Maven RS.1 2.5-15 review and warning

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
I bought this scope earlier this year for my daughter's 7RM and for a western hunting purpose. I called the company first to to make sure there would not be an illuminated model coming out, and she assured me that it had been discussed, and but nothing in development. I ordered the scope and accessories including the Wyoming turret, since I wanted to shoot ballistic turret style and needed a zerostop. When it all arrived, it was a very nicely made scope and well packaged. I mounted to the rifle without trouble- adequate eye relief and fit rings perfectly.
At the range, the first focal plane was new to us, but we liked it. Easy to sight in, the 1/4 MOA clicks were accurate and it held the zero well. The night before leaving for the hunt, I put on the Wyoming turret. This is where the warnings start. IT IS NOT A ZERO STOP TURRET. This is actually a zero-slow-down turret. As you turn the turret to lower the range, the body of the turret starts rubbing the scope and that is the 'zero stop' You can easily go past the zero several clicks, as might happen if an animal jumps out at you at short range and you quickly need to dial down. Not foolproof mechanical zero stop like on on Leupold or Swaro, but a guaranteed failure when used by an excited fool like me or a kid.
Since the there is no functional zero stop, I took off the Wyoming turret and put back on the factory turret. The rest of the story is predictable. I got my daughter onto the elk, and got to 300 yards. I told her the clicks to dial based on the ballistics table. She said, 'the scope was on 10 so I turned it back to 0". 'Which direction, clockwise or counter clockwise?' 'I don't know'. That was the end of the elk hunt. Gun was unusable. Tears.
I tried to contact Maven to try to return the scope and get something with an actual zero stop, but no help. Their return policy is 2 weeks and there are no demo options. And they will not accept a scope back if you mounted it and it did not meet your expectations/ needs - even within 2 weeks.
And they came out with an illuminated scope (rs.4), right after telling to buy the RS.1 as they would not have any illuminated options.
So, if you want a FFP scope with awesome glass at a great price, this is a great choice.
If you need a real mechanical, foolproof, zero-stop - look elsewhere. Illuminated - look elsewhere. A real trial period (one where you can actually shoot a gun with it)- look elsewhere. If I spent the extra money for a mechanical stop would have prevented tears and put an elk in the freezer.
Maven has updated the website to say "This zero-stop operation is a result of the turret mounting flush to the body of the scope vs. an internal mechanical setting."And if that works for you (non-hunting low pressure shooting environments), this may still be a good scope for you. Just not the right scope for hunting with a kid.
 

cbeard64

WKR
Joined
Sep 8, 2016
Messages
337
Location
Corsicana, Texas
Happens all the time.

If shots are under 300 yards, this is just example #4355 why using a dialing scope is not only unnecessary, but a needless complication that can ruin a hunt. Using a MPBR of 200-250 yards (usually sighting in 2-3” high) is much simpler.

And not to pile on, but your big mistake was putting on a new turret you were unfamiliar with the night before a hunt.
IMO that is a bigger lesson than the scope quirks.
 
OP
ORfish

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
Scope zero at 100.
I made mistakes. I should have not trusted the ballistic turret would work, and should have installed much earlier (the range is closed for COVID so hard time finding anywhere to shoot). I should have put the cap back over the factory turret so it would not have gotten moved in several days of being strapped to backpack. All true. I believe in removing sources of error from the equation, so that's why I like an actual functional zero stop.
Again, this is an awesome scope, just not for using with a ballistic turret or at dusk (no illumination) . Just not for me.

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Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
1,287
Man that’s rough. Makes my heart hurt. Hunts with kids should not go poorly regardless of what happens with animals or equipment. As long as there are enough snacks, warmth, and positive vibes, they’ll remember good times in the woods with dad for life. I’m sorry this happened to y’all.

Why not bore sight the gun? If it was on 10 and she moved it back to zero, it would check out. If it was on 10 and she moved it to 0(20) it would be very clearly 20 MOA off.

Why not ask her to show you what she did? Then undo it if it was wrong. Asking counterclockwise vs clockwise to a kid sounds like a good way to get an “I dunno”. Maybe she’s older than you indicate. She’s shooting a 7 mag after all.

Why not shoot the gun? Fix the issue. A zero check at a hunt is not uncommon nor a reason to end the hunt.

You tell the story like you made no attempt to fix the issue or get more clarification from her. Maybe the tears were about the unfortunate circumstances or maybe she was taking her cues from you.

I know it’s easy to armchair these clusterf***s from the internet but there are a lot of factors at play here that contributed to this being a bad experience beyond just unfamiliarity with a new scope.
 

