NEW Product – Scorpion Inline Monopod

I’ve been getting requests from benchrest shooters to add a monopod to their Scorpion hook. There are monopods on the market that can be attached onto the side of the stock, or simple ones that go below the hook, but I aimed a seamless integration of the advantages of both systems, in the usual Maestro Design quality and look, and here is the final result:

This is a special T-rail with an integrated monopod, full of features and available variations. No tinkering with the stock, no offset support issues, long and precise adjustment. The monopod is natively built into the T-rail, adding only +10mm to the rifle length (compared to a standard Scorpion T-rail). The support is exactly in the centre line. Compatible with both the old MK4 and the new MK5 Scorpion systems.
The rail has the MK5 system’s new Limiter Bolt on the top, this bolt can sink into the rail to allow quick detaching of the hook, or can stand out in two positions, to limit the hook’s movement. Rail length for the hook is 134mm, total length 150mm.

The foot of the monopod can be built in four variations:
– Top part: a tall slender hyperboloid for quick adjustments, or a wide and lower cylindric shape for more accurate adjustments.
– Foot: a domed button or a massive and spectacular show-off ball joint, both have a rough rubber surface at the bottom.

Easy to reach, angled locking screw that can be mounted on either side, giving equal comfort for right and left handed shooters. I offer two thumb screw shapes, a small hyperboloid and a sphere.

Massive laser sintered Nylon, polished black, rough surface rubber foot, with stainless steel screws. Now it is available separately, or can be added to a new Scorpion MK5 hook on a discounted price.

SmartPin Colours Experiment

I’ve always been making black parts, as this is and elegant and repeatable dye colour, and it fits any style and rifle colour as well. Nevertheless, I was curious what the same design would look like in colours, so started an experimental project, making the most popular SmartPin pointer version (30mm, long scale, 2-pins, new design) not only in the usual black, but also in 4 other colours: yellow, green, red and blue.

This is the result: the very same design and the high quality laser sintered Nylon material, professionally polished and dyed surface, but more colourful :-)

However, I wasn’t entirely happy with this, the colours are a bit pale and look a bit like toys, also the SmartPin’s white marks are barely visible on the yellow one. So I think I’lm going to stay with the good old black colour in future. However, these four pointers can be bought here: SmartPin Coloured Pointer.

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Then I tried something else, that adds colour to my design but isn’t too much though: what if I use only colourful thumb screws, keeping all the main parts black? This seems to be better for my taste, and as I have now a couple of coloured thumb screws, I temporarily added this option to every SmartPin and SmartPin Combi pointer, as long as the stock lasts.

Well, you may want to ask now, what about other Maestro Design products?

In theory, they can be in all the four new colours as shown here, but a unique colour means that I have to print only one of each component instead of effectively use the printing volume, and this costs more.

If anyone is interested, I can work out a special option that can be added to ANY product, imagine that you put a product to the cart then add a separate ‘virtual’ product where you can choose from the four colours and it adds a certain amount (and a couple of weeks) to the total but you can have a blue Scorpion MK5 FT Hook or a red GearBox Winding Forend or anything else…

Please contact me for further info on this possible new addition.

A Colorful Future

I decided to make some colours available for the 3D-printed parts of the Composite series:

Traditionally, I use black for my accessories, but Orange and Intense Green are available any time, and a couple of other colours can be arranged, too:

The colour option can be added to the products among the other options, on the links above.

About the markings on the photo. I don’t recommend to write directly onto the coloured parts, as the material is kind of porous and you won’t be able to remove the markings entirely. I did this:
– Put a transparent cellotape around the wheel / turret
– Write the markings with a permanent marker
– Put another layer of cellotape around it (this is needed as even the permanent marker may wear off in the use)

I’m considering to add these colours to the new Scorpion MK5 FT Hook, too. It would be something like this, coloured base plate and thumb screw(s). A fully red or green Scorpion wouldn’t look as good as it is in black, but only a few parts in colour could look cool:

 

Talking about colours, see also the SmartPin Colour experimental project, this is a bit different but can be interesting, too:

Free UK Mainland Delivery

Delivery for UK orders above £100 has been free for a long time, but now I decided to make all UK Mainland shipping free.

There is no voucher code for this option, at Checkout page simply fill in your address and the “Economy – FREE to UK Mainland” delivery will be offered automatically as default shipping method. There will be other (quicker, tracked, insured, guaranteed delivery time etc.) delivery options as well.

Please note that all I can do is to post the orders as soon as possible (usually the next working day, if I can manage it), but I can not guarantee delivery times as Royal Mail is sometimes slower than expected… Nevertheless, Special Delivery is ‘guaranteed next working day’ so it really arrives in time, but please contact me before placing the order to see when will I be able to post it so that I can give you an estimate for the day of delivery.

Black Friday 2022

At checkout use the coupon code BLACK22 for 15% discount on laser sintered products, until the end of November!

This promotion doesn’t applies to Falcon scopes, Rowan forends and to items that are on sale.

