Recently I purchased a S&B 4-16x and really like it.
One small thing that bugged me was the variable power ring is tough get a hold of and move. NIghtforce and USO have big gnarled surfaces to grab on to but the S&B's relatively thin rubber power ring is difficult to get the proper purchase to move quickly.
I spied a recent post here on the hide that showed a lever that strapped to your scope ring... called a "Cat Tail" made by 3 Gun Stuff and was very interested to try it out. I ordered online with my CC info and within 3 days, owner Chris Marsh had a Cat Tail on my desk.
http://www.3gunstuff.com/schmidt2.htm
It is simple and well made. The design has it fitting snugly around the rubber power ring with the main fin slotted in the lever notch.
The finish and fit were right on. Installation was really easy, just two hex screws and some blue loctite and whammo.... my leverage problem solved!
The Cat Tail give a lot better leverage and is easy to turn and lightweight.
The one downside I noticed, is when I dial it all the way to full power (16x) the Cat Tail prevents my left-handed bolt from opening all the way...
In all fairness, there are a couple easy fixes to this problem. The S&B scope was not designed to be truly ambidextrous, as I needed to slide it as far as I could forward to get the bolt handle to clear the illumination knob. I'm not sure if right handed guys would have the same problem when the Tail is dialed all the way out to 4x (on the other side).
I haven't shot it in the field yet, so I'm not sure how much of an issue this will be.
The two easy fixes would be to 1. trim down the Cat Tail or 2. notch out my bolt handle. Fix number #2 seems to be the best idea to me, since the handle barely clears the illumination knob.
I'll let you guys know how it runs. So far, I'm a fan. Nice work Chris.
One small thing that bugged me was the variable power ring is tough get a hold of and move. NIghtforce and USO have big gnarled surfaces to grab on to but the S&B's relatively thin rubber power ring is difficult to get the proper purchase to move quickly.
I spied a recent post here on the hide that showed a lever that strapped to your scope ring... called a "Cat Tail" made by 3 Gun Stuff and was very interested to try it out. I ordered online with my CC info and within 3 days, owner Chris Marsh had a Cat Tail on my desk.
http://www.3gunstuff.com/schmidt2.htm
It is simple and well made. The design has it fitting snugly around the rubber power ring with the main fin slotted in the lever notch.
The finish and fit were right on. Installation was really easy, just two hex screws and some blue loctite and whammo.... my leverage problem solved!
The Cat Tail give a lot better leverage and is easy to turn and lightweight.
The one downside I noticed, is when I dial it all the way to full power (16x) the Cat Tail prevents my left-handed bolt from opening all the way...
In all fairness, there are a couple easy fixes to this problem. The S&B scope was not designed to be truly ambidextrous, as I needed to slide it as far as I could forward to get the bolt handle to clear the illumination knob. I'm not sure if right handed guys would have the same problem when the Tail is dialed all the way out to 4x (on the other side).
I haven't shot it in the field yet, so I'm not sure how much of an issue this will be.
The two easy fixes would be to 1. trim down the Cat Tail or 2. notch out my bolt handle. Fix number #2 seems to be the best idea to me, since the handle barely clears the illumination knob.
I'll let you guys know how it runs. So far, I'm a fan. Nice work Chris.
