Turret Cap for Exposed Turrets

[mcr-85]

Hey guys
I am looking for some feedback on this product I am trying to get into production. I really like this item and have been using it on my scopes and I have a buddy that has been using a couple prototypes on his scopes also. I just want to see if there is enough interest in this to warrant taking this to full production. I don't want to invest a bunch of money into something and have it go belly up. I am patent pending and really want to get this up and going. I hope you guys are interested in this and it is something that will help you out.

I use this on my Vortex Viper HS LR scopes and my buddy uses this on his Huskemaw and a Vortex HS LR. This product will fit the Vortex Viper PST and Vortex Viper HS-T scopes with the exposed turrets also. If this is a product that people would be interested in we could make a cap to fit other exposed turret scopes too.

We were having problems with our elevation turrets moving on us. I hunt quite a bit off horses and I was having a hard time with my turret rubbing on the inside of my scabbard and moving my scope off zero. Sometimes you need to make a quick shot and I didn't like having to worry about whether my scope was on zero for close fast shots that sometimes happen. I have had my turret move while carrying my rifle on a sling. My buddy uses the Eberlestock with the scabbard and he has had issues with his turret moving while carrying his rifle that way. I came up with this idea and started using it last year and it works great for me.

Last year while using this on my gun I let my sister use my gun on a nice 4 point buck that we had jumped while riding horses through some thick cedar trees. He ran through one opening and gave her one chance for a shot. We jumped off our horses and I pulled my gun out and handed it to her and she made the shot at 175 yards. My gun was zeroed for 200. If I would have had to take any time to confirm the turret was at zero by messing with turning the turret to the zero stop and back up to zero my sister might have missed an opportunity on her best buck to date.

Here is a little video showing this product. I am looking for honest opinions and feedback on this. I know companies don't usually do this kind of thing to kick off their product but I am not in a position where I have a lot of money to risk getting this up and going without knowing if there is a place for this product in the market. Please look at this and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
Marcus Robinson
Turret Topper

https://youtu.be/uLKG0jENXW8

 

[KMD]

Sir,
I've dragged rifles across 9 different states while hunting and have never had an exposed turret scope 'adjust' itself more than a few clicks in any direction from carrying. That goes for scabbard packs, cross slung, toted cased in ATV/
UTVs, thrown behind the seat of the pickup, etc. If anything, its the dang windage knob (that I never use) which gets twisted, not the elevation knob. Bushnell (and the now defunct Premier) have been the only companies to offer a "hunter friendly" scope with exposed elevation and covered windage turrets. Wish more companies would offer a covered windage turret option!

As a rule, I always check turrets to be ZERO'ed as a matter of every pre-shot routine. Kinda like starting a vehicle with a manual tranny, it requires no thought to step on the clutch before turning the key. You just do it, automatically. A scope's turrets are ~6" from my eyeball, it don't any effort to look at them before engaging a target. When learned as a step of one's pre-shot routine, checking turrets becomes just as automatic as steppin' down on that clutch...

Scopes with exposed zero stop turrets make it all too easy to make double sure you're set where you need to be. And scopes with covered turrets don't need further protection. If a shot needs to be taken where an extra two seconds to unscrew an elevation cap will make or break the opportunity, then IMHO, that is a shot which prolly shouldn't be taken. Rushing and LR shooting are not an amicable pairing...

I'm all for trying 'better mousetraps'. But at the same time, I'm not one to exploit a problem in order to market a cure for it. I'd rather address the larger issue. That being, if your scope turret is literally spinning a full turn off during secured carry, you need to be addressing the root cause, not the after effect. IE, find a better way to carry your rifle.

I do appreciate you sticking your neck out to appeal to fellow shooters. Hat's off to you for that!

