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Rifle Scopes March FFP 1.5-15x42 MPVO Review and Comparison (w/ Nightforce and Athlon)

I’ll chime in here. I bought my D15V42FIMLX (MIL, Tactical, Illumi, Shuriken lock) in Jan ‘24 to replace My Leupold X-5HD with offset red dot. The March improved with glass quality, length, locking turrets, illumination, and not having to cant between the offset. After some time behind the March, comparing them for hours to my (Mark 5HD 5-25, VX-5HD 3-15 and new Steiner T6XI 5-30) I was confused and frustrated.

First, the glass is better than the Steiner & Leupolds, fit & finish a big step up, crazy compact compared to even the 3-15, and the Shurken locks are solid. I was disappointed with the edge clarity, chromatic aberration, and depth of field when zooming and out…to the point of regretting my decision and wondering if I could return it. After rereading @Glassaholic impressive, detailed comparison on Snipers Hide, I found The Dark Lord of Optic’s video on diopter setting. I reset the diopter using 10x power in a dark room with an illuminated wall a couple feet beyond the objective. WOW! GAME CHANGER!

An innovative, industry leading design that nails all these features: locking, illumination, timepiece precision, exit pupil, field of view, weight, magnification range…..doing it while presenting it in a 10.6” package! The Length is the disrupter in today’s market. Make the March scope 3” longer like my VX5 and many IQ problems would diminish.

Patiently setting the diopter on 10x transformed the reticle clear edge to edge. Still a bit fuzzy at 15x, but from 1.5-13 the March took on a new personality. I then recalibrated my expectations: 1-6 is easy, 1-10 is tricky, 1.5-15 is nuts! Couple that with a SHORT footprint, and you’re going to have to finesse the parallax knob more due to the 10x magnification range. I’m used to max 6X on any scope I’ve ever utilized.

Look, I’m not the kind of guy that would get mad at a sports car I bought for using too much gas, or not being able to take that sports car off-roading - it’s about properly calibrating expectations. When I looked at the overall performance for my intended use, I’m impressed every time I get behind it. There’s nothing comparative that offers ALL these options in a complete package that I’m aware of. Which is why Glassaholic chose the comparative scopes he did. ATACR is great- make it 1.5-15, 6oz lighter, and 2” shorter. I’m not sure if this properly addresses your question, but I’m happy to add any detail that would be helpful. View attachment 8376598
This was helpful, as some dubiousness still attends the March 1.5-15. Does the scope focus/parallax at least to ten yards? Thanks. F7
 
This was helpful, as some dubiousness still attends the March 1.5-15. Does the scope focus/parallax at least to ten yards? Thanks. F7
It does indeed, focusses easily to 30 feet, maybe even a little closer, I can take it out and let you know just how close if you'd like.
 
That's nice to hear. If you have a chance, at your convenience, I would appreciate it. Thanks. F7
Faith, at 5x I was able to get a fairly sharp image at 16'9" from the front objective, image was parallax free as well; however, above 6x and the image gets pretty blurry so if you are okay <=6x then you can focus to 5 meters, but above 6x and you're distance is going to be further out. If you'd like specific limitation at a specific magnification just let me know.
 
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I guess I need to ask our Mercury Program aficionado @Faith7 exactly how close he needs to focus.
 
I guess I need to ask our Mercury Program aficionado @Faith7 exactly how close he needs to focus.

He's a fellow airgun shooter so pretty close compared to what most shooters envision, like 10 yards or so, or maybe a few yards closer on occasion. On top of that doing so on max magnification, while in perfect focus, is the cherry on top.
 
Faith, at 5x I was able to get a fairly sharp image at 16'9" from the front objective, image was parallax free as well; however, above 6x and the image gets pretty blurry so if you are okay <=6x then you can focus to 5 meters, but above 6x and you're distance is going to be further out. If you'd like specific limitation at a specific magnification just let me know.
Since you were nice enough to ask, what does 10 to 12x look like at 25 feet or so? And thanks a ton for what you have done so far, Glass. F7
 
