Rifle Scopes Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

[SigsauerP229]

I need to order a scope and have it here by Tuesday.

On the Vortex I will be stuck with SFP, which is not a huge deal to me for this project.

But to keep this as an apples to apples kind of opinion I was wondering is the SS 5-20X50 worth $400 bones more then the Vortex Viper 6-24X50 both in FFP?

I've looked through the PST Viper 2.4-10 and the SS fixed 16X and the Vortex was night and day better but what about SS HD scopes, are they that much better then the PST's to justify a $400 hike over the Vortex PST illuminated to a SS HD non illuminated?

 

[Force_Multiplier]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

yes... I like the Vortex PSTs... but I love the SS 5-20s

 

[bulzeye]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

why would you be stuck with sfp on the vortex?

 

[42769vette]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

you are not stuck with sfp on the vortex. ive ran both optics but have more experiance with the pst. mabye thats why i prefer the pst over the ss.

 

[Texar2]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I have had the 10HD and the swfa 5-20HD. I had to sell my s&b 4-16 and have been runnin the 5-20HD on my daily driver. I have not missed the s&b. The 5-20 is repeatable, clear and seem to be built tough. I have been to SWFA and they are good people. I have 4 of thier scopes and have not been disapointed. Hope this helps.

 

[MDM]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

Another thing to think about is the SS has way more travel than the PST. It's advertised as 30 mil, but mine has close to 33. About 115moa vs the 65 or so on the PST.

 

[BCP]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SigsauerP229</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I need to order a scope and have it here by Tuesday.
</div></div>

Well, I don't know of any places that have the PST 6-24FFP in stock right now so that kind of narrows it down...

Personally I don't like rushing to by something as expensive as an optic. My advice is to figure out exactly what you want and make do with a loaner scope etc til then...

 

[SigsauerP229]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I should have mentioned this is for a co-worker and he is going on a varmint hunt with me next week, which is why he was in a hurry.

I was also curious about peoples opinions of these scopes too as I may get one in the future, but I have a USO on order with a hide member, so I don't need anything else right no for myself.

My buddy ended up ordering the Vortex this morning. He's not concerned about the SFP vs. the FFP.

 

[Jeeprider]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I have owned both the vortex pst 6-24 FFP and the SS 5-20 HD FFP. I still own the Super Sniper, the glass to my eyes is superior and SWFA has amazing customer service. The 5-20 is definitely staying in my collection.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I also have both, and love them both. The SS is better, but it damn well should be for that much more money.

 

[208Plinker]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

Looked through and used both. I own the SS 5-20. Built tank like, very positive clicks and lots of elevation.

I did like the illum better on the PST and numbering on mill markers.

 

[Doctawho]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I know this is a bit of an old thread but I'm wondering if people's opinions have changed much in the past few months?

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Doctawho</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know this is a bit of an old thread but I'm wondering if people's opinions have changed much in the past few months? </div></div> Nope

 

[42769vette]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

mine has not but now there are some 6-24ffp's instock at a few dealers

 

[Doctawho]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: coldboremiracle</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Doctawho</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know this is a bit of an old thread but I'm wondering if people's opinions have changed much in the past few months? </div></div> Nope</div></div>

You sure?

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Doctawho</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: coldboremiracle</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Doctawho</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know this is a bit of an old thread but I'm wondering if people's opinions have changed much in the past few months? </div></div> Nope</div></div>

You sure? </div></div>
Um, yes.



Obviously I can only speak for myself, but this thread isnt that old.

 

[FALex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

in the one review, "High End Tactical Scopes Part III" Ilya Koshkin puts the 5-20 SSHD up against the Razor, not the PST. This seems to be a more appropriate comparison, and even against the Razor, the SSHD faired pretty damn well.

 

[springerjb]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FALex</div><div class="ubbcode-body">in the one review, "High End Tactical Scopes Part III" Ilya Koshkin puts the 5-20 SSHD up against the Razor, not the PST. This seems to be a more appropriate comparison, and even against the Razor, the SSHD faired pretty damn well. </div></div>
Thanks for pointing this out FALex. I'd missed this write-up. Ilya does really good work so I take this as high praise for the SSHD. With the current $1050 (non-illum) price tag I'm having a hard time staying away...

 

[stel67]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I am down to these two scopes as well. With the 250 off the SWFA is looking to be a really nice deal. What has me on the fence is the SWFA is MIL and I am used to MOA plus no zero stop. No illumination really does not bother me. No one local has both scopes so that makes it even harder to choose. Ready the replies I am still not sure which to get....

