I.O.R. - Valdada is not exactly a household name in the U.S., not even among shooters. Guns and Shooting Online Contributing Editor David Tong brought this European brand to my attention, suggesting that they deserved a look.

I discovered that I.O.R. is based in Bucuresti, Romania. Back in 1936, about three years before the start of the Second World War in Europe, three optical companies joined together to form I.O.R. - Bucuresti, which became the leading military optics manufacturer in Central Europe. During the war that followed, I.O.R. manufactured a variety of field optics for Germany and its Allies, including binoculars, sniper scopes, submarine periscopes, sights for fighter planes and so forth.

After the end of WW II Romania, occupied by the Red Army, fell behind the iron curtain. I.O.R., along with German optical giants Carl Zeiss-Jena, Pentacon and Schneider (then located in East Germany), became valuable spoils of war to the new Communist puppet governments. By 1967, increased collaboration between these optical companies was allowed (or dictated) by the Communist governments of these Warsaw Pact neighbors, to I.O.R's benefit.

In 1975 I.O.R. was completely refurbished with the latest (by Eastern Bloc standards) technology and a second plant was opened. Cooperation was extended to include the West German company Leitz and their offspring Leica, of camera and binocular fame. I.O.R. was by then producing a wide variety of optical systems, primarily military in nature.

Jump ahead to 1993, when I.O.R. and Valdada joined efforts and introduced the I.O.R. sporting products line to the United States. The fall of the Evil Empire and the rapid westernization of Central Europe has certainly worked in I.O.R's favor and now, after 12 years in the U.S. market, they are seeking a larger market share.

I got in touch with the I.O.R. - Valdada West Coast Sales Representative and arranged to borrow a fixed power 4x32mm riflescope for review. When the scope arrived a couple of weeks later, it was packaged in a forest green cardboard box with the I.O.R. - Valdada name and logo printed in gold.

Inside, the scope itself was wrapped in a sheet of bubble wrap. Generic scope caps are provided that are a little too large for the diameter of the objective and ocular bells of this particular model scope, but they are connected by elastic strips on both sides that have enough tension to keep the caps from falling off. Also packaged with the scope was a specification sheet, warrantee sheet, a flyer showing some scope rings and bases presumably available through Valdada and a brief history of the I.O.R. Company. This latter may have been included specifically for my benefit and I used it to compile the four paragraphs immediately above.

I chose the 4x32mm model to review because (1) I like fixed power scopes and (2) it is the only hunting scope in the I.O.R. line that is built on a 1" diameter main tube. My supply of rings that I use to mount test scopes all fit 1" tubes!

The rest of the I.O.R. hunting scope line is clearly built to European requirements, featuring oversize objective lenses and 30mm main tubes. Neither of these features is particularly desirable for North American hunting conditions. We hunt in daylight, typically from 1/2 hour before dawn to 1/2 hour after sundown, while Europeans are commonly allowed to hunt at night.

The increased bulk and weight occasioned by oversize main tubes and objective lenses are definitely negative factors that adversely affect the balance and handling of any hunting rifle. Thus, I requested a scope for review that would be practical for deer hunting in Western Oregon when mounted on a trim new rifle that we were scheduled to review.

The rifle in question is a version of the Winchester Model 94 known as the Trails End Hunter Octagon. The special thing about this particular rifle (aside from its classic good looks and modern angle-eject action) is that it marks the return of the .25-35 Winchester cartridge to the Model 94 line. For several years I have been suggesting the return of this mild deer cartridge, so when Winchester finally offered a rifle in .25-35, I naturally had to review it.

A 4-power riflescope is about right for a .25-35 rifle. It offers all the power needed for shots to and beyond the maximum point blank range of the cartridge and enough field of view for most deer and coyote hunting. A 4x32mm scope is also very bright, boasting a huge 8mm exit pupil, which makes it an especially good optic for use in the pre-dawn and post-dusk dimness that mark the beginning and end of legal shooting hours.

The Model 94 Trail's End Hunter Octagon is not a lightweight rifle, despite its 20" barrel. The heavier contour of the octagon barrel brings the catalog weight of this model up to 6.75 pounds. When equipped with Weaver two-piece scope bases, Weaver low rings and the I.O.R. scope reviewed here, the total weight approached eight pounds. A good part of that beef is in the I.O.R. scope, which weighs 14 ounces all by itself. That is a heavy four-power riflescope. For comparison, a Leupold 4x33mm FX-II weighs 9.3 ounces and a Sightron SII 4x32mm weighs 9.8 ounces, so the I.O.R. 4x32 is about 45% heavier than its competition.

