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Maine Vue Optics Riflescopes For the last six months I have been using several riflescopes from a company called Maine Vue Optics of Westford, Maine. I first saw the companies name mentioned on the internet and, being unfamiliar with them, I tracked down their website for a closer look. One thing led to another and I eventually contacted Steven Tweedie, the General Manager of Maine Vue Optics, about their products. Maine Vue Optics riflescopes are currently offered in two grades, the Maine Guide Series and the Big Woods Series. The Big Woods Series offers two fixed power scopes, a 2.5x compact shotgun scope and a standard 4 power with either 32 or 40mm objective, as well as three variable models in 2-7x32mm, a 3-9x32 or 40mm, and a 4-12x40. The 3-9x40 is also available with an adjustable objective. The premium Maine Guide Series are all variable models and you can chose from the 1.5-4.5x26 IR, which features an illuminated reticle, the 3-10x44 and 3-10x44 IR, as well as the 4-12x50 and 6-24x50 which are also equipped with a parallax adjustment on the objective lens (AO). In addition the 4-12x50 and the 6-24x50 models come with handy screw in lens caps, which are great for protecting your lenses when traveling or during long periods of storage. All Maine Vue riflescopes have a nice matte finish and one inch tubes, except the 1.5-4.5x26 IR which sports a 30mm tube. Several different reticles are available on various models and the scopes all have finger adjustable windage and elevation with positive ¼” clicks at 100 yards. Since last spring I have been putting several Maine Vue riflescope models thorough the paces, both at the bench and in the field. These scopes have been mounted on a number of different rifles during the course of their field trial, from a .222 Remington to the .375 H.& H., as well as a .50 caliber muzzleloader. They have been subjected to temperatures ranging from 85 F to -38 F, and have been used in the pouring rain, sun and heavy snow………sometimes all in the same day. They have logged several hundred hours of pounding in boats during rough weather on lakes in northern Canada, hundreds of miles of bumpy trails on ATV’s and many days in a scabbard. To date, not one of these scopes has malfunctioned, fogged or changed point of impact. I initially mounted a 1.5-4.5x26 IR from the Maine Guide Series on an older model Sako chambered in .375 H&H. This old girl has been many a mile with me and is extremely accurate. I had been busy working up a new load for elk using the Nosler 260 grain Accubond and figured that if this scope had any weaknesses, they would manifest themselves on this rifle. With a synthetic stock, it weighs in at 6 ½ pounds and the recoil is fairly hefty. No problems were experienced with this scope however, despite dozens of heavy loads. The windage and elevation adjustments were positive and repeatable, and there was no noticeable change of point of impact between power settings. I then switched the 1.5-4.5 to my muzzleloader, a .50 caliber Thompson Center Omega, for bear season and sighted in using 100 grains of Pyrodex behind a saboted 400 grain jacketed bullet from Wildcat Bullets of Wetaskiwin, Alberta. The recoil from this load is quite stout and feels very much like shooting full power loads in my Marlin .45-70. Good bear medicine. Several nights were spent sitting at bait sites on our ranch. There were opportunities to shoot ever evening, as a number of bears came in each night, but the Boone and Crockett bear I am waiting for did not show. Even though I didn’t pull the trigger, it was a perfect opportunity to evaluate the illuminating reticle on this scope with real live bears in low light conditions. The evening light fades quickly in the dense forests of Manitoba. Well before the end of legal shooting light a black bear begins to blend in rather well with the forest floor when you are looking down from a treestand twelve feet in the air amongst a forest canopy of giant spruce trees. I found the large 30mm tube on this scope definitely improved its light gathering ability over similar models I have used from other manufacturers with one inch tubes. The illuminating reticle proved to be just the ticket under these poor lighting conditions. The rheostat is located on the top of the eye bell of the scope and you simply turn the knob to activate the illuminating reticle. There are a number of settings, which allow you to adjust the intensity up or down as the conditions change. With the center of the crosshairs illuminated it was possible to place them precisely on the shoulder of a black bear that was becoming difficult to see with the naked eye. I believe the style and magnification range of this scope, coupled with the illuminating reticle, makes it an ideal choice for short range hunting with shotguns or rifles and especially well suited for the low lighting conditions experienced while bear hunting over bait. Next I mounted a Maine Guide Series 4-12x50 AO on my custom heavy barreled FN mauser, chambered in the wildcat .25-.284 Winchester. This rifle is a tack driver with handloads I have developed using the 100 grain Barnes TSX and I felt it would be a great way of putting this scope through its paces. After carefully bore sighting the rifle, I fired an initial 3 shot group at 100 yards. The group was about an inch to the left of center and measured just under .5 inches. I adjusted the sights to the right 4 clicks and shot another 3 shot group, which printed dead center. Replacing the target, I then proceeded to shoot a 5 shot group at center, adjusted to the left 4 inches, shot a group, up 4 inches, shot a group, back to the right 4 inches and shot a group, then down 16 clicks to center and shot overtop of the initial group. The windage and elevation adjustments were bang on and the groups printed right where they were suppose to. The cumulative 10 shot group at center measured just over an inch and the other 5 shot groups were all close to half an inch. That is a surprisingly good performance for just about any scope. The optics were nice and clear, the power and parallax adjustment rings are smooth and easy to turn, with just a hint of resistance. As mentioned previously, this scope also came with the handy screw on lens covers and a nice screw on sun shade for the objective lens. |
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My wife’s rifle was sighted in with 225 grain Nosler Partitions, her go everywhere, do everything load. The .300 Weatherby was initially sighted in with my favorite elk and moose load using the 200 grain Nosler Partition. Groups with this load usually hover around an inch and, after firing several groups that continued to be the case using this scope. I then switched to my favorite long range deer load using the 168 grain Barnes TSX, which consistently turns in groups just under half an inch when I do my part. Once I had re-zeroed with this load, I used the windage and elevations adjustments to shift the point of impact several times and then returned to zero. The adjustments performed as expected. I then changed targets and shot a continuous string, while adjusting the power setting up and down between shots. After 20 rounds I ended up with a group that measured 1.7 inches, or at least that is as best as I could measure a big ragged hole. A couple of weeks ago I switched the Big Woods 3-9x40 onto my heavy barrel Sako varminter in .222 Remington. It is now sighted in with my favorite coyote load using Wildcat Bullets 40 grain hollow points, and will be heading out into the winter deep-freeze for coyotes. As for the scope on my wife’s .338, well it didn’t spend any more time at the bench, but she well and truly field tested it in some rather nasty weather. She did not experience any problems with the Big Woods 3-9x44, and she spent many days out in the deep snow and sub-zero temperatures. Maine Vue riflescopes are well made and were able to stand up to anything I threw at them. Despite heavy recoiling rifles, cold temperatures, rain, snow and weeks on end bouncing around in boats and on ATV’s, they held their zero, never fogged or failed in any way. I can think of several other scopes I have used in the past from well known manufacturers that have failed under similar conditions. It seems we find ourselves with less and less disposable income every year and most of us need to stretch the dollar as far as we can. Maine Vue Optics riflescopes have a model to suit just about anyone’s needs, are very affordable and come with a limited lifetime warranty. In addition to riflescopes, Maine Vue Optics offer monoculars, binoculars, telescopes and spotting scopes. For more information on Maine Vue Optics contact:
Steven Tweedie Maine Vue Optics Sales & Marketing 603-828-6424 www.mvoptics.com / steventweedie@mvoptics.com
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