GAP Goblin
308Win
Templar II Action
Bartlein 11.25 twist 5R
Mc A5; 50%OD, 25% light tan, 25% dark earth
BO 20moa rail
BO Rings
BO bottom metal
BO Tactical shifter
BO FTE brake
Jewel Trigger
Harris Swivel 6-9
Pod Lock
Pod Claws
Ordered Feb 4th, delivered September 1st. Sent back September 8th received September 22nd.
First time seeing the rifle it is green, very green. So green in fact, when my eldest son saw it, looks like the Green Goblin, we are huge Spiderman fans.
The A5 has very slick feel, This is my first Mc but in certain areas, it looks like fine grit sand paper or emery cloth was used to hand rub the stock but only in certain areas, not the whole stock. This is an enigma to me. Once to my shoulder, in an instant, it fits me a lot better than my HS PST030. Not sure if the A5 is perfect but after having the HS for 2+ years and having muscle memory from shooting it, I really liked the HS stock until now. I am amazed at how much better the Mc fit’s. I do not know if another stock could or would fit any better. The vertical grip on the Mc allows a very natural grip and angle on my hand. The only thing I prefer the HS better is the ruff finish.
The marble mixture did not turn out quite like I envisioned . I wanted more light tan, dark earth is OK. To my eyes, it does not look like 25% tan and dark earth, of course, it is very hard for anyone to predict what the ratio will look like under Mc’s manufacturing process. I am thinking 50% OD, 35% light tan and 15% dark earth if ever again.
The GAP is quite a bit heavier than my SPS 700 Varmint that has 1800 steel BB’s in the stock. The difference is, the GAP is muzzle heavy and my 700 is balanced with the BBs. Of course, the barrel on the GAP bigger in diameter Vs. the varmint contour but then again, its 4“ shorter but again has the muzzle brake.
The bolt handle is longer and has a longer shift than my 700. Sliding the bolt back its smooth but still not quite as smooth as my 700. With my 700, I can use first 2 fingers to left bolt, rotate these fingers to push the bolt back then slide it forward chambering a round. I slapped some grease on the bolt and it helped but takes quite a bit of effort, holding the stock with my left hand to chamber a round and the bolt lift is long.
I played with the Jewel trigger but not really to my liking. The shoe is very narrow and the safety was very hard to engage.
US Optics
SN3.2-17x44mmT-pal
Sunshade 2” fixed
Polarizer/ARD
30mm tube
Lo profile eyepiece
EREK 1/10 mil
US#1 M40 1/10mil
Mil scale GAP reticle
OG green anodizing
Swivel bubble level OD green
Ordered April 24th took possession September 12th. Doc told me my scope was in QA and any day that it would ship. Doc said both he and I would get an email alert. I never got an email of shipping, Fed-Ex showed up at the door Friday 11 September with no one to answer the door and left a notice I had a signature package. I had no idea what the package was but had a hope it would be the USO. The wife is always getting packages but they do not require a signature. So I had to wait till Saturday noon to drive in to Fed-Ex, sign and pick it up. No way I was waiting till Monday September 14th for FedEx to deliver.
When the lady walked from the back at FedEx, I could not believe the size of the box. It was long so I knew it had to be the USO but wow was the box big. She carried it cradled on both arms. Opened the first huge brown box and stuffed in all the peanuts was the USO white box, this box was huge too. Inside the white box the scope did not look that big but pulling it from the plastic and getting a hands on feel, it is quite large and it just had a feeling that I had a quality scope.
The first impressions are, it feels like a well made USA product. I could feel the difference in the solid construction. I am not bashing anyone or anything, I could instantly feel a difference just by handling it compared to all other scopes I have handled. It feels that much better in my hands. Everything about it on my first impression is it is built to take a beating and perform.
I have anticipated this sight since placing the order more so than my rifle. Looking through it, it comparing to a Swaroski, NF, Ziess and I see no difference side by side. I did see a noticeable difference between the Loopy VXIII / Mark 4.
I really debated my self whether to order an ST10 or SN3. And to be honest, still not sure. Not that I do not drool over the SN3, but as of right now, I do not like the FFP and how the ret changes sizes. It is playing games with the blob of goo in my head. As I use and learn, I am sure this will change but I find it hard to grasp the reticle at different sizes while changing power settings. Since 1978, I have run nothing but fixed power scopes; 3x on my 340Wby, 4x on my Nylon66 and 10x SS on my 700, the reticle is always the same size. Now, it changes sizes and in my mind, this don’t make sense.
Love the color, it does not match the OD green of my GAP built rifle though. When I opened the box I thought the color was wrong, looked earth brown but taking it outside the OD green pops in the light. To my eye anyway, in low light it looks brown but in bright light looks OD, not sure if this is on purpose or it is my old eyes but its really wild.
