New "High Tech" Redfield scope

[Bucks Owin]

I spied this in the IHMSA News in the issue covering this year's SHOT show in Vegas and thought I'd pass it along...Written by Todd Spotti

"REDFIELD- An American classice since 1919, the new 21st century Redfield rifle scopes have more technology incorporated into their design than any other brand on the market. No small statement, but true- any brand. Additionally, the materials used in their construction are the best that are commercially available. So what makes them so good? For one, ED glass (the very best that there is for resolution and color correctness) is used in the sophisticated apocromatic objective lens element. The body is magnesium, not aluminum. Lanthanum glass (the clearest there is) in the eyepiece. They use a unique three cam zoom system that results in a 5X magnification range i.e. 5X-25X, 6X-30X, etc. All other rifle scopes use a less advanced 4X system. I could go on and on. I hope to get hold of one of these scopes soon and will do a complete review. This is one very exciting product that's just entered into production and should be available very, very soon."

Anyone around here who's maybe an optomitrist etc and "knows their glass" like to comment? The only glass I am expert in are of the beer and shot variety! [smilie=1:

Dennis

[PatMarlin]

We need a pic of that beast.. :Fire:

[Johnch]

Let's see if this works


5 - 25 X 52
http://www.redfieldoptics.com/images/5-25x52.jpg


3 - 15 X 52
http://www.redfieldoptics.com/images/3-15x52jpg.jpg

I am posting the same images as on the Redfield site ( I am using their image link ), IMO bad pic's

Link to the redfield site (http://www.redfieldoptics.com/products.htm)

Johnch

[mike in co]

the original redfield was an american product from right here in colorado. a few yrs back an enviromental report put them out of biz. someone bought the name and imported scopes in the name.
and now we have the latest refield which claims to be all american again.

just be careful what you pay for the various redfield branded products.

i own a 4x, a 6x and a 8-32x target all from the original.

hope the new guys live up to the reputation of the original.

[PatMarlin]

3x15x52... wow. They're trying to run the whole gammit in magnification.

Problem is with these companies that go under, so does your scope lifetime warranty if it has a problem.

That's one thing I like about Leupold used scopes. That's where I put my scope money now.. :drinks:

[357maximum]

"That's one thing I like about Leupold used scopes. That's where I put my scope money now.. "

Ditto

The only thing better than a used leopold IMHO is a new one.

Michael

[Frank46]

How about a origional redfield 3200 in 24x and a redfield 3x9 or lyman all american 6x. They may be old but the optics still are good. My expertise with glass
is also with the beer and whiskey glass viewed from the inside. Frank

[Larry Gibson]

How about a origional redfield 3200 in 24x and a redfield 3x9 or lyman all american 6x. They may be old but the optics still are good. My expertise with glass
is also with the beer and whiskey glass viewed from the inside. Frank

Same here Frank, I've got two 3x9 AccTrac's and a 3x12 Ultimate Redfields that are still very good. I've also got original T6, T10 and T16 Weavers that are still very good optically. Ditto for a couple old K4s and a K10. My old Lyman 12X Targetspot still looks good to me also. I also have numerous Leupolds, Bushnells, a couple Tasco and a Ziess.

Have to admit that over the years I've had a few scopes go Tango Uniform on me. Seems they always follow Murphy's Law and do it when the shot is important instead of on the range. That is why I have iron back up sights on all my serious hunting rifles. It's not fun to be up on a ridge high in the mountains and watch a deer or elk get away because the scope is bad and you no Iron on the rifle. I long ago modified several tools I carry when hunting to fit the side windage srew of Redfield style bases or to fit Weaver Tip Off ring mounting nut. I usually have several varmint rifles on a serious varmint shoot so back up is available in that mode.

I really like the specs on the 30mm tubed 4x20. With 80 MOA of elevation and windage adjustment range it would make a very good long range scope for cast with a 100 to 600 yard abilitity with 311299 for example. Assuming of course the adjustments are, in fact, repeatable as claimed. Might have to seriously look at one of those.

Larry Gibson

[Bucks Owin]

When it comes to old glass, I've got it!

Leupold "Westerner" 8X with 1 minute dot
Lyman "All American" 4X
Weaver 3/4" tube Model 440
Weaver K2.5 with external adjustments
Weaver 60 series K-6

All genyoowine American glass that's still "on the job", working fine....

