Project Appleseed

Have any of you used the Hi-Lux Leatherwood ART M1000? I have been thinking about putting a piece of glass on a Romanian PSL. This optic has me curious. Looks like a fast system to use. And the auto ranging system should easily keep you within a 4 MOA target. I have a Hi-Lux Leatherwood CMR on an AR and am very pleased with it. The glass is great for the price point.

What are your thoughts/experiences?

It is certainly not the same Leatherwood that made the old ART camputer scopes for the M-21 sniper rifles back in the 70s.  Those things were solid and worked well, but the son took over the company and moved production to China.  It is a kind of cool concept with the adjustable cam that lets you match the trajectory of about any load, but I just don't trust Chinese glass on my 2A purpose rifles.  It doesn't help that I tried a Leatherwood CMR on my M-14 a couple years ago, and it broke after less than 100 rounds.  I liked the reticle, but I certainly wasn't impressed with the glass... especially compared to the Burris TAC30 I replaced it with, which has great Philippine glass that is much brighter and clearer, a much more forgiving eye box, great illumination, and a reticle that, while not as useful as the Leatherwood for ranging, does have a nice BDC that gets me hits out to 600 yards.  Plus the Burris was actually cheaper at under $300.  The Burris has stood up well to the hard use it gets with me on cross country run 'n guns and has been mounted on 3 different rifles, mostly 7.62x51s, and has held up great.

Anyway, long story short, I wouldn't trust Leatherwood after the experience I had.

Hmmm.

It seems that the quality varies lot to lot. I have had some say great and some say not so great. The glass in my CMR is wonderful. I have not had it on anything heavier than 5.56 but its crisp and clear. Has taken a lot of abuse. The Burris I compared it to was about equal in quality on a friends carbine.  This is why I was thinking on another one of their products. I did have issues with it holding a zero at first. The Burris mount the P.E.P.R. I tried is piece of crap! At least the one I had was. It would shift with temperature changes (20MOA sometimes more) and I couldn't keep it tight even with lock tight. I switched to a Larue mount and have been very happy. Cost as much as the scope! But it sure is nice.

The ART Computer seems like the cats meow for quick adjustments. I guess that's what really is what's baiting me on this. I have a PSL that actually shoots well. I get groups of 1.5 moa with light ball and sub moa with 7n1 with it. I am at a toss with a new PSOP optic or the ART. Needs to go on a top mount. The side mount is not cut straight and cants everything. And I still cant get over the offset with the factory mount.

I want to set this one up for somebody with very little understanding of ranging and come-ups for bullet trajectory to use. Need to keep it simple.


Do you have any other suggestions on range finding scopes? Looking for a retical that can measure a target and match it to a range so they will understand why ranging is important. I have been trying to show them the MIL systems but it seems like a magic trick to them. Need to keep it simple and fun to spur growth if you know that I mean.

It sounds like what you want is ACOG reticle, though an ACOG would probably sit too high on your PSL.  There are tube bodied scopes that use the stadia line ranging+BDC setup like an ACOG, like the Weaver Tactical 1-5x24 with the CIRT reticle: http://www.weaveroptics.com/optics/tactical/ and the Leupold Mark 4 MR/T with the CM-R2 reticle: http://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/mark-4-mrt-riflescopes/mark-4-mrt-1-5-5x20mm-30mm-m2/ but the only one of that type I know of that costs any less than the ACOG itself is the Leatherwood CMR you have.  I wish more scopes were made with that type of reticle -- it is my favorite as well.  I have always said if Trijicon would make the Accupoint  line of scopes with the ACOG reticles, I would buy one in a heartbeat.  I was initially excited to hear about their new VCOG, until I found out it has a built in AR height mount just like the ACOG.