New Ring Design with Secured Bolt + Nut

Recently I’ve completely re-designed the ring that is the basis of several different products:

EasyPin, SmartPin, EagleEye, TrueLevel, Windicator – FT and Target versions

The new ring design is more streamlined, with a half ellipse cross section and curvy shape. All the functions remained the same, just with a much better look.

Streamlined shape
Curvy shape and Maestro logo

This is the main improvement of the new design: the nut and bolt are secured against falling out. There is a delicate inside structure for the nut so that is clicks in and won’t fall out when you mount the ring onto the scope. Also the bolt is held on its place.

Nut and bolt are secured against falling out

The connecting surfaces have a slanted cut so when you align the bolt into the hole, the scope tube’s surface is protected from accidental scratches.

Safe assembly
Scope surface protected

This is the full list of the improvements implemented in the new ring design:

  • More curvy shape with fine details
  • Secured bolt and nut so it’s harder to lose them
  • Scope tube protection prevents accidental scratches
  • Bigger opening – easier to click the ring onto the scope
  • Allows special hybrid configurations e.g. windicator with windage pointer, bubble level with magnifier etc.
  • Reinforced pointer strip for the SmartPin series
  • Diameter engraved into the ring’s inside

30% Sale All Upper Wing Extensions

All butt hook upper wing extensions (FolloWing, SteadyWing and TopWing) are on 30% Sale now!

These extensions can be connected to most metal FT hooks, and give an additional support on the shoulder.

FolloWing: Articulated arm that follows the changes in the rifle position and always lays comfortably

SteadyWing: Fixed extension with many links that can be adjusted to your shoulder

TopWing: Simple extension with an optional extra link

Butt Pad Kit for Scorpion Hooks

I designed a new addition to the well known Scorpion FT Hook system for those shooters who don’t use thick padded shooting jackets: the Butt Pad Kit contains two pads that can be rotated independently and add more comfort to the big centre post of the hook.

Butt Pad Kit for Scorpion FT Hook

 

The parts have a 5mm high section of the same 24mm diameter cylinder as the main post, and have the same cogs on both sides so that they can fit into the structure of the hook. Since the two pads add 10mm to the overall height of the middle section, a 70mm long bolt is included to replace the standard 60mm main bolt. The pads have various cut-outs on the top and the sides so that they don’t clash with other elements (like the upper wing and hook) when assembled.

  • Adds only 2.5mm to the centre post at the middle (longer bolt included).
  • Upper part rotates without limits, even far away from the upper wing if needed.
  • Lower part has to keep the main direction of the hook but still allows adjustments within a 20° range (±10° from the hook).
  • Can be combined with the spacers of the Middle Extension Kit to increase the distance between the two pads.
  • Compatible with all upper wing variations, long and short hooks – but not with the mini hooks.
  • Compatible with the Scorpion L/H hook system, too.
Each pad adds 5mm to the overall height of the centre post

 

Now all Scorpion FT Hooks and L/H hooks can be ordered with this Butt Pad Kit, or the kit can be bought separately on the Scorpion FT Hook Extras product page.

Offset Plates for Scorpion Hooks

An offset plate is a simple thing, just take a piece of plastic or metal, drill a couple of holes and your hook has the desired offset.

But if you’re after a professional thing, then have a look at my new 25mm and 50mm Offset Plates for the Scorpion FT Hook system:

Scorpion FT Hook – Offset Plates 25mm / 50mm

 

The plate goes between the Base Plate (the thin black plate that covers the end of the stock) and the T-Rail. It is held by the two bolts on the left edge of the plates, then you mount the whole thing to the rifle exactly as you would with the standard Scorpion hook, using teh same bolts etc. The Offset Plate allows a wide range of adjustments for the T-Rail:

  • Offset up to 50mm: the bigger plate allows 10-50mm offset, the smaller one 0-25mm (with certain limitations below 10mm).
  • Rotating the T-rail within a 15° range (±7.5° from the vertical line) to slant the whole hook towards your shoulder.
  • Vertical shift of the T-Rail by 42.5mm or 57.5mm when mounted like on the photo below.
  • The plates have markings on both ends so that the T-Rail’s position can easily be memorised and restored.
  • Four M4 square nuts in its slots, all of them are secured against falling out.
  • Thickness 11mm, dimensions 43x125mm and 68x125mm, made of laser sintered Nylon.
  • Compatible with the Scorpion L/H hook system, too.
Wide range of adjustments with these professional Offset Plates

 

The 50mm version has an additional spacer and longer bolts for the 10-30mm offset positions to keep the thumb screws off the plate. This spacer is not needed for the 25mm plate at all, nor for the 50mm plate when the offset is over 30mm.

The bigger plate’s extra spacer for 10-30mm offsets

 

Now all Scorpion FT Hooks and L/H hooks can be ordered with these Offset Plates, or the plates can be bought separately on the Scorpion FT Hook Extras product page.

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