number47 Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 Visionking 1.25-5x26 short dot scope First my apologies for the pics – crappy camera and even crappier photographer! When the Schmidt & Bender Short Dot scope first appeared on the market, and probably like many other airsofters, I thought “that would be great on my rifle”. However, there was no way I could either afford, let alone justify the price at over $2,000. Since then I’ve been making do with my trusty Aimpoint and ACOG clones. Although they are great at what they do, they are very ‘mission specific’, i.e. the aimpoint for CQB and the ACOG for medium distance. So one scope that could do both would be ideal but, at $2,000, not practical. There have been a couple of ACM short dot replicas on the market for a while now but quite frankly they sucked! Then just by chance I came across the Visionking 1.25-5x26 scope. I ordered from Airsoftglobal at $61 (postage was about $34 but I had ordered a few other bits as well). What impressed me straight away was the packaging, not the usual plain brown box you usually get from china. It immediately gave the impression of a higher quality product. Also the scope was very well protected being wrapped in a large amount of bubble wrap. On picking up the scope you are left with the impression that this is a much better scope. The build quality is very good and looks, and feels, like it will last. It’s also quite heavy at nearly 1lb. The shape is typically ‘short dot’ and half the reason it appeals if, like me, you are looking for the S&B look. There are three turrets, two for adjusting the reticle and one for the reticle illumination. There is also the zoom and focus rings. Once you have adjusted the reticle, you can lock it in place via a small screw which I think is a neat touch. The glass is the best I have seen on any scope of this range/price bracket. It is crystal clear and pin sharp with no blurring or fuzzy edges. The reticle is the German post type in the second focal plane (meaning it doesn’t change size with magnification) with a central circle dot which can be illuminated in red or blue at 5 levels of intensity. Originally I would have preferred red/green but after trying the scope out in the dark, the blue actually seems to catch the eye better! Also, the illumination of the circle/dot is really sharp with none of the blurring or glare usually seen with ACM scopes. Eye relief is also very good at around 3-4 inches. Scope on lowest magnification. House is about 400m away Same house at full magnification Reticle illuminated One word of warning – when mounting your scope, you need at least 1.5 inch mount rings (30mm) if you want it to sit over a rear BUIS like Troy or Magpul MBUS. Obviously something like a copy of the Larue SPR mount would be ideal but I’m using a KAC 1 piece scope mount for mine. Scope on my KJW M4 Minor gripes – the magnification ring is pretty stiff but I guess that’s better than being too loose and shifting about. Also, the supplied scope covers feel cheap and flimsy and probably won’t last long. So to sum up. If you are after a lower power variable magnification scope with an illuminated reticle, the Visionking gets my recommendation. It’s not much more than the ACM clones but much better quality. Pros: Very good quality solid construction great glass/reticle Cons: quite heavy stiff magnification ring crappy scope covers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DarkLite Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 How is the parallax? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
number47 Posted October 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2010 Parallax isn't too bad, haven't really tried to measure it but at realistic distances, probably not an issue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intinerious Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) Hey all, here's my review of the VisionKing scope! I tried PMing number47 about it before for long term use comments, but he didn't reply me Good thing I went to RSOV before to take a look (the sales guy named Light was very nice and allowed me to take a look and try out the magnification and illumination on both a Leupold scope copy and the VisionKing) and didn't buy it then because I knew getting it at Airsoft Global is much cheaper :X Sorry, RSOV Anyway, my friend Jason from CQBStudio (a CQB Wargame site in Hong Kong) helped me out with the purchase (as CQBStudio is in Tsuen Wan, same place as AG). Thanks Jason for helping me out, if you're reading this! So, back to the review. I wanted to get the VisionKing scope after reading the initial review here and wanting something like a short dot myself. Alas, none of the airsoft replica truly mimics a S&B Short Dot (which is stupid..make a clone already ACM companies...) and the VisionKing actually resembles a Leupold MR/T in my opinion. I've spent quite a while reading about both the S&B Short Dot and the Leupold MR/T (honestly just trying to make myself feel happy about the functionality of these scopes...albeit I'm getting a clone and that might be a completely different story!) and this is what sold the Leupold MR/T 'design' for me: http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7160 "My opinions: 1) To me, the Short Dot is a CQB scope that is useable with some amount of precision at distance. The Meopta K-Dot would fall into that category as well, with the NF 1-4 sort of trying to, but not exactly succeeding because of the lack of daytime illum. 