MARCH-F 3-24x44 FFP Mil-dot FML-1

[Russ6357]

Here is my first blush review of my recently purchased MARCH-F 3-24x44 FFP Mil-dot FML-1.

It's chuffin brilliant!

It's not perfect but for top end air-rifle/rimmy glass it's as close as I have found.

Maybe a few more details than that then? OK... since you asked so nicely,

I put it on my legal-limit Airwolf that's a .177 gun that I use to hunt to from 20-45 yards and plink out to 80. Once I've sorted my FAC Wolf in .22 it will go on that.

So first up I really like op quality glass and have been looking for something that I can put on my Airwolf that was at least one step up from the very excellent Lightstream I had on it. I will therefore be comparing the MARCH with the Lightstream and the Sightron SIII 10x42 I have on my .22 Specter.

I cross shopped:

Sightron - but the current offerings they have that focus down to 10 yards include my 10x42 and a 10-50x60, a bit hefty for hunting
MARCH - all their scopes will PX down to 10 yards, effectively a bit less in some circumstances
Nightforce - the benchrest and NXS ranges, but again PX issues and these things must have plutonium in them...they are HEAVY!

...and all the usual suspects from Germany, the vast majority of which wont PX down below 30 yards without modification. Some aren't springer rated.

I looked at illuminated reticules but frankly realized I rarely use one so decided to save myself £500 and went for the scope without.

It will come as no surprise that the image quality is superior to my other air-rifle scopes:

Resolution of image, the ability to pick out details: during normal daylight hours the MARCH has much better clarity at 10x than the Lightstream and somewhat better than the Sightron - let us remember that the Sightron is fixed power. As things get dull and available light drops the MARCH pulls further ahead of both other scopes. When zooming up I think that the MARCH maintains its image quality through to 20x whereas the Lightstream noticeably looses a bit more detail from 10-14x. The MARCH starts to loose some resolution from 20-24x in duller conditions.

I also compared the MARCH to my Zeiss 2.5-10x50 (which will only focus down to 30 or so yards) and it's at least it's match throughout the same magnification range in all the conditions I mentioned. The MARCH is as good at resolving detail at 16x as the Zeiss is at 10x in all but the duskiest of lighting.

Brightness: In summary the brightness performance profile pretty much followed the above results. I will add the following. When I first bought the Lightstream it seemed a bright scope but now I compare it to higher end glass (it's still a great scope!) I recognize that it's brightness is almost 'pushed' - like it's brighter but washing out the colors and with a whiteness to it. The Sightron 10x44 isn't as sharp a brightness but has more real color presentation than the Lightstream whilst the MARCH has the best combination of both scopes best attributes, genuine color presentation, good quality light transmission and a brighter image but without the pushed white/washed out effect. To my eyes this is a more obvious advantage. The colors are not as 'strong' as I feel they are in the Zeiss but I think they are more natural. It's a bit like comparing a TV with a Neutral and a Cinema setting for it's image. Cinema appears more dynamic as it's false in it's representations of greens, reds or whatever which looks fine for a while but gets tiring on the eyes. Same thing here.

Mechanics: Smooth. The clicks are very good and crisp, perhaps not quite as deliberate as those on the Sightron but certainly not mushy. Side focus zoom is crisp albeit a little stiff given its brand new! Zoom is precise and the overall feel of the scope is quality, the same as the Sightron but much better than the Lighstream. It passed the box test with ease.

Air-rifle/rimmy use: I personally am a FFP proponent, I like mill dots, I prefer a reticule that offers 1/2 mill-dot aiming points and I personally shoot better with a central dot rather than a cross hair. Thusly the MARCH FML-1 scope is the best of all worlds for me. Also the reticule is the deepest black and super...super sharp, I would note that it's a crisper reticule than either of the other scopes. It's also quite light in mass and not huge to mount. The magnification range if really very useful 3-24 in one scope pretty much covers up close and way out there! Plus I will focus down to 10 yards.

VFM: No contest under £750 it's the Sightron. Easy as. As long as you are happy with a fixed power 10x scope then this is the clear winner in the bang for the pound high-ish end glass (well mid-range really). The Lightstream is a great scope and offers great performance a definite notch above the usual fair in the £100-250 price range but it looses out to my eyes to the Sightron. However I wanted the optics at least the level of the Sightron fixed power but with more flexibility and here the MARCH really pulls ahead. Like most things the laws of diminishing returns comes into optics much like it does many other things. A Ferrari is 5x the cost of a Boxster but its performance profile is nothing like 5x (desirability...well that's another story).

To my eyes for air-rifle and rimmy use, where one wants top quality glass that meets our specific needs, MARCH is the very best choice. At least as good as my Zeiss, ahead of the Nghtforce Benchrest I pondered (and a ton lighter) and more usable for our needs than the rest of the German glass. If this had a German badge on it I am pretty sure it would be at least £500 more. As it is it's £1,8xx of scope, which is about what I have in the rifle once my Gary Cane stock is put on it. Yes - that is a large wedge of cash. It's a lot of scope.

What I like is that there is a large range of scopes that is constantly evolving. They have some fabulous stuff for FT' shooters but deep pockets are required - that said the one I looked at was at least the match of the S&B, in fact I'd say better.

