Introducing Ellis Optics

Those who know me, know I'm a pretty critical individual. Give me time, and I can find fault in about anything. As a personality trait, I've worked on this and have become more of a "cup half full" kind of guy, especially this year. However, when it comes to my opinions on optics (and politics), I'm just as anal retentive as ever. Directly related to my critical nature is the fact I am not easily impressed. In other words, I'm the classic "tough sell".

Therefore, I'm pretty guarded about anything new coming out and all the associated hype that comes with it. More often than not, pre-SHOT Show hype has been replaced by disappointment when the product is in hand.

Having said that, I'm very intrigued about Ellis Optics http://www.ellisoptics.com/. Just prior to my departure to Montana, I met with Ryan Burrowes, the Director of Ellis Optics, to examine parts and prototypes, and learn about the company, it's products, and philosophy.

I won't get too much into Ryan's credentials, as I'll leave that up to him to share. Suffice to say, after spending time with him, I'm convinced he is a very intelligent and talented engineer, who is currently burning the candle at both ends to bring his scopes to market. Ryan knows scopes, knows how to build them, test them, and take them apart for failure analysis. He has a vision, and his MK-7 line of riflescopes promise to fill a unique niche in the shooting community; namely, reasonably priced (not cheap) illuminated first focal plane riflescopes with extended eye relief and brute tough design and construction.

The true core of Ellis Optics is Ellis Defense, which is a military contractor, and these scopes are first and foremost designed to fulfill a military contract. All the parts (including the etched reticle) except the glass are machined from top shelf materials right here in the US (Tampa-St. Pete area of Florida). A cutaway of his 4-16x50 tube revealed the thickest damn alloy tubes I've ever seen. The internals are rife with premium silicone-bronze alloy and stainless steel parts. Tubes are 35mm, and the internal optics assemblies are oversized a la IOR riflescopes. Ryan has extensively studied IOR scopes, and has concluded many of the optical prescriptions in the 6x multiplier series of scopes are inappropriate for the tube dimensions (focal length and location of the turret housing) to be optimally effective. Ryan has corrected the deficiencies in the IOR design to build a better mousetrap. The large internal optics assemblies will result in a brighter sight picture than other comparable Asian-optic scopes. The "longrange" scopes will feature a "Mil-Bar" rangefinding reticle similar to the IOR MP-8 dot A5, but with about 25% thinner lines. Any serious operator knows that a front focal plane reticle is the best way to go with a rangefinding reticle that actually gets used for its intended purpose. Dual illumination (red-green) and side focus is standard. The large external exposed knobs feature 1/4 MOA clicks, which, while not ideal with the milliradian-based reticle, is still the most common setup in the industry (Ryan stated if enough customers wanted the milrad adjustments that could easily be done). Conversion from mils to MOA are well published and present a minor inconvenience.

What makes the MK-7 line unique is the extended (4"-6") of eye relief and the hard core testing of the prototypes. Ryan worked alongside Anzio Iron Works (AIW) http://www.anzioironworks.com/ to test his scopes on lightweight 50 BMGs, 14.5mm and 20mm rifles, which are "not too kind" on scopes. When something broke during testing, Ryan would tear the scope down, find the offending part, upgrade, and reassemble to start it all over again. The testers at AIW gave the MK-7 scope a thumbs up for ruggedness, and were quite impressed with Ryan's passion and work ethic and the quality of the scopes that have emerged from the vigorous testing.

Now, we wait for the production models.

Ryan just returned from overseas, where all the American-made parts were shipped to an assembly team, which Ryan set-up and supervised to ensure a high quality assembly control process. There, the glass and reticles will be installed and the scopes will be hand-assembled and collimated, prior to shipping back to the states. We look forward to receiving and testing a 2-12x32 Designated Marksman (picture will be up on the Ellis Optics website soon) and 4-16x50 Tactical, fresh off the assembly line.

Stay tuned, as we will post a write-up and photos here.

Until then, the intrigue remains.

Scott