Tony Grist
Hi-Lux Optics is an interesting optical manufacturer which marches to their own drum. Serious riflemen respect them for their Vintage scope line of high quality reproductions of historic Target and Sniper scopes as well as their XTC1-4×34 Service Rifle scope. These have performed well in Vintage Sniper matches and “Across the Course” competition at the national level. Hi-Lux Optics offers much more than just vintage and competition scopes though. They have a diverse line of red dots, rifle scopes, binoculars and a spotting scope. A number of years ago, Hi-Lux Optics endeared themselves to American riflemen with their 1-4x24mm CMR rifle scope. This is a tough LPVO with a number of nice features which offered a lot of performance at an economical price. Recently, they introduced a new addition to their Close to Medium Range (CMR) line, the CMR8.
What made their 1-4x24mm CMR scope so popular was the amount of performance they packed into it for the price. So, I was interested to see if their new 1-8x24mm CMR could stack up. The first thing I noticed out of the gate is its very reasonable price of $399. While there are a number of economical 1-8x scope designs available today, they typically have short-comings in certain areas. Usually their 1x image is poor, they lack a daylight bright reticle and they have various optical, mechanical and reliability shortcomings. Out of the box, Hi-Lux Optics’ 1-8x24mm CMR scope looks very good. Build quality looks solid, and this model features diamond pattern knurling and a “cattail” lever for fast magnification changes. Built on a 30mm tube, it features capped elevation and windage turrets and a fast focus diopter. Illumination is controlled by a rheostat with an OFF setting followed by intensity levels one through five, another OFF setting and then intensity levels six through ten. The first two settings are intended for use with night vision devices. Power is provided by a CR2032 battery. The low profile turrets are capped to prevent accidental rotation. I personally prefer this on a scope of this type. You zero the scope and then all future ballistic corrections are made using the reticle. The turrets are finger adjustable and feature .5 MOA audible and tactile clicks with a whopping 50 MOA of adjustment per full turret revolution. Plus, the turrets are easily reset to zero. This model features Hi-Lux Optics’ b-Dot fiber optic illumination system. This provides a very bright 0.5 MOA center aiming dot easily visible in bright daylight. The BDC reticle is located in the Second Focal Plane and provides hold-over and windage/lead correction marks. It also allows quick rudimentary ranging of 18-inch wide silhouette targets. With a 200 yard zero, the reticle provides aiming points for 300 (2.5 MOA), 400 (5.6 MOA), 500 (9.7 MOA) and 600 yards (14.5 MOA). Hi-Lux says the reticle is calibrated for .223 and .308 Win. So how does the 1-8x24mm CMR actually perform? Surprisingly well, especially for the price. I like the lighter weight, capped turrets and reticle design. In use, the fast focus ocular facilitated a clear image, the optic zeroed easily, and the magnification ring zoomed smoothly. The center dot illumination is very bright, and I typically left it set at 5 or 6. It draws the eye to it for rapid shots. I like how the rest of the reticle is not illuminated, as it can be distracting. The simple hold-over/ranging marks work well for making fast hits at distance.
The capped turrets work great. They are low profile and out of the way, but have nice audible and tactile adjustments. If you desire to dial, rather than hold, you can quickly dial in your come-up without going a full turret revolution. The rheostat has two OFF positions, and I typically left the illumination at 5 or 6, so only had to go one click to turn the illumination off. Most scopes in this price range have optical issues on 1x but the Hi-Lux performs well. The whole point of a LPVO is it has to perform near red dot levels at 1x. If it has issues at 1x, why bother? So, I was pleased that the Hi-Lux CMR performed very well at 1x. It has good eye-relief and worked very well firing with both eyes open while rapidly engaging multiple targets. Low light performance is good at 4x but starts to fall off as you increase the magnification simply due to the size of the 24mm objective lens. Some will not like its rear focal plane reticle, but it gave no issues during testing. My only gripe is the resolution is just a bit soft at 8x. It’s good just not great. It’s easily offset by the CMR’s illumination, which is bright enough to allow it to be used similar to a red dot. If you are looking for an economical LPVO, but want solid 1x performance and true day-light bright illumination, the Hi-Lux Optics 1-8x24mm CMR is a solid contender. With a price of just $399 it deserves a serious look.
Read the full article here