I guess I need to ask our Mercury Program aficionado @Faith7 exactly how close he needs to focus.
Denys, as Steve123 notes, 10 yards and even better at top magnification (or close to it) is optimal for an airgunner. Some of this proximity becomes more of a pleasure and benefit than a mandatory need in certain contexts. With indoor targets, closer and closer is more necessary than with outdoor pesting, as for the latter a sufficient sight picture can be had without optimal clarity. When in my basement (especially during the winter or at night), which limits my distance, I can shoot a 700mm barrel with a rather long suppressor at 25 feet, and a bit more if I move things around diagonally. Down there I can still get by for some things with a different rig and a scope with a 15-yard parallax, but at higher power it breaks down. I am able to get groups at this very close range of perhaps under a millimeter, so seeing well is mandatory. My older eyes mean that I need at least 8 or 10x to really bear down and be comfortable.
Now all of this is like talking Frosted Flakes to a competing bodybuilder, but to an airgun user it is often standard concern.
Thanks! F7
 
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He's a fellow airgun shooter so pretty close compared to what most shooters envision, like 10 yards or so, or maybe a few yards closer on occasion. On top of that doing so on max magnification, while in perfect focus, is the cherry on top.
You got it, Steve! Thanks. F7
 
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Does anyone have a high round-count on an AR-10 with one of these?

I’m looking at them for installing on some of my 14.5”, 16”, and 18” Grendels.

My eyes are older now and I realize that I was very blessed for about 42 years.
 
"The Athlon Helos BTR II 2-12x is as good or slightly better at 12x than this March at 12x."

Yikes !
 
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"The Athlon Helos BTR II 2-12x is as good or slightly better at 12x than this March at 12x."

Yikes !
I find that hard to believe. The Athlon is a great scope for @ $500.00. but I can't imagine how it would be comparable to this or any other March. If it's truly that way, it needs to be sent back for inspection/repair.
 
2). The reticle is thick enough, with enough hashes, dots, and numbers that I lost the impact once- that is not normal for me. The reticle is a bit too thick. At 15x it’s fine, but 15x is too much mag for spotting your own shots with rifles that recoil. 8-12x is good for that and the range I was shooting, but the reticle gets pretty thick due SFP. Probably no issues for hunting, but for trueing velocity on a target between two trees with a 6’ish foot gap- not ideal.
What scope was he evaluating? I thought the March 1.5-15x42 was FFP. The reticle images on different power setting show different sizes, so something it weird or a typo.
 
In some ways if true it’s good news for my wallet. More money for NVG larping
 
"The Athlon Helos BTR II 2-12x is as good or slightly better at 12x than this March at 12x."

Yikes !
That was close to my initial evaluation, but high magnification range scopes tend to take extra special effort to set the diopter correctly and the March 1.5-15 definitely needs more finesse to set right, once I did that it definitely showed up against the Athlon.
 
I’m in a place where I have been able to get away with 2.5-10x medium power scopes, as well as 1-4x, 1-6x, 1-8x, and 1-10x LPVOs due to exceptional eyesight. I have higher power large scopes for LR/ELR, but I’m not mounting them on 12” - 18” barrel 6.5 Grendels.

That exceptional eyesight is gone now, so I’m looking for something as close to compact as the smaller LPVOs, but with more magnification and great glass quality.

I’m wondering if I will benefit significantly from the 1.5-15x42 March. I don’t use LPVOs on 1x, but on 75-100% of their top end doing LR shooting. My main preference towards LPVOs is how compact they are, not how I might be able to use them as an RDS, though that feature is basically looked at for emergency use.

I want a little more magnification to resolve targets better and to see impacts better. This 1.5-15x42 seems promising in that respect.
 
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Bought one of these based on this review, couldn't be happier with the purchase, it's everything I was looking for.
 
"The Athlon Helos BTR II 2-12x is as good or slightly better at 12x than this March at 12x."

Yikes !

My Athlon HG2 2-12 has noticeably nicer IQ on 10x and 12x compared to my March DFP 1-10 on 10x. The only reasons I can think of are it's so compact and its a 10 ratio.

Quality wise as far as controls the March is superior of course, DFP is a neat feature, I like the daylight bright illume, and it has a side focus. I need 1x on this short AR as well. Enough positives I kept it.

I had a March 5-42 I wasn't satisfied with, also a 3-24, both some optical weirdness going on with my eyes, ended up selling them, so I'm not risking getting the 1.5-15.

Just mentioning that the optics in my March Genesis are excellent. Always optically centered might be partially why??
 
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