QuoteReplyTopic: Sightron Scope Review(s) SIII 10-50 and 6-24 W.I.P Posted: May/02/2011 at 22:13
I believe this is my first review so please bear with me. I will try to list this as appropriately as I know how.
I will be focusing on features that particularly set this scope aside or more in front of those in its price range and why this particular scope can fit a multitude of purposes
I have to first start by thanking a particular person on this site. He has ingrained in me 2 things 1 unexpected things can come from unexpected places, and 2 you can get quality in optics less than $1,000.
The first review will be very brief.
I was looking for a scope with a high magnification range but still had some adjustment this provided me with 50 MOA.
This scope has side focus is once piece HQAA ( high quality aircraft aluminium I cannot stand the use of this as a marketing tool). It is listed as double the thickness of the 1" models, Waterproof, fog proof, it has a European style fast focus knob this has the ExacTrack elevation and windage Large
oversized target knobs with 1/8 inch adjustment (not as much of a turnoff for myself) Non-Exposed Turrets, the Knobs could have been a little heavier. This has side Parallax focus down to 10. This has the ZACT-7 and other specs as below. If you want more go to www.sightron.com.
Specifications for Sightron S-III SS 10-50x60 Side Focus Riflescope:
Magnification:
10-50X
Object Diameter:
60
Eye Relief:
3.8-4.5
Reticle Type:
Long Range Mil-Dot (LRMD)
Click Value:
1/8 MOA
Fov:
9.6-2.2
Length:
16.90
Tube Diameter:
30mm
Windage Elevation Travel:
50
Weight:
28.92
Finish:
Matte Black
Minutes Per Revolution:
10
Target Knobs:
Yes
Sunshade Included:
No
Windage Elevation Knobs:
Target Type (Resettable)
Adjustable Objective:
Side Focus
Fully Multi Coated:
Yes (Zact-7 TM 7-Layer)
Features of Sightron S III SS 10-50x 60mm Side Focus Rifle Scope:
One-Piece Main-Tube
All Weather Construction
Fast Focus Eyebell
ExacTrack
SIII SS LR Target Knobs 1/8
Side Focus System
ZACT-7 Revcoat Multi-Coating
Limited Lifetime Warranty
Initial impressions: well finished decent weight, not to heavy, everything seems solid.
Ok here come my only complaints about this scope. The adjustments are 1/8 MOA not a deal breaker for me as I am only punching paper, with that said the adjustments were very squishy/mushy, not sloppy as they seemed to stop but not very inhibited to moving a place forward or reverse. I will state another aesthetic complaint once I removed the Caps I told my self Ut Ohhh, The reason is it simply looked like Chinese Crap to me (at first until I started playing with it on paper).
Again I am only giving the 10-50 a short review.
Besides all the aesthetic details and specs of the scope, I am a practical individual lets see what it can do.
I took it out to the range and put 100 rounds down range, Zeroed nicely, then started Tracking, Tracked better than I ever thought it would even after hearing Sightron's are great trackers.
Started doing non standard box testing and ARC testing...I can say this with astonishment, WOW... this performed better than I was even prepared for after the Tracking tests, I was absolutely floored after feeling the squishy, dare I say, mess. Cranked a ton and tried to be abusive to no avail everything was exactly as it were, once I returned to zero I dialed up down right left and could have made T H X all day long tired the trickery of O V W M A. Not a flaw with the precession and repeatability of the adjustments.
This scope was MIL-DOT accurate at 24x, astonishingly this was pretty decent to look through not as kind on the eyes as a PMII or a USO or even Zeiss or Swarovski but better than a MARK IV or VORTEX.
I would say the limit of this scope for non-headache magnification is around 36-38ish the rest is a little more light and hazey than I like. I took shots at even 50X that were perfectly centered but had to rest my eyes in between, I would have rather done some star gazing with that much magnification.
I will state this I have never looked through a scope that had this clear of higher magnification usually I see signs of lightening or hazing at around 24-25 and complete "clouding" at 30.
At 10x this is a true joy to look through at about 18 for me it starts to degrade slightly not really noticeable till 24 than staying there until 27 or 28 than a pretty quick drop off.
So I said I Make it Hurt, I want some more, I want some more.
This time I needed more Elevation Adjustment and still a 24x higher end enter the:
Already liking the Specs and the Adjustment Values MIL MIL
Specifications for Sightron SIII 6-24x50mm Riflescope SIIISS624X50LRMDCM:
One comment: the 10-50x60 model is actually a two piece tube. Because of that jumbo objective lens bell and overall length, they could not quite pull it off with a single piece tube. I looked at how they mated the two pieces together and I doubt it gives up any strength compared to a single piece tube.
The rest of the S3 line-up is made on single piece tubes.
338Lapua, Thank you very much for time and efforts. I plan to add a couple of S-3's to my scope collection this year. I have had a S-3 6-24 for several years now and it has been absolutely indestructible, while maintaining integrity like you described in your review. E
Ernie
"If you think you are perfect, just try walking on water."
Thank you ILya I think you know my introductory line was aimed at you.
Anything you feel you can add (especially the facts, 2pc vs 1pc and so on) go right (write...ha) ahead.
This is very basic for a review it is not your typical apples to apples or technical approach this is just from a what do you get approach and how does it fit in.
The basic info I gathered from this scope is that it has the most available adjustment of any scope similarly priced and has the highest usable magnification with very little image degradation.
And It is very solid in mechanics or my perception is that it is very solid the adjustments didn't miss a beat and kept up allowing me to push out even further.
There is not much to add. I am glad you tried S3 and liked it.
In the sub-$1000 price range, these are easily among my favourite scopes. They are well put together and perform well across the whole magnification range.
There are also a couple of additions to the S3 line coming up that I am excited about.
One of the most overlooked scopes in Sightron's line-up is the the 3.5-10x44. While it looks like it looks modestly specced on paper, it is superbly easy to use with great eye position flexibility and excellent glass.
My favourite model in the S3 line (for now) is the 6-24x50. How many 24x scopes with 30mm tube that cost ~$800 do you know with 100MOA of adjustment and good image quality?
If you get the MARK4 it would not be near the glass as the Sightron, the mechanics are not anywhere as close either the Leupy is lacking in the optical performance category. You are comparing unequal products. The higher end mag of the Sightron is near unrivaled for less than $2k.
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