2) This 1.5-5 MR/T on the other hand seems to me to be a precision mid-range scope that can be used for CQB. Sort of the inverse of priorities from the Short Dot... which suits me better since I have an Aimpoint on my SBR for purely short-range shooting. 3) As an alternative to an ACOG, I think this thing wins hands-down. Approaching the problem from the other direction: As an alternative to an Aimpoint, the Short Dot is a better plan and this scope really can't compete with it as a CQB optic.... but it works a lot better as a CQB optic than an ACOG." I'm shoving the VisionKing scope on a LaRue SPR Mount copy and then shoving that on a M16A3 I'm building to hit out to 80m-100m accurately, and taking into consideration of the fields in Hong Kong the Leupold MR/T seems to be exactly what I wanted Oh and here's my reasoning as to why I prefer using adjustable magnified optics for airsoft compared to say a red dot and an ACOG, I posted this to a friend before privately so I might as well post it here: Considering that we won't run real steel optics any time soon the current line of Red Dots within airsoft budget are unreliable given that the way the adjustment knobs adjust the laser for the dot is not durable at all. I've broken 2 aimpoints already (a G&P CompM2 and a DYTAC T-1 Micro) and at a retail price of ~400-500 (HKD) it's not cheap to replace the damn thing every time it breaks. My friend also broke a few of his Red Dots already, and I don't think that keep buying Red Dots to replace the ones we break is financially sound. As such, if we were to consider the situation in an outdoor game (indoor games will use Red Dots or iron sights...really there's nothing else we can replace there) then the Red Dots are outclassed by magnified optics such as the ACOGs (top picture) and the Elcan SpecterDR (middle picture). However, the limits to the current ACOG design is that they are a fixed optic (at 4x in general) and in close ranges the ACOG is not very good for target acquisition given the large magnification. Doctor Sight Red Dots can be mounted to the top of the ACOG but this means the height to bore ratio would be enormous; and is self-defeating given that you would want a lower height to bore ratio for CQB optics rather than a high one since it might be impossible to adjust the high CQB dot to a point of aim, point of impact solution. Another drawback is the eye relief; being finite compared with a Red Dot or any other unmagnified optic. This is particularly a concern because it limits where you can place the ACOG with the optimal eye relief and since the replicas are not made to extremely high qualities the ACOGs in general will need to be mounted very far back, in some cases where it would not be feasible to use a BUIS either. This is a particularly valid concern for people like me running a fixed stock; though people running adjustable stocks (particularly the AR15 platform) this could be eliminated by not extending the stock out so much; but then again the limit would be placed on the amount of stock you can adjust before the optic becomes unusable with the poor eye relief. Cost for the ACOG is not really an issue given that a standard ACOG without the Doctor Sight is somewhere near the 600 bucks range (if I remember correctly). As long as the ACOG can last more than twice the lifespan of the Red Dots we use (and I'm sure that's very possible) the ACOG is in fact a better option in terms of finance. However; once you get to the ones with the Doctor Sight piggybacked onto the ACOG the prices rise up to ~1000 bucks, which means the ACOG will need to outlast some three times the lifespan of our current Red Dots; again I believe that is easy achievable but not everyone wants to spend 1000 bucks in one go just for an optic. Onto the Elcan SpecterDRs; the eye relief is much better than the ACOG (1.5x more eye relief by my guess; I've looked through both optics first hand) and it can also mount a Doctor Sight on the top of the optic; but the Elcan is bulky and more expensive than the ACOG. Weight and cost plays a huge factor here, not to mention the inability to mount a killflash on the clones right now as there are no replica killflashes compared to the ACOG. So what does this leave us? Red Dots will break and aren't durable; so the option should be the ACOG given the weight is not as heavy as the Elcan, the cost is cheaper than the Elcan, and there is the ability to protect the optic with a killflash unlike the Elcan. However, the sacrifice compared with the Elcan is the eye relief; which for magnified optics it's a deal-breaking issue (though I have the best ACOG replica right now and it's very good for the price, eye relief only an issue when I use my M16 with the fixed stock and wearing SAPI plates). But the main problem with the ACOG is the fact that the Doctor Sight is mounted too high up, leading to the inability to shoot point of aim, point of impact in very close quarters. Taking some hints from real steel development, I've been looking a the S&B Short Dot, which the real deal costs USD 3500 (bottom picture). The Short Dot's concept is simple; a single optic that has variable magnification from 1.1x-4x which basically encompasses the ACOG + Doctor Sight into a single tube. The minimum magnification cannot be 1x given that there are issues in doing so on the real steel scope (ghosting, etc.) but in general a small 0.1x extra magnification doesn't affect the user much for CQB shooting. Given that the height over bore is the same for the magnification ranges between 1.1x-4x this means that for CQB there will be no problem on height over bore issues. Another thing is the Short Dot is also