You may have noticed, as I have, that USO scopes have recently begun to be available through a variety of outlets and in a variety of standard configurations. You may also have noticed that ERGO parallax, which accounted for only 1 in 30 scopes sold, has been discontinued. What the folks at USO realized is that they were suffering a great amount of inefficiency in production for a very few unusual scope orders. What they have decided to do about it is to make a few standard scope models that they will stock for immediate delivery and which will be available though distributors at a lesser cost while keeping the true, full custom stuff available only directly thorough themselves at a higher cost. This will allow most customers a little price break as well as increasing production throughput without leaving those who want unusual features out in the cold. It will also cut down or eliminate wait time for most orders. We’ll see how it pans out over the next year or so, but I expect that it will be a change for the better.
It is also notable that USO has changed the name of virtually every scope they make. SN-3 will no longer refer to any one of eight optical systems. The new names, such as SR-8 for their new short range 1-8x will make a little more sense and only be used one to a chassis.
Speaking of the SR-8, which is what you wanted to know about anyway, a final production version of the daytime bright, red dot illuminated model was shown this year at the show. This is not the only model offered, but rather one of three to be initially rolled out. The SR-8 will be offered in S, C, and M configurations. The SR-8s has conventional, reflected off the reticle and not daytime bright, illumination and will cost $2k. The SR-8c has what amounts to red dot illumination that is daytime bright and runs $2,500, and, if I remember correctly, the SR-8m has both illuminations and runs $2650. In the future there is also a plan for a 34mm SR-8 that will feature an EREK elevation knob.
The SR-8c next to my reference GRSC 1-6x. Sorry for the slightly fuzzy pic.
What I had to play with at the show was the mid priced SR-8c red dot model and it was a great improvement over last year’s early prototype. Most obviously, it has daytime bright red dot illumination. Quite surprisingly, given that last year PR and S&B were showing finished prototypes with this technology, USO is actually the first 1-8x to come to market with this feature, as the Leupold CQBSS is not illuminated in this fashion. I was completely surprised by this as S&B has apparently been so bedeviled by this feature that their scope has been sitting on a shelf mocking them whereas USO just up and did it. Now, to be fair, what S&B has been saying to me is that they just can’t get the dot perfectly lined up in a reasonable amount of time and, on 8x, I did notice that the USO dot was just a tiny bit off. How tiny you ask, well do you notice it in the picture? Didn’t think so. Beyond that, the dot is really for 1x use and being a very tiny bit off at 8x is not a substantial functional problem, though it might annoy you. I have to admit, a little sheepishly, that I did not think that USO would be able to make a dot illuminated 1-8x work. They were dinking around with this dual focal plane stuff that just didn’t seem to make things much brighter and everybody was crying about how expensive the flash dot technology was to do and I thought USO, having never done it before, would not be able to get the job done. Well they did. It’s a dot and its bright.
At 1x with the illumination maxed out:
At 8x with the illumination maxed out:
As for the rest of the scope, I have some cheers and some jeers. We’ll start with the jeers so we can end on a good note. The field of view on the SR-8 is smaller than most at 83.25ft. It is true that other high ratio scopes are generally smaller in field of view than lower ratio scopes, but the Leupold and the March 1-8x scopes are substantially larger than the USO. I also found the USO to be darker than my comparison GRSC 1-6x at 1x. This is not typically the case when comparing high (USO) and mid ranged (GRSC) scopes as both price brackets transmit so much light that one really can’t tell a difference in most lighting conditions. The USO guys assured me that the light transmission is 85% on that optic so perhaps it has something to do with the specific wavelengths in the poorly lit ballroom but it was unquestionably darker in appearance to my eye.
On the good side, the resolution was easily better than my comparison GRSC. I also found the eyebox useable and I think the mini Christmas tree mil reticle offered will appeal to a great any folks who intend long range use. The clicks also felt very good. USO has a smooth but firm feel to their clicks that I find pleasing.
So all in all, a win, and at a price that will keep it competitive even when the S&B, which yes, is better, is released. I’m proud of USO for the quick study on flash dot type lighting.
As Shot show has just ended, and I am tired and will be in transit all of tomorrow, this will be the last report for a bit. I will handle the March 1-8x (as well as Kelbly’s new tactical rifle bent) and the Bushnell 1-8.5x in the coming weeks along with quite a lot of other optics that I have seen.
Thanks for reading,
Jim
It is also notable that USO has changed the name of virtually every scope they make. SN-3 will no longer refer to any one of eight optical systems. The new names, such as SR-8 for their new short range 1-8x will make a little more sense and only be used one to a chassis.
Speaking of the SR-8, which is what you wanted to know about anyway, a final production version of the daytime bright, red dot illuminated model was shown this year at the show. This is not the only model offered, but rather one of three to be initially rolled out. The SR-8 will be offered in S, C, and M configurations. The SR-8s has conventional, reflected off the reticle and not daytime bright, illumination and will cost $2k. The SR-8c has what amounts to red dot illumination that is daytime bright and runs $2,500, and, if I remember correctly, the SR-8m has both illuminations and runs $2650. In the future there is also a plan for a 34mm SR-8 that will feature an EREK elevation knob.
The SR-8c next to my reference GRSC 1-6x. Sorry for the slightly fuzzy pic.
What I had to play with at the show was the mid priced SR-8c red dot model and it was a great improvement over last year’s early prototype. Most obviously, it has daytime bright red dot illumination. Quite surprisingly, given that last year PR and S&B were showing finished prototypes with this technology, USO is actually the first 1-8x to come to market with this feature, as the Leupold CQBSS is not illuminated in this fashion. I was completely surprised by this as S&B has apparently been so bedeviled by this feature that their scope has been sitting on a shelf mocking them whereas USO just up and did it. Now, to be fair, what S&B has been saying to me is that they just can’t get the dot perfectly lined up in a reasonable amount of time and, on 8x, I did notice that the USO dot was just a tiny bit off. How tiny you ask, well do you notice it in the picture? Didn’t think so. Beyond that, the dot is really for 1x use and being a very tiny bit off at 8x is not a substantial functional problem, though it might annoy you. I have to admit, a little sheepishly, that I did not think that USO would be able to make a dot illuminated 1-8x work. They were dinking around with this dual focal plane stuff that just didn’t seem to make things much brighter and everybody was crying about how expensive the flash dot technology was to do and I thought USO, having never done it before, would not be able to get the job done. Well they did. It’s a dot and its bright.
At 1x with the illumination maxed out:
At 8x with the illumination maxed out:
As for the rest of the scope, I have some cheers and some jeers. We’ll start with the jeers so we can end on a good note. The field of view on the SR-8 is smaller than most at 83.25ft. It is true that other high ratio scopes are generally smaller in field of view than lower ratio scopes, but the Leupold and the March 1-8x scopes are substantially larger than the USO. I also found the USO to be darker than my comparison GRSC 1-6x at 1x. This is not typically the case when comparing high (USO) and mid ranged (GRSC) scopes as both price brackets transmit so much light that one really can’t tell a difference in most lighting conditions. The USO guys assured me that the light transmission is 85% on that optic so perhaps it has something to do with the specific wavelengths in the poorly lit ballroom but it was unquestionably darker in appearance to my eye.
On the good side, the resolution was easily better than my comparison GRSC. I also found the eyebox useable and I think the mini Christmas tree mil reticle offered will appeal to a great any folks who intend long range use. The clicks also felt very good. USO has a smooth but firm feel to their clicks that I find pleasing.
So all in all, a win, and at a price that will keep it competitive even when the S&B, which yes, is better, is released. I’m proud of USO for the quick study on flash dot type lighting.
As Shot show has just ended, and I am tired and will be in transit all of tomorrow, this will be the last report for a bit. I will handle the March 1-8x (as well as Kelbly’s new tactical rifle bent) and the Bushnell 1-8.5x in the coming weeks along with quite a lot of other optics that I have seen.
Thanks for reading,
Jim
