Customer Reviews

BARSKA 4x28 Electro Sight IR Mil-Dot Rifle Scope

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This optic is far from being high priced and works. The glass is good for a budget rifle.

The Mildots are good for range estimations. It is not a precision optic. It is a low powered optic used with good eye relief for a compact rifle / low profile and various mounting ability due to a single rail slot it can be locked in for extended eye relief.

Being illuminated, it can shoot in low light conditions for predator work. It keeps your weapon with good handling quick characteristics vs having a huge optic that can spoil your weapon's handling features.

A 4 power is more than enough to easily make 200 yard shots and do a paper zero at closer range depending on caliber and calculations to get you out there and proof it. It has a low profile so if using it in heavy brush, it does not get in the way or hang up on things.

It is about 8 inches in length and has an incorporated base with heavy allen wrench lock down capability to a weaver / rail system. You don't have to buy external rings or go through elaborate boresighting / alignment procedures. Mount and lock torque lock it down. It has one rail slot to grab the space between the rails and the other surface area is torqued to grab the outside of the rail so you have a lot of leeway to mount it forward, rearward where you want it and plenty of surface area to lock it down solid. Height over bore is about 2.25 inches on an AR15. On an AR15 it is very sweet on eye relief and natural point of aim. Included is the allen wrench with the optic to fit and lock the optic to the rail. The optic also has a focus for dialing in the reticle exactly to give it a good focus to clearly define it against your target background.

Eye relief is 3-4 inches. You can easily see the bullet holes at 25yds to work your group and extended range calculations.

The reticle thickness is about 1 inch thick at 100yds for a medium thickness value- good for brush and woods work, but not a thin target reticle. It suits the optic and does not get lost in heavy brush or close in to medium work.

It is meant for close to medium range work at a fixed power and range use- perfect for hunting in this capacity for a budget rifle or close to medium range work.

The mil dot it is calibrated in are weird compared to standard mil dot measurements and this is because of the 4x. If it were calibrated in standard value the mil dots would be too close together so they are more value than 3.6 inches at 100yds. Ok, I did the math here because Barska dropped the ball by not including a ranging card and animal height index:

fox=9 inch from bottom of chest to top of back, 1 mil dot=100yds, 2 mil dots= 50yds, 4 mil dots= 25yds

coyote= 12 inch, 0.7 mil dot= 190yds, 1 mil dot = 133yds, 2 mil dots= 66yds, 4 mil dots= 33yds

deer= 18 inch, 1 mil dot = 200yds, 2 mil dots = 100yds, 4 mil dots = 50yds

elk= 24 inch, 1 mil dot = 266yds, 2 mil dots = 133yds, 4 mil dots= 67yds

Standard mil dots are 3.6 inch at 100yds. I took my laser rangefinder and various measured objects and measured at 100yds mil dot to mil dot with this 4x28mm optic. The mil dot value is 9 inches at 100yds exactly. I also reworked the old mil dot formula to this optic. The new calculations to give your answer in yards is this:

object size in inches x 11.1111 = your answer then divided by the mil dot value of the object seen through this scope.

Example a deer from bottom of chest to back measures 18 inches x 11.1111 = 199.9998 then divide this number by how many mil dots you viewed it at, 2 = 99.9999 or 100yds.

You saw a deer through your optic at 2 mil dot value at 100yds. Also that mil dot is a hold over point depending on your bullet and range. A 200yd zero is a good zero for this optic type.

0.5 mil dot value= 400yds range of deer
1 mil dot value = 200yds range of deer
2 mil dot value = 100yd range to deer
4 mil dot value = deer is at 50yds

So this is an easy point and shoot 200yd and under optic, roughly 90% of the shooting I do especially around brush country.
It's a 400yd plus impact on that first mil dot drop for a high powered bullet if used for a hold over shot. So doing hold over mil dot shooting is not advised for this optic. There are other high powered standard mil dot optics that can do this more effectively with high powered rifles.

This optic is very nice for clarity and field of view for point shooting and close to medium work. It is not a long range precision optic. It is a keep it simple optic that can take abuse and not break the bank. Once you see the easy calculations for what you are hunting, it is a snap to do a quick range estimate to animal to know if it is in the "hunting" ethical zone or not.

Didn't like the loose packing!! But doesn't seem to be damaged. Cool box!! First impression upon taking the scope out was that it is very sturdy, rugged and well made. It has a nice rich black finish. The cross hairs are nice had to get a new battery for the illuminated rectical which works great the brightness adjustments are stiff at first until you start using it and the brightness setting work better on the red not much of a difference with the green! Also when it says eye relief it means how far you should be from the eye piece so when it says 4 inches that means you can see clearly through the scope at that distance. The optics are very clear and the see through scope caps that come with it are cool. Wish the adjustments were actually nobs not caps on top of adjustments that you adjust with a small flat head screw driver. Can't wait to zero it and shoot with it.