SDHNTR

WKR
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
6,203
I bought this scope earlier this year for my daughter's 7RM and for a western hunting purpose. I called the company first to to make sure there would not be an illuminated model coming out, and she assured me that it had been discussed, and but nothing in development. I ordered the scope and accessories including the Wyoming turret, since I wanted to shoot ballistic turret style and needed a zerostop. When it all arrived, it was a very nicely made scope and well packaged. I mounted to the rifle without trouble- adequate eye relief and fit rings perfectly.
At the range, the first focal plane was new to us, but we liked it. Easy to sight in, the 1/4 MOA clicks were accurate and it held the zero well. The night before leaving for the hunt, I put on the Wyoming turret. This is where the warnings start. IT IS NOT A ZERO STOP TURRET. This is actually a zero-slow-down turret. As you turn the turret to lower the range, the body of the turret starts rubbing the scope and that is the 'zero stop' You can easily go past the zero several clicks, as might happen if an animal jumps out at you at short range and you quickly need to dial down. Not foolproof mechanical zero stop like on on Leupold or Swaro, but a guaranteed failure when used by an excited fool like me or a kid.
Since the there is no functional zero stop, I took off the Wyoming turret and put back on the factory turret. The rest of the story is predictable. I got my daughter onto the elk, and got to 300 yards. I told her the clicks to dial based on the ballistics table. She said, 'the scope was on 10 so I turned it back to 0". 'Which direction, clockwise or counter clockwise?' 'I don't know'. That was the end of the elk hunt. Gun was unusable. Tears.
I tried to contact Maven to try to return the scope and get something with an actual zero stop, but no help. Their return policy is 2 weeks and there are no demo options. And they will not accept a scope back if you mounted it and it did not meet your expectations/ needs - even within 2 weeks.
And they came out with an illuminated scope (rs.4), right after telling to buy the RS.1 as they would not have any illuminated options.
So, if you want a FFP scope with awesome glass at a great price, this is a great choice.
If you need a real mechanical, foolproof, zero-stop - look elsewhere. Illuminated - look elsewhere. A real trial period (one where you can actually shoot a gun with it)- look elsewhere. If I spent the extra money for a mechanical stop would have prevented tears and put an elk in the freezer.
Maven has updated the website to say "This zero-stop operation is a result of the turret mounting flush to the body of the scope vs. an internal mechanical setting."And if that works for you (non-hunting low pressure shooting environments), this may still be a good scope for you. Just not the right scope for hunting with a kid.
Ok, but a 7 mag is good for a kid? Your kid must be a stud!
 
OP
ORfish

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
With ear muffs and muzzle brake, shoots better than me.

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OP
ORfish

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
Fightthenoise makes several good points. To elaborate on the events, it was 5 minutes to sunset on last day of hunt, so test firing was out of question. The boresighting is a great idea and I didn't think of it. What I wanted to avoid most of all was taking a shot 20 MOA off and wounding an animal or hitting wrong one in the group. I'll take no elk vs tracking a wounded animal after dark which might turn out not to have been legal. If nothing else, hopefully she learned to only take shots you are sure of rather than pull the trigger and see what happens. We discussed which way she turned the turret, but we both agreed that we're not sure enough to risk taking a bad shot and wounding an animal (or wrong animal). Lessons were learned. I love the boresight idea!

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gbflyer

WKR
Joined
Feb 20, 2017
Messages
1,577
It’s a hunting experience. It happens. She’ll be fine. Props to you for telling the story here so we can offer unsolicited advice and opinion
 

wyosam

WKR
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
982
Big takeaway number two- carry it ready for a quick shot, which is close. If you need to dial, you have time to go up. Should never set yourself up to have to dial for the close shot, zero stop or not. Uncapped turrets that are meant to be capped are not a recipe for success. The dialing craze has gotten a little out of hand. Planning to dial with a scope that you’re not familiar with sounds like dialing elevations that have not been confirmed, either.

PS, I’ll give you a hundred bucks for it. ;)


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OP
ORfish

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
Gotta agree with you guys that I expected more than the scope could deliver. It's an awesome scope for a holdover shooter, especially with the FFP reticle. It's a crap BT scope for hunting. I should have returned it within the 2 week return period, and would have if I would have realized it did not have a mechanical stop. I am glad they updated the website description so it is not as deceptive as it was originally when it bought it.
Also agree that my leupold 3X9 scope served me perfectly well for 20 years- so don't know why I felt the need to go to a BT. On my 30-06 the turrets are capped and I hold over, and dimer is on the table.

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Joined
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Messages
1,287
Fightthenoise makes several good points. To elaborate on the events, it was 5 minutes to sunset on last day of hunt, so test firing was out of question. The boresighting is a great idea and I didn't think of it. What I wanted to avoid most of all was taking a shot 20 MOA off and wounding an animal or hitting wrong one in the group. I'll take no elk vs tracking a wounded animal after dark which might turn out not to have been legal. If nothing else, hopefully she learned to only take shots you are sure of rather than pull the trigger and see what happens. We discussed which way she turned the turret, but we both agreed that we're not sure enough to risk taking a bad shot and wounding an animal (or wrong animal). Lessons were learned. I love the boresight idea!

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Gotcha that makes more sense. It sounded like y’all were in the middle of a hunt, had a questionable zero and just took your ball and went home. Y’all definitely did the right thing, even if it was a hard decision. As long as she had a good experience otherwise, learned some stuff, enjoyed quality time with dad...that’s the real trophy. She probably felt really bad about turning the turret so I hope the fiasco doesn’t weight too heavily on her.
 
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ORfish

ORfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 31, 2019
Messages
122
Location
Oregon
Exactly the point. Since this is not a mechanical zero stop, you can't trust it. You can't just put the Wyoming MOA turret the night before and expect it to work. You need to resight the gun again since the Wyoming turret is mounted by two Allen screws into a smooth cylinder. Not a "plug and play" system.

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Phil j

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
Messages
218
Any BT scope needs to be confirmed past the distance you intend to hunt because there is a chance they are off a little and you must confirm your load so you have to shoot to distance anyway
 
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