As with all of the S&B scopes that we have handled, this scope has a nice solid feel to it and
everything seems to say "quality". The finish is very uniform and even across the
entire scope, the machining is very precise, the lettering crisp and clear, as well as many other
quality touches. It just has a feeling of
precise engineering and manufacturing, something the Germans are well known
for. The tube is 34mm, which most of the S&B scopes are, and the lines with the 42mm objective
look good. It is a very nice looking scope, not that that is important, but hey, we all like our
equipment to look good as well. The matte anodized finish is just about right with minimal reflection,
though that nice crisp lettering (probably laser etched) does stand out quite well and is easy to see,
both by the operator and anyone else.
The rear eye piece has a fast focus eye piece that is smooth and fairly easy to rotate. It adjusts
through the standard dioptre range and allows you to focus the reticle to your particular eyes, with
or without glasses. Just ahead of the eye piece is the power adjust ring which has a rubber ring
around it with serrations and a single larger protruding knob, all to aide with gripping the power
ring while behind the scope. It provides excellent grip and the power ring itself provides a good
feel, not too stiff to making adjusting difficult, but yet stiff enough to keep it from moving to
easily by accident. It is very smooth and requires the same amount of force throughout the adjustment
range. The numbers on the ring are flat and not easily read from behind the scope, requiring just a
minor lifting of the head to see where you are at. But the use of the first focal plane reticle
diminishes the need to know exactly what power the scope is set to.
The eye relief is generous and there should not be any problems using the scope on higher power
rifles.
Just ahead of the power ring and on the left of the scope is the illuminated reticle brightness
adjustment knob. There are 11 brightness levels, 12 if you count 0, which are clearly marked on the
knob as well as very positive detents as you click to the different settings. The knob itself does
block your view of the side focus knob, but this is much more desirable than blocking the view of
the elevation or windage knobs. The need to see the numbers on the focus knob are less than the elevation
or windage knobs making the left side placement probably ideal. The usefulness of illuminated reticles
are handy and the fact that the scope is still completely usable if the lighting portion of the
reticle fails or the battery
dies in the field, makes it a nice feature to have without much down side.
Ahead of the illumination brightness knob is the knob that it obscures, the side focus knob on the left
of the scope. All the knobs are very nicely shaped and all three are the same dimensions. There are
serrations on the top 1/3 or so of the knobs which do a very good job of providing a gripping
surface. This particular scope is setup in meters and mil-rads so the focus knob goes from 50 meters to
infinity with marks at every 100 meters from 100-500, and then an 800 and 1000 meter mark. The spacing is
larger than on most scopes making the focus granularity more precise for getting the best sight picture
possible. The knob itself adjusts very smooth and uniform throughout the adjustment range and stops very
positively at both ends of the adjustment range.
The elevation knob is the same shape and has 0.1 milrad (mil) clicks and covers 13.4 mils in a single
revolution. That equates to 46 MOA in a single revolution with 0.1 clicks. This gives enough elevation
to take a 308 Win from 100 - 1000 meters at sea level in thick standard atmospheric conditions. That is
impressive. The knobs have good positive clicks both audibly and with tactile feel. The numbers and hash
marks can be a bit small and with a mark only every .2 mils, it can sometimes require a close look to determine
if you are between hash marks or on them, but a closer look will clearly indicate which it is.
The knob also has a "zero stop" as well as a stop on the top end at 13.4 mils to keep you from overlapping.
With that many adjustments in one revolution and easily being able to go up and down, it is a very nice
knob to use. Though some may not like the .1 mil clicks as they are a bit larger than the traditional .25 moa
clicks, .1 mil equates to about .34 moa per click. For me it is a nice mix.
The windage knob is just as nice with the same shape and feel as the elevation knob and the same .1 mil
clicks. The knob counts up in both directions which I like, especially with the stops on the upper end
again to prevent rotating all the way around. The stops are at 6.8 mils which for a 308 is enough to
compensate for 20+ mph winds at 1000 yards. That should about cover most situations that one would be
engaging in, though not all.
One thing I did notice is that the turret shoulders are not very elevated, so a tall or bulky ring will
block out the indicator mark on the scope, this was especially apparent for the windage knob. Not a
negative, but something to be aware of and you can see the issue in the image above.
The reticle in this particular scope was the Premier Reticle Gen 2 Mildot with the standard dots at each
whole mil and then small hash lines at the half mil marks. There are also large hash marks along the thick
stadia at each 5 mil increment. The reticle is in the first focal plane so
it grows and shrinks with the magnification setting of the scope, making the mil spacing always accurate at
any magnification. S&B and premier have done a nice job of balancing out the thickness of the reticle to be
useful at all magnification settings, though down at 4x you cannot make out all the details of the reticle
such as the half mil marks,
which is fine as you'll be zooming in to high magnifications to get more accurate mil measurements.
I like the reticle and there is a good reason it has become so popular.
In regards to the optical quality, there is not a lot to be said that has not already been said about Schmidt
& Bender scopes. There is a reason they have a reputation of superb quality optics, because they are just that,
superb. The picture is extremely bright, clear and sharp with contrast and all the correct colors standing
out. There are other scope makers out there that probably have as good of glass, but I cannot say if there are
any that are better. Of course, for the price you pay for a S&B scope, it had better have remarkable glass.
We mounted the scope on a Tactical Operations Alpha-66 as well a a Remington 700P using the AI single piece mounting
system for picatinny rails. At the range the scope performed as it should with accurate and repeatable
adjustments and no surprises at all. Be sure to following the instructions for zeroing and setting the
zero stop and then all
things should be great.
Overall we were as impressed with this S&B scope as we were with the last one, perhaps even more. With the
impressive precision and craftsmanship combined with excellent design the scope makes for an excellent
tactical scope. The ability of having all of those adjustments into a single revolution makes for simplified
operation without the loss of precision. Mil adjustments combined with a mil reticle has become popular and
for good reason, again adding to simplicity without giving up accuracy. This scope is not perfect with some
minor annoyances like the difficulty seeing the windage mark and power ring marks, but everything
being considered, if you
can swallow the price tag, this scope is excellent and should be considered for any tactical weapon system
designed for rugged use and long range.
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