Rifle Scopes SWFA

[AMGtuned]

Thinking I'm going to drink the kool aid. Probably pop my cherry with a 6x and a 10x for matching small and large frame AR rifles. .223 wylde and .308 win ; Current optics are a Strike Eagle 1-6 and a PST1 4-16×44, respectively. Are these good replacements? Use is banging steel, some paper, stray coy dog, etc. Concerns are durability, repeatability, user friendly. Also, thoughts on the best place to buy said scopes? Do we have a SWFA vendor?
These scopes seem to be highly regarded in their price bracket, and on this site. I dont want to move backwards in my optic selection, but want something that is dead nuts reliable, simple, and tough. Have some other builds going on, and other rifles to scope; so no, I will not be putting Atacr or S&B level optics on here. Thank you all for any input

 

[Smokerroller]

Glass quality, turret quality, eye relieve, and practical usability are better on your PST. I have a PST1 6-24 and the glass quality and turret quality is WAY better on the PST vs my SWFA 12x. The glass quality difference going from my SWFA to my PST is as noticeable as going from my PST to my US Optics. So you would be going backwards by moving to a SWFA.

 

[Healy]

reliable, simple and tough that’s SWFA

 

[AMGtuned]

Glass quality, turret quality, eye relieve, and practical usability are better on your PST. I have a PST1 6-24 and the glass quality and turret quality is WAY better on the PST vs my SWFA 12x. The glass quality difference going from my SWFA to my PST is as noticeable as going from my PST to my US Optics. So you would be going backwards by moving to a SWFA.

Optic I would be replacing is a PST1 4-16×44, SFP for the 10x. I also have a PST1 6-24×50, ffp, on a different rifle. The 2 are absolutely nothing alike. The 6-24 is a decent scope in my opinion. I also believe it is the ffp, and 50mm objective that make it light years better than the 44mm, sfp, optic. This is my second 4-16×44 pst1, and they both exhibit the same downfalls to me: yellowish hue, finicky and particular eyebox, and (although aesthetic and not necessarily function) even with 20moa mounts the turret markings on the shooter side do not line up, ever, so I see no need for the extra nonsense printed on there. Thank you for your honest opinion, I appreciate both sides of the coin being different

 

[Sub-MOA]

Glass quality, turret quality, eye relieve, and practical usability are better on your PST. I have a PST1 6-24 and the glass quality and turret quality is WAY better on the PST vs my SWFA 12x. The glass quality difference going from my SWFA to my PST is as noticeable as going from my PST to my US Optics. So you would be going backwards by moving to a SWFA.

When I looked through a PST1 and a SWFA 12x, I personally felt they were more or less comparable optically. The build quality on the SWFA is definitely a step up from a PST1.

 

[Mordamer]

SWFA 10x was the scope I put on my first precision rifle. This was back when I was broke and in college. The scope market was much smaller and there were no scopes available even close to $300 besides the SWFA that could track reliably. This was when the only model they sold was the 10x mildot reticle with 1/4 MOA turrets. I put thousands of rounds down range with that scope. It never let me down. I have owned 6 different SWFA scopes now, but have sold most of them as finances allowed for upgrades.

Now almost every scope I use is over $2,000 but when I break out the .223 with the SWFA scope it is still normal to get first round hits at 800 yards or more. I can see all the targets with it regardless of what people say about the glass. I have never seen a sub $500 scope with better glass. I still recommend the SWFA 10x to every new shooter who has a tight budget.

People complain about the turrets feeling "mushy". This is a ridiculous complaint. If you can tell what the scope is dialed to then it simply doesn't matter what the clicks felt like on the way there.

I would rank the SWFA as more reliable than your current scopes, but that is about it. You wouldn't be getting much of an upgrade over the PST. If the PST tracks true then keep it.

 

[steve123]

OT, but the scope you should get is the Athlon Midas TAC, IMO it's superior in more than a few ways, that's coming from someone that has had 5 SWFA's, I still have one 3-15 left for comparison.

 

[pell1203]

OP, just in case you were unaware, the SWFA vendor is SWFA.com. It is a private label.

 

[hypno02]

Your current optics although more versatile are fragile in comparison to any of the SWFA offerings.

 

[AMGtuned]

Your current optics although more versatile are fragile in comparison to any of the SWFA offerings.

I like your style. When I decide that a build is "here to stay", I use it. It's a tool, tools cost money, but they are a necessity. I dont like worrying any more than necessary about bumps/knocks/drops.

 

[Sub-MOA]

Good video on the history and construction of the SWFA SS scopes. Around 12 minutes in they talk about the heavy duty construction designed to withstand abusive handling and 50 BMG recoil.

