Re: SWFA Super Sniper 5-20X50HD
A couple specs people have been asking about: It's about 14.6" long, 31.5 oz, 30mm tube, very similar to the F1 in size/overall envelope. This prototype has no zero stop but they are working on one.
The clicks feel as good as I've felt on anything. Very positive, snappy with a very loud metallic clicking sound on each one.
The eyebox is as good or better than any of the ~20X scopes I have around, certainly no problems there. The eye relief is quite long, especially on 20X at around 4". It's eye relief doesn't stay perfectly constant but doesn't change as much as some brands throughout the power range. Since it actually gets a little bit longer on high powers it's not something you notice in a negative way.
I don't yet have any info on price/availability. However I think some of you may be guilty of a bit of wishful thinking hoping for the $1K mark. This is a much bigger more expensive scope to make than the fixed 10X. It isn't meant to compete in the PST price range, but in the F1/Razor/Light Tacital, etc range. I hope it will come in significantly cheaper than those because I'd like to buy at least a couple but I don't expect them to give them away. This is a high dollar scope.
Glass quality in low light, etc...... I have done some comparing:
Of those the one that compares is the IOR. It's noticably better than the Weaver 4-20 and PST 6-24.
For those who have the 3.5-18, you know how good it is. I found it very close in most measures to my Premier in the past:
Between the IOR and the SS, they're so close I can't really declare a winner. Resolution wise I can't tell which one is better. Staring at a chart through one I'll think it's better, then staring at the chart through the other I'll think it's better. They're that close. The IOR seems to have more of a contrasty "pop" to the image which might give it more of a "warm fuzzy to the eyeball" view in good light. But the more neutral colors of the SS make it nicer to look through in low light.
In short, good freaking glass.
Here are a couple pics I tried to show the low light/illumination in action. This was a good 30 minutes after official sundown so it's pretty darn dark. The camera makes it look lighter than it really is. The pole is around 300 yds away:
IOR on 10X:
SS on 10X:
IOR on 18X:
SS on 20X:
Keep in mind you can't judge the optical quality via the pics as they're both better than my picture taking makes them look. However, you can't take a good pic through a bad scope and every time I look at that last pic of the SS it's just amazing to me the detail it picks up at 300 yds in the dark! A lot of higher powered scopes that look OK in the day time really take a crap when you crank the power up in low light, there's no hint of that with this one.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tahqua</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks for the great pics and descriptions Jon!
It is too hard for me to tell from the pictures, but do you think this tactical scope would work for PD's. </div></div>
If PD's is all you want to do, of course a SFP scope with a thinner reticle is the natural choice. However this scope's reticle is pretty thin as FFP goes, covering less than 1" at 500 yds so it should do well. If that PD is really little and really far away, you can crank the turrets 1 mil in any direction and use the little dot inside one of the diamonds. At .03 Mil diameter it's tiny.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mavrick10_2000</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How close does the parallax focus at? </div></div>
It's marked down to 35 yds and that seems pretty accurate.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mscott</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Definately interested. How much elevation travel does it have? </div></div>
About 33.5 Mils (115 MOA or so).
And before this grows any legs:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: J.Boyette</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Great looking reticle.
I designed that back with the IOR A5 in 2007 glad to see some one picked it up.
I hope they give credit where its do.</div></div>
John Boyette had absolutely nothing to do with the design of this reticle. Nobody "picked up" anything.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: gstaylorg</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would just like to ask about the details of how you shot your photos, particularly the first few of the scope itself. Some of the clearest I've seen! </div></div>
Thanks, I chalk it up to good lighting. That spot between my house and shop on a sunny day gets a great spread of bright light from all angles filling it somehow. The camera is just an old DiMage Z1 Minolta, 3.2 MegaPixels in the auto setting. It's got an actual 10X optical zoom which sets it apart from many other cameras even with many more pixels.
