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Delta Titanium


VarmLR

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Anyone here compared a Delta Titanium scope with something like a Vortex PST or Leupy VX3?

 

After a long range scope which is repeatable and reliable but as always, on a budget, for 600yd target and long range vermin control. Heard good things about Delta but never looked through one. Vortex seemed ok optically, but just ok and the eye relief at higher mags wasn't great but they have a good rep and seem reliable. Most people recommend Sightron but I've read about issues with design/tightening of rings shifts things about internally, so not taking the risk unless they've sorted the issues. Would buy Zeiss Conquest but that means new (expensive) mounts and I want to re-use my old ones ideally, so 30mm tube a must.

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I've bought 2 new sightron s3 8-32 56 recently. Good glass and reticle. But the windage turret design is awful and setting the turret back to zero for dialing can take ages and many more shots.

So I've gone back to good ol nightforce with zero stop . No issues.

I'd say if you dialing all day long and most weekends save up for a better scope.

Bit of shame as I really like sightron scopes but both of mine have the same issue.

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I've bought 2 new sightron s3 8-32 56 recently. Good glass and reticle. But the windage turret design is awful and setting the turret back to zero for dialing can take ages and many more shots.

So I've gone back to good ol nightforce with zero stop . No issues.

I'd say if you dialing all day long and most weekends save up for a better scope.

Bit of shame as I really like sightron scopes but both of mine have the same issue.

 

 

I've been using a VX3 LR (4.5-14 x50) and it's been ok, but could do with a little more mag out to 600 plus. Handled a few Sightrons and not really keen on them. Didn't like the turrets and thought the glass was ok but nothing special. Preferred the top spec Bushnell Elite but eye relief on that plus weight let it down. Heard some very encouraging reports for both Vortex and Delta and liked the one and only Vortex I handled. Missed a good Nightforce for sale recently which was affordable. There seems to be little feedback in the UK on Delta Titanium but elsewhere they seem (like vortex) to be gaining plenty of fans amongst long range shooters, hence my initial enquiry.

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After watching Richard's video and speaking with the importers, I have decided to try a Delta 2.5-15 x 56 HD. Will post my thoughts here once I have chance to put it through its paces in case it's of interest to anyone else. Will include tracking test results.

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Ok...Delta Titanium arrived. I had the chance to compare it with four other contenders:

 

  • Sightron SIII 6-24 x 50 LRmoa
  • Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30 x 50
  • Vortex PST 6-24 x 50 EBR1
  • IOR (sorry, can't remember exac one except it sat near the top of the IOR tree and was on a mate's rifle!)

I also had my own Leup VXIII 4.5-14 x50 LR, Bisley De-Lux 4 x 42WA and a Falcon M18 to compare it with. The Bisley was one of the original Sterling scopes, and very very good too...possibly the brightest optic at any price I've ever looked through.

 

Out of the box, the Delta looks very similar in build to the Bushnell scope, in fact the turret caps are the very same, so I'm guessing that Delta commission the very same factory in Japan to make the Delta Titanium (as Richard Uttings in his review suggested). Build quality for the Delta is on a par with the Elite 6500 as you might expect, and better in some respects.

 

It has the illumination dial (a nice chunky one) alongside the parallax adjustment dial, also very nicely made. Zoom has a raised index lump on it and markings at the side. Turrets are liftable to alter zero and then relock down...very handy. Clicks are very positive and audible, none of this sloppy adjustment that cheap scopes seem to suffer with. Ret is a sort of a 4a. It is thinner than any other 4a ret I've looked through and only the centre is illuminated. In fact the thin crosshairs don't have a central dot until illuminated, then depending on the degree of illumination the dot seems to get larger until it reaches optimum brightness (which is daylight visible) and it is said to be 11mm at 100m at 10 times mag which equates to 7mm at 15x magnification. It gets slightly smaller than that when illumination is turned down so that shooting the 223, it just about covers a bullet hole at 100m. Very nice ret indeed.