 

[FALex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mtneer</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FALex</div><div class="ubbcode-body">in the one review, "High End Tactical Scopes Part III" Ilya Koshkin puts the 5-20 SSHD up against the Razor, not the PST. This seems to be a more appropriate comparison, and even against the Razor, the SSHD faired pretty damn well. </div></div>
Thanks for pointing this out FALex. I'd missed this write-up. Ilya does really good work so I take this as high praise for the SSHD. With the current $1050 (non-illum) price tag I'm having a hard time staying away... </div></div>

roger that. Ilya's, Lowlight's, Jon A's, JasonK's, and some of the other folks whom are well-respected (obviously...sorry to those I missed) in this here precision shooting realm had really good things to say about the SSHD. From all the reviews, the only caveat seemed to be whether or not the SSHD would stand the test of time in terms of durability and ruggedness, ergo, Nightforce's reputation.

On that note, I have been waiting for a review of the SSHD 5-20 from LoneWolfUSMC. I'd love to read what this gentleman has to say about it...

LoneWolf? We all know you don't work and have absolutely nothing else better to do than to write up yet another review...



Please?

 

[timelinex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

So I finally went out and finally used my 338 with the SS 5-20x. I've been using my PST 6-24 for a while now. They are both mil/mil and FFP. At first I was not sure, but now I am 100% sure which one I like.... The PST takes wins by a HUGE lead.

Honestly, the SS ends up worse in almost EVERY single way.

Let’s start off with the things that the SS does better... The SS has 10 mil turrets, which is nice when you’re doing a lot of dialing. To me it’s not a big deal, but I can see why people like it over the PST's 5mil rotations. The next plus is the illumination knob. It’s kind of weird and unique having it right on top of the parallax knob, BUT I actually like it. It makes it have one less thing sticking out, and makes it a little less busy looking. Lastly, it does seem to have a bigger field of view and slightly more forgiving eye box. That's where the advantages stop.

There are so many disadvantages that I'll break it up into categories.

Turrets:
Not only is there no zero stop, but the zero reset is not any better than my BSA scope. My PST can have the zero reset to absolutely any place. I can get it on the 0 line every single time. The way the SWFA is set up, the cap itself has to go into the inside ridges. What this means is, the zero line has a good possibility of not actually falling on the line. My zero is currently between zero and .1 mil. For any scope over the price of $200, this is unacceptable to me. When I’m turning my turrets, I do not want to have to second guess myself and try to remember if the actual click is before or after where it’s actually at. The next thing with the turrets is that the 10mil turret makes the dashes much more crammed, which combined with the other problem, made me lose my place a couple times while dialing to a mile and back.

Glass:
The glass is noticeably worse than my PST's. Looking at a guy in a truck 1-2 miles away, I could see him clearly with my PST. Looking through the swfa It was slightly more blurry and hazy white (and that’s on 20x instead of the 24x on the pst!). The glass was consistently less crisp (at higher powers) throughout all distances. This was confirmed by a couple other shooters as well.

Reticle:
The illumination on this scope is super weak. I will try to change the battery, but its way weaker than the PST's. The PST goes from low, where you basically can't see any illumination, to the highest setting where its visibly bright even in daylight. The SWFA goes from the low setting of not visible, to the highest setting of barely visible in the dark.
My next complaint is with the reticle itself. I suppose this part can be considered more opinion than anything else, but I do not like the reticle. The triangle mil marks is a good idea, BUT I believe it is poorly executed. There needs to be some kind of number etchings throughout the tree. I found myself having to spend extra time recounting for any holdover over 2. The pst has small numbers that let you jump right to the correct hold.

For all other fields, I would rate them about the same. The feel of the turrets on the swfa is different than the PST’s but not any better or worse. The swfa’s outer bell is way bigger, but that isn’t really a disadvantage either as long as you get the correct rings. The overall fit and finish on both scopes is comparable.
I can’t believe this scope is considered in the same class as the Razor (which I have no experience with but assume is better than the PST). Other than the SWFA having MUCH better feeling turrets and positive clicks, If you didn’t tell me the price I would put it in the same class as my $400 standard 5.5-20x50 vortex viper. Maybe I just expected too much and was spoiled by the PST, but I was really expecting a lot more out of this scope for the price it commands. It disappointed me so much that I actually took the time out of my day to write this huge post.

Lastly, this is MY opinion and not necessarily fact. I did confirm my findings with other people that have shot with me, but you may think otherwise.