I wondered why this scope was so heavy and a magnet provided the answer: the tube is made of steel, not lightweight aluminum alloy. I have not used a scope with a steel tube since an early vintage Weaver K4 that I owned 40 years ago. In scopes lighter is better, because it minimizes the effect of recoil on the scope. In addition, the lighter the scope the less it negatively impacts the balance and handling of the rifle. A steel main tube, unlike an anodized aluminum alloy tube, can rust. Consequently, steel scope tubes have been obsolete in North America almost as long as saber tooth tigers.

Some of the I.O.R. scope's other features are more modern. The lens system, for example, is fully multi-coated with I.O.R's. proprietary MC-7 wide band lens coatings. The lens elements themselves are ground from optical glass sourced from Schott Glasswerk in Germany. The scope is built on a one-piece main tube. (The ocular bell remains a separate piece and appears to have been brazed or sweated--not threaded--to the main tube.) The eyepiece focusing range is -4 to +4 diopters and focusing is by a convenient, fast focusing, Euro-style ring. There is an easy to grasp knurled rubber ring around the end of the ocular bell that makes focusing easy even when wearing gloves. The windage and elevation adjustment knobs click in 1/2 MOA increments and are fingertip adjustable. The external finish is entirely matte black. All in all, good stuff.

Not so good, in my opinion, is the test scope's German 4A "three post and crosshair" reticle. Visualize 3/4 of a very heavy Duplex reticle. This reticle is photo engraved on glass, a good system, but the three flat top posts (at right, bottom and left) are far too heavy, while the crosshair is too fine for a big game reticle (although great for target shooting at the range). The 4A reticle is another distinctly European touch, perhaps useful for shooting in the middle of the night. However, in normal light I found the heavy posts distracting and they subtend too much of the view.

I.O.R. also offers their version of a Duplex reticle (7A) in the 4x32 scope and that is what I requested. However, the 4A reticle is what I received. If the illustrations on their web site can be trusted, their Duplex reticle also uses flat top posts that are too wide for the purpose. A plain, medium crosshair reticle would be simpler and a worthwhile addition to the line.

Like most modern scopes, the I.O.R. 4x32 is nitrogen filled and "O" ring sealed to ensure that it will not fog internally. The Company claims that the scope will operate normally through a temperature range of -40 to +140 F, regardless of humidity or precipitation and also claims it to be recoil proof.

I.O.R. - Valdada promotes their use of Schott optical glass, as it has been made famous by the prestigious German firm of Carl Zeiss. However, people who are familiar with the optical industry know that practically any grade or type of raw glass can be provided by any of the world's big optical glass makers. Schott Glasswerk, for example, can provide crown glass, flint glass or rare earth glasses, whatever the customer desires (and will pay for), from the ordinary to the exotic. What matters is the specification of the glass and what is done to it after it is delivered to the scope manufacturer, not whether it was made in Germany, Japan, the U.S., or anywhere else.

Valdada provides a limited lifetime warranty for I.O.R. scopes sold in the U.S.A. This warranty provides for the free repair or replacement of any scope determined to be defective in original materials and/or workmanship. They also state that non-warrantee repair or refurbishment of I.O.R. products is always provided at reasonable cost.

Specifications

• Magnification - 4x
• Objective size - 32mm
• Field of view at 100 yards - 29 feet
• Exit pupil - 8mm
• Eye relief - 3.5 inches
• Click value at 100 yards - 1/2 inch
• Reticle total adjustment range - 60 MOA
• Tube diameter - 1 inch
• Length - 10.75 inches
• Weight - 14 ounces
• MSRP - $279 (2005); $495 (2016

Of great interest to any scope buyer is the quality of the view through the scope. In the case of the I.O.R. 4x32, the viewing is excellent. Contrast and resolution appear to be comparable to the best scopes in its price class. Center sharpness is very good and sharpness remains good at least 80% of the way to the edge of the field of view, which is better than average. Few hunters will have cause to complain about this scope's resolution and its contrast is excellent.

Optical aberrations are well controlled; coma and curvature of field are held to very low levels for a riflescope. Altogether, judging subjectively by my Mark 1 eyeball, this I.O.R. scope delivers sharp contrasty views with a lot of snap.

For reference purposes I compared the image seen through the I.O.R. 4x32 scope to several other four-star scopes and decided that it was optically about equal to a Leupold FX-II, which is good company.