 

[702lineman]

It's a 300 dollar optic, and if you dont like it you can sell it for 225-250. The high resale value should tell you everything you need to know though. It's not like you are gonna have to pony up German glass money. I've had numerous swfa fixed powers, and I've had quite a few scopes over $2k. There isn't a damn thing wrong with swfa. Even having a lot more expensive scopes, I think I could shoot a match with a 10x-12x and be just fine. The scope wouldn't hold me back. The 5-20 swfa is one of my favorites

 

[MarinePMI]

Another vote of confidence in the SWFA SS scopes. I have had them since they were still high end Tasco 6x scopes. Only ever had to send two back. One, the rifle fell, bending the tube (the original Tasco branded one that SWFA still honored the warranty on), the other I loaned to someone one who “helped” reset the parallax (damaging the turret).

Never had one fail due to quality issues, only excessive abuse. Still have 4 or 5 I keep around for back ups and loaners.

Solid scopes.

 

[patriot07]

When I looked through a PST1 and a SWFA 12x, I personally felt they were more or less comparable optically. The build quality on the SWFA is definitely a step up from a PST1.

Agreed. On the Gen 1 PST scopes that I've looked at, the SWFA non-HD models are pretty similar optically, better mechanically, and more affordable.

 

[FALex]

@Birddog6424 and I just had this conversation about SWFA's products yesterday at a local match we were shooting. I have owned four 5-20 SSHD's since their release. I got rid of the last one about 2 years ago., I never had any issues with any of those scopes. The SSHD's feel like tanks, extremely robust for their price point.

A few years back, I had emailed Chris Farris (he was the guy running SWFA, maybe still is, I think he's a member here too). Anyhow, I asked him if they would consider updating their Mil-quad reticle and maybe add on something that was H59esque. He said those were not options, and were likely not going to be in the options in the future, either. It's too bad. They make a great scope.

Between the Vortex and the SWFA, I guess it just depends. At the price point you are looking at, Vortex has SWFA beat by a long shot in terms of reticle options but that's it.

 

[Birddog6424]

@Birddog6424 and I just had this conversation about SWFA's products yesterday at a local match we were shooting. I have owned four 5-20 SSHD's since their release. I got rid of the last one about 2 years ago., I never had any issues with any of those scopes. The SSHD's feel like tanks, extremely robust for their price point.

A few years back, I had emailed Chris Farris (he was the guy running SWFA, maybe still is, I think he's a member here too). Anyhow, I asked him if they would consider updating their Mil-quad reticle and maybe add on something that was H59esque. He said those were not options, and were likely not going to be in the options in the future, either. It's too bad. They make a great scope.

Between the Vortex and the SWFA, I guess it just depends. At the price point you are looking at, Vortex has SWFA beat by a long shot in terms of reticle options but that's it.

No doubt about it, SWFA is a good solid optic. They provide really good value from the fixed magnification models up to the HD. They are definitely in need of some more modern reticle options though...

 

[patriot07]

Agree on the reticle options. If they could just take the reticle from their 3-15 SFP and add .2 on the horizontal, they'd be 90% of the way there for what I want.

 

[longgunJR]

+1 vote here.
SWFA would not be an upgrade from what you got now, but they do track, I started out with a fixed 10x and returned to zero every time.
If you do end up going that rout a zero stop bushing kit from Tim Kulin is a must.

 

[Codiekfx400]

A fixed power scope on a ar is not something that I would want unless all your shots are 100 yards plus. As scope magnification increases field of view decreases. So shooting at close or moving targets is going to be difficult. I do agree that swfa makes a nice scope. Doug at cameralandny has a Athlon ares 2.5-15 power scope for $399. That would be a awesome ar scope.

 

[MarinePMI]

A fixed power scope on a ar is not something that I would want unless all your shots are 100 yards plus. As scope magnification increases field of view decreases. So shooting at close or moving targets is going to be difficult. I do agree that swfa makes a nice scope. Doug at cameralandny has a Athlon ares 2.5-15 power scope for $399. That would be a awesome ar scope.

You mean like the current issued rifles with 4x scopes?

 

[Codiekfx400]

You mean like the current issued rifles with 4x scopes?

I’m not sure what your question is.

 

[Birddog6424]

I’m not sure what your question is.

It was rhetorical. The military uses fixed 4x optics.

 

[AMGtuned]

On the strike eagle, I'm either at 1x, or 6x, that's why I figured to go 6x. I believe there is an acog in 6x also, maybe for a 30cal weapon system though. Going to check some numbers and see if weight will go down using rings and fixed power, instead of qd mounts and the Vortex offerings

 

[Bender]

SWFA fixed 10x or 12x should be in any true rifleman’s inventory.

Reliable as a red brick. At 12x I cant really tell a difference between it and my HD 5-30x56 LOW optic.