Just got a new Stryker 1-6 through the mail and I figured I'd post my first impressions since this is a relatively unknown scope. I purchased it based on Illya's recommendation and I think his review was pretty much spot on.
FIt and finish: No complaints here. The eyepiece is smooth and moves freely, the turrets are fantastic as far as feel goes and aesthetically it looks nice enough. It's pretty lightweight, noticeably lighter than the razor. I think it improves the "feel" of the rifle noticeably. I have it on a lightweight 14.5 with a DD lightweight mid length barrel and a 2A armament lightweight rail. Other optics on the same rifle made it top heavy, which always felt a little weird. Personal preference here I guess. So far, so good.
Optical quality: I wish I had a 1-4 p4xi to compare it with since this was the strykers primary competition, for me, anyway. I don't. I do have a p4xi 4-16 though and at 6x the stryker is a little more clear and crisp. It's not a huge difference though. I had to look at blades of grass around a pond to come to a definitive conclusion here. The center of the image is more crisp than the P4xi. No doubt about it. My biggest gripe (if I had to pick one) is the edge distortion. It's NOT as good as some of other scopes I've had the pleasure of looking through. Vortex is noticeably better here. Even the PST gen II. I don't notice it as much outdoors, but indoors at really close range it becomes more obvious. Especially when looking at door frames and straight lines that fall towards the outer edge of the image. It's not a hindrance, but it is a minor annoyance.
Illumination: On 11, it's nuclear bright. It's 2:48PM on a VERY slightly overcast day here in NC and I can pick up the dot very easily. Enough so that I turned it down a couple of notches from max. No idea what battery life is like just yet but I expect it sucks. It's the nature of the beast.
Mechanical Quality: If anyone requests a tracking test I'll be happy to do it. Turrets are MOA with a Mil reticle, which is weird. I don't really care since I plan to zero it and leave it, but based on feel and reviews of the higher mag model I expect it to track as true as anyone would require for the intended application.
Eyebox: It's good. Really good. It has the portal effect of the razor that just feels right. There's very little "tube" effect that comes with a lot of other (especially earlier) LPVOs. This is a huge selling point. Eye relief is pretty damn good as well. It wasn't picky about mounting at all, which is nice since a bunch of people shoot this rifle. That said, it's not quite as good as the Razor. Close though.
Reticle: It's simple and I like that. This comes down to personal preference, but the dot is easily bright enough to use like a red dot and the reticle is thin and simple enough that it should be fine out to 600 yards (as far as I'll ever take it) without getting in the way at 1x. It's SFP, which I prefer for this application. Not much to write about here.
Value: It's up there. By all accounts it tracks really well but I haven't tested it personally. I wish they spent less money/effort on the turrets and more on the glass to sort out the edge clarity. From what I recall from the 1-4 p4xi I'd rank it a significantly better value at todays prices, but not as a good of a value when the p4xi was $450. Again, I don't have the p4xi to compare side by side at the moment so take it with a grain of salt. I haven't seen anything in the price range ($700) that can compete, but it hasn't made my jaw drop either.. I like it and I'm going to keep it.
My experience with other LPVO's include the p4xi, accupower 1-4x, razor, pst gen ii, primary arms acss 1-6 and the xtrii 1-5 for what it's worth. I'm not a pro and I haven't had any exposure with tier 1 LPVO's from S&B, Khales or Nightforce, so I can't help you there.
Any one else have any opinions? I know a couple people on here bought one this past week.
FIt and finish: No complaints here. The eyepiece is smooth and moves freely, the turrets are fantastic as far as feel goes and aesthetically it looks nice enough. It's pretty lightweight, noticeably lighter than the razor. I think it improves the "feel" of the rifle noticeably. I have it on a lightweight 14.5 with a DD lightweight mid length barrel and a 2A armament lightweight rail. Other optics on the same rifle made it top heavy, which always felt a little weird. Personal preference here I guess. So far, so good.
Optical quality: I wish I had a 1-4 p4xi to compare it with since this was the strykers primary competition, for me, anyway. I don't. I do have a p4xi 4-16 though and at 6x the stryker is a little more clear and crisp. It's not a huge difference though. I had to look at blades of grass around a pond to come to a definitive conclusion here. The center of the image is more crisp than the P4xi. No doubt about it. My biggest gripe (if I had to pick one) is the edge distortion. It's NOT as good as some of other scopes I've had the pleasure of looking through. Vortex is noticeably better here. Even the PST gen II. I don't notice it as much outdoors, but indoors at really close range it becomes more obvious. Especially when looking at door frames and straight lines that fall towards the outer edge of the image. It's not a hindrance, but it is a minor annoyance.
Illumination: On 11, it's nuclear bright. It's 2:48PM on a VERY slightly overcast day here in NC and I can pick up the dot very easily. Enough so that I turned it down a couple of notches from max. No idea what battery life is like just yet but I expect it sucks. It's the nature of the beast.
Mechanical Quality: If anyone requests a tracking test I'll be happy to do it. Turrets are MOA with a Mil reticle, which is weird. I don't really care since I plan to zero it and leave it, but based on feel and reviews of the higher mag model I expect it to track as true as anyone would require for the intended application.
Eyebox: It's good. Really good. It has the portal effect of the razor that just feels right. There's very little "tube" effect that comes with a lot of other (especially earlier) LPVOs. This is a huge selling point. Eye relief is pretty damn good as well. It wasn't picky about mounting at all, which is nice since a bunch of people shoot this rifle. That said, it's not quite as good as the Razor. Close though.
Reticle: It's simple and I like that. This comes down to personal preference, but the dot is easily bright enough to use like a red dot and the reticle is thin and simple enough that it should be fine out to 600 yards (as far as I'll ever take it) without getting in the way at 1x. It's SFP, which I prefer for this application. Not much to write about here.
Value: It's up there. By all accounts it tracks really well but I haven't tested it personally. I wish they spent less money/effort on the turrets and more on the glass to sort out the edge clarity. From what I recall from the 1-4 p4xi I'd rank it a significantly better value at todays prices, but not as a good of a value when the p4xi was $450. Again, I don't have the p4xi to compare side by side at the moment so take it with a grain of salt. I haven't seen anything in the price range ($700) that can compete, but it hasn't made my jaw drop either.. I like it and I'm going to keep it.
My experience with other LPVO's include the p4xi, accupower 1-4x, razor, pst gen ii, primary arms acss 1-6 and the xtrii 1-5 for what it's worth. I'm not a pro and I haven't had any exposure with tier 1 LPVO's from S&B, Khales or Nightforce, so I can't help you there.
Any one else have any opinions? I know a couple people on here bought one this past week.