 

First impressions therefore very positive. Of all the scopes looked at, it ranks up there with the IOR and Bushnells in build quality, and I'd say slightly ahead of the Vortex and Sightron. The turrets better those on the Leupold too, although I do like the Leup varmint ret as I have spent a long time using it in the field.

 

Optically though is where things opened up surprisingly.

 

Not unsurprisingly, of all the scopes compared, the Falcon trailed in the brightness and colour saturation stakes but as a benchmark, is up there with many mid priced scopes. I found that there wasn't much to choose between the Falcon and the Vortex being brutally honest. The Vortex had better turrets which used more positive clicks but the erector tube assembly I guess reflects the additional cost of the Vortex. The optics weren't any better and the Vortex tunnelled out and seemed to get a little milky at the higher mag settings, something the Falcon didn't do but then again it only ran to 18 times mag. Given the choice of the PST and the M18, I'd say build quality wise and optically it's too close to call, except that the Falcon is half the price of the Vortex. I've been using the latest generation M18 for a while now and it has performed flawlessly and tracks superbly well.

 

Next best I'd say were the Leupold and Bushnell scopes, pipped by the Sightron. Clearly ahead of the cheaper scopes with better clarity and colour saturation plus great performance at higher mags, better eye relief and better field of view.

 

The big surprise here is that the Delta Titanium HD not only held its own with the Sightron and Bushnell scopes which are in the same cost ball-park, but it was significantly better. The first thing that struck me was the generous eye relief (more than any other scope in this comparison) but also way more field of view at all mags. What was amazing though was the edge to edge clarity and brightness of this scope. It really is right up there with the IOR, if not a shade better. Having used Swaros at the top end before, it is certainly up there with the best of glass. How they have done this at the price is beyond me but I guess it's the lens coatings that make all the difference. I have always been a big fan of German Schott glass but this new Delta just doesn't give an inch to some of the best I've seen. It would comprehensively wipe the floor with less expensive Nightforce scopes too.

 

Mounting it and using it for the first time revealed a few little niggles, nothing much to report except that I couldn't quite get it far enough forward on my mounts (that long eye relief again), plus the elevation turret was a little stiff to unlock the first few uses but it soon freed up. Also, it IS fussy on focus. Being a 6 times zoom you will get notable parallax shift if you move your head side to side and to avoid the crosshairs moving off target you have to be precise on the focus. Thankfully, due to the quality of the focus ring and mechanism, this isn't all that hard and you soon get used to dialling the focus to suit, after which crosshairs stay firmly planted. That sight picture though...wow! (have I mentioned it's good? :) ). Great contrast and colour rendition allows even far off objects to be picked out with clarity. I spotted a wooden gate which according to the range finder pinging off the wall next to it, was 1100 yards away. Even at that distance, individual wooden posts and rails could be made out, and even the colour and some texture. None of the other scopes with the possible exception of the IOR come remotely close.

 

At the 600 yards I'll be using it up to, any worries about a ret not being a target ret were soon forgotten as bashing an 8 inch gong at that distance, or even a 6 inch gong is easily possible without obscuring the centre too much. Vermin control such as crow out to (for argument's sake) 400 yards would be no problem at all, nor would serious target work to 300 or 400 yards although it has to be said, the ret being thicker than a target ret will take extra care with centering to keep group sizes down.

 

Overall, I wasn't going to write much originally, but have been so blown away by this scope's optical performance, it deserved more detail. It could just be one of the ultimate all rounders available today for sensible money without sacrificing anything (and I mean nothing at all) optically to much more illustrious European company. Technically though it is a European scope, Designed and specified in Poland I understand, and manufactured in Japan. For those wanting just target, there is a new stable mate to the HD scope, in the 34mm tubed tactical Delta ED scope. I haven't looked at that one though so can't pass comment on its optical performance.

 

My thanks to Dauntsey for letting me try out a few scopes, and to some of my shooting buddies for allowing me to have a play with their scopes.