Dennis

[Bucks Owin]

the original redfield was an american product from right here in colorado. a few yrs back an enviromental report put them out of biz. someone bought the name and imported scopes in the name.
and now we have the latest refield which claims to be all american again.

just be careful what you pay for the various redfield branded products.

i own a 4x, a 6x and a 8-32x target all from the original.

hope the new guys live up to the reputation of the original.

The original Redfield was built in Medford Oregon....

Dennis

[Gibbs 505]

the original redfield was an american product from right here in colorado. a few yrs back an enviromental report put them out of biz. someone bought the name and imported scopes in the name.
and now we have the latest refield which claims to be all american again.

just be careful what you pay for the various redfield branded products.

i own a 4x, a 6x and a 8-32x target all from the original.

hope the new guys live up to the reputation of the original.


What was the problem?

[mike in co]

i have no idea when redfield moved from medford or to denver co, but they had been here long enough that the ground they were on was contaminated with chemicals. whether thiers or a prior party i have no idea, i just know they took a look at the bill and closed the doors. a real shame to loose them.

dont know what started the investigation...improvements, next door neighbors or just the state checking on things....

warrantee is still covered by some company in fla...the last time i checked.

[StarMetal]

Redfield moved from Medford, OR to Colorado in 1906. In 1909 he started the Redfield Gun Sight Co.

Joe

[Firebird]

Redfield started Gunsmithing in Medford, but didn't start making scopes til long after he moved to Denver.
I think they found the ground water contanmination under the factory during the shutdown process for Lowry Air Force base. The company looked at the cost of first containing; then trying to remove the chemicals and solvants in the groundwater and declared bankruptcy.
According to the new website, the company behind the Redfield scopes also makes the Meade home telescopes, so they definitely have some history of making optical devices. As far as I can tell from my experience with camera's they are using all of the buzz words for quality.
Apochromatic - special glass that focuses the different colors of light more closely together so you don't get a "fringe" of color around objects you are looking at. "ED" is what Nikon uses to distinguish these lenses from "standard" lenses. Look at the $500 cost difference in Swavoroski spotting scopes between the standard and "HD" models and you know that this isn't cheap.
"Broadband" multi-coating - passes all of the light colors equally through the lens so you don't get color-shifts in what you are looking at.
"Aspheric" lens - A lens design that they started using over a decade ago in high end cameras. Instead of being constant, the lens's surface changes curvature. Results are fewer lenses needed for a design AND better focus/sharpness on the edges of the visual field. Much more difficult to form by grinding glass than standard lenses, most in camera's are termed "hybrid" lenses that are made by pressing plastic onto glass to form the lens' shape; or are entirely pressed from plastic.
"Lanthanum" glass - this is new to me. Lanthanum is one of the "rare earth" elements; others like Neodymium are used in high power magnets. These elements are fairly expensive in production quantities, so it must do something good or they wouldn't spend the money.
Only feature missing is waterproof & nitrogen filled. Kind of odd since they do list a "hydrophobic" coating to get rain drops to slide off the lens.
I looked up on Midways website, and they list these scopes as "comming soon", with prices that roughly match the best Leupold scopes. They are available on the www.riflescopes.com website. One of the local gunshops is listed as a dealer, I may need to go check them out.

[fourarmed]

Redfield was one of the names/companies bought by Meade, the astronomical telescope makers. They began with Simmons, producing the Master series, IIRC, which is said to be greatly improved. I would expect them to try to position Redfield at a much higher price point, so all this sounds believable. However, as a longtime reader of the IHMSA News, I have to caution that the writer mentioned is pretty breathless in his reviews of everything, and judging from his previous work, his knowledge of optics comes from the brochures provided by the manufacturers.

[PatMarlin]

...and judging from his previous work, his knowledge of optics comes from the brochures provided by the manufacturers.

:mrgreen: I guess who ever pays the bills wins.

[onceabull]

Folks: my understanding is that Meade bought all the Optics labels from Alliant Tech.that were under the Omark conglom.when Allient did that buyout. If that was correct,I'd expect Meade to try to position those brands across the price spectrum..(or sell whatever they might find redundant. :roll: Onceabukk