I'll leave with one final thought. I change my scopes a lot less often than I have changed by rifles because I search out the best I can, SO FAR this is the best for air-rifle/rimmy use I have found. It's not perfect - I'd like the exact same spec with 56 mil objective and a slightly larger center dot. THEN it would be perfect

I hope this is of some use. Please do feel free to ask questions. I will update this once it's been used in the field properly.

[Russ6357]

Let me add that the service offered by MARCH UK was first class.

[tugg]

great review, having owned the lightstream and the sightron Ifound it very interesting . I have looked through the march and was impressed , only the pricetag is a put off. great for hunting but as I only shoot hft I thought it was overkill. thanks Russ

[Lol Moore]

excellent review and have to agree March glass is top

I have a 2.5-25x42 (SFP) with Mil ret and all your comments pertain to this scope too, toyed with getting FFP but as I dont hunt SFP suited me better (plinking and HFT are current aspect being enjoyed)

if I had the cash would love to try one of the 1-10x24 MML scopes - anyone tried one ?

[Russ6357]

I looked at the 1-10x24 and it's a fabulous piece of kit but I personally don't have a use for it.

Surprisingly bright, interesting, scope but clearly a tactical piece.

[Lol Moore]

I looked at the 1-10x24 and it's a fabulous piece of kit but I personally don't have a use for it.

Surprisingly bright, interesting, scope but clearly a tactical piece.

I was actually thinking the standard turret vesion (not listed but I think they can make any combination) in MML for HFT

[Russ6357]

I'm afraid not sir.... would you not be concerned that there might not be enough light coming in for HFT?

2-16x32 might be better bet if they could be persuaded to make such a beasty.

[hareng]

Know both above listed are used for HFT the 1-10 and an F class 3-24FFP that gives a lot more depth than any other scope even on 14 mag.

Glad you got one then Russ, told you Gary was exemplary in customer service, cant wait to get mine back hope it aint next year.

[Lol Moore]

Know both above listed are used for HFT the 1-10 and an F class 3-24FFP that gives a lot more depth than any other scope even on 14 mag.

Glad you got one then Russ, told you Gary was exemplary in customer service, cant wait to get mine back hope it aint next year.

I understand the relationship between objective size and magnification and their effect on depth of field, I went for SFP as I wanted a fine Ret.

have only just mounted my 2.5-25x32 on my HFT rig and will be setting it up this Saturday for a Sunday shoot.


Couple of questions, how does SFP and FFP compare (for the same scope magnification and objective) for depth of field?

And on the 3-24x32 FFP how "big" is the ret in the scope view (I have only seen images at 3x and 24x)?

Cheers

[Russ6357]

at 3 or 4x it's frankly too small for me, but it will work well enough for up-close shot.

I like it best around 12-16x where it's a bit larger than normal reticules but the aiming points are still super usable and at full whack, well for me its still ok....

...to give you a sense of scale the center dot at 24x appears a good bit smaller than the .25" dot in the middle of my 1" Dayglow targets at 30 yards.

...at around 12x you can see the core reticule

Does that help?

[Lol Moore]

at 3 or 4x it's frankly too small for me, but it will work well enough for up-close shot.

I like it best around 12-16x where it's a bit larger than normal reticules but the aiming points are still super usable and at full whack, well for me its still ok....

...to give you a sense of scale the center dot at 24x appears a good bit smaller than the .25" dot in the middle of my 1" Dayglow targets at 30 yards.

...at around 12x you can see the core reticule

Does that help?

Russ

Brilliant mate thanks.

To give me a feel for the Ret size, I can see on the March web site that at 24x the vertical scale the number 8 is just at the bottom of the view, at what magnification does the numbers 10,12 and 14 just touch the bottom of the view?

If I was to use it for HFT at say 10x can you see all the numbers on the verticle scale?

I was going to apologise for asking you to go and play with your scope - but I know you need an excuse so I wont

Cheers

[Russ6357]

at 10x - you can see all the key numbers. I wouldn't shoot on much less mag than 8x.

at 20x to about 8 on the vertical mils - left/right only go to 4 anyways. 24x to a bit passed 6.

[Lol Moore]

at 10x - you can see all the key numbers. I wouldn't shoot on much less mag than 8x.

at 20x to about 8 on the vertical mils - left/right only go to 4 anyways. 24x to a bit passed 6.

brilliant, thanks - hope you used the investigation as an excuse to shoot

[Russ6357]

I did....

The scope has actually helped me eek a bit more accuracy out of my Daystate, enough that I actually changed pellets as I found I could see and call my shots better at 50 yards now. I changed from BisMag to JSB Heavy and tightened up groups a bit at 50 yards. Achievable groups are now in the .4 inch range.

Velocity went up a bit too.

[Lol Moore]

I did....

The scope has actually helped me eek a bit more accuracy out of my Daystate, enough that I actually changed pellets as I found I could see and call my shots better at 50 yards now. I changed from BisMag to JSB Heavy and tightened up groups a bit at 50 yards. Achievable groups are now in the .4 inch range.

Velocity went up a bit too.

Nice one.

One thing I never see quoted when people review scopes is the ability to se the flight of the pellet, with my March on a 12ft/lb 0.22" in the right light with a bright target I can see the whole flight.

It is a little bit harder to see a 0.177" but possible