The TT is mounted in a .22 now, and it’ll get shot some more, but its pretty much over.
What was found and my thoughts.
I want to be clear, again, that this is one scope. That doesn’t tell us much, though a single scope doing poorly has a higher chance of it being a common thing.
Function:
Quite plainly a failure. This is the single most important trait a scope must posses, and this scope failed at every aspect of function- zero retention, zero retention with impacts, consistent and repeatable adjustments, and return to zero. “Tracking”, that is correct adjustments seemed fine before the first drop. Well actually nothing stood out as poor before the drops. While I know that there are some differences, this is about the same results that the original Premier versions exhibited. Almost zero doubt that the first set of 18” drops killed it. Because from then on it started doing weird things. A foot and half drop onto very soft muddy ground, with a padded mat on top, should not cause issues.
Reticle:
The Gen 2 XR sucks. Not harping in this. The Gen 2 XR wasn’t my choice. From what I remember of the other reticles they weren’t terrible. This one is maybe the worst reticle for field shooting from any legit scope I’ve used.
Turret feel and design:
The tool less rezero of the turrets is neat, and seems to work fine. The clicks are distinct and audible, I think most would really like how they feel. But like the over emphasis on “glass”, over emphasis on turret feel beyond acceptable is silly nonsense.
Usability, eyebox, parallax, etc:
Overall I’m left with a shoulder shrug towards these things. The eyebox is nothing special, and the overall view and ease of use isn’t anything special. The parallax is very forgiving, though image quality goes down slightly when changing distances without adjusting the parallax.
Glass:
The least important feature for field use. Once Leupold VX3 level of glass is achieved, you’re not missing because the glass isn’t good enough in the field. I don’t give a flip about sitting at a bench and staring through a scope as if it’s a telescope or spotter. It’s an aiming device, it’s supposed to help steer bullets. For what it’s worth I have no vision issue- 20/13 right, 20/10 left. Color vision is excellent, and no astigmatism or any other issues.
Having said all that- I found it overall underwhelming. I know that’s going to make people call BS, but multiple people agree that
used it. There’s nothing that stands out. Resolution seems good, contrast seems good, clarity is good all the way to the edge, but it’s a bit muted in colors compared to the one Minox ZP5, but nothing stand out. And that wouldn’t necessarily be bad if mechanically it was solid.
Overall thoughts:
As I stated- the whole experience is one of “meh”. This isn’t me taking a crack at TT or trying to claim anything nefarious. It’s just what it is. I don’t care at all what others say, or the reputation, or perception something gets. It is a fact that peoples perception is affected by what they are told beforehand. That has been demonstrated in psych study continuously.
You take two identical items, cover them so they can’t see labels, and tell people that item “A” is amazing, and item “B” is mediocre, they will universally “see” that item “A” is better. This works with scopes. I have watched repeatedly people have to juggle with scopes to get zeroed, and then claim it works perfectly. Because “everyone knows that this is the best”. I’m not saying that TT’s aren’t good optically- Ilya Koshkin says they are, and enough others do, that I believe them- most TT’s are probably great. This one shows nothing wowing at all. And on a mechanical side…. It is a total failure.
I guess it comes down to two options really-
1). This is the worst TT ever made in mechanics. And the worst one ever made in glass. And the worst one ever made in “ease of use”.
Or
2). People that buy TT’s (or any other scope) do not use them hard and therefore issues largely go unnoticed?
I say this, because somehow I either get every single garbage scope that almost every manufacture makes, or people really don’t use their stuff hard.
