Edgar Brothers Opti-mate 3-9x50 AO

In recent years Opti-Mate scopes have always been a popular seller for Edgar Brothers. Hardly surprising, as if you wanted a solid, well priced, no frills scope - this is it! Now on a second generation or (EB2) as they’re ‘nicknamed’, I’ve chosen a typical airgun/rimfire specification to illustrate why the brand should be considered.

Typical Example

The Opti-Mate 3-9x50 AO is a typical example of the marque and the layout and build of the most popular specification hunting models. It shows a 1” body tube with matt black finish and at the rear is a fast focus eyepiece, the zoom ring is ridged and operates smoothly and easily.

Turrets are tall, finger dialable, target-types under removable caps. Click values are ¼” @ 100-yards and operation positive and easily felt and heard. They offer 60-clicks per turn (15”) with 6 full rotations top to bottom/side to side (90”) so no worries in running out of adjustment for any sort of use.

Turrets are sub-divided into ¼ and 1” marks so no problems dialling in precise corrections. The fixed section shows a series of horizontal lines so you will know where you are in terms of settings. Once you have set zero the drums can be re-set to 0 by using a small Allen screw on the rim.

2nd Focal Plane

The 2nd focal plane, duplex-type reticule shows medium/heavy outer arms but with a fine central cross. This is where you will be thankful of the very capable and precise ocular adjustment ring. The large 50mm, adjustable objective (AO) lens housing shows two rings of chequering that allow easy manipulation. It’s marked in metres, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100, 200 and 8. It does however focus down to approximately 5-yards. If you want to mark your own ranges on the housing there’s enough room to do so.

The AO operates positively and smoothly and I found ranges marked corresponded quite well to those on the ground. The fact you can mark the AO with your own figures is a bonus and the fact you have a relatively generous amount of room between 50 – 100m shows this to be ideal for rimfire as it is for air rifle usage.

Lends Itself

Optical quality is superb and coupled with the magnification range and large objective the scope lends itself perfectly for dawn/dusk use or for any low light condition.

Opti-Mate scopes have always been a brand known and used by many grass roots shooters. On test is a well built, basic but functional example of why they’ll always be respected as a viable alternative to the latest all singing all dancing mega optics.

For: Good quality and value for money
Against: AO slow to operate and adds depth for scope mounting
Verdict: Great workhorse scope, but perhaps a bit plain in comparison to more modern offerings

Please note since publishing this item is no longer available new, however can be found on the second hand market.

PRICE: £75