Initial Thoughts: KONUS PRO M30 10X-40X52MM

Wow, how far can I see with my new telescope? Yesterday was a first for me.  I came home from work and there, on my coffee table, was a brand new scope that I didn't pay for (yet).

The Konus Pro M30 10X-40X52mm is HUGE measuring just a bit over 18 inches without the 4 inch sunshade attached.  As noted above it also has a huge amount of magnification.  I'll be the first to admit that I am a fan of high magnification, but there are pros and cons to it like everything. With higher magnification comes a bit slower target acquisition, but better visibility down range.  When Travis asked me to choose what scope I'd like to review I found the highest magnification available from Konus.  Why not, I have a 300 win. mag. just waiting to be stretched out.

As mentioned the scope comes with a sunshade.  Also, included with the optic are two flip up lens covers, allen wrench for resetting the turrets, a spare battery for the illuminated reticle, and an owners manual.  At first glance the owners manual seems to be the length of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, but as it turns out they included a translation for a total of ten languages... Greek anyone?  The English section is only about four pages and is fairly concise.  It covers your basic functions, has a diagram that explains all the measurements of the milliradian (Mil) reticle, and a conversion chart from MOA to Mils.

The 10X-40 is pretty feature heavy, most obvious are the tall locking-target turrets.  The turrets are 1/10th Mil. adjustments, have a very noticeable click when turned, and feel very solid.  The locks aren't sleek by any means, but they lock solidly preventing any rotation.  On the left side of the scope is a parallax adjustment knob that adjusts from 10 yards to infinity.  The parallax knob turns smoothly without any detents to indicate what range the focus is being adjusted to.  I don't feel this is a big issue since the shooter is going to adjust this in and out until the target is in focus regardless of what the dial says.  There is also a locking "fast-focus" adjustment on the eyebell to sharpen the appearance of the reticle.  Just in front of the eyebell there is an illumination knob offset at 45 degrees.  There are two illumination colors, red and blue, each color has five brightness levels. The magnification adjustment like all the others seems very smooth from 10x-40x. On the outside the scope seems to be very well constructed and has an even matte black finish.  It is nitrogen filled, and shockproof so it should do fine on larger caliber rifles.

The glass is very clear, multi-coated, and fog proof.  This is a second focal plane scope, meaning that the reticle is in the second lens, not the first.  What that means is that the measurements on the mildot reticle are only accurate at a certain power of magnification.  Typically that is at the highest power magnification.  The illuminated mildot portion of the reticle is 10 Mils in diameter.  The dots measure 0.2 Mils, from dot center to dot center measures 1 Mil.  Outside of the 10 Mil. area the stadia are heavy and solid, measuring 18.3 Mils.  So if you are doing the math the reticle is a total of 46.6 Mils in diameter.  Just below the reticle in the shooters field of view is an internal bubble level.  This is a big plus allowing the shooter to correct any canting without having to change position.  At first glance the internal level is pretty hard to see, but I haven't mounted the scope yet so it could be my eye relief, nor have I looked through the scope outside in the sun.

During the review period this scope will be mounted on a Savage model 111 chambered in 300 winchester magnum.  I'll also be doing a review on the rifle soon.  I'll be looking for a few specific things as I review the Konus.  One is light transmission.  Being that this scope has such a long body it could decrease the amount of light transmitted back to the shooters eye.  The 52mm bell and 30mm tube should help though.  Eye relief is an area that I seem to have issues with, and at 3.44 inches of eye relief on this scope should be pretty good.  I'll also be checking the accuracy of the elevation and windage adjustments on the turrets, and parallax adjustment.  My goal is to find a scope that will allow me to shoot long distances, 1000 yards plus, without breaking the bank.  The MSRP on this particular scope is about $750, however, I was able to find it on Amazon for $400.  I am looking forward to mounting this scope and seeing what I can do with it in the coming weeks.