The eye position behind the ocular is not particularly critical. There is adequate latitude so that the scope does not tend to "wink" out until the shooter's eye is noticeably out of alignment. Eye relief is about as advertised (3.5"), and is entirely adequate for use on most high-powered rifles. I'd probably want a little more distance between my eyebrow and the ocular bell on very hard kicking rifles, say from about .300 Weatherby Magnum on up, but the eye relief should be adequate for rifles of normal weight firing standard cartridges. Certainly it is more than adequate for our .25-35 Model 94 test rifle.

The windage and elevation adjustments are covered by the usual threaded caps. Interestingly, the caps themselves are not steel; they appear to be made of aluminum. Remove the caps and the desired adjustment can be made by hand; no coins are required. The 1/2 MOA clicks feel extremely positive and are easy to count when making adjustments. The adjustment knobs are marked with an arrow to indicate the direction of change ("UP" and "R"), and there is a "0" on each knob that is aligned with a white dot on its housing as the scope is shipped from the factory. There are no other numbers or scales provided and the index dot is not re-settable after the rifle has been sighted-in.

The specifications don't say at what distance the scope is focused to eliminate parallax, but I can tell you that parallax was not a problem at the range, where we did most of our shooting at 100 yards. I made it a point to move my head laterally as I looked through the scope at a 100 yard target and the reticle appeared to remain steady on the center of the target.

I bore sighted the Model 94/I.O.R. scope combination at home using my Bushnell magnetic bore-sighter. This allows us to start shooting at a 25 yard target with a pretty good chance of at least hitting the paper.

For the shooting and evaluation chores I was joined by Bob Fleck and Rocky Hays of the Guns and Shooting Online staff and the three of us put both the Winchester rifle and I.O.R. scope through their paces. As usual, we did our testing at the Isaac Walton range south of Eugene, Oregon.

At 25 yards it took only three single shots to "walk" the bullets into the x-ring of a 100 yard small bore rifle target. We then moved back to the 100 yard line to (first) zero the rifle and then shoot some groups for record.

This proved to be more of a problem; here's what happened. At 100 yards our first group, aimed at the exact center of the bullseye, hit about 1" right and 3" high.

The scope was adjusted accordingly (2 clicks left and 6 clicks down) and the second group hit about 1/4" right and 3.5" high. The windage adjustment had worked correctly, but, the elevation adjustment had no apparent effect at all.

We again adjusted 6 clicks (3") down. The next group centered 1/4" left and 3" low, or a total of 6" below the first two groups. Evidently the first elevation adjustment had hung-up and not taken effect until we made the second, at which point both took effect. I hate this kind of "chasing your tail" situation.

To correct for the over-correction, we dialed in 6 clicks (3") up elevation. The final sighting-in group hit in and around the point of aim, so we left it at that. However, the repeatability of the scope's adjustments, after a good start at 25 yards, had come into question at 100 yards. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough .25-35 ammunition to attempt to further evaluate the accuracy of the I.O.R. scope's adjustments at this range session.

The I.O.R's. 1/2 MOA fingertip adjustments are convenient and have an excellent feel. When they work they are acceptably accurate, close enough to the advertised 1/2 MOA for hunting rifle purposes. However, after the shooting portion of this review none of the reviewers trusted the I.O.R's adjustments to consistently take effect.

To summarize, our overall impression of the I.O.R. 4x32 scope was mixed. Bob commented that he liked the fine crosshair aiming point of the reticle and the optics were first rate. Otherwise he found the scope "clunky." He had no faith in the repeatability of the windage and elevation adjustments and suspected that they were changing back and forth incrementally from shot to shot, opening up the resultant groups.

Rocky found the optics to be good, but felt that the reticle's heavy posts should taper into the center crosshair portion. He also questioned the repeatability of the windage and elevation adjustments. Rocky felt the scope is too bulky and heavy for a 4x32mm optic.

I found this I.O.R. riflescope to be something of a dichotomy. Optically it is a very good scope, but saddled with some unfortunate design elements. It is over weight and the reticle design and windage/elevation adjustments need improvement. The steel main tube is archaic.

It is, fundamentally, a good quality scope, far better than the cheap Tasco (and equivalent) 4x scopes that you commonly see in the display case at Wally-World. (Good 4x scopes are getting kind of thin on the ground.) Even though it is more expensive, I feel that the I.O.R. Valdada 4x32mm represents a better value in the long run.