Customer Reviews

BARSKA 3-9x40 Compact Contour IR 4A Mil Plex Rifle Scope

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This scope is not what I thought it would be, in that it was not a full field view. I really liked the overall appearence, but there wasn't enough product description to make a better judgement before my purchase. When I placed it at the 9x, it was blurry, and there is no adjustment to correct this. When I referenced the owners manual, it was the wrong one. I returned it for a refund and I am in the process of acquiring another scope......from Amazon, of course. I have no problem with Amazon.

I REALLY wanted to like this scope. It looked so good on top of my AR, but it was a really poor optical device and good looks can't make up for that. It was pretty fuzzy at any distance from 25 to 200 yards and since the focus is not adjustable I'm not sure if there was anything I could do about it. The design of the IR switch is also poor in that every time I tried to turn it on the cap for the battery compartment would start to unscrew. The one thing I really did like was the blue IR, it was nice a bright and could be dimmed several levels. I ended up retuning this one, somewhat reluctantly. If there was anything I could have done to make it work better I would have kept it for the looks...

This scope is awesome. It fits great and also looks very professional on my AR-15.

Pros
1. It comes with it's own mounting rings (so don't buy any ahead of time like I did)
2. It has crosshairs that don't need batteries! So many scopes are becoming more and more battery operated.
3. The crosshairs illuminate do different levels of brightness as desired to help you see them in low light scenarios.
4. Easy thumb knobs for windage and elevation with 1/2 click MOA adjustments.
5. Waterproof!

Cons
1. Can't find anything bad yet.

this scope is above and beyond what i expected. i read all the reviews before i bought it. it does have a battery operated mechanism only to light the cross-hairs (it is not necessary for its operation, it has traditional cross-hairs, which can be illuminated if you choose). and it DOES have an optical focus and zoom (the one review said the blurriness can not be corrected), the eye piece which you look through (with flip up cap) can twist left and right to focus. and of course it has the 3-9X40 zoom. so it can ZOOM and FOCUS. Amazing short range tactical scope. caps to adjust height and windage are coated with rubber, perfect water-tight design. i would certainly recommend this scope. A+

Easy to mount, and ,sight in,liked the illumination, but blurry in higher numbers, could not make out target at 100yds, in 9x, focusing did not help.

I was impressed with the build quality of this scope, when first removing it from the box. It is well built, with nice rubberized armor, and the illumintaed blue rectile is nice and bright. Unfortunately, I purchased this scope without knowing what its eye relief TRULY was. The description says it's 3", but after measuring it myself, it is more like 2-1/4"...way too short. Typical rifle stocks have a length of pull (LOP) of 13.5", but to use this scope without neck strain, you need a LOP of about 9", and I don't know of any stock that is made that small. I would have to break out my table saw, and cut off over 4" of my stock to get the proper eye relief with this scope! It leaves me to wonder what kind of rifle stock this scope, and others like it, are intended to be used with. I had this scope set back as far is it would go, and even switched my weaver mount backwards to give it another inch, but it was still too far away from my eye. Even if I had a LOP that could accomodate this smaller scope, I would still be worried about getting a Barska tattoo on my eyeball from the recoil. I can almost feel my eyelash touching the lens on this scope!

Also, as other reviewers have mentioned, the scope's focus adjustment leaves much to be desired. Yes, the sight picture can be focused by turning the focus adjustment on the eye peice, but you only get 1-1/2 turns out of it, and it is counter clockwise only. So, if your target is at a distance of over 150 yards, and your sight picture is a little blurry, you're stuck with it...turning the focus adjustment only makes it worse, because you can only focus in one direction. For targets at medium range, say 75-100 yards, that may be a little out of focus, adjusting the focus does help, but for long range targets, forget it! I also found that adjusting the focus more than 1 full turn, makes the crosshairs extremely blury...to the point where the bullet drop tick marks are no longer visible, and this has nothing to do with eyesight, or background focusing. I thought the whole purpose of focus adjustment was to improve the sight picture? I have never seen a scope blur out the crosshairs like this one, regardless of magnification setting.

So, it's a well built scope as far as construction goes, but functionality is horrid at best. Barska seems to be making more and more crap these days, and this was my 3rd attempt to give them the chance to redeem themselves. So, I will be looking for a different brand from now on, and this scope is going back to Amazon for a refund. This might be a nice scope for a crossbow, or very small carbine with a short LOP, but for a full sized target rifle, it's useless. I love the look of short scopes, but it seems like if you want long eye relief, you have to buy a longer scope.

This is a fine scope for the money. I've had it for a few weeks and, if you know how to use it properly, it appears to work flawlessly. 1. Reviews have claimed blurring - the only time this happens is when I set high magnification and try to view objects at less than 25 yards. Save the higher magnifications for greater distance as intended. 2. The battery cover does not come off if you turn on the illuminated reticle as instructed - Clockwise. 3. The eye relief is a bit less than 3 inches, but I use an adjustable stock. Unless I set it at full length, which I typically do not do, the eye relief is comfortable. I can see how this could be an issue without the adjustable stock however. I would give it 5 stars if I knew it held zero over the long haul, but I have limited rounds through it and don't want to make that claim just yet. That said, it has held so far and I don't foresee any problems. I have had Barska products that did not meet expectations before, and this is not one of them. At $80, this is a terrific value. One caution, the manual is clearly written by someone whose native language is not English. So the manual is a little challenging, but it works fine if you READ it. :)

Still waiting for a decent day to actually get a chance to site this thing in. So far though I like it, wanted a scope, but wanted to keep the weight down. Found it all with this scope.