lightshooter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2016
- Messages
- 84
I had an SWFA SS 5-20×50 HD for a few years. For the price, they are a pretty darn good scope. Buy one used for $900-1100, and they are awesome. Get a throw lever and parallax gripper too.
Glass: better than Vortex Razor Gen 1 5-20×50, way better than a PST. Clear, good color, very little CA, good contrast. Similar to my Steiner T5Xi at same magnification.
Tracking: mine was dead on out to 1500+ yards and returned to exact zero every single time
Turrets: good. No zero stop, but it can be made to have a shim kit.
Eye box/relief: easy to get behind and plenty of relief when shooting my .300RUM when it was a sporter weight.
Weight/length: acceptable
Reticle: very usable. Easily visible on 5x, a bit thick on 20x for tiny targets on paper, but just fine for game, even prairie dogs at 300-500+.
Parallax: the ring is stiff. Hence the need for the gripper ring. Work it back and forth and it loosens up, but will always be "stiff". But still usable. Just not a 2 finger rotation. Parallax function works great though.
Thanks for the detailed info!
Not to muddy the waters further but I just became aware of the Steiner P4Xi which can be had for less than a $1k. If its similar to the T5Xi then I think I'd be happy. It also has a 56mm objective so in theory it'll be brighter than the vortex and the SWFA, but sacrificing a bit of magnification.