New TVO 2-12×32 FFP scope for Leshiy

Well it finally arrived! (mental note to self: dont order Chinese mail over Chinese New Year!)

I have hunted the globe for a suitable Leshiy scope since August and this is the best I could find.
I wanted at least 10x with a suitable airgun reticle and it needed to be compact enough to fit the case and not over hang the back of the gun when folded.
So I ordered the Tac Vector Optics Gladiator 2-12×32 First Focal Plane Tactical Compact 35mm scope with 10Y Side Focus and long eye relief.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-S-H-Vector-Harris-Style-Tactical-Bi-Pod-Mount-6-Levels-6-9-w-Weaver/618756850.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.I8gnh9

This scope ticked all those boxes. At $369usd it came shipped with 35mm low rings and a lense bikini. The price seems about right for an entry level first focal plane scope, there is a lot of glass (13 lenses) in this bad boy and its very nice German made Schott glass. It is on the heavier side of things at 720 grams but thats expected with a FFP scope. Too Heavy I hear you say? not at all.. the Leshiy is too dang light an IMO needs some weight.
Even with this scope and Atlas bipod fitted it is just over 2kgs (under 5lbs).. If your little pansy girly arms cant carry that light weight you need to join Putin’s gym.

When I first opened the box, the first impression I got was how it looked and felt like a brutal Romanian IOR Valdada scope.. built like an Eastern block brick shit house.. this thing is chunky and tough! I think it fits the look of the Russian Leshiy well.

It has a nice long eye relief at 89-140 mm (3.5-4.5 Inch) so again perfect for this application.
After fitting and leveling it I zeroed it and did some tracking test which it passed with flying colours.
The best feature on this scope other than its compact size for such a large magnification range is its side focus parallax range down to 10 Yards and its marked 10, 12, 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 500.
The 10 to 50 yard adjustments seem to be bang on giving a crystal clear image but after the 50y mark the dial seems to “mush out” and there is no notable focal change in clarity from 100 to 500 yards but holds fucus and is clear at all ranges.
The turrets are big.. very big, they have a nice click but feel a little mushy compared to the TVO marksman range which are superb. it has a massive ± 90 MOA of adjustment range on both windage and elevation which should please the knob twiddlers amongst us.

The reticle is First (Front) Focal Plane etched glass Mil-dot reticle and is a little thick at 12x but I had no problem putting 5 shots in the same hole off the bipod at 50y and 5 shots inside 3/4″ at 100y on 10x zoom.

Things that could be better:

*The turrets, like I said they are bulky and spoil Leshiys low profile when folded and slipped into a backpack etc. This would be much better with the Marksman series Low profile turrets. (they dont fit… yes I tried)

*The mildot reticle is chunky, oh what a sweet scope this would be if it had Mil turrets instead of MOA and the MPN-1 Reticle like the TVO marksman scope range.

* 12x FFP, this makes your head/eye position a little fussy in the 8 to 12x zoom so you need to get good at repeating your cheek weld for a good picture without reticle ghosting. It is much better than the TVO 1-6x28FFP scope in this department but still worth mentioning.
Id love to have this scope as a 10x SFP scope.

* The Parallax adjustment dial works the opposite direction to all my other scopes, I guess it has to do with the front focal plane lenses but when Im pesting at speed due to high speed nervous targets I can see that’s going to slow me down and miss out on shots until I get used to it.

*Illuminated Reticle.. I just dont need it or use it.. just added weight and bulk.

Over all Im very happy with the purchase and it works great on the Leshiy. I can finally pull the foam out of the case to match a scope that I intend to keep on this little PCP.