Review: GPO Centuri 6x 3-18x44i rifle scope

GPO’s Centuri 6x scopes are the European brand’s more affordable models but they are packed with features and retain very good optical quality, making it easy to conclude they offer top value.

This 3-18x44i model is a prime example: it’s a hybrid between hunting and target styles, with illuminated reticle, side parallax adjustment, locking turrets, a rotation indicator on the top turret, ample adjustment range, a zero stop and, of course, the generous 6x erector ratio.

GPO Centuri 6x 3-18x44i rifle scope — The versatile Centuri 3-18x is a neat fit on a Varmint rifle but also suits hunting and tactical ones

GPO achieves this by designing its Centuri scopes in Germany but manufacturing them in its Asian factories; the reticles and electronics are made in Germany, though. GPO is a bit coy about whether the maker is one of its plants in Japan, the Phillipines or China, but quality control and testing are then handled back in Germany.

Is this a good scope-making model? Similar models have been popular for the Australian market (and US market) for years, with success, because it gives us access to scopes in a price range we will accept at a level of quality we’re happy with … if the brand keeps up its quality control.

The proof is in the pudding, and my slice of pudding is the 3-18x44i you see here, which I ran on three rifles.

Its size and design would suit just about anything, according to your preferences. It weighs just under 700 grams and is a medium length at 34cm. The side turrets give it a width of 8.5cm, which is broad by traditional standards but seems quite acceptable to many hunters now that we’re getting used to the extra functions contained inside them. And the top turret, being about 2cm tall, is no more than twice as high as a compact capped turret on a pure hunting scope.

So it suits a walkabout rifle very nicely, especially if you ditch the throw lever on the magnification ring. And if you stretch your shots to long ranges with your stalking rifle, you’ll get good use out of the target-type turrets.

You could run it on a tactical rifle, particularly in Precision Rifle or a similar competition, where its quickly adjustable turrets and clear markings are crucial.

I liked the GPO best on my Lithgow LA102 Varmint — they seemed a perfect fit for each other.

All the features in the world aren’t much value if the mechanical construction and optical abilities of a scope aren’t much chop, and sighting in the Centuri got us off to a good start.

The first two shots were on paper, touching, but high about 2 MOA and left almost 4 MOA. I made rough adjustments and the second shot was on the lower right edge of the bull. I counted a couple of clicks up and left, then put a shot into the centre bull. Perfect.

Then I shot around the square to see if the turret adjustments were accurate and repeatable, and the results were good, with the final shot landing back in the centre bull, touching my starter shot.

But I wasn’t entirely happy with it because I wondered if I had made too much allowance for the variation inherent in the rifle/ammo combination, which averages 0.9 MOA. After sleeping on it, I resolved to double-check it. I just dialled it up 4 MOA and put two shots precisely where they should go, then dialled it across to see if it’d hit my pre-sighting shots, which it did; then dialled back to 4 MOA high and put a third shot into the other two. All good!

And for absolute certainty, a quick round-the-square shoot with another, more accurate rifle just nailed it.

The view is very clear through the Centuri’s lenses. If you look hard for it, you’ll see a little distortion as you get closer to the edges of the view, but it doesn’t affect the vertical hold at the very bottom of the lower crosshair as long as you’ve got the scope properly upright.

I detected no colour fringing, and colour rendition is accurate. Contrast is good but is one area where you will notice an improvement if you commit to an even better optic, and there’s a hint of greying or contrast loss as you push the light-transmitting abilities of the 44mm objective lens at higher magnifications. But to put that in context, it’s about what you’d expect at this price and I’ve had scopes that didn’t perform nearly as well.

If you are looking for better low-light performance, a bigger objective is a good start, which is probably why GPO put a 50mm lens on its Centuri 2.5-15x.

Anyway, that’s as compromised as the 3-18×44 gets. On a heavily overcast and dull day I used the Centuri to look into the shadows under trees and bushes on a hillside more than 600m away and picked out sleeping roos and the dun-coloured goats that were among a mob of white ones.

The 44 objective lens is about as small as I’d choose to go with up to 18x magnification available, leaving you with a 2.4mm exit pupil. Through the Centuri, this seemed enough, partly because it provides good eye relief of 95mm. And that eye relief is surprisingly forgiving even at 18x.

Parallax focus, too, is not nearly as critical as in some other scopes, so you won’t find yourself wasting time trying to tune it to perfection.

The GPO’s field of view is reasonable. As you’d expect, at 18x it’s not huge — just 2.3 wide at 100m, but I’d suggest that if you’re using 18x at that distance you’re not looking at something very big. Down at 3x, it’s almost 14m wide at 100m and good enough for almost any hunting scenario in close country.

That 3-18x range is certainly what you’d call versatile.

This is a detail of the centre of the GPO’s MOA reticle. The lower crosshair extends with marking all the way to the bottom

There are a number of different reticle options, this one having a simple pair of thin crosshairs with hashmarks spaced in MOA increments (matching the turret click adjustments). The lower hair is marked all the way to the bottom, showing 35 MOA of elevation holdover; the outer and upper hairs turn to thick bars 10 MOA from the central dot.

The dot is the only thing that lights up when you turn the outer dial on the left turret. This provides a clear aiming point that gets progressively brighter on a rheostat.

GPO supplies a plastic tool to undo the turret screws (a coin will do it, too) so you can re-set the zero marks and set the zero stop. The latter is done by removing the top cap and turning a ring set inside it, so it’s very simple.

Both adjustment turrets have clearly numbered MOA markings on them, the elevation dial going through two revolutions to a maximum of 49 MOA — great for seriously long distances or subsonic trajectories.

To move either turret, you must lift it out of its lock; the lock prevents accidental movement, of course. Once you’ve rotated the top dial one revolution, a little silver indicator pops up to tell you you’re into the second go around, so you don’t lose track.

Inside the 30mm main tube, the reticle assembly gives you a very generous 90 MOA of total elevation and windage adjustment.

Again, we’re talking versatility, this time from all that internal and external aiming adjustment.

Most gunshops advertise the Century 6x 3-18x44i for around $1100, and it comes with a lifetime warranty (five years on the electronics). There are plenty of alternatives for about the same money, but the 6x zoom ratio and quantity of features stand out in the GPO’s favour. Its accurate reticle adjustments and apparent good quality are essential factors, too.

Include the good optics and it is clearly a scope worth taking a good look at.