a Red Dot in itself; as it has an illuminating reticule so at the lowest settings it will mimic a Red Dot sight. Of course, none of the more famous airsoft brands have any scope that even resembles the Short Dot and given that I am anal about having peripherals that are true to the real steel stuff I took upon myself to try and see if there are any scope that resembles the Short Dot. There were some that were made in Japan ages ago and are discontinued in WGC. But I came across this China brand called VisionKing and they hava a 90% similar copy here: http://www.rsov.com/product.php?langId=1¤cyId=2&manufacturerId=128&prodId=12566&cateId=0 Seeing that it was a China product, I was worried about it's quality. After all, besides the looks I needed something that is functional. so I scoured the internet for a review, which lead me to one on ArniesAirsoft: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F190434-visionking-125-5x26-short-dot-scope%2Fpage__p__2389618__hl__visionking+scope__fromsearch__1&do=findComment&comment=2389618 From the reviewer's pictures (and they were very nice pics) the clarity of the glass is very good and the reviewer asserts that it was one of the best eye relief optics he's had (he had a ACOG and Red Dot replica before). So there we have it; what I believe is the gold mine of airsoft optics for outdoor games. The optic's magnification is 1.25x-5x; and other than the 5x max magnification (that there's nothing really to talk about other than the magnification being 1x more than an ACOG, so for long range shots the target clarity is better) the 1.25x from the reviewer's picture doesn't seem too bad and I'm sure for within 5 meters of engagement the 1.25x is not an issue at all. The optic also allows red or blue illumination and although the reticule is not the same as a real steel one the availability of the illuminating dot (which is also etched onto the glass in case you don't want the light) and the magnification is good enough for our airsofting needs from shooting at a distance of 3m-100m. Lastly; given the adjustment will adjust the glass piece in the scope rather than the LED inside the scope the durability of this scope would be the same as an ACOG, so basically better than the current Red Dots we use (there would be an LED in the S&B replica but since the glass needs to move too I think it is safe to assume that the LED would be more secure than the Red Dot ones). Only real problem I have right now is the lack of a glass protection for the Short Dot though given the size of the glass (~30mm) I think getting some covers custom made for the scope would be relatively easy. The cost is not prohibitive either (slightly more than an ACOG without the Doctor Sight if we also get a good mount) so I will be getting one of these in the future to do some testing on. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations and if so I will retire the ACOG on my M16 and replace it with the S&B Short Dot instead (with the ACOG moved to my SCAR). Something for you guys to think about if you are planning to get an optic for outdoor games. Course, I made assumptions above based on my experience only, and I don't have any experience with regards to real steel stuff, like firearms or real firearm optics, so I might be wrong in some place So, back to the VisionKing scope, they are actually made in Shengzhen and the funny thing is not a lot of Hong Kong retailers stock them. Actually AirsoftGlobal seems to be the one that stocks almost all the scopes (def. have the most VisionKing product I've seen from retailers) so if you guys want to get one get it at AG. The box haven't changed from the one the initial reviewer got, so it's pretty lame with the whole "IT IS NOT SCOPE, IT IS VISIONKING" marketing ###### on it...kinda reminds me of HBO Oh yeah, all pics taken with a Galaxy SII, didn't have a 'real camera' when I took my photos! So, opening up the packaging (forgot to take a picture!) the scope's nicely wrapped with that thin foamy plastic thing you generally see on electronic stuff and a plastic bag, with the scope covers on it. The scope covers have a rubbery feel to it where it wraps around the scope (and that means it doesn't grip the scope well as it's quiet loose) and the cover itself is hard plastic. The covers stay closed pretty damn tight, so much that if I tried to open the covers from the 'Mickey Mouse' ears the scope cover will get ripped off the scope...Guess I gotta get myself some new covers then It also comes with an instruction manual, though I haven't read it yet; along with a lens wiping cloth. The scope diameter is 30mm, so it fits my LaRue SPR Copy fine. The surface is anodized and the eye relief is 12cm-16cm depending on the magnification you're using. Turrets are very hard to turn (the illumination and magnification ones) and the parallax adjustment ring is not too loose, not too tight. The reticule adjustments haven't been fiddled with yet but here are some pics of the adjustment parts: Turret Top Turret Side Turret Covers (bottom part) Here are the pics of the trademarks: Trades on top of scope, behind illumination turret Trades on side of scope, note that it's mounted on my SCAR and the muzzle's pointing downwards So, I guess that covers all the external bits, now onto the glass itself! Here are some pics of the Illumination of the reticule. My phone cam sucks, but the dot in the center is VERY VERY CRISP (along with the doughnut around it) and even at the brightest setting there's no bleeding of light from the reticule. I don't have experience with other 'decent' scopes (Seen