Clearidge Optics is now importing a line of well-made riflescopes from Japan. The Clearidge marketing advantage is that they sell online, direct to the end user, via their web site (www.clearidgeoptics.com). There are no distributors or dealers to add additional mark-up, so you put the savings in your pocket.

Here is the Clearidge mission statement:

"Clearidge Optics offers exceptional quality riflescopes, but we sell them directly to YOU!  This means no middle-man, no searching for a stocking dealer and, best of all, some of the world's best riflescopes at significant savings."

"We at Clearidge are also shooters and hunters, so we understand that price and availability don't matter unless the product does the job.  Whether you are a big game or varmint hunter, a target shooter or plinker, Clearidge optics give you the clarity, acuity and light it takes to get the shot right"

When Clearidge offered Guns and Shooting Online our choice of riflescope to review, we selected their rimfire target/varmint model. The Ultra RM is a 3-9x32mm AO scope with semi-target type (or maybe varmint type) ¼ MOA fingertip knobs for adjusting windage and elevation. It is supplied with a matte black finish and white numbers on the AO, zoom ring and adjustment knobs. Other notable features include American style eyepiece focusing, rubberized zoom and AO rings, a fine crosshair reticle and fully multi-coated optics. Deluxe scope caps are provided. Here are the specifications:

• Product Code - 3310
• Premium lens coatings offering up to 95% light transmission
• Finger adjustable windage and elevation knobs
• Adjustable objective for parallax compensation from 10 yards to infinity
• Nitrogen filled, 100% waterproof, fogproof and shockproof
• One piece, 1" diameter, aluminum main tube
• Objective - 32mm
• Objective bell outside diameter - 1.81"
• Ocular bell outside diameter - 1.5"
• Eye relief - 3.2" to 3.6"
• Matte finish (silver also available)
• Reticle - Fine crosshair (Duplex and dot reticles also available)
• Adjustment - ¼ MOA
• Adjustment range - 50 MOA
• Field of view - 33.2' at 100 yards (3x) to 11' at 100 yards (9x)
• Overall length - 11.5"
• Weight - 11.9 ounces
• Full transferable Lifetime Warranty; proof of purchase not required for warrantee work
• 2009 MSRP - $245.99

The Ultra RM is easy to mount on most rifles due to its one-inch main tube that fits standard scope rings, moderate bell diameter and the adequate distance provided between the adjustment turrets and the front and rear bells. Low or medium height rings will usually get the job done, depending on the individual rifle. Our dedicated scope test rifle is a .223 NEF single shot with a Weaver base (a centerfire rather than a rimfire, but the Ultra RM scope worked fine nevertheless) and we used low mount rings.

It is an easy scope to sight through. The sharpness, brightness and contrast are good across the field of view, optical abberations are unnoticeable and flare is very well suppressed. The eye relief is more than adequate for rimfire and centerfire .17-.22 caliber rifles.

The Clearidge Ultra RM we chose came with the fine crosshair reticle, the simplest and perhaps most precise of reticles. This is a true fine crosshair, so it may not offer sufficient visibility for some small game hunting situations. It tends to get lost in brush and tree branches, for example. Squirrel hunters will probably favor the Duplex reticle. However, for the varmint hunter, a fine crosshair is hard to beat. It is ideal for sighting on small targets at extended distances.

Our test scope's windage and elevation adjustments proved to be reasonably accurate and repeatable. Sighting-in was easy and the adjustment clicks were positive. The tension on the knobs is about right. They are easy to adjust, but not so loose as to inadvertently change adjustment. Ditto for the tension on the zoom and AO rings. Speaking of the adjustable front objective, the distance markings proved to be accurate.

Our conclusion is that the Clearidge Ultra RM 3-9x32mm AO is a good riflescope at a fair price. It is not dirt cheap, but then, it is not a cheaply made scope. We'd call it a four-star (****) rimfire scope. If the other Clearidge Optics' scopes are of similar quality (and we presume they are), Clearidge Optics may well become an online force to be reckoned with in scopeland.