As a note if you have a M-4 flat top like I do you should get a riser because it sits very low.

This scope is very good very easy to sight in. Build quality is very good a customer said it was built cheap but I find it sturdy and for the value you can't beat it. It is very accurate after sighting in properly. Does not lose setting after many use just make sure mounting bolts are secure but do not over tighten parts that are made of aluminum alloy. One customer complained about stripping a hex bolt but I think he overtightened it it's an aluminum alloy like all other scopes so make sure you use the proper size hex wrench/allen wrench. I recommend it if you don't want to spend lots of $$ and still hit your targets at 100, 200 yards.

It is as listing was described. You definitely get what you paid for. Only recommendation is use care with the mounting hardware. They feel as if they could strip easy. Mine is mounted and has seen use. Was easy to sight in and so far has held its MOA.

Quite impressed. Can't afford an ACOG? - this is a great deal. I've tried 3 different NC star scopes and they will not hold even a 3 inch group at 25 yards on an M4 firing 5.56. They are made for airsoft or .22's. The Barska has a little bit thick crosshairs but I was truly impressed with it's ability to hold zero like the most expensive scopes. Shot over 300 rounds so far with this scope mounted on an M4. Shot 3 inch groups at 100 yards with wolfe ammo. Check out any AR-15 forums and you'll find that 3 inch groups are about the best you can get with wolfe ammo - in other words, the scope holds a very very nice zero. So if your looking for a nice looking scope, not the lightest in weight but not too heavy, SUPER LOW COST but very nice quality - get this scope... it's great for the M4 or AR shooter that doesn't have the money to buy an ACOG but knows with this scope, if the crosshairs are on target - the round will be too.

the quality is reflected by it's price.
i mainly purchased this as a backup if i accidentally damage my main scope (Osprey 3-12x56).
the selling point is it looks tacti-cool and priced just right ($49.97). unfortunately, it uses an allen wrench for mounting. i would have preferred a larger thumb nut.

with over 800 rounds, it still holds zero on my Sig Sauer 522.

reminder: this is an illuminated mil-dot, not a red dot scope...

-a|ex

Mounted on my Ak-47. It looks great,and works great on my gun, after about 70 rounds through my ak, the battery compartment became very loose and would freely turn, causing it to turn on and off by the slightest bump, killing the battery. I took the scope back to the store and got it replaced with the same one. ive shot 20 rounds out of it and the 2nd scope is starting to do the same thing.

This is an edit of the below review. 2 months after purchase, the scope has simply fallen apart. i.e. the electrical switch on top that turns the illumination feature of and on simply fell off. Same thing with my buddy's scope. So that's two of them that I know of. The optic itself still works very well, so I just pulled out the wires and the knob and tapped up the hole and use it without illumination. Buyer beware.

A buddy put this optic on my Sig 556. Getting right to the good part, I observed that my buddy was 'ringing' steel targets out to 400 yards. When I commented 'good shooting', he handed me the gun and I hit sillouetes out to 350 yards like I had been doing it all my life. Even better, the guy with us was shooting an AR15 in .223, and he was 'ringing' a sillouette out at 600 yards, over and over again, about 2 in every 3 shots. None of us even turned on the battery powered reticle. The cheap price makes this an especialy outstanding value. I will buy 2.

This scope had a lot of potential to be a pretty decent budget tactical scope for an AR platform. It has several good features such as built in rail mount, three accessory rails, lighted 2 color reticle, and a nice, compact size. The problem is that the scope was apparently put together either by a misprogrammed robot or a human with poor eyesight. The reticle cants to the left about 5 degrees which is very disconcerting when looking downrange. It doesn't affect accuracy tremendously inside 50 yds but further out it begins to show the flaw. If I knew the next one would have a properly positioned reticle I would buy again but having read many other reviews describing this same problem, I fear that most of these have some amount of canting of the reticle.

Beware. The name of this article is deceptive. Some sights project a bright red dot in the middle of the sight glass, and the shooter positions this over the target. The illusion is of the red dot being projected like a laser dot against the target. In reality, the red dot is strictly inside the sight. That is called a "reflex" or sometimes a "reticle" sight," and in my ignorance, that is what I thought I was getting. The "Mil-Dot" suggested a reflex sight to me, which I had seen and liked. Instead, this sight is not a reflex site, but has conventional crosshairs. The crosshairs can be illuminated with bright red or green light by using a selector knob that activates an internal lamp. The crosshairs view is fine, and the 4x magnification of the target is helpful, if not substantial. I kept the sight and have used it on my AR-15. This sight isn't bad. But I wish I had sent it back and purchased a reflex sight.