The Mil scale GAP reticle is beyond belief on how easy it is to read mils. With objects around the neighborhood, at 10x - 17x it is a snap to mil. But at 3.2x it is a different process and I find this power setting and milling not useful at all.
The EREK and US#1 M40 windage knobs are tactile with solid detents. the best I have felt with NF, Burris, Loopy and SS. Large and easy to grab, easy to hold with gloves on with enough friction turning the knobs I can tell instantly each click, this makes them easy to know where the turrets are with the mark. Not anything like my soft squishy SS that I never knew if I was on 4.5 or 4.75 / 4.25.
The T-pal is weird. Not sure how to describe. Going from infinity down there is more resistance in the knob Vs going from 50 yards up to infinity. Stopping along the way and reversing the direction on the knob, there is definitely a difference in feel depending on which way it is rotated.
Reading the books of information that came with it left me dazed. I thought I understood the EREK but the USO sheet has me confused again. Plus, all the sheets keep referring to SN2. A couple PM’s to Doc and he straighten me out, he said most of us make the EREK confusing but his little tutorial and I think I understand it, well much more than I did.
One disturbing DON’T DOS says, do not take scope from warm house into outside cold. A temperature change of 40F can saturate the dissicant inside and fog the scope. I routinely go from 70F house to -30F over the winter, that’s a 100 degree difference. I have never had this happen even with a $30 4x rimfire scope.
Mounting the USO was pure easy. I told George at GAP what scope was going on and they seem to have put the rings right where they should be and they were torqued. Well, my problem was a short eye relief so I had to move the front ring back one slot.
Now, my USO bubble level will not fit between the rear ring and the cell area of the scope. Very not happy. So, I mounted the bubble level between the front ring and cell and to be honest, easier to see, why did I not do this before. I got the swivel bubble and there is no room for it to swivel, it hit’s the cell area and no room for my fingers to tighten or loosen the bubble knob.
I slid in a feeler gauge and the large area of the cell area made lots of contact, this is a very easy method to level mount a scope.
So far, the bubble level and cross hairs seem to be perfect.
Butler Creek eye cap went on no problems but the Obj, no room between the barrel, very close tolerance. A couple minutes with a Dremel and now it fits but there is not much material on the cap and it has to be on perfect or it makes contact. I do not think the caps will last long and will crack. So, like it was said here, use some tape. Butler Creek caps are size 18 EYE #20180 and 40 OBJ #30400.
308Win
Templar II Action
Bartlein 11.25 twist 5R
Mc A5; 50%OD, 25% light tan, 25% dark earth
BO 20moa rail
BO Rings
BO bottom metal
BO Tactical shifter
BO FTE brake
Jewel Trigger
Harris Swivel 6-9
Pod Lock
Pod Claws
Ordered Feb 4th, delivered September 1st. Sent back September 8th received September 22nd.
First time seeing the rifle it is green, very green. So green in fact, when my eldest son saw it, looks like the Green Goblin, we are huge Spiderman fans.
The A5 has very slick feel, This is my first Mc but in certain areas, it looks like fine grit sand paper or emery cloth was used to hand rub the stock but only in certain areas, not the whole stock. This is an enigma to me. Once to my shoulder, in an instant, it fits me a lot better than my HS PST030. Not sure if the A5 is perfect but after having the HS for 2+ years and having muscle memory from shooting it, I really liked the HS stock until now. I am amazed at how much better the Mc fit’s. I do not know if another stock could or would fit any better. The vertical grip on the Mc allows a very natural grip and angle on my hand. The only thing I prefer the HS better is the ruff finish.
The marble mixture did not turn out quite like I envisioned . I wanted more light tan, dark earth is OK. To my eyes, it does not look like 25% tan and dark earth, of course, it is very hard for anyone to predict what the ratio will look like under Mc’s manufacturing process. I am thinking 50% OD, 35% light tan and 15% dark earth if ever again.
The GAP is quite a bit heavier than my SPS 700 Varmint that has 1800 steel BB’s in the stock. The difference is, the GAP is muzzle heavy and my 700 is balanced with the BBs. Of course, the barrel on the GAP bigger in diameter Vs. the varmint contour but then again, its 4“ shorter but again has the muzzle brake.
The bolt handle is longer and has a longer shift than my 700. Sliding the bolt back its smooth but still not quite as smooth as my 700. With my 700, I can use first 2 fingers to left bolt, rotate these fingers to push the bolt back then slide it forward chambering a round. I slapped some grease on the bolt and it helped but takes quite a bit of effort, holding the stock with my left hand to chamber a round and the bolt lift is long.
I played with the Jewel trigger but not really to my liking. The shoe is very narrow and the safety was very hard to engage.
