Clearidge Scope Test

[Wrangler John]

Made a range trip on Monday February 1, to test out a new stock for my .204 Ruger Savage home assembled rifle. At the same time I sighted in a new Clearidge Ultra XP 6-20X-40 Duplex Matte scope. Decided to try the Clearidge brand from The Optic Zone after reading about them from several sources. The Optic Zone is targeting the value market niche similarly to Leupold's reintroduction of the Redfield brand. While the Redfield offering is a no bells and whistles basic scope, both brands keep costs down by eliminating the fancy packaging and slick manuals. All you get with the Clearidge is a simple red and white cardboard box with a folded cardboard insert and a simple no-frills manual under the plastic wrapped scope. There is no Styrofoam, slick brochures, super duper brag sheet, or anything else. There is no sunshade included, so I ordered one for $26.00, not that it'll ever be used. The Optic Zone also keeps cost down by distributing them directly to the consumer, no jobbers or retailers adding their cost to the price. They sell for $360.00, although I purchased mine with a 6% discount offering. They don't charge shipping, so it cost $360.00 at the door, $386.00 with the sun shade.

One good feature of the scope line is that they are covered by an upgraded lifetime warranty, regardless of who owns it, without a sales receipt required.

The scope is said to share the same fully multicoated optical glass as the Bushnell Elite 4200's and is manufactured in the same factory as the Elites and Nikon's. Mine is the same physical size and weight as the Nikon Monarch, and comes with target knobs, fast focus eyepiece, and adjustable objective. It resembles the older Monarchs without side focus. It was mounted in Burris Signature Z-Rings and attached to Weaver bases, both action and scope were leveled while secured in a barrel vise. I was concerned with the fact that the Clearidge is the same length as the Nikon, which can be too short to obtain a full sight picture without using extension bases. This was not true of the Clearidge, maybe because of optical differences that makes the sight picture less sensitive to eye position. My extension bases remained on the shelf.

At the range, it was bore sighted by eyeballing through the barrel and adjusting by guess. The fast focus eyepiece took only a small twist to compensate for my vision, producing a clear, crisp field of view that easily resolved the "X" at the center of the target at 20 power. I was able to divide the "X" with the thin center crosshair at 20X so that it was possible to center each shot with precision. I was quite satisfied that the picture was distortion free, showed no color aberration, and great contrast. First shot struck within 2" of the aim-point! Turrets are clearly marked with both L and R or U and D marks separated by a bi-directional arrow. The markings are large and stark white against matte black, really easy to read. Adjustments are 1/8 MOA at 100 yards, clicks are really positive, more like a torque wrench than a scope! Just three adjustments were necessary to center the group slightly above the "X". I didn't try the "shoot the box" routine due to time and ammo constraints, but the scope moved just as advertised with precision, so I was satisfied.

Bottom line is that, from initial experience, the Clearidge Ultra XP seems to be a solid value comparable to the Bushnell Elite 4200 or the Nikon Monarch at a substantial savings. Closest match in the Elite 4200 is $479.00, while the Nikon costs $519.00, although both have slightly higher magnification (24X) and the Monarch offers side focus. The Clearidge gives up nothing in optical quality.

[Lenard]

Wrangler John, I have two different Clearidge Scopes. One is 6-20 w/milldot reticle. The other is the RF 3-9 version with adjustable knobs I use on my custom 10/22. I particularly like the adjustable objective on the little scope.

I generally shoot rats while being mounted on my 4 wheeler. I noticed after shooting the RF scope, my percentages of hits really increased. I just hardly missed any rats. One real nice thing about the scope, is when shooting gets to 100 yards and further, just crank in more elevation into the scope. It is by far the best scope I have had on a 10/22, even the Leupolds I have had on it.

The 6-20 sits on a Remington 700 in 204 and has performed wonderfully. One of the main thing I like about the scope is the eye relief. It changes very little between 6 power all the way up to 20 power. I shot a small chuck last season, that was bearly looking at me over a rock. I set the scope on 200 yards and took the head right off.


Overall, I think they are a very good scope for the money and cannot find any faults with the two I own.

Good luck with yours.

[Wrangler John]

Lenard: I'm glad to learn of your success with the Clearidge scopes. I'm always hesitant to try new things, which is why I was over 20 when I first tried pizza! We always like to fall back on what we're comfortable with, but for varmint hunting I'll be buying more Clearidge scopes and spend the savings on other stuff.

Thanks for the confirmation.