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Brownells MPO line

JEVapa

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Brownells does quite a bit of house branded stuff and almost all of it is high quality. They have a house branded line of optics called "Match Precision Optics" or MPO. They are made in Japan which probably means LOW (Light Optical Works); that's what everyone does, and means high quality. I just ordered one of the LPVOs to see. I think they're closing it out...probably didn't sell as well as they'd hoped. I'll post comments when I get it.
 
I had given that line a glance when they first started slinging them in their emails. The reticles looked kind of meh in a world chock full of options. Of course that was an unfounded opinion as I have never actually looked through one. I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on it when you have it in hand. My opinions are definitely shifting in regards to reticle designs and magnification ranges. Sometimes too little and too much is literally what it sounds like in varying proportions when looking at the world.
 
Well, if it matters, ANYTHING made in Japan is good to awesome. There are no shitty MIJ scopes now IMO except maybe something from 50yrs ago and the seals have degraded and it leaked. >80% of all MIJ OEM scopes are probably made by LOW or Japan Optics/Hakko. Even if you buy some cheap no-name somewhere and it's MIJ, it'll be okay.
 
I know you don’t have have it your hands yet, but just based on specs/price- can you think of a comparable make/model that LOW manufactures for a different brand?
 
I’d have to look around but the Trijicon Credos and Eotech Vudus would probably be closest.
 
Do you have a tracking number yet? My vicarious sense of immediate gratification is killing me. Only thing as bad as me waiting for something is waiting for someone else waiting for something. 😬
 
It came in yesterday but I was at Cameron graduation.
I’ll give my thoughts on it later
 
Played with and mounted the Brownells scope. Looks like a typical Japanese OEM scope in this class. Has a lot of the same features that everyone else who starts their own scope company/line and is SFP.
Just some feedback:
It does have a built in throw lever - big plus IMO (y)
Turrets are big and easy and in .1 mil clicks- (y)
Illumination is pretty bright and only on the aiming dot (y)
Mag Adjustment is smooth and the Mag range is pretty good, about 190° with the built in throw lever from 4 o'clock to 8 o'clock (y)
Diopter is has good adjustment(y)
Glass is nice and clean(y)
Reticle is mil and crisp (10mil) with hashes at every .5 mil. (y)
It tracks pretty well, I put it on a bench and ran it up 10mils repeatedly and down several times and it came back to within .1 mil...so close that I can't tell if the bench jiggled or it was off a tiny bit. It's not like you'll ever need this in an LPVO but a package that can track well means it's pretty good.(y)
Good eyebox (y)
Can adjust the Dipter and image the reticle and scene to eliminate most parallax. Hard to do in 1x in these packages for this price range. Even expensive scopes can have a hard time with this. Still some there but not a hugely noticeable issue. It's almost impossible to eliminate parallax in VP Optics unless you have a side focus, and LPVOs' only focus is the diopter.. 🫤

I wish the illumination went to 10 or 12 to make it brighter(n)
The Elevation turret is marked in reverse - Says bullet impact Up is CW, and numbered L to R. But in real life it's still CCW like every other scope. (n) I'll have to write Brownells on that one. They may have meant to spec it to say "Reticle Up" So just ignore the whole EL turret except for the mil marks. The Windage turret is just fine(y)
The mag range goes CCW, so it's a little different than most scopes I have but I do have one or two that turn CCW - 🫤
Diopter is a little too easy to turn...with a cap on and open you can easily move it; just pay attention (n)
Has pretty clean edge, looks like it has a little chromatic aberrations but it's typical with most of these scopes. Compared to a Credo and an SCO, it has about the same CA as the Credo. The edge black is good, but has some light leakage through the black when illum is on from the front. No biggie because you have to stick it up to your eye and 99% of people out there don't really GAS anyway.


It's a lot like the Trijicon Credo, almost the same from the erector back. Eyepiece is the same size. Front is a little longer which is expected for an extra 2x and same price range. It has all the good stuff a quality Japanese scope has. I'll probably get another one. I still have to zero it and get my Mil target and see how well the reticle matches up. FYI, anytime you zero a SFP scope, you do it on the highest mag and all your reticle use should be on the highest mag.

IMG_1540.jpg

Mag rotation is CCW

IMG_1545.jpgIMG_1546.jpg

EL Turret

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On a bench
IMG_1541.jpgIMG_1542.jpg

On a gun

IMG_1543.jpg

Reticle

IMG_1551.jpg
 
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I kind of like that reticle. If they had cut the open bars at the half mil mark it would have been nice. In my mind .2 mil hashes are a little busy when you can dial four clicks either way to get all persnickety. Looks about right for a move around rifle. Only LPVO reticle that kind of blows my skirt up in FFP is the Arken EP8, but that’s pretty specialized.

Thanks for the review. It’s the good kind of perspective that provides real intel for potential buyers. Much appreciated!
 
Those are half mil hashes and in LPVOs, there's no reason to dial. Find your hold for your cartridge out to whatever range and your good.

The first mil is unmarked and is at the start of each duplex. Then 1.5 hash, then 2, then 2.5 hash, 3 hash, 3.5 hash, then 4. etc.
 
Looking at it on my phone I had to embiggen the crap out of it to see the half mil pips but there they be. I still like the fact that they didn’t feel the need to cover every two tenths with a mark. I’ve seen some reticles that are like trying to look through a burlap sack. This one fits it’s space nicely.

Edit PS: Do you think pushing 10x with an LPVO is generally practical? I’m kind of personally resolved to 6x because the price and usefulness kind of merge there now days, 8x tops. In my mind the lack of parallax adjustment pushes way out there into the fuzzy margins on platforms not really designed for stability.
 
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1-10x are becoming a thing now. The Vortex 1-10x is one of the best scopes out there but they have really long eye relief. I haven't really looked at using them, but they'd be practical for DMR or a recce rifle, beings that most of those were 3-9x (later 2.5-8x), 2.5-10x and 3.5-10x. What the 1x gives you is CQC capability without putting an MRD somewhere on it. Personally, I think 1-8x for an LPVO is ideal. My preferred optic for a carbine is an Elcan 1-4x Spectre. I love that thing.

But, for the money, this scope can't be beat IMO. At $800 it's good but at $450, you can get several.
 
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