through a cheap ACM one before..but for that I might as well run irons, it was that bad) but initial impressions of the illumination is FRIGGIN AWESOME Red illumination at lowest setting #1 Red illumination at highest setting #5 Blue illumination setting at lowest setting #1 Blue illumination at highest setting #5 Btw for the highest illumination setting it seems like the dot and doughnut are bleeding from the edges...from my eyes they aren't. It's just the camera being sucky. Onto the magnification part. So when I did my review I was in Uni in a joint society room. I probably had about...say 15m-20 meters max to have a view through my sights...so besides the pics I can't give a definite range between my optic and the target (door) I was aiming at, sorry! Will try to fill in that detail later. I mounted my optic on my WE SCAR and took some pics through it at different magnification, from the lowest (1.25x) to the highest (5x). Any magnification in between are based off what the magnification etched on the optic: The magnification ring with the magnification etched onto it Range with the camera at roughly the exact spot where the rear lens of the VisionKing will be when I take my other photos At 1.25x At 1.5x At 2x At 2.5x At 3x At 3.5x At 4x At 5x ?As you can tell with the lowest setting at 1.25x you can definitely run the optic in CQB; it'll kinda be like playing Modern Warefare when you look through the Eotechs and they have that slight magnification. For the sake of comparision, here's my ACOG with the rear lens mounted to the same position on my SCAR, and it should be the best replica you can get in the clone market (but it still sucks, 1 inch eye relief, that thing was a neck strainer on my fixed stock M16A3 D:). It's rated at 4x magnification....whether it really is, I dunno. Actually if anyone can tell me how to check whether a magnified optic is at a certain magnification it'll be great ACM ACOG TA01 NSN at 4x magnification Piggy backed doctor sight at no magnification just for the sake of it So, overall I think this scope is great and from what I can tell it seems like the VisionKing stuff is designed for real steel rifles; though it's made in China along with the rest of the clones the glass is better and the finish is also better. Nothing's painted and everything looks and feels pretty nice for a scope (again, no experience with the real deal that's made in the USA...). Is it what I was hoping for? Well considering the huge line of text I wrote above, yes it is! I'll def. recommend this scope (along with the LaRue mount) for those who want something that can work as both an ACOG and Aimpoint simultaneously without the need to mount the fragile and way too high doctor sight on the ACOG. Plus, my total package for the mount and scope is much less than getting an ACM 1-4x Elcan SpecterDR, and the clones are damn expensive and don't work well from the reports I've heard. I'll see if I can get some game time with this (gotta find a way to protect the glass first!) and will report back with updates when I can. I hope this review helps those who want something like the S&B Short Dot and want something of quality too As a last parting gift from all the words I like to type, here's some gun porn! Edited June 1, 2012 by intinerious Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteevoLS Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 I keep meaning to pick one of those up for my Mk12, as I love the look. Thanks for the review! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackisbad Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 This scope now seems like the one to go with for my dmr/recce/whatever upper. Can you really use it with it mounted that far forward on your scar? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intinerious Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I keep meaning to pick one of those up for my Mk12, as I love the look. Thanks for the review! You're welcome! This scope now seems like the one to go with for my dmr/recce/whatever upper. Can you really use it with it mounted that far forward on your scar? The last pic with my SCAR is where I mounted the optic for my magnification pics. I run the SCAR with the stock collapsed all the way to the last notch so my eyes are some 12-16cm away from the rear lens, which was roughly the eye relief you can get with this scope I'm not too sure what you mean by mounting it too far though; I feel like I mount it way too far backwards You can see how I set up my scope as well. In general pics I've seen with the real Short Dots and MR/Ts are mounted such that the reticule adjustment turrets are almost touching the front mount ring on a LaRue SPR mount. I had to do the reverse because the scope will end up on my M16A3 with a fixed stock, and with the fixed stock if I mounted it like guys with the real steel do it's too far from my eye when I rest my cheek on the fixed stock; so it was well above 16cm between the rear lens and my eye. Though if you run a collapsible stock and you don't normally extend the stock all the way to the 5th position (so for example you generally put the stock somewhere on #1 to #3) then you can mount the optic on the LaRue mount like this: http://www.coloradoshooting.org/usmc03%20new%20gamer4s.jpg And still have optimum eye relief. Actually I'll measure the eye relief again later. The 12cm-16cm eye relief was taken off the sample RSOV showed me. I'm assuming the VisionKing stuff is consistent across their scope (so, good QC) but it might not be true. I'll update you guys later with the eye relief of the