March Tactical 60 Mag

There are certain names, that when uttered, just say quality and class, Rolls Royce, Holland and Holland, Rolex and in the world of FT scopes, March. I have long hankered after the chance to spend some ‘quality time’ with a March and thanks to Roger Beer, a fellow SWEFTA shooter, I now have that opportunity, so, without wasting any more time, let’s take a look.

I have heard it said that the March is one of the most plain looking scopes you can get, and looking at the 60 Mag model I have in front of me, I would have to agree. The whole scope has a matt black finish and other than the word March on the parallax control and the numbers marked on the mag ring and other controls, there is no other embellishment on this scope.

The ocular lens bell is plain and joins the main tube with a locking ring, that when loosened, allows the diopter to be adjusted. The reticule on this scope was sharp and clear, so there was no need for me to touch it. The locking ring is not knurled; it has more of a sort of fluted wave pattern, something common to all of the controls on the scope, classy. Forward of the lock ring is the magnification control, marked in increments from 10 mag up to the maximum 60. The adjuster is absolutely silky smooth, has enough damping to make moving it a conscious effort, but is in no way stiff or difficult to operate.

We then get to the 30mm tube proper and the saddle with the parallax, elevation and windage controls. The parallax knob again has the wave fluting and is neatly engraved with silver numbering from the 10-yard minimum up to infinity. Roger has fitted the optional 3.5-inch sidewheel, which rather than having grub screws that bite into the adjuster wheel, has nylon inserts, which match with the flutes and are then snugged home with grub screws… we are talking a different level of engineering here.

Both the elevation and windage turrets on the TM model are tactical type and are 1/8 MOA, although 1/4 MOA are available. This scope has one of the optional larger diameter turrets fitted to the elevation control with the windage left standard. The standard control has neat lines, letters and numbers etched in and coloured silver. There are both ‘L’ and ‘R’ direction pointers, as well as one hash for every two clicks, numbered from 0 to 9, from the saddle, the 30mm tube flares to 60mm and contains the 52mm objective lens. As standard, the March comes with flip up lens covers for both ends and a sunshade.

Time To Take A Look

The first thing you see is the reticule, in this case the MTR FT ret. It is really fine and sharp, and is an excellent design with hash lines of two different sizes on both the horizontal and vertical elements.

The sight picture is what I would expect from a scope of this quality, the ED lenses having a significant effect here. The sight picture is clear and bright and the colour quality is very true, not essential for FT but a mark of the lens quality. Looking up my garden I was able to zoom in on a Daffodil and see not only the bright yellow clearly but also the matt finish of the flower and the slight gloss of the leaves, this is photographic quality we are looking at here. However, a pretty picture is nice but not what an FT scope is all about, so now it is time to start working that parallax and seeing how good the range finding is.

Focusing with the 3.5-inch side wheel is a gentle process, the target resolves very evenly and then it is a matter of making tiny adjustments back and forth to get the sharpest focus. At longer ranges I felt that a larger sidewheel would have been of benefit, as the distance between each range mark on the wheel compresses quite quickly. This of course it not unique to the March, the same is true of many current FT scopes, hence the reason for the range of after market, large diameter and eccentric side wheels, the latter of which would be my choice.

The depth of field is around a yard closer in but stretches to around a yard and a half at 45-yards plus. This is really where familiarity and time spent with a scope pays dividends.

On the zero range I found repeatability was excellent and moving from short to long ranges and back produced the same results at each distance again and again. On the course, a lot depended on the light conditions. Well-illuminated targets were easy to rangefind, picking on tiny details like frayed string ends or fixing screws. With less well-lit targets, things got a bit more difficult and a high degree of concentration was required, you also needed to take your time getting the target absolutely sharp. I did find that backing off from 60 to 40 mag significantly improved the sight picture, as at 60 mag the sight picture is so full it is lacking in brightness / detail. Again this is somewhere where time spent behind the scope will allow the owner to get the best from the March.

All the controls work extremely smoothly. There is absolutely no backlash in the side wheel and the detents on the turrets are quiet but require a solid effort to move them, not overly so but enough to know that they are not going to move as you put the rifle in your gun bag.

Conclusion

I can say, hand on heart, that this is one of the best quality scopes I have ever used. The level of fit and finish is excellent, the attention to detail the same, all the controls are smooth, precise and with an amazing feel. Details like the sidewheel fixing method are impressive and is something that I’ve not seen before on an FT scope. The Japanese ED glass gives a bright clear sight picture in most light conditions and certainly the sight picture quality is superb. At 730-grams it has to be one of, if not the lightest scopes in its class and this is a big bonus to many shooters.

But, (and there always has to be one) if I have a criticism, it is that the March is not an easy scope to drive, especially in poor light conditions, you really need to spend time learning how to get the best from it. This is not unique to the March of course, but if you have spent your hard earned cash on a scope that you think will instantly bring you a better score, think again, because just like your rifle and pellet combination, you are going to need to educate yourself in the ways of the March, but once you have I believe you will appreciate the scope more and more.

A big thank you to Roger Beer for the kind loan of his very fine scope.

PRICES:
RRP £2388 for the TM - Tactical version - tactical turrets.
RRP £2223 for the LM - Long Range - target turrets
Comes complete with flip up lens covers and 3.5-inch sunshade. 3.5- and 4.5-inch side wheels available.
Large elevation turret available.

CONTACT:
March Scopes – Europe, 01293 606 901, www.marchscopes.co.uk