US Optics
SN3.2-17x44mmT-pal
Sunshade 2” fixed
Polarizer/ARD
30mm tube
Lo profile eyepiece
EREK 1/10 mil
US#1 M40 1/10mil
Mil scale GAP reticle
OG green anodizing
Swivel bubble level OD green
Ordered April 24th took possession September 12th. Doc told me my scope was in QA and any day that it would ship. Doc said both he and I would get an email alert. I never got an email of shipping, Fed-Ex showed up at the door Friday 11 September with no one to answer the door and left a notice I had a signature package. I had no idea what the package was but had a hope it would be the USO. The wife is always getting packages but they do not require a signature. So I had to wait till Saturday noon to drive in to Fed-Ex, sign and pick it up. No way I was waiting till Monday September 14th for FedEx to deliver.
When the lady walked from the back at FedEx, I could not believe the size of the box. It was long so I knew it had to be the USO but wow was the box big. She carried it cradled on both arms. Opened the first huge brown box and stuffed in all the peanuts was the USO white box, this box was huge too. Inside the white box the scope did not look that big but pulling it from the plastic and getting a hands on feel, it is quite large and it just had a feeling that I had a quality scope.
The first impressions are, it feels like a well made USA product. I could feel the difference in the solid construction. I am not bashing anyone or anything, I could instantly feel a difference just by handling it compared to all other scopes I have handled. It feels that much better in my hands. Everything about it on my first impression is it is built to take a beating and perform.
I have anticipated this sight since placing the order more so than my rifle. Looking through it, it comparing to a Swaroski, NF, Ziess and I see no difference side by side. I did see a noticeable difference between the Loopy VXIII / Mark 4.
I really debated my self whether to order an ST10 or SN3. And to be honest, still not sure. Not that I do not drool over the SN3, but as of right now, I do not like the FFP and how the ret changes sizes. It is playing games with the blob of goo in my head. As I use and learn, I am sure this will change but I find it hard to grasp the reticle at different sizes while changing power settings. Since 1978, I have run nothing but fixed power scopes; 3x on my 340Wby, 4x on my Nylon66 and 10x SS on my 700, the reticle is always the same size. Now, it changes sizes and in my mind, this don’t make sense.
Love the color, it does not match the OD green of my GAP built rifle though. When I opened the box I thought the color was wrong, looked earth brown but taking it outside the OD green pops in the light. To my eye anyway, in low light it looks brown but in bright light looks OD, not sure if this is on purpose or it is my old eyes but its really wild.
The Mil scale GAP reticle is beyond belief on how easy it is to read mils. With objects around the neighborhood, at 10x - 17x it is a snap to mil. But at 3.2x it is a different process and I find this power setting and milling not useful at all.
The EREK and US#1 M40 windage knobs are tactile with solid detents. the best I have felt with NF, Burris, Loopy and SS. Large and easy to grab, easy to hold with gloves on with enough friction turning the knobs I can tell instantly each click, this makes them easy to know where the turrets are with the mark. Not anything like my soft squishy SS that I never knew if I was on 4.5 or 4.75 / 4.25.
The T-pal is weird. Not sure how to describe. Going from infinity down there is more resistance in the knob Vs going from 50 yards up to infinity. Stopping along the way and reversing the direction on the knob, there is definitely a difference in feel depending on which way it is rotated.
Reading the books of information that came with it left me dazed. I thought I understood the EREK but the USO sheet has me confused again. Plus, all the sheets keep referring to SN2. A couple PM’s to Doc and he straighten me out, he said most of us make the EREK confusing but his little tutorial and I think I understand it, well much more than I did.
One disturbing DON’T DOS says, do not take scope from warm house into outside cold. A temperature change of 40F can saturate the dissicant inside and fog the scope. I routinely go from 70F house to -30F over the winter, that’s a 100 degree difference. I have never had this happen even with a $30 4x rimfire scope.
Mounting the USO was pure easy. I told George at GAP what scope was going on and they seem to have put the rings right where they should be and they were torqued. Well, my problem was a short eye relief so I had to move the front ring back one slot.
Now, my USO bubble level will not fit between the rear ring and the cell area of the scope. Very not happy. So, I mounted the bubble level between the front ring and cell and to be honest, easier to see, why did I not do this before. I got the swivel bubble and there is no room for it to swivel, it hit’s the cell area and no room for my fingers to tighten or loosen the bubble knob.
I slid in a feeler gauge and the large area of the cell area made lots of contact, this is a very easy method to level mount a scope.
So far, the bubble level and cross hairs seem to be perfect.
Butler Creek eye cap went on no problems but the Obj, no room between the barrel, very close tolerance. A couple minutes with a Dremel and now it fits but there is not much material on the cap and it has to be on perfect or it makes contact. I do not think the caps will last long and will crack. So, like it was said here, use some tape. Butler Creek caps are size 18 EYE #20180 and 40 OBJ #30400.