 

The other surprise here is just how well the 40 year old Bisley Sterling De-Lux faired out of all of this. It is the equal of the Delta in FOV and image brightness. Some of these old scopes remain very good indeed if not overly practical for longer distance work at 4x mag.

 

Tracking test to follow.

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Afraid not weejohn. I can tell you that it is a lot better optically than the Bushnell and every bit as well put together. I owned a Bushnell Elite and it didn't come remotely close to this Delta scope. Buy with absolute confidence...you simply wont get a better foxing scope if that's what the NV comment was aimed at.

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Tried the scope out in the field today and ran a tracking test. It seems spot on in both elevation and windage adjustments and repeatable, although in the wind, my groupings were half an inch from where they should be (100 yds) due mostly to a strengthening of wind coming from 3 O'clock (ie full).

 

Any concerns that I (or anyone else) might have had were forgotten with respect to the reticle. I could pick out crow at 400 yds and with enough precision to plant the illuminated dot smack amidships over the kill area without totally blotting it out. For fox, you'd easily be safe to 600 not that anyone would want to shoot a fox at that distance. At 200 yds, the resolution was enough in the sunshine to clearly identify details down to the level of a pigeon's eye! That's more the resolution and clarity/brightness than the magnification which was "only" 15x but that seems plenty tbh.

 

The turrets were a joy to use in the field. Really positive and smooth and the adjustable zero is a doddle to use one handed.

 

I think that they have this licked as an almost perfect all round hunting scope, capable of doing casual target work to a few hundred yards and certainly capable of gong bashing at 600 yards.

 

For deer or fox, it has to be the perfect scope. Not too weighty despite having a 56mm objective. Lighter certainly than a more tactical scope.

 

I say "almost" a perfect all rounder as there were a few small quibbles. The focus at distance needs to be quite precise to avoid parallax error (although it is a very smooth and easy adjuster to use and you can be very precise with it), the ret, to be a true all rounder, especially for target, could do with having about a third of it's central width shaved off, but to be fair, it's already about half the thickness of a traditional 4a ret and in fading light, the very slight compromise in ret thickness becomes an advantage for hunting at sane distances. My main gripe is the scope ret settings from the factory, a function of the scope geometry and erector tube design. When zero'd for 100 yards, the advertised 50moa elevation range (ok 25 either side) is anything but. I was left with just 10moa, which with the 69gr pills was good for about 500 yards before running out of adjustment. This could really have done with being a 34mm tube like its target stablemate.

 

However, not all is lost as Warne supply well designed adjustable moa rings which have a floating central shim adjuster that ensure that no lop sided strain is put on the scope body (ie it sits centrally within the mount and swivels to ensure perfect alignment). This is enough to allow for up to a 20moa increase (steps of -10 or zero at the front, and zero or plus 10 at the rear), therefore allowing shooting from a 200 yard zero all the way out to about 875/900 yards depending on BC of bullet (in 223) so more than enough.

 

I would advise anyone considering this scope for foxing to longish ranges not to blink and buy with confidence. Vermin control to 400m is a practical and precise (enough) affair too, as long as the nut behind the butt is up to precision shooting at distance. Gong bashing to 500 yds without MOA adjustable mounts is also easy peasy. There is always the option of calibrating a magnification to the 4a vertical post to gain a precise increase in yardage without the need for MOA rails. However, the ability to dial does mean you dont need a different mag setting for every bullet/load when dialling if you use a ballistic app'.

 

Overall, this is an excellent scope and easily matches scopes to several thousand pounds on clarity/brightness and field of view. It is easily one of the best sub £1000 scopes on sale in the UK at present.

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Ok...Delta Titanium arrived. I had the chance to compare it with four other contenders:

 

  • Sightron SIII 6-24 x 50 LRmoa
  • Bushnell Elite 6500 4.5-30 x 50
  • Vortex PST 6-24 x 50 EBR1
  • IOR (sorry, can't remember exac one except it sat near the top of the IOR tree and was on a mate's rifle!)

