I plan on putting it on my SIG 716 for shooting steel and an occassional coyote out to 600 yards or so. Moa reticle and knobs is what I want. How does their glass compare to say a Vortex PST 2.5-10×44 ebr moa, IOR 2.5-10×42 or Nightforce 2.5-10×42. The last two are north of a grand in the same mag range with the NF being over $1600. I do not need or want ffp. Any long range shooting is going to be done at 10x power so no calculations needed.*
I've owned both the LRIRMOA and tactical knob (.1 mil) mildot versions of that scope. The good:
-absolutely outstanding glass clarity, you will have a hard time buying most other sub-1k scopes after using it
-great knob feel
-price
The bad, for both versions:
-once you see how the knobs are reset to zero, you'll look at this as purely a benchrest / light and casual use type scope. (FYI, I have a 6-24x SIII on my F/TR gun)
The bad, for LRIRMOA version:
-the reticle is INCREDIBLY FINE BORDERING ON FAINT. It is great for bright sunny days shooting at white paper targets. I don't think it would work at all well for hunting or any dark backgrounds, even with the illumination. It's the finest reticle I've used on anything - makes Nightforce reticles look obese in comparison. Not a duplex, the hairs are fine from edge to edge, and the center dot, which I believe is 1/4 moa, is just barely visible. You will definitely know if you have the reticle correctly focused for your eye.
-the illumination was Meh. It works, but the dot you're illuminating is tiny, and the brightest setting isn't that bright. Might be OK for use near dusk, or even into night time.
The mildot version has a reticle that, to me, is just right, and even without illumination I find it much more useable. I still have that, but sold the LRIRMOA one.
I have also owned the Vortex PST 2.5-10×44 in mrad, and to me that scope was an aquarium. Glass was awful at 10x, almost unusable. I have not owned the other scopes you're asking about. If you want a SFP quality scope in that price range, check out the Nikon Monarch X at Natchez, it's around $750-900 depending on whether you want illumination and new or refurbished, and would give you an illuminated SFP reticle that's useable. (Disclosure - I bought one from them, then returned it because the elevation knob went far above its intended stop when I tried adjusting it, obviously defective (not an issue with the set screws for the cap, completely different from that). At the time I didn't want to try another, but now that time has passed, I might. Natchez was A+ in accepting the return with zero hassle.)
