Service Rifle Review of Falcon Menace 1.5 x 5 x 30 Matches 1-12

Seeking the opinion of the more informed here

Would the Falcon SIR be a good choice for an all round optic including CQB?

I am enamoured with the idea of a tacticool red dot but I want a sight that is as versitile as possible. If/when I try service rifle I want a sight that will be easy to adjust and give magnification for longer distance, without sacrificing close range speed to acquire a sight picture for CQB and the close range portions of Service.

Basically I am looking for the most bang for my buck for an optic for my bargain priced Norc CQB.
 
Yes, I have used the Falcon Merlin (dialed down to 1.5x) and red dot ON for CQB practices! Life is good. This scope is an excellent compromise.... the elevation turret was handy to set to 300m setting since that 25m and 300m share the same setting. :D

Hope this helps!

Barney
 
Okay, so following Hungary's lead, I went ahead an got a Falcon Menace SIR from Allan's Gun works for my Norc from Elwood Epps. The NcStar QD base I purchased through EE, the Burris Xtreme Tactical Rings were used from Epps (okay enough plugs for CGN and their sponsors :))

I went with the QD mount because my BUIS right now is the carry handle. Scope off, irons on, good to go. Not super quick but I only shoot at one way ranges so I don't have to really rush. Heck, if the batteries die, then I still have the not illuminated reticle

I also opted for the newer mil/mil recticle since it is similar to my other Falcon Scopes. According to the manufacturer it is MRad accurate at 5 power.

Like Hungary I find this mounting height works for a cheek weld

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The eye piece is far back far enough that I get a full field of view with the stock fully extended, and I can shorten it a couple of positions with no tunnel vision. Nice for kneeling for which I like a shorter stock length.

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Note that the scope is also high enough to clear the front sight tower

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See, even down at 1.5 power the tower is not visible. If I put my finger on top of the post, I pick that up. And yes, at this time the scope was not level with the rifle.

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Note the adjustment witness marks on on the scope body, not the adjustment towers. That way they are always visible even if the adjustment is bottomed out.

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Here is the red retical on a very reduced Figure 11 that I use for dry fire practice

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And now green

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If only I can learn to turn the illumination off when I put it away.

Now here is a Figure 11 at 100 yards with 1.5X. The retical is on but because of the bright snow background it gets lost. Oh well, the black lines show up well.

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And now at 5X

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Sorry if the pics aren't the best, it is a PITA to get a camera lined up behind a scope. The outdoor pictures were take at -25 C so I didn't take that much time, my brain was starting to freeze. Also the scope was mounted on the bench, not my rifle so getting it level was out of the question.

Anyway, hopefully this setup will work well for me for CQB this year and who know what else I might get into for sh*ts and giggles.
 
Well done , Bolivar.
Nice pics and great explanation.

Remember folks, it's all about what works for you and your game. Service Rifle is demanding enough on the rifle, and now it's also hard on the optics (unique needs from our benchrest brethren). Oh yeah, did I mention hard on the body if you are not working out right now? :cool:

If you Service Rifle addicts aren't working out during this winter lull/hibernation period, then this old fart & mirror kommando is gonna beat your butt on the Match 12 500m to 100m run down! Just don't tell my wife that I'm hoping to sneak out to NSCC 2011 in August. ;) yuk yuk yuk

Cheers,
Barney
 
Happy to extend my Falcon Menace Report to include actual competition. So far no concerns by this shooter about my Falcon.

A couple of notes. On bright, sunny days the illumination does not show up, but no worries the black reticle works fine. No problem to pick up the center dot on the wris####ch. But on overcast, rainy, crappy days the illumination works great. Dial up to max and Good2Go.

About the crappy flip open lens covers, okay they are not really good but are 100% better than the ones that come with other scopes (that is none by the way).

We had fairly decent rain yesterday at Borden and my lenses stayed dry-ish and clear for the match. Flip open lens covers are down a bit on my got to get gear list. Butler Creeks will happen later. Thankfully I had the stock covers with me. They kept me in the game.

The only fogging I had was from no opening the lens covers when we went in side for lunch. Luckily Barney pointed that out to me in time to get them open and clear before the afternoon match.

Basically you won't see me searching for new and better optics or CQB, at least for a while.
 
I used the illumination in my FM once. It was during a guest instructor CQB clinic on an overcast day when it absolutely poured rain. Worked fine. I've never used, nor found the need to use, the illumination for SR competition, 500-50m. As mentionned, the scope works fine without; remember that battery operated devices are in one of two states - they've either let you down, or are about to. As far as shooting in a downpour is concerned, didn't bother with lens caps, just wiped the lenses periodically. (Carry a chamois). No fogging.
These are useful, workmanlike scopes, an excellent buy.
 