I also had my own Leup VXIII 4.5-14 x50 LR, Bisley De-Lux 4 x 42WA and a Falcon M18 to compare it with. The Bisley was one of the original Sterling scopes, and very very good too...possibly the brightest optic at any price I've ever looked through.

 

Out of the box, the Delta looks very similar in build to the Bushnell scope, in fact the turret caps are the very same, so I'm guessing that Delta commission the very same factory in Japan to make the Delta Titanium (as Richard Uttings in his review suggested). Build quality for the Delta is on a par with the Elite 6500 as you might expect, and better in some respects.

 

It has the illumination dial (a nice chunky one) alongside the parallax adjustment dial, also very nicely made. Zoom has a raised index lump on it and markings at the side. Turrets are liftable to alter zero and then relock down...very handy. Clicks are very positive and audible, none of this sloppy adjustment that cheap scopes seem to suffer with. Ret is a sort of a 4a. It is thinner than any other 4a ret I've looked through and only the centre is illuminated. In fact the thin crosshairs don't have a central dot until illuminated, then depending on the degree of illumination the dot seems to get larger until it reaches optimum brightness (which is daylight visible) and it is said to be 11mm at 100m at 10 times mag which equates to 7mm at 15x magnification. It gets slightly smaller than that when illumination is turned down so that shooting the 223, it just about covers a bullet hole at 100m. Very nice ret indeed.

 

First impressions therefore very positive. Of all the scopes looked at, it ranks up there with the IOR and Bushnells in build quality, and I'd say slightly ahead of the Vortex and Sightron. The turrets better those on the Leupold too, although I do like the Leup varmint ret as I have spent a long time using it in the field.

 

Optically though is where things opened up surprisingly.

 

Not unsurprisingly, of all the scopes compared, the Falcon trailed in the brightness and colour saturation stakes but as a benchmark, is up there with many mid priced scopes. I found that there wasn't much to choose between the Falcon and the Vortex being brutally honest. The Vortex had better turrets which used more positive clicks but the erector tube assembly I guess reflects the additional cost of the Vortex. The optics weren't any better and the Vortex tunnelled out and seemed to get a little milky at the higher mag settings, something the Falcon didn't do but then again it only ran to 18 times mag. Given the choice of the PST and the M18, I'd say build quality wise and optically it's too close to call, except that the Falcon is half the price of the Vortex. I've been using the latest generation M18 for a while now and it has performed flawlessly and tracks superbly well.

 

Next best I'd say were the Leupold and Bushnell scopes, pipped by the Sightron. Clearly ahead of the cheaper scopes with better clarity and colour saturation plus great performance at higher mags, better eye relief and better field of view.

 

The big surprise here is that the Delta Titanium HD not only held its own with the Sightron and Bushnell scopes which are in the same cost ball-park, but it was significantly better. The first thing that struck me was the generous eye relief (more than any other scope in this comparison) but also way more field of view at all mags. What was amazing though was the edge to edge clarity and brightness of this scope. It really is right up there with the IOR, if not a shade better. Having used Swaros at the top end before, it is certainly up there with the best of glass. How they have done this at the price is beyond me but I guess it's the lens coatings that make all the difference. I have always been a big fan of German Schott glass but this new Delta just doesn't give an inch to some of the best I've seen. It would comprehensively wipe the floor with less expensive Nightforce scopes too.

