The market for rifle optics is particularly crowded when it comes to red dot style optics and scopes that offer 1-6X magnification. The other end of the market, the long range hunters and sport shooters are less crowded and ripe for an upstart company like Tract Optics to come in and shake up the market. As I have previously mentioned I am in the middle of setting up a new hunting rifle for both moose and caribou in either .308 Winchester or .7mm Remington Magnum. An optic with a little more length on the end of the magnification range would be helpful since often times kill shots are made over much longer distances than lower 48 deer hunters have to deal with. Let’s see how this new heavy-duty optic stacks up by a complete breakdown of the specifications and the features.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Tract Optics
Country of Manufacture: Japan
Model Number: Toric Ultra HD
Magnification: 4x-20X
Objective Lens: 50mm
Reticle Style: Minute of Angle with 11 illumination settings
Field of View:
- Low Power: 24.5′ @ 100 yards
- High Power: 4.9′ @ 100 yards
Eye Relief: 3.9″
Tube Diameter: 30mm
Eyepiece Outside Diameter: 1.73″
Objective Lens Outside Diameter: 2.28″
Overall Length: 13.7″
Weight: 34 oz
Warranty: Lifetime
MSRP: $1100.00 Estimated
Handling & First Impressions
First impressions on any product can tell the owner or user a lot about the company who built the item they are reviewing. In this case, I can tell you that Tract Optics builds their optics to be used and maybe abused by the shooter in the field, more just from the shooting rest. When the box arrived from Tract Optics it was huge and relatively heavy, which is always a good thing as long as it doesn’t jingle like broken parts do. When I opened the box I was stunned at the dimensions of the optic at just over 13 1/2″ long with the large 2+” diameter objective lens It makes a commanding entrance.
When I initially opened the box and removed the optic I thought it was black, but in fact its a weird gray/black color that is actually a nice break from the common flat black coatings most optics come with. The finish on the tube, controls and case of the scope is smooth but not slippery like the old blued optics of old that companies like Leupold made famous. After a few minutes of scanning the surface of the scope, it’s easy to tell that the quality control at the factory is very tight, which is always a good thing. The letters on the controls and barrel are easily visible and is a shade of what appears to be grey/off-white. It allows users to see the numbers and lettering but not have it jump off and be eye-catching or reflect light.
Controls and Dials
Often a problem with many optics is that they look amazing but when it comes to the controls and the actual use of the optic they fall short. This is not the case with the Tract Optics Toric HD, The controls feature standard texturing but nothing crazy and over the top. I have reviewed a few optics from other manufacturers that were amazing but I was then shocked at how aggressive the texturing on the turret controls were. The folks at Tract Optics produced controls that are easy to operate with and without gloves and each click of the elevation and drift controls is very solid and consistent, a nice audible click greets you between settings so there is no doubt that you are going to move the point of impact of your net round. The other great feature on these turrets is that they slide up and down to lock the adjustments in. If you need to make an adjustment you simply pull up on the turret and make your adjustments and then push down to lock the turret in place. This greatly reduces the chances of an accidental adjustment of your rifles zero.
I would like to point out that the controls for the magnification and the combination illumination control/side focus parallax controls do not feature any loud audible clicks when adjusted. This is because of the very different nature of the controls themselves, they simply slide through their range of motions smooth and silent. This most likely isn’t a concern to anyone on a large scale but I wanted to mention it to make sure our readers understand the difference between the two styles of controls and how they are set up. Now, let’s move onto the heart of the optic, the glass.
Glass and Use
The heart of any optic is the glass that we actually look through if you have substandard glass you have a substandard optic. The glass that Tract Optics puts in this beast of a scope is Schott Ultra High Definition glass that is renowned for its clarity and light transmission capabilities especially in low light conditions. There’s a lot of science and technology behind the glass and all it takes is a quick search to get overwhelmed in formulas and numbers. To me testing the low light capabilities of an optic means going outside and actually glassing the hills to see how well it works.
Since I don’t have my rifle set up yet and nothing is in season here in Alaska, I decided to go hiking in the early morning hours between 4 and 5 AM and take the optic with me instead of binoculars. The sun is up at around 5:30 AM here now so if I’m going to test this out I have to get up at ridiculous hours to see if it performs like Tract Optics says it does. A few miles and a good deal of cussing later I can report that yes this optic has amazing low light capabilities. The optic grabs the early morning light and produced clean, clear and amazing images that were free from fog or distortion. It almost made me not angry to be up wondering around before 5 AM, I would be a lot less irritated if I was on an actual hunt but the season doesn’t open until the fall and I wanted to get a review done long before hunting season.
Closing Thoughts & Comments
The Tract Optics 4-20×50 is a beast of an optic that features an illuminated reticle with 11 settings coupled to a set of easy to use controls and a lifetime warranty to deliver an amazing range of magnification and undoubtedly increased lethality in the hands of an experienced hunter. This optic would be perfectly suited to a wide range of shooters from precision bench shooters to the average outdoorsman who is harvesting meat for his family. The build quality and features are comparable if not superior to many of its competitors. One thing I would like to add is that the company’s website has a huge list of tutorial videos on setting up and adjusting all of their optics, so if you are a visual learner it’s a huge advantage. That’s also why they do not include any printed instructions in their packaging, instead, they give you a card with the address to the database of videos.
People may not be familiar with the Tract Optics name of their lines of optics but I’m betting in the near future they will be. The company makes lines of optics to cover most budgets and if this 4-2-x50 isn’t what you need be sure to check out the company’s web page and see if they have an offering to fit your needs. This brains behind this company aren’t a few anonymous people with no experience in the optics world, they are experienced in the world of optics development. Company Co-Founder Jon Allen put in many years at Redfield as their National Sales Manager and later helped guide Nikon into the era of modern optics at the helm of the Nikon Sports Optics Division. When he teamed up with Jon LaCorte who was also a former Nikon big wig they knew what it would take to produce an optic and market it directly to you the shooter and consumer. This allows them to make optics every bit as good as the other guys but offer it at a lower price point directly to consumers.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Is the Tract Optics Toric line of rifle scopes something you would consider ? or are you now going to consider them? What are you looking for in your next rifle optic? We want to know so we can better address the concerns and needs of our readers.