Agreed Tiriaq. The only time I've used the illumination on mine was one VERY rainy SR shoot. Just don't find it helps any on CQB or other SR courses of fire.

Now, maybe if it was dusk, or a night fire exercise... :D

Can we use tracer on Amiens and Mons this summer??? :D
 
Plink said:
Can we use tracer on Amiens and Mons this summer??? :D
Click to expand...

Don't even think about it.... You all know that the fire index throughout the summer at Base Borden is either Very High or Extreme. :eek:

And I don't want to become the Base Borden Voluntold Fire Department in the middle of a match! :cool:

Back to the Falcon optic, a few clinic attendees for Service CQB brought out their units on their carbines and are most happy also! :)

:cheers:

Barney
 
This weekend, my partner and I both shot with IS's (the rest of you guys call them BUISs). He placed third. I could do much better if it wasn't for the safety-fail.

I am looking for something to shoot SR with, and nearly went with the FM (lots of you guys have them, and a couple actually let me look down them - thanks!) However, after talking to more of the guys, I think I am going to go with one of those quick-release mounts, and put a higher-magnification sight on it, and use that for SR.

ISs are the way to go for CQB. I will demonstrate this in October.

Challenge!
 
Oh, I'll be there!!! Well, not this weekend; I've shot the last three weekends in a row and will be in a CQB match with my wife if I head to Barrie this weekend...

I just wanted to make a boast that gives me time to get better than the rest of you! I'll be at almost all the matches this summer, and with my new tactical umbrella to boot!
 
Update - SR

I shot the ORA SR clinic yesterday with my mil/mil falcon mounted on my 20 inch service rifle (I switch my Norc to a FM with the post retical).

No problems at all through the day and easily able to get hits to 500 yards. Because the sky was overcast all day I was able to pick up the illuminated retical but decided not to bother. The non-illuminated retical worked fine.

I continue to be really pleased with my rather budget optic for Service conditions shooting. Thanks to Hungry for putting me on to this sight option.
 
I may just be unlucky, but I'm in the process of sending back my 2nd FM 1.5-5 IR and this time I'm switching to something different.

It was mounted on a .308 not .223, but it's rated for more powerful cartridges. I was careful during mounting, and both failed within the first 100 rounds. Your milage may vary, and I hate coming on here with bad news but thought I should share my experience with this optic.

On the plus side, the outstanding CGN Sponsor I purchased it from has taken care of me no questions asked, and I will be upgrading to another optic with them.
 
Just got one of these for my SR as a stopgap until the new 1-8x scopes are released. Already have one of their 4-14FFP scope on a .22LR.

Pros:

-glass quality is decent (on par with 4-14FFP)
-reticle is crisp, without holes, gaps or transparent areas.
-magnification dial move easily (very stiff on my 4-14FFP)
-mil based turrets (and they are 0.1 mil vs. 0.2 mil on similar scopes)
-they got the windage makings right (L and R markings)
-turret clicks are crisp and audible.

Cons:
-weight is a little on the heavy side compared to similar optics. Also a bit on the large size, physically.
-white dot for turret location is too far away, difficult to see which setting your at on the turrets. Easy to be off a click when looking at it from an angle.
-turrets do not have any indication of which rotation you're on, care must be taken not to lose your zero. (at least they aren't pull-up resettable like the new Bushnell 1-6.5x)
-illumination unusable in daylight.
-secondary focal plane reticle only accurate at one magnification, dot grows relative to target at lower magnifications.
-dot is too coarse, especially at lower magnification.
-2 mil hash marks in the reticle are too coarse and non-standard (1 mil is standard). Lack of standardization is a weakness of MOA based reticles and often leads to mistakes when switching between scopes.
-large ring in the reticle is too thin to pick up quickly.
-not 1x on the lower end makes it a bit slower for CQB use.


For the money, it's a nice little scope (I couldn't find a better for the price). However, since I own the other Falcon scope and have seen other scopes in their product line, I think they can do better in the weak areas.
 
Plink said:
Agreed Tiriaq. The only time I've used the illumination on mine was one VERY rainy SR shoot. Just don't find it helps any on CQB or other SR courses of fire.

Now, maybe if it was dusk, or a night fire exercise... :D

Can we use tracer on Amiens and Mons this summer??? :D
Click to expand...


Illumination during daylight becomes useful when your backdrop is dark and large enough that you lose most/all of your crosshairs. That doesn't really happen with sand and grass as a backdrop and target boards that have large white areas.

For CQB, reticle illumination provided an advantage when you have true 1x and are shooting with both eyes open as you would with an Aimpoint. With any amount of magnification on the low end, the illumination doesn't help as much since you have to re-focus your eye when you look through the optic anyway.
 
I'm very curious to know how these scopes hold up to rain and heavier recoil. Thinking about putting this scope on my Zastava mauser in 8X57 JS.
 
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