles on Dealextreme. Lots of reviews on there from users who use it for their Air rifles.

[Peace Lover]

Hey SriramK,

You're a lucky man. I too ordered a scope from DealExtreme (US$ 11.97) on 02 Nov. But haven't received it till now.

Mine is a 3~7x20mm RF3 Rifle Scope. http://dx.com/p/3-7x20mm-rf3-rifle-scope-8183

Keeping my fingers crossed.

[SriramK]

It can take anywhere from 15 days to over a month. I ordered a pair of cables from China too, it took about 40 days to get to me (during which time the seller shipped another pair for me just in case). The scope took 20 days and they both arrived at my doorstep together.
I got mine from eBay by the way. I don't know how things are with Dealextreme, but with eBay, if what you buy doesn't get to you, you can message the dealer and he'll send you another one for free, or refund you.
These are for products that are not sent via a trackable method (i.e. Regular post).

The odd part is that these dealers somehow manage to send you something all the way to India from China for about $1 sometimes, and in the case of this scope - Rs. 300, and then send you a replacement for free if the first one's no good. Wonder how many thousands of items they might be shipping each day.

I saw the scope you bought, let me know if it's any good

[TwoRivers]

"The reticule isn't aligned perfectly horizontal,'" Are you kidding us? Of course you align the scope crosshairs when you mount the scope on the rifle, just as you have to adjust the scope fore and aft for proper positioning and eye relief. Just because the rings have been placed on the scope, so as not to lose them out of a broken package, doesn't mean they are aligned for your purpose.

[SriramK]

"The reticule isn't aligned perfectly horizontal,'" Are you kidding us? Of course you align the scope crosshairs when you mount the scope on the rifle, just as you have to adjust the scope fore and aft for proper positioning and eye relief. Just because the rings have been placed on the scope, so as not to loose them out of a broken package, doesn't mean they are aligned for your purpose.

I'm not very sure these scopes allow for alignment afterwards, but I may be wrong. I'll tinker with them If it's possible to adjust them, I'll edit the original post. Thanks

[TwoRivers]

I'm not very sure these scopes allow for alignment afterwards, but I may be wrong. I'll tinker with them If it's possible to adjust them, I'll edit the original post. Thanks

You are welcome.
Since the mounts are not integral to the scope, they most assuredly can be rotated on the scope tube and adjusted fore and aft. Also, you should never unscrew the ocular, or the objective. Optical instruments are assembled in a dust free environment, and are then purged with nitrogen, or another inert gas, to force out any air and prevent fogging. Granted, what you have is a bottom of the line .22 RF scope, but you still should not disassemble it needlessly.

[SriramK]

But while rotating it about the scope tube, the integrated elevation and windage would no longer be horizontal to the mounts.
I agree about the dust free environment, but I doubt it's sealed securely enough to prevent air from entering in. After all, the rear sight is a plastic frame with no washers.

I did tinker with the scope, and unless I apply some metal-bending pressure, the ring that holds the crosshair in place will not budge. So in effect, that's a permanent tilt with respect to the windage and elevation adjustments.

I now have a choice whether to turn the scope on the mount and have a tilted windage and elevation system (which would be visible to everyone), or suffer in silence with a tilted crosshair that only I would know about

[TwoRivers]

The important part is to have the crosshairs square to the rifle; though if the crosshairs are not square to the windage adjustment turret, any adjustment in one plane will also bring a change in the other. You can see many scopes that are mounted at a slight angle because the shooter habitually cants the rifle when shouldering. In that case, neither crosshairs nor the turrets are square to the rifle. Having the turrets slightly off square shouldn't really bother you. If your friends comment, just explain to them that it's a cheap Chinese product. You were lucky in not breaking things and totally ruining the scope in your attempts at correcting the problem.

[hamiclar01]

I now have a choice whether to turn the scope on the mount and have a tilted windage and elevation system (which would be visible to everyone), or suffer in silence with a tilted crosshair that only I would know about

It's up to you entirely: do you want to use the scope for shooting, or as a fashion accessory
A tilted crosshair may affect your zero.

[SriramK]

This doesn't bother me much though - this is my first scope and certainly not the last one. If it breaks, it breaks. But I want to make sure I learn all I can about scopes while I have this, and pick a really good one when I decide to invest good money on one.
As for explaining it to friends - I don't have any friends with Air Rifles, so I could pass the scope off as the most expensive piece of equipment on the rifle and they wouldn't doubt it.