Night Pearl Manul M6, 2.5-15x50I Rifle Scope

Many of you may have heard of Night Pearl’s night vision and thermal imaging products, but their introduction of regular daylight optics has been nice. This Czech company produces optics that showcase visual design factors to align with their electronic range, and I have to say, creates all the correct impressions from the start. Like many optical companies of all price categories, individual components are sourced from multiple locations, but the overall design, assembly, and styling are controlled by Night Pearl, and I have liked what I have seen so far.

Not a typo
The Manul is the kind of name that everyone thinks might be a typo, but it is correct. The external manufacturing and finishing standards are first-rate, with a smooth, deep black anodised coating on all external surfaces. This optic has a 50mm objective lens within the gently radiused tube shape, culminating at a 30mm mounting diameter, with 50mm of free space in front and to the rear of the saddle, ensuring plenty of ring space to obtain the correct eye relief. The spherical centre saddle offers the Czech marking on the underside, with windage to the right, elevation above, and parallax/illumination controls to the left side.

Spin free
The windage and elevation are controlled using finger-adjustable dials that sit below rubber-finished caps. These spin off smoothly, and inspection also indicates the threads below are machined to exemplary standards that are indicative of the quality control likely presented elsewhere. Each dial offers 25 MOA per rotation, segregated into a hundred 0.25 MOA clicks. The clicks are tactile and audible, with little overrun. Each dial is 29mm in diameter and features machined serrations for easy grip with bare fingers or gloves.

Any rifle
The left-side parallax shows a similar design style, and it offers correction from 10 metres to infinity, meaning you can use this scope on any rifle from an airgun to a .338, for which it is recoil-rated. The illumination is controlled by the extreme outer dial and offers six intensity settings for the red centre dot in the reticle. There are intervening off positions between each stage and although there isn’t an automated off function, it’s easy enough to move the control back and forth with a solid detent between each stage. The illumination remains subtle and as this is a hunting scope, it’s perfectly specified for lower light usage against quarry, and it won’t dazzle you with shimmering sparkle to the detriment of your hard-earned natural night vision.

6x zoom
The magnification is controlled with the zoom collar. This wraps the front of the parallel, 43mm diameter ocular body. The collar features a grooved, hard rubber texture for a secure grip, and it has a secondary wing at 6x magnification for greater control. Night Pearl supplies a throw lever for the scope, which I fitted for the review, yet they also include a simple flush mount screw if you prefer to keep things low profile. When operating the 6x zoom, there is no noise or perceptible mechanical motion from within the tube, and with firm stops at each end of the travel, this further indicates decent engineering standards.

Focus protection
Night Pearl has fitted flip-up aluminium lens caps, front and rear, to protect the glassware. These click in and out of position and remain securely positioned in whatever rotation you choose. The ocular body is completed at the rear with a fast-focus eyepiece and allows dioptre adjustment from +3.5 to -2, ensuring the internal reticle is in crisp focus. The eye relief is 100mm and it didn’t seem to annoyingly vary throughout the magnification range, which is always an appreciable benefit.

A scope for all seasons
I fitted the scope to a .243 Mauser M18 for multiple quarry types. Zeroing was no problem, as the optic has 84 MOA of elevation/windage adjustment, and the clicks are precise. This isn’t really a dialling scope with a large external turret, but it performed perfectly when alternating between a few different ammunition types and at different zeroing distances. The displayed image did not disappoint, and this versatile specification of 2.5-15x magnification enables a wide field of view for more dynamic and fast-fire hunting situations, while still allowing more precision at 15x.

Optically relaxed
The Manul didn’t disappoint me when in use, and my first impressions of the unit held true. The image offers a balanced colour reproduction, and I found it very honest that Night Pearl offers two light transmission figures in their specification - one for daylight and one for low light. Although no specific coating ‘names’ are mentioned as part of a marketing drive, believe me, they are in use, and it was great to see a scope with very linear image quality as the magnification was altered, without any specific steps. The parallax focus was sharp, without backlash, and I found the scope very easy to use and live with.
When I was hunting on a long summer evening, I was able to position the reticle with precision at mid-magnification. At the same time, I was able to appreciate the broad field of view offered in low mag for general watching and waiting. The eye box is forgiving, and I had no issues maintaining a full, vignette-free field of view, edge-to-edge, before and during the shot. I thought the image resolution was very good and I was able to see details that other similarly priced products don’t reveal. This is partly down to a pure, fuss-free overall specification with accurate lens grinding.

Conclusion
It’s such a memorable joy to use a daylight optic with straightforward hunting specifications. There is no overmarketed hype and just pleasurable operation without any specific weak spots. The waterproof rating is reassuring, as is the 5-year warranty, which can be extended to 10.