 

Mounting it and using it for the first time revealed a few little niggles, nothing much to report except that I couldn't quite get it far enough forward on my mounts (that long eye relief again), plus the elevation turret was a little stiff to unlock the first few uses but it soon freed up. Also, it IS fussy on focus. Being a 6 times zoom you will get notable parallax shift if you move your head side to side and to avoid the crosshairs moving off target you have to be precise on the focus. Thankfully, due to the quality of the focus ring and mechanism, this isn't all that hard and you soon get used to dialling the focus to suit, after which crosshairs stay firmly planted. That sight picture though...wow! (have I mentioned it's good? :) ). Great contrast and colour rendition allows even far off objects to be picked out with clarity. I spotted a wooden gate which according to the range finder pinging off the wall next to it, was 1100 yards away. Even at that distance, individual wooden posts and rails could be made out, and even the colour and some texture. None of the other scopes with the possible exception of the IOR come remotely close.

 

At the 600 yards I'll be using it up to, any worries about a ret not being a target ret were soon forgotten as bashing an 8 inch gong at that distance, or even a 6 inch gong is easily possible without obscuring the centre too much. Vermin control such as crow out to (for argument's sake) 400 yards would be no problem at all, nor would serious target work to 300 or 400 yards although it has to be said, the ret being thicker than a target ret will take extra care with centering to keep group sizes down.

 

Overall, I wasn't going to write much originally, but have been so blown away by this scope's optical performance, it deserved more detail. It could just be one of the ultimate all rounders available today for sensible money without sacrificing anything (and I mean nothing at all) optically to much more illustrious European company. Technically though it is a European scope, Designed and specified in Poland I understand, and manufactured in Japan. For those wanting just target, there is a new stable mate to the HD scope, in the 34mm tubed tactical Delta ED scope. I haven't looked at that one though so can't pass comment on its optical performance.

 

My thanks to Dauntsey for letting me try out a few scopes, and to some of my shooting buddies for allowing me to have a play with their scopes.

 

The other surprise here is just how well the 40 year old Bisley Sterling De-Lux faired out of all of this. It is the equal of the Delta in FOV and image brightness. Some of these old scopes remain very good indeed if not overly practical for longer distance work at 4x mag.

 

Tracking test to follow.

 

 

Are you related to Richard Utting by any chance?

 

Reading your review was like listening to his Youtube channel, your choice of words and descriptive narrative is almost identical.

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Not at all. If you asked five different people to pick the same scope up and describe it, you'd get five similar answers. What impresses one about this particular scope will, I'm absolutely sure, impress anyone picking it up.

 

What may be drawbacks to some will also be immediately apparent. I was impressed enough to put my money where my mouth was and buy one (I had the option of returning it if not happy with it). If you read on, you'll see that I have also described some of what I think to be the drawbacks, things that haven't been picked up by others as far as I'm aware, and that was from using the scope in the field, not watching you tube videos.

 

All I've done is taken the time and the trouble to write up my own impressions in a way that I hoped would be informative to anyone curious about one of these but I see now that perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.

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Not at all. If you asked five different people to pick the same scope up and describe it, you'd get five similar answers. What impresses one about this particular scope will, I'm absolutely sure, impress anyone picking it up.

 

What may be drawbacks to some will also be immediately apparent. I was impressed enough to put my money where my mouth was and buy one (I had the option of returning it if not happy with it). If you read on, you'll see that I have also described some of what I think to be the drawbacks, things that haven't been picked up by others as far as I'm aware, and that was from using the scope in the field, not watching you tube videos.

 

All I've done is taken the time and the trouble to write up my own impressions in a way that I hoped would be informative to anyone curious about one of these but I see now that perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.

Good evening.

 

Can I just say, that I'm sure I'm not going to be alone in thanking you for what I believe is a very interesting and informative post.

 

I have been interested in these scopes for quite a while, but never seen an in depth review before; so yours was quite simply, a breath of fresh air.

 

I hope you enjoy your new scope and I look forward, with interest, in reading any follow ups you may look to put forward.

 

Thank you once again, for the time and effort you've invested.

 

Cheers. Paul

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I don't suppose you also have access to or own tubed NV that you could also test it with , in particular against the bushnell.