 

[FALex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

funny, timelinex, the same reasons you just pointed out as being better for the PST were the same I thought of about the PST's.

As far as "zero stop" on the PST's, with 10 mils per rev, don't see a need for a zero stop. Also, with those shims installed, my zero stop did not always end up at my zero. As far as the hash mark being off .1 mil, that was an issue I believe has been rectified by SWFA. They will fix your turret for nothing if you have the issue.

I won't even go into the glass issue...eyes are just too variable. What you see and what I see through glass is completely different. That being said, the SSHD rolls the PST up and smokes it

HAHA! (You can see how objective my critique is!)

Reticles are also relative; some love the mil-quad, others don't.

The illumination is interesting because although it appears to be "weak," it is a fine line with too "weak" and too strong. Illumination that is too "strong" appears to be criticized for flooding the reticle and washing out the target. I must point out that I have no experience with this, I am only reiterating what I have read by one the reviewers I listed above (I think it was JonA's review...)

I believe JonA also made the point of the resolution in low light being good with SSHD. That coupled with the fact that the reticle did not get flooded by its own illumination, made the seemingly "weak" illumination a negligible point at best. Besides, I have yet to use the illumination feature. I turned it on once with my PST, and maybe 5 times with the SSHD.

 

[freeflight]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

Thanks for the review. This is interesting, I'd better look through a SSHD sample before I decide.

Anyone goes to ASR in So Cal this Thursday?

 

[majohnson2]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I looked at the SWFA 5-20 before I purchased my PST but the SWFA runs almost $300 more. Is it a reasonable comparison with the price difference.

 

[winxp_man]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

Here is some through the scope look at some wild pigs about 2000 yards away at 10x. This is the non illuminated SWFA 5-20x50 HD.




Aron-


Here is the actual view.

Here is the scope view (the camera does not do the scope justice).

Also a video from my youtube channel.

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MmbKELixBPs"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MmbKELixBPs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>

 

[FALex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I apologize because I ran out of time this morning when I was typing my post, but to answer OP's question, with the current facebook SWFA discount, you can get a non-illuminated SSHD for 50.00 more than a 6-24 PST.

Honestly, I really like my SSHD(s), but the PST's are also great scopes. In fact, I just sold one of those puppies because I prefer the mil-quad reticle over the hash marks and I was kind of liking the idea of having the same scope on all of my bolt guns...that is, until I hit the Mega Millions deal tonight and can afford something waaaay more expensive!

What I think is even more funny is reading these scope comparisons and getting fixated on something you previously had no interest in, ala my new attraction to these Bushnell G2DMR reticles!

Good luck with your choice, Sig, you can't go wrong.

 

[timelinex]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: FALex</div><div class="ubbcode-body">funny, timelinex, the same reasons you just pointed out as being better for the PST were the same I thought of about the PST's.

As far as "zero stop" on the PST's, with 10 mils per rev, don't see a need for a zero stop. Also, with those shims installed, my zero stop did not always end up at my zero. As far as the hash mark being off .1 mil, that was an issue I believe has been rectified by SWFA. They will fix your turret for nothing if you have the issue.

I won't even go into the glass issue...eyes are just too variable. What you see and what I see through glass is completely different. That being said, the SSHD rolls the PST up and smokes it

HAHA! (You can see how objective my critique is!)

Reticles are also relative; some love the mil-quad, others don't.

The illumination is interesting because although it appears to be "weak," it is a fine line with too "weak" and too strong. Illumination that is too "strong" appears to be criticized for flooding the reticle and washing out the target. I must point out that I have no experience with this, I am only reiterating what I have read by one the reviewers I listed above (I think it was JonA's review...)

I believe JonA also made the point of the resolution in low light being good with SSHD. That coupled with the fact that the reticle did not get flooded by its own illumination, made the seemingly "weak" illumination a negligible point at best. Besides, I have yet to use the illumination feature. I turned it on once with my PST, and maybe 5 times with the SSHD.</div></div>

Thanks for letting me know. I will send in my scope to get that fixed, and while they are at it I'll tell them some of my other issues(clarity) and see if mine is just a dud. I'll report back if they end up fixing things.

 

[LongArm]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

I have had both and I prefer the SWFA

 

[maclowry]

Re: Opinions on the 6-24 Vortex PST & SWFA SS 5-20x50

i'm debating between these two also. this would be the most expensive scope i have purchased. i have not looked at either, but from all the reviews i've read. i think i might go with SWFA.

longarm, i'm also in cc. if possible could i look through your scope.