optic I currently have in my hands EDIT: Eye relief on mine is 17cm roughly when at 1.25x and 11cm at 5x. So roughly around the same eye relief I took from the RSOV VisionKing optic. Since the eye relief range is the same I would think the 1cm offset of the range is my own error in measuring the eye relief. Also, I found the magnification ring to be a real *badgeress* to operate. Not too sure on how to reduce the friction as I tried turning the screw on the magnification ring and it doesn't seem to offer any improvements. Tried searching for a MR/T cat tail and they run for USD 70 a piece....the cat tail costs more than the scope itself XD Edited June 2, 2012 by intinerious Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intinerious Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I normally don't double post, but I have some stuff to add in regards to my review and additional info on how I took my pics to get the magnification pics above. For the review part, here's the parallax adjustment for the scope. Not sure if the ACM ones have it but this one sure does: Note that the picture above doesn't show the max adjustments; I was just afraid to go further in case the whole thing comes off if it's not locked into the scope body...hey, it's still a China made optic (albeit a very good one), who knows what will happen Plus, my parallax setting is very near the zero setting anyway, so I don't need to turn the adjustment that far backwards to set the parallax. As for how I took those photos...they were a pain in the *albatross* Remember, I am holding onto a heavy rifle without a bipod and trying to balance it on top of a short mag and my bag in order to get it to raise itself to a height where I can aim at the door I think had to use my chin to hold the rear end to completely balance the rifle whilst holding onto the scope with my left hand and taking pics with my right hand....it was annoying, to say the least So, I placed my Galaxy SII right behind the bend of the cheek rest at the front with the cheek rest on it's highest position to take the shots. I don't think that is indicative of where my eye would be though; it's just for the camera's focus that the position right before the front bend part of the cheek rest gave the clearest view through the lens with my phone. EDIT: And here's the manual http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/front.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg1.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg2.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg3.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg4.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg5.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg6.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg7.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/pg8.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y126/systematik/back.jpg Edited June 2, 2012 by intinerious Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackisbad Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Thanks for the info! And I wasn't questioning why you mounted it the way you do , I was curious to know if it was actually usable mounted towards the middle of the gun (not the scope in the mount but the whole thing on the gun) because most - if not all - China Scopes that I have used had horrible eye relief so they had to be mounted as far back as possible so that you could mash your eye against the back to actually see anything Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intinerious Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Thanks for the info! And I wasn't questioning why you mounted it the way you do , I was curious to know if it was actually usable mounted towards the middle of the gun (not the scope in the mount but the whole thing on the gun) because most - if not all - China Scopes that I have used had horrible eye relief so they had to be mounted as far back as possible so that you could mash your eye against the back to actually see anything No no I understood that you wanted to ask whether the scope at that position was usable To me it just felt like it was too far backwards, hence I was a bit surprised you said it's mounted far forward than you would normally consider mounting a magnified optic Your experience sounds like mine with the ACM ACOG 1 inch eye relief mounted as far back as I can on a M16A3 with a fixed stock the eye relief was still ###### I probably only saw 50-75% of what the full eye relief provides But the VisionKing optic does have a few times more eye relief than any of the other ACM scopes out there and here on ASC (which I copied and pasted my review from a request) starting on page 3: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=137817&page=3 There's a few more initial impressions from guys over in Canada. Hope that also reinforces my review and your confidence in the optic if you're planning to get one Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackisbad Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 Oh ok, good to know! Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
intinerious Posted June 4, 2012 Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 Update: Measured the distance from the gun to the door in my magnification pics. 573 inches roughly, so around 14.55 meters I'm trying to use this for 100m shots, so I'll see if I can get a target around 100 meters and do a 1.25x and 5x magnification pics for you guys. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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