 

[mcr-85]

Sir,
I've dragged rifles across 9 different states while hunting and have never had an exposed turret scope 'adjust' itself more than a few clicks in any direction from carrying. That goes for scabbard packs, cross slung, toted cased in ATV/
UTVs, thrown behind the seat of the pickup, etc. If anything, its the dang windage knob (that I never use) which gets twisted, not the elevation knob. Bushnell (and the now defunct Premier) have been the only companies to offer a "hunter friendly" scope with exposed elevation and covered windage turrets. Wish more companies would offer a covered windage turret option!

As a rule, I always check turrets to be ZERO'ed as a matter of every pre-shot routine. Kinda like starting a vehicle with a manual tranny, it requires no thought to step on the clutch before turning the key. You just do it, automatically. A scope's turrets are ~6" from my eyeball, it don't any effort to look at them before engaging a target. When learned as a step of one's pre-shot routine, checking turrets becomes just as automatic as steppin' down on that clutch...

Scopes with exposed zero stop turrets make it all too easy to make double sure you're set where you need to be. And scopes with covered turrets don't need further protection. If a shot needs to be taken where an extra two seconds to unscrew an elevation cap will make or break the opportunity, then IMHO, that is a shot which prolly shouldn't be taken. Rushing and LR shooting are not an amicable pairing...

I'm all for trying 'better mousetraps'. But at the same time, I'm not one to exploit a problem in order to market a cure for it. I'd rather address the larger issue. That being, if your scope turret is literally spinning a full turn off during secured carry, you need to be addressing the root cause, not the after effect. IE, find a better way to carry your rifle.

I do appreciate you sticking your neck out to appeal to fellow shooters. Hat's off to you for that!

Thanks for your input. I know everyone won't have this problem but it is a problem that I have had and I didn't like it. I built something to prevent it and showed it to my buddy who was also having the same problem and he liked it. That's when I thought others might like a product like this and this is where is has lead me. Asking people for their honest opinion on whether this is something that they would want or find useful. I appreciate your honesty.

The cap could be used on both the elevation turret and the windage turret if you wanted to cover an exposed windage turret. I don't know what brand scopes you shoot or like or dislike but I shoot Vortex Viper HS LR and they do have the windage capped and the elevation turret exposed.

Again thanks for the reply.

 

[Nuke Man]

It is definitely an issue. Hence the reason scope makers are putting out locking turrets. As far as your covers are concerned, I think it's such a simple design that guys will just make their own. It's a good idea though.

 

[rayporter]

i have lost 2 turret caps in the field. on the flip side i have watched 2 fellows remove their turret caps and have the guts come out and expose the erector tube inside the scope.

good thinking outside the box!

 

[cowboy]

This may not be for everyone but I would be interested in at least 2 caps. I have had turrets move in/out of a scabbard on horseback. Hopefully the resistance on the turret going in/out of a scabbard wouldn't be a problem.

What kind of price and availability would you guess at this time? Are you having the caps made for a specific model of scope or is it in line of one size fits all?

 

[mcr-85]

Right now the cap I have designed fits the Vortex Viper HS LR, PST, and HS-T line of scopes and my buddy also uses it on his Huskemaw. I'm not sure the other scopes it would fit. If people wanted to send me some measurements of their turrets I could tell you how well it would work with other scopes. If I do go into production and there is a high enough demand for other sizes that is always a possibility.

I use it hunting off horses and the turret will not move when this cap is installed. In my opinion it is perfect for the exposed turret scopes i have used and been around. The turret won't move under this cap and if you need to dial for a shot you simply lift the cap and it sits against the side of your action and scope. If you don't need to dial there is no need to check to see where your turret is at. It will be where you left it when you put the cap on.

Here is the buck that my sister shot with my gun with my turret cap on. This was the perfect scenario for why I designed this and use it on my rifles. We jumped this buck 40-50 yards in front of us when we were riding horses. He ran down the to the bottom of the draw and headed up the other side. We jumped off and I handed her my gun and when he hit the only small clearing she made the shot at 175 yards. This all happened in a very short amount of time. If I wouldn't have had that cap on I can't be certain it would have had the same outcome. My turret could have moved and she would have missed or I could have messed with making sure it was on zero and she could have missed the opportunity for the shot.



