Here's the story.

When I received my new 3x10 Powder Horn scope from Cabala's in February I took it out the back door and set it atop a step ladder I had on the patio and looked at the brick facade of a house about 100 yards away. It struck me as clear and sharp. So I pulled the 4X ProDiamond from the X7 and mounted the Power Horn.

I used the Powder Horn for a range session at the end of March and was generally satisfied. But after that session I decided to bed the Omega's barrel. Of course, I pulled the scope to do the bedding job.

Then, on April 7th., after the bedding job I headed to the hunting lease to shoot the gun, which was still un-scoped at the time. I grabbed what I thought was the Power Horn from the closet and threw it in my duffel bag with some clothes with a plan to mount it at the range. Well, it turns out I grabbed an old Tasco 3x9 by mistake, instead of the Powder Horn. So I used the Tasco for a very short session that was aborted because of loggers behind the range.

Which brings us to this weekend. I hit the range again to give the bedded X7 a good workout. The Tasco was still mounted, so I started the session with it. But I'd brought the Powder Horn and the ProDiamond along. So after a half dozen targets I decided to take the Tasco off and put the Powder Horn on.

Much to my surprise, my immediate impression was "the Tasco was better". The Powder Horn was not as bright as the Tasco, had a noticeably smaller field of view, and more significantly, was very finicky about head position.

If I was perfectly aligned with the scope everything was fine. But a slight movement of the head side-to-side or up and down and the view through the scope disappeared - just a gray blur. That's not something you want for fast shooting (and something that did not occur with the Tasco).

So I pulled the Powder Horn from the gun. Put the Powder Horn, the Tasco, and the 4x ProDiamond side by side on the shooting bench - all pointing at a target 75 yards down range. After looking at the target through each scope several times, back and forth, I found the ProDiamond was much brighter than the Powder Horn and slightly brighter than the Tasco (even if I set them at 4X). It had a sharper image than the Powder Horn, and about equal to the Tasco. But the ProDiamond has a quick focus eyepiece, which the Tasco does not have (a feature I really like) and is smaller and lighter.

After the side-by-side comparison the ProDiamond went back on the gun. The 4X power does everything I need. It's just fine for target work at 200 yards. Certainly there's no disadvantage on game at that distance which is farther than I'll ever shoot at game.

The Powder Horn has been returned to its original box. I paid $49.99 for it, plus $2 tax and $8.95 shipping. It will probably cost me five or six bucks to send it back to Cabala's. So I'll be out about $15 after a refund. Returning it seems like a poor financial decision. On the other hand, I doubt I'll ever mount it on another gun so I may as well recover what I can.

i've used the ProDiamond scope and its a good one. My Remington 20 gauge rifled barrel shotgun has a 4X ProDiamond.

At least you learned something from it. I've spent $15 many times and learned nothing from it.

Now I really like my powder horn. When you compared them was it power for power? Meaning.. were all the scopes set a 4x? The reason is the light gathering ability of the scope changes with the increase in magnification. Also the focus often times need to be adjusted.

Last question.. have you physically mailed that scope back to Cabela's yet?

Semi, before sending it back you might want to check the parallax some scopes use that method for limiting the amount of parallax if that is the case it may group a bit tighter than the others. If you do check it please post the results.

Spoken for.

If anyone wishes to give the Powderhorn scope a try, you can have mine mailed to your door for $12.

Spoken for.

Semi..........Generally, a fixed power scope will be brighter. Less lenses to go through.

I compared them both ways Cayugad, at full power and set on 4X. The Powder Horn came in third either way. I didn't get a chance to play with the bullet drop reticule though. I'd kinda` like to do that. Wish the Tasco had that feature. Anyway, the scope is sitting in its box in the closet right now.

That just may be the case Lee. If so, it's not a feature I consider desirable. I can picture myself sitting in a tree stand trying to get a sight picture at an odd or awkward angle and not being able to do so.

Semi - sell it on Classified forums - drop the price 10 or so - have the buyer pay for shipping and get a bit back......

or add it to a gun you sell in the future........just some ideas.....

JW