I got into precision/long range shooting about 7 years ago at which time I have
heard nothing but good things about the Super Sniper / SWFA SS line of scopes.
They have built a great reputation of being simple yet durable. The only thing
that has held me back from getting one was the lack of matching knobs and
reticle. Fast forward to 2012 and as we all know, SWFA began offering them with
.01 milrad knobs and an improved reticle over standard mil-dots, the milquad.
I ordered one of these new scopes to act as a temporary optic for a
custom .260 I recently had built. Like a lot of other people, personal finances
can be tight and strict household budgets have to be maintained. I purposefully
have more taxes than needed withheld from my paycheck so that I will get a
decent sum back every year. I use my tax return as a savings/splurge account
every year. This year that money is earmarked for a top of the line rifle scope,
which is likely going to be a March-F.
GLASS QUALITY Three weeks ago I placed an
order for the SS10x42MQ from SWFA and received it the following week. Due to
working nights and 12+ hour days, I didn't have time to mount it right away. I
took it to work with me and used that opportunity to "glass" things at night.
What I found was very respectable; as long as there was ambient light sources,
street lights, porch lights, headlights, etc. the target image was clear enough
for identification and sight picture purposes. The reticle was bold enough to be
seen and use as a ranging/hold over tool. The one down side I noticed was stray
BRIGHT light on the objective lens would tend to reflect and hamper the image.
This only occurred with very bright light at certain angles.
Low light
quality was decent, compared to a Nikon Monarch and older Vari-x II it was about
the same. The same light reflection issue occurred at dusk and dawn when looking
at certain angles to the setting/rising sun. I had a Mark 4 sunshade sitting
around so I taped it to the objective end of the scope. This made a huge
difference, enough so that I would recommend carrying one with your load out
gear for those needed times. I have not had the opportunity to try an ARD, but
this may help to reduce the reflected light as well.
The image quality
in daylight, both bright and sunny as well as overcast and gloomy, is on par
with any scope I have used in the $800-$1,000 price range. Compared to the
baseline of Mark 4 scopes, I would give the edge to Mark 4 in this respect. I
have/had 3 Mark 4's over the years and two out of three of them had better glass
than the SS, the one that I would say was equal to it was a fixed 10x M3. I have
now done some extensive shooting with it at 100 yards and I was able to spot
.264 holes with ease. I was able to see light mirage as the barrel heated up,
but not so much as to distort image quality or interfere with my sight picture.
I prefer some mirage, as it helps read the wind at longer distances.
CONTROLS The turret knobs were
very acceptable for an optic in this price range. They are crisp enough to count
"clicks" but not NightForce crisp. Of the three Mark 4s I have/had I would say
they are equal to or better than two of those three. The one that bested the SS
was a 3.5-10 with M2 BDC knobs. The SS knobs felt way better than the Weaver
tactical line, comparing to a 3-15x50 and a Midway exclusive 3-10x40 mil/mil.
The way the SS knobs are engineered leaves it up to the user to ensure the knobs
line up perfectly with the reference points. This is in the same fashion as the
Mark 4 and is better than the design of some other recent offerings, which in
some cases the marks can actually be in between clicks which leaves you guessing
if it is at .00 or .01 mil. After being mounted on a Rem 700 with a 20 moa base,
I have 24.5 mils of "up" travel left to go! That's more than some tactical
scopes have total!
One thing on my wish list for SWFA to change would be
the markings on the windage knob. I would prefer them to be marked "0.5R", "1R",
"1.5R", etc. This would be a huge improvement as three is no directional
indicator engraved on the scope body itself. When this scope finds it's
permanent home, I may send the elevation knob off to have the DOPE engraved on
it (BDC type knob), at which time I would have this improvement made to the
windage knob.
The verdict is still out on the rear parallax control, but
it is my own fault for not spending an extra $100 on the side "focus" model. As
I have only used it out to 100 yards to this point, I'm not sure if I will learn
to adjust it while staying behind the rifle or if I will tend to move out of my
shooting position to adjust it while looking at the reference marks.
OVERALL ENGINEERING The
mounting of the scope was pretty straight forward with one exception. I used the
"feeler gauge" method to level it to the scope base and ran into one problem.
SWFA puts a small sticker on the bottom of the turret housing over the N2 port.
The label says not to remove it, but it came right off when I slid the feeler
gauge under it. I'm not sure if this will void the warranty, but they should
find an alternate method to accomplish whatever goal the sticker was supposed to
achieve. Once the scope was leveled in the rings I used a level on the one piece
picatinny rail to ensure the receiver was level. With the receiver leveled, I
looked at a plumb line set at 15 meters away and the reticle was perfectly
level. I then put a level on the elevation turret and it was level as well. This
was a nice surprise!
RETICLE I
am very impressed with the milquad reticle. It is very crisp and just the right
thickness for tactical or precision shooting. The open diamond shape mil-dots
are awesome, and will really assist in breaking a target down while milling it.
It is not cluttered at all and will serve great for people who dial elevation
and hold for wind. Without much wind, one could hold for elevation and wind with
ease. The reticle is pretty straight forward so there is not much else to say
about it.
TRACKING I zeroed
the rifle using two rounds, one round fired then "milled" to my point of aim and
made the necessary corrections with the knobs. The second round was on a 1 moa
target dot. I elected to fine tune it from there and was able to get my POI to
within 1/4 moa of my POA. I then fired 25 rounds at 100 yards, printing 5 five
round groups. My average for that rifle/scope/load was .3854 moa.
I made
a grid on a poster board, marking out 6 mils high in 1 mil increments. I also
marked out 1 mil right and left in line with "0" as well as 2 mils right and
left at 5 mils. Refer to the pictures for more details.
It should also be noted that the reticle subtended perfectly with my grid at 100 yards. That gave me confidence in the adjustments and reticle for future use at long range.
FINAL THOUGHTS I know this review is lacking comments on durability, but having numerous reviews conducted over the years testifying to this, torture tests and all, I trust it. I wanted to do this review to evaluate these new changes to the SS line. I originally purchased this scope as a temporary optic to be kept around as a back up. After playing with it I think I will pick up a Rem 7
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