Here is the picture taken after the shot and the deer is laying dead.


I know these opportunities aren't frequent but I would rather be 100% confident on where my gun will shoot for the quick and fast close shots than to miss out on these opportunities because I had to recheck my turret.

Right now I don't even know if there is a strong enough market to move further into production. I am hoping I can get enough feedback within the next couple weeks to decide if it will be worth it to pursue this any further. Right now I don't have a price point set in stone. A lot will depend on the cost of tooling to get set up to go into production. I am interested in hearing what people would pay for an item like this and feel like it would be a good price.

I am all ears to what you have to say about this idea. I appreciate all the comments. Keep them coming.
Thanks everyone.
Marcus Robinson

 

[jfruechtel]

Marcus-

I am curious if you have tried this on shorter capped turret scopes? It seems like something that would benefit someone who has a more traditional rifle scope (capped) as well. My honest opinion on this is that the market will be fairly small for your existing product especially with locking turrets becoming more popular. If you made an option that works for tradition capped turrets you would open up your market size quite a bit. PM me if you want to discuss this further.

 

[actionshooter]

I think its a good idea, I have had it happen and even missed a decent caribou a couple of years ago from the turret taking an unplanned turn.

 

[mcr-85]

There is no reason it couldn't work for shorter capped turrets. The design could be changed some to shorten the cap to fit better on more traditional scopes.
Thanks for the input.

actionshooter thanks for the input. Too bad you missed. That's what I want to help prevent.

 

[muledhunter]

I think it's a good idea too. I've struggled with this myself.

 

[eLightfoot]

I think it is a good idea, while it doesn't happen often, I have had it happen. I get down into nasty brush and knarly terrain with my rife. sometimes the turret will spin on brush or from rubbing on myself while squeezing through tight spots. I am constantly paranoid and checking, so much so that I've gone back to carrying my rifle with a traditional scope. The way I hunt, bucks usually get jumped and shots are close, however there are those times when you spot them 400-500 yards away and a turret is the way to go.

 

[eLightfoot]

I should mention though that I do have a lot more problem with the windage knob moving than the elevation. After watching the vid, I do agree that the design is so simple people would end up making their own if they really needed one. It is a good idea though if you already have a scope with a capped windage. My vortex is exposed on both and i sucks for taking on nasty hunts, mostly because of the lost piece of mind.

 

[mcr-85]

Thanks for your replies. They can work on either the elevation or windage turrets. My windage turrets are capped so I don't need to worry about it but they work the same on either.

I know they are simple and people could make them of they wanted to.

If my product was on the market and inexpensive would you make one or buy the one that was available and be done with it?

 

[mcr-85]

I never did get a mold made for these caps. They are expensive to get made but I got some made for a few of my buddies. That big one in the middle is going on a Huskemaw 5-30.

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[mtnwrunner]

I never did get a mold made for these caps. They are expensive to get made but I got some made for a few of my buddies. That big one in the middle is going on a Huskemaw 5-30.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Marcus gave me one of these to try out and they are the cat's meow. Very ingenious idea and they work great.


Randy

 

[jonny5]

KMD, check out the Vortex HS LR....it's got an exposed elevation turret and a covered windage turret. I have one and love it.

Vortex Optics - Viper HS LR 4-16x50 FFP XLR (MOA)

 

[Sled]

mcr,
did you ever take these caps to production?

i have a vortex pst that badly needs a windage cap.

 

[30338]

My El Cheapo SWFA scopes have never spun off zero through oak brush, berry brambles, etc. I must baby them or something.

 

[mcr-85]

No I never did.

mcr,
did you ever take these caps to production?

i have a vortex pst that badly needs a windage cap.

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