These scopes also sparked my interest as an option for nightvision although in my case digital , if they do indeed parralax down to ten yards ,useful reticle and by the sound of it a decent day scope

Lee

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The Delta Titaniums are apparently made by Light Optical Works in Japan, who also make the Bushnell Elites, some Weaver models, as well as apparently glass and tubes for Nightforce. Therefore it shouldn't be too surprising that they have decent glass and track well.

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Good evening.

 

Can I just say, that I'm sure I'm not going to be alone in thanking you for what I believe is a very interesting and informative post.

 

I have been interested in these scopes for quite a while, but never seen an in depth review before; so yours was quite simply, a breath of fresh air.

 

I hope you enjoy your new scope and I look forward, with interest, in reading any follow ups you may look to put forward.

 

Thank you once again, for the time and effort you've invested.

 

Cheers. Paul

 

Thanks Paul, appreciated and my apologies to Big Al for my rather over sensitive response. Not intended...bad day.

 

I will be out much of this week with the scope so if there is any particular point of interest UKV members have and wish to know more on, please just post here, I'll make a list up and provide the answers later in the week. It can be anything from ret centre dot size on a crow or gong at xxx distance, to light gathering in various lighting conditions to turret repeatability. I have been waiting for still conditions before I publish anything conclusive on the latter though.

 

I have Warne adjustable moa mounts and also a 527 Kozap dove-tail to picatinny rail on order which should sort getting the scope moved further forwards out plus allow some longer distance gong work (allows a total of 30moa elevation with a 2.2 inch scope height).

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The Delta Titaniums are apparently made by Light Optical Works in Japan, who also make the Bushnell Elites, some Weaver models, as well as apparently glass and tubes for Nightforce. Therefore it shouldn't be too surprising that they have decent glass and track well.

 

I believe that's true. I owned a Bushnell Elite for 5 years. The Delta is so much better optically it puts it in completely another class. I would rate it up with some top Swaros I've used on stalking rifles. It's an insane bargain, but probably not worth getting too carried away until it's had a fair amount of time in the field to see how it holds up against weather, repeated dialling and knocks and bumps. I'm hoping for good things and hope that I wont be disappointed. I'll be having a larger focus dial machined up for it too for easier and more convenient adjustment.

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Sounds very good can you test it in low light conditions please like lamping or last half hour of daylight at say 150-200 yards and maybe get a picture of the reticle in daylight if possible many thanks.

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Sounds very good can you test it in low light conditions please like lamping or last half hour of daylight at say 150-200 yards and maybe get a picture of the reticle in daylight if possible many thanks.

 

 

Will do Tubs.

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A few photos:

 

Mounted on the rifle:

 

Delta2_zpsze0mbeuo.jpg

 

 

These aren't in focus as I couldn't get the camera to focus properly through the lens. Softening at the edges is down to the pone lens as I took the shots using my phone's camera. The actual view through the scope was sharp edge to edge. This was getting on 40 minutes after sunset and to the naked eye, you could only make out the silhouette of the trees but absolutely no detail as it was getting too dull. Through the scope, it was much much brighter. This was at 238 yards, according to my rangefinder, on 6x mag:

 

IMG_0979_zpsqafvmxod.jpg

 

 

This next one was at a similar range at 15 x magnification. You can clearly see that at this mag with one of the lower centre illumination settings you could still place the crosshairs over the chest kill zone or head of the pigeon without any compromises to accuracy. I would be happy taking this sized target to 300 yards using this scope. By now, light was fading fast. This was getting close on 9pm this evening and all I have done is upload the photo. It has not been enhanced in any way....light gathering is pretty good. Much better than my old Leup.

 

Delta1_zpsfx4nl4h5.jpg

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Be interested to hear what your thoughts are Dave when you get yours. I've swapped mine across onto my deer rifle (308) where I think it's best suited (low light performance is very good) and don't regret the decision to buy. Cracking scope for the money. Compared it side by side with my NSX and whilst it doesn't have the ultimate resolution (or build) of the Nightforce